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A self-portrait by legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold for $54.66 million in New York on Thursday, setting a new record for the price of a painting by a woman, the auction house Sotheby’s said.The sale of Kahlo’s 1940 artwork, titled “El sueno (la cama)” — which translates to “The dream (The bed)” — breaks the previous record in this category, set by American artist Georgia O’Keeffe, whose 1932 painting “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1,” sold for $44.4 million in 2014.Kahlo’s painting is “the most valuable work by a woman artist ever sold at auction,” Sotheby’s said in a post on X. The auction house said Kahlo’s work was “painted in 1940 during a pivotal decade in her career, marked by her turbulent relationship with Diego Rivera.”Kahlo’s self-portrait went on the auction block at Sotheby’s with an estimated price ranging from $40 million to $60 million.The buyer’s name was not disclosed. The artwork depicts the artist sleeping in a bed that appears to float among clouds in the sky, laying beneath a skeleton with legs that are wrapped with sticks of dynamite. This painting is a “very personal” image, in which Kahlo “merges folkloric motifs from Mexican culture with European surrealism,” Anna Di Stasi, head of Latin American art at Sotheby’s, told AFP. The Mexican artist, who passed away in 1954 at age of 47, “did not completely agree” with her work being associated with the surrealist movement, Di Stasi said. However, “given this magnificent iconography, it seems entirely appropriate to include it” in this movement.The record-setting sale came two nights the New York auction house reeled in another record sale, with a painting by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt fetching $236.4 million on the block — the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. Klimt’s “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” which he painted between 1914 and 1916, depicts the daughter of his main patron dressed in a white imperial Chinese dress, standing before a blue tapestry with Asian-inspired motifs.  The most expensive painting ever sold at auction remains the “Salvator Mundi,” attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which was bought for $450 million in 2017. 

The US health agency has updated its official website to reflect the vaccine skepticism of a senior Trump official, a move that medical and public health experts widely condemned.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) late Wednesday revised its site with language that undermines its previous, scientifically grounded position that immunizations do not cause the developmental disability autism.Years of research demonstrate that there is no causal link between vaccinations and autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders.But Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the nation’s health chief, has long voiced anti-vaccine rhetoric and inaccurate claims connecting the two.The CDC webpage on vaccines and autism had previously stated that studies show “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder,” citing a body of high-quality research including a 2013 study from the agency itself.That text reflects medical and scientific consensus, including guidance from the World Health Organization.But the changes rebuke it. The website now asserts that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”The revised language accuses health authorities of having “ignored” research supporting a link and said the US health department “has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism.”A purported connection between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism stems from a flawed study published in 1998, which was retracted for including falsified data. Its results have not been replicated and are refuted by subsequent research.Amid the site rewrite, one header remained: “Vaccines do not cause Autism.”A footnote explains that the line wasn’t cut due to an agreement Kennedy had made with the Republican Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor and senator from the southern state of Louisiana who chairs the Senate committee focused on health.Cassidy on Thursday insisted on vaccine safety and efficacy in a post on X. He did not name Kennedy, but said “any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible, and actively makes Americans sicker.””What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism,” he said.- ‘Do not trust this agency’ -The CDC website edits were met with anger and fear by career scientists and other public health figures who have spent years combatting such false information, including from within the agency.”Staff are very worried and upset about everything happening surrounding vaccines,” a CDC union member, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, told AFP.Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of Boston University’s Center for Autism Research Excellence, called the changes “terribly disturbing.””I feel like we are going back to the Dark Ages. I feel like we are undermining science by tying it to people’s political agendas,” the psychologist told AFP.”We’re going to see a significant increase in these childhood diseases.”Demetre Daskalakis — the former director of the agency’s arm focused on immunization and respiratory diseases, who resigned earlier this year in protest — was unequivocal: “DO NOT TRUST THIS AGENCY.”And Susan Kressly, president of American Academy of Pediatrics, said “we call on the CDC to stop wasting government resources to amplify false claims that sow doubt in one of the best tools we have to keep children healthy and thriving: routine immunizations.”Pointing to “40 high-quality studies,” she said that “the conclusion is clear and unambiguous: There’s no link between vaccines and autism.”The anti-vaccine advocacy group Children’s Health Defense meanwhile praised the revisions. The organization’s CEO Mary Holland said “thank you, Bobby” on X.Kennedy is the founder and former chairman of the nonprofit.

Ukraine would give up the eastern Donbas region to Russia under a 28-point peace plan backed by US President Donald Trump, according to a draft obtained Thursday by AFP.Kyiv would also agree to limit its army to 600,000 personnel, and while European fighter jets would be based in Poland to protect Ukraine, no NATO troops would be stationed in Ukraine.Russia would meanwhile be readmitted to the G8 group of nations and be integrated back into the global economy under the plan, which US officials said was still a “working document.””The president supports this plan. It’s a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been “quietly” working on the plan with both Russia and Ukraine for around a month, Leavitt said.She rejected concerns that the plan echoes many of Moscow’s maximalist demands.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected to discuss the plan with Trump “in coming days.” He said any deal must bring a “dignified peace” with “respect for our independence, our sovereignty.”Zelensky also met a Pentagon delegation headed by US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll in Kyiv.Here are the details of the US plan: – Territory –   Under the document seen by AFP, “Crimea, Lugansk and Donetsk will be recognised as de facto Russian, including by the United States.”Kyiv still partly holds Lugansk and Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas industrial belt on the front line of the war. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014.Areas from which Ukraine has withdrawn in Donetsk would be deemed a demilitarized zone which Russian forces will not enter, according to the plan.The southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — which Russia falsely claims to have annexed — will be “frozen along the line of contact,” it said.The plan for Donbas, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia corresponds to Moscow’s previous demands.Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, occupied by Russian forces since March 2022, would be supervised by the International Atomic Energy Authority and the electricity it produces be shared between Russia and Ukraine, the plan says.Russia’s army occupies around a fifth of Ukraine — much of it ravaged by years of fighting, particularly in the east.Ukraine has previously said it will never recognize Russian control over its land, but has conceded it might be forced to get it back through diplomatic means.- Ukraine security – The US-backed plan calls for Ukraine to reduce its army to 600,000 personnel, according to the draft.NATO would agree not to station troops in Ukraine — dashing Kyiv’s hopes for a European peacekeeping force — and the country would be barred from joining NATO by both its own constitution and the alliance’s statutes.That fits with previous Russian demands that have been made public and goes against what Ukraine has cast as red lines.Ukraine would receive “reliable security guarantees,” the plan says without specifying. But European jets would be stationed in neighboring Poland.Amid a spiralling corruption scandal in Ukraine that has claimed the jobs of two ministers, Kyiv had meanwhile removed language about an audit of foreign aid and replaced it with a call for a “full amnesty,” a senior US official said.- Whose plan? -Under the proposed deal, Russia would be “reintegrated into the global economy” after nearly four years of tough sanctions and be allowed back into the G8.”It is expected that Russia will not invade neighboring countries and NATO will not expand further,” it says.But all sanctions would snap back if Russia invades Ukraine again — “in addition to a decisive coordinated military response.”The contents of the plan have fuelled suggestions that Moscow was involved in drafting it.”It seems that the Russians proposed this to the Americans, they accepted it,” a senior Ukrainian source told AFP.But US officials strongly denied that it was a Russian plan, saying it had been drafted after weeks of consultations involving Witkoff, Rubio, the Ukrainians and Moscow.Since returning to the White House, Trump’s position on the Ukraine war has shifted dramatically back and forth.He rowed with Zelensky in the Oval Office in February before saying in September that Ukraine should try to reclaim its land.Trump has also hit Russia with sanctions after becoming increasingly frustrated with President Vladimir Putin, with a summit in Moscow having produced few results.On the ground, Russia claimed Thursday to have recaptured the key city of Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine, as Putin visited an army command post to speak with officers about the situation at the front.The Ukrainian army denied Russia had retaken Kupiansk.burs-dk/mlm

“Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman was posthumously honored on Thursday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.Ryan Coogler, who directed Boseman in the 2018 hit, actress Viola Davis and Boseman’s widow, Simone Ledward-Boseman, led the emotional ceremony in the heart of Tinseltown.”Today was a beautiful day,” Ledward-Boseman told AFP.”Everyone was just so full of love and joy. And we’re all so proud of this person that we knew, that we shared.”Coogler remembered Boseman as an “incredibly generous” person. “Even when he knew his days were limited, and his moments were numbered, he still gave to the art form. He still threw himself into the fire,” he said.Chadwick Boseman began his career in theater and television before making the leap to film. Boseman’s most famous character T’Challa/Black Panther was introduced in “Captain America: Civil War” (2016).Two years later he reprised the role in the hugely successful standalone “Black Panther,” becoming the first Black actor to take the lead in the sprawling Marvel franchise.Boseman died in 2020 at the age of 43 after suffering from colon cancer for four years.The debilitating disease did not keep him from making movies or from fully committing to his craft, Coogler said.”Even though he was going through what he was going through, he would do his own stunts, he would be there for off-camera dialogue readings. It was incredible.”Viola Davis, with whom he shared the screen in 2020’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which would be his final outing, said Boseman’s work “reminded us that we are less alone.””That was Chadwick, more than just an actor who you can observe on screen doing wonderful work.”Disney CEO Bob Iger, actor Michael B. Jordan, and the late actor’s brothers, Kevin and Derrick Boseman, also attended the ceremony.

President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to open up millions of square miles (kilometers) of US coastal waters to oil and gas drilling, it said Thursday, in a step that could lead to a massive expansion of fossil fuel extraction.The move comes as Washington looks increasingly out of step with much of the developed world, where there is growing acceptance of the reality of human-caused climate change.Under the plan announced by the US Department of the Interior, 34 lease sales will be offered, allowing for drilling in 1.27 billion acres (500 million hectares) — an area the size of the Amazon.The proposal includes waters off the north coast of Alaska that have never been drilled before, in the Gulf of Mexico — which the administration calls the Gulf of America — and off California.”The Biden administration slammed the brakes on offshore oil and gas leasing and crippled the long-term pipeline of America’s offshore production,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, referring to Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden.Burgum insisted that offshore energy production requires a lot of time and investment.”By moving forward with the development of a robust, forward-thinking leasing plan, we are ensuring that America’s offshore industry stays strong, our workers stay employed, and our nation remains energy dominant for decades to come.”Trump speaks frequently of what he says is the need for America to drill for more fossil fuel, and is disparaging about the global shift to renewables, which he calls a “scam.” He regularly calls climate change science “a con.”Under his presidency, the country has pulled back from international agreements on fighting climate change, and did not send an official delegation to the ongoing COP30 climate summit in Brazil.But the plans announced Thursday are likely to face pushback domestically, particularly from California, whose government pledged to block drilling in the state’s coastal waters.”Trump’s idiotic plan endangers our coastal economy and communities and hurts the well-being of Californians. This reckless attempt to sell out our coastline to his Big Oil donors is dead in the water,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.”Californians remember the environmental and economic devastation of past oil spills. For decades, California has stood firm in our opposition to new offshore drilling, and nothing will change that. The proposals are also expected to face opposition in the Gulf, where memories remain of the devastating Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010, which saw millions of gallons (liters) of oil wreck tourism and fishing.Rick Scott, a Republican senator for Florida, was quick to lodge his objections to the Trump plan.”Florida’s coasts must remain off the table for oil drilling to protect Florida’s tourism, environment, and military training opportunities,” he wrote on X.

US energy giant ExxonMobil announced Thursday the resumption of its gas development project in Mozambique, which had been suspended for several years due to a jihadist insurgency.”We have lifted force majeure (FM) for the Rovuma LNG project in Area 4,” the company said in a statement, referring to a legal concept that is invoked to suspend a project when there are unforeseen or adverse conditions.ExxonMobil holds a 25 percent stake in the planned onshore liquefied natural gas facility in the southeastern African country that is expected to begin production in 2030.A jihadist insurgency in Cabo Delgado, a northern province, has left more than 6,200 people dead since 2017, according to the NGO Acled, which collects data on conflict zones.However, it was a jihadist offensive in March 2021 that caused some 800 deaths and led oil companies to suspend their projects in the region.According to ExxonMobil’s website, Area 4 is operated by a joint venture called Mozambique Rovuma Venture.The venture is 70 percent owned by a consortium — ExxonMobil, the Italian ENI, and the Chinese CNPC — while XRG (Abu Dhabi), KOGAS (South Korea), and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos each hold a 10 percent stake.”We are working with our partners and the government of Mozambique to ensure the safety of our people and facilities, as we look to develop a world-class LNG project that can help drive economic growth,” said the oil giant, which is based in Spring, Texas.It specified that planning was nearing completion and the final investment decision should be made during the course of 2026.In October, ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods said the company was optimistic about moving ahead with a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, where NGOs have loudly criticized a plan by French petroleum giant TotalEnergies to resume work.Woods that month hosted the president of Mozambique in Houston and rated the meeting as “really productive.” TotalEnergies announced on October 25 that it had lifted the force majeure and resumed its own project in Mozambique after operations were suspended for four years.On Wednesday, Mozambique’s government announced that it would audit losses caused by the suspension of the French group’s project.When AFP asked the company about it on Thursday, ExxonMobil did not indicate whether it also planned to seek compensation for losses.

A US plan backed by President Donald Trump to end Russia’s war in Ukraine is “good” for both sides, the White House said Thursday, rejecting concerns that it echoes many of Moscow’s demands.Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been “quietly” working on the plan for a month, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.”It’s ongoing and it’s in flux, but the president supports this plan. It’s a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine, and we believe that it should be acceptable to both sides,” she told a briefing.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met in Kyiv with a Pentagon delegation headed by US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, said any deal to end Russia’s invasion must bring a “dignified peace”, with “respect for our independence, our sovereignty”.Zelensky’s office said he expected to discuss the points with Trump in the coming days.On the ground, Russia claimed to have recaptured the key city of Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine, as President Vladimir Putin visited an army command post to speak with officers about the situation at the front.The Ukrainian army denied Russia had retaken Kupiansk, which Kyiv lost to Moscow the day it launched its invasion in 2022, then wrested back.Here’s what we know about the US plan:- Territory –   Details of the plan, reported to contain 28 points, have been covered widely by Western media, and a senior source familiar with the matter also shared some aspects with AFP.What is known suggests Ukraine is being asked to concede to Russia’s key demands, while appearing to get very little in return.On territory, the plan calls for the “recognition of Crimea and other regions that the Russians have taken”, the source said.Russia’s army occupies around a fifth of the country — much of it ravaged by years of fighting.The Kremlin claims to have annexed five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in 2022 and Crimea in 2014.Moscow has previously demanded that Ukraine completely withdraw its troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, in exchange for freezing the front line in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.Ukraine has said it will never recognise Russian control over its land, but has conceded it might be forced to get it back through diplomatic means.Ceding territory in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions that Ukraine still controls could leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attacks by Russia.”It is a matter of our country’s survival,” Zelensky said recently.- Army and weapons -The plan calls for Ukraine to reduce its army to 400,000 personnel, cutting its military by more than half, the same source told AFP.Kyiv would also be required to give up all long-range weapons, the source added.Other media reports said there would be a complete ban on Western troops being deployed to Ukraine.That fits with previous Russian demands that have been made public and goes against what Ukraine has cast as red lines.The proposal also reportedly includes vague provisions for Ukraine to negotiate some kind of security guarantees with the United States and Europe.Ukraine wants concrete Western-backed assurances, ideally in the form of NATO membership or similar defence guarantee and a European peacekeeping force, to prevent Russia from invading again.- Whose plan? -The contents of the plan have fuelled suggestions that Russia was involved in drafting it.US media outlet Axios reported it had been drawn up by the Trump administration in secret consultation with Moscow.”It seems that the Russians proposed this to the Americans, they accepted it,” the senior source told AFP.”An important nuance is that we don’t understand whether this is really Trump’s story” or “his entourage’s”, the official added.After the plans were first reported, Rubio said “a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions”.Since returning to the White House, Trump’s position on the Ukraine war has shifted dramatically back and forth. Over 2025, he has gone from calling Zelensky a “dictator” to urging Kyiv to try to reclaim all the land captured by Russia and hitting Moscow with sanctions.- Invigorating diplomacy? – Ukraine said the United States had told it the proposal “could invigorate diplomacy”.Zelensky confirmed the US delegation visiting Kyiv had presented the plan, but did not give details.The Kremlin said it had nothing to say when asked about reports on the plan.The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said any peace settlement must have the agreement of both Kyiv and Brussels.”We have to understand that in this war, there is one aggressor and one victim. So we haven’t heard of any concessions on the Russian side,” she added.

President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of National Guard troops in the US capital is unlawful, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.District Court Judge Jia Cobb ordered an end to the deployment but stayed her order for 21 days to allow the Trump administration time to file an appeal.The Republican president has sent National Guard troops to Democratic-run Washington, Los Angeles and Memphis to combat crime and help enforce his crackdown on undocumented migrants.Federal judges have temporarily blocked the deployment of troops in two other Democratic-controlled cities — Chicago and Portland — and the Supreme Court is expected to deliver the final word soon on whether the actions are lawful.Trump ordered more than 2,000 National Guard to patrol Washington on August 11, claiming the city was a “filthy and crime ridden embarrassment.”Brian Schwalb, attorney general for the US capital, filed a lawsuit in September seeking to end the deployment of the National Guard in the city.”Deploying the National Guard to engage in law enforcement is not only unnecessary and unwanted, but it is also dangerous and harmful to the District and its residents,” Schwalb said.Cobb, in her opinion, said the Trump administration had “acted contrary to law” by deploying the National Guard for “for non-military, crime-deterrence missions in the absence of a request from the city’s civil authorities.”The judge, an appointee of Democratic president Joe Biden, also said the administration had overstepped its authority by bringing National Guard troops from out-of-state to patrol the capital.Trump’s extraordinary domestic use of the National Guard was also challenged by California earlier this year after the president sent troops to Los Angeles to quell protests sparked by the rounding up of undocumented migrants.A district court judge ruled it unlawful but an appeals court panel allowed the Los Angeles deployment to proceed.Trump has denied charges he is strictly targeting cities run by his political opponents for his anti-crime campaign and immigration crackdown.

The US health agency has updated its official website to reflect the vaccine skepticism of a senior Trump official, a move that medical and public health experts widely condemned.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Wednesday revised its site with language that undermines its previous, scientifically grounded position that immunizations do not cause the developmental disability autism.Years of research demonstrate that there is no causal link between vaccinations and autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders.But Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the nation’s health chief, has long voiced anti-vaccine rhetoric and inaccurate claims connecting the two.The CDC webpage on vaccines and autism had previously stated that studies show “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder,” citing a body of high-quality research including a 2013 study from the agency itself.That text reflects medical and scientific consensus, including guidance from the World Health Organization.But the changes rebuke it. The website now asserts that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”The revised language accuses health authorities of having “ignored” research supporting a link and said the US health department “has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism.”The notion linking the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism stems from a flawed study published in 1998, which was retracted for including falsified data. Its results have not been replicated and are refuted by subsequent research.Amid the rewrite, one header remained: “Vaccines do not cause Autism.”But a footnote explains that the line wasn’t cut due to an agreement Kennedy had made with the Republican lawmaker Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor who chairs the Senate committee focused on health.- ‘Do not trust this agency’ -The CDC website edits were met with anger, fear and concern by career scientists and other public health figures who have spent years combatting such false information, including from within the agency.”Staff are very worried and upset about everything happening surrounding vaccines,” a CDC union member, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, told AFP.Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of Boston University’s Center for Autism Research Excellence, called the changes “terribly disturbing.””I feel like we are going back to the Dark Ages. I feel like we are undermining science by tying it to people’s political agendas,” the psychologist told AFP.”We’re going to see a significant increase in these childhood diseases.”Demetre Daskalakis — the former director of the agency’s arm focused on immunization and respiratory diseases, who resigned earlier this year in protest — was unequivocal: “DO NOT TRUST THIS AGENCY.”Susan Kressly, president of American Academy of Pediatrics, said “we call on the CDC to stop wasting government resources to amplify false claims that sow doubt in one of the best tools we have to keep children healthy and thriving: routine immunizations.”Pointing to “40 high-quality studies,” she said that “the conclusion is clear and unambiguous: There’s no link between vaccines and autism.”The anti-vaccine advocacy group Children’s Health Defense meanwhile praised the revisions. The organization’s CEO Mary Holland said “thank you, Bobby” on X.Kennedy is the founder and former chairman of the nonprofit.

President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday vehemently denied South Africa’s announcement that the United States was ending a boycott of this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, saying no US official would take part in talks.President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier Thursday described an 11th-hour about-turn by the Trump administration, which had relentlessly attacked South Africa over treatment of white minority farmers by the post-apartheid government.The White House said the US ambassador would attend but only for a handover ceremony as the United States will next year host the summit of the club of global economic powers, at a golf club owned by Trump in Florida.”The United States is not participating in official talks at the G20 in South Africa,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.”I saw the South African president running his mouth a little bit against the United States and the president of the United States earlier today, and that language is not appreciated by the president or his team,” she said.Ramaphosa earlier said that the United States had a “change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other, in the summit.”Ramaphosa said the supposed change of heart was “a positive sign”. “All countries are here, and the United States, the biggest economy in the world, needs to be here,” he said. Ramaphosa’s remarks came despite the US embassy in Pretoria sending a notice that it would not attend.In the weekend message, it said South Africa’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency.”The agenda included improving debt sustainability for low-income countries, financing a “just energy transition” and harnessing “critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development”.- Trump pulls US from world gatherings -The Group of 20 represents some 85 percent of the global economy, with its summits becoming major gatherings for world leaders since the economic crisis of 2008.Trump had initially agreed to send Vice President JD Vance before ruling out any participation.The G20 summit is the latest major international gathering to be snubbed by the United States under Trump.The United States is also shunning the ongoing COP30 climate talks in Brazil, with Trump instead defending fossil fuels and rejecting the scientific consensus on the planet’s rising temperatures.Trump has singled out South Africa for harsh treatment since he returned to the White House in January, often seizing on far-right commentary on the internet.Trump has repeated debunked claims that white Afrikaners are being systematically “killed and slaughtered” in the country, which has high levels of violence. The Trump administration also expelled South Africa’s ambassador after he accused Trump of racism.Trump has imposed 30 percent trade tariffs on South Africa, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.Despite Trump’s boycott, US businesses are well represented at a separate Business 20 (B20) event that wound up in Johannesburg on Thursday.  The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, thanked South Africa for fostering “real collaboration between G20 nations during a time of rapid change” during its presidency.”The US Chamber of Commerce will use our B20 leadership to foster international collaboration,” Clark said.The United States has significant business interests in South Africa with more than 600 US companies operating there, according to the South African embassy in Washington. bur-ho-ub-sct/iv