Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said Wednesday his country will accept migrants from other countries who are being deported from the United States, the second deportation deal that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration.

Under the agreement announced by Arévalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at U.S. expense.

“We have agreed to increase by 40% the number of flights of deportees both of our nationality as well as deportees from other nationalities,” Arévalo said at a news conference with Rubio.

Previously, including under the Biden administration, Guatemala had been accepting on average seven to eight flights of its citizens from the U.S. per week. Under President Donald Trump it’s also been one of the countries that have had migrants returned on U.S. military planes.

El Salvador announced a similar but broader agreement on Monday. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said his country would accept U.S. deportees of any nationality, including American citizens and legal residents who are imprisoned for violent crimes.

Both Trump and Rubio acknowledged the legal uncertainty of sending Americans to another country for imprisonment.

“I’m just saying if we had a legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Trump told reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office. “I don’t know if we do or not, we’re looking at that right now.”

Rubio called it a very generous offer but said there were “obviously legalities involved. We have a Constitution.”

Immigration, a Trump administration priority, has been the major focus of Rubio’s first foreign trip as America’s top diplomat, a five-country tour spanning Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

France’s gov’t survives no-confidence vote

France’s government lived to see another day Wednesday, after it survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament and gave the recently appointed prime minister a temporary reprieve from months of political turmoil and the country a promise of stability, at least in the short term.

The no-confidence motion was supported by 128 lawmakers in the 577-seat National Assembly, France’s lower house, short of the absolute majority required. Had it passed, the motion would have forced the centrist prime minister, François Bayrou, and his Cabinet to resign.

The motion’s failure ensures safe passage of a 2025 budget bill that France needs badlyand that the government hopes will rein in the country’s surging debt and deficit, with a goal of generating 50 billion euros in savings through tax increases and spending cuts.

The budget bill now goes to the Senate for final approval Thursday.

100 U.S. deportees arrive in India

A U.S. military plane with at least 100 migrants aboard landed in India on Wednesday, officials said, the longest such deportation flight since President Donald Trump took office and a sign that countries with leaders he favors will not be spared his immigration crackdown.

It appeared to be the first use of a U.S. military aircraft to deport people to India, which is one of the top sources of unauthorized immigration to the United States. More than 1,000 Indians were sent back to the country last year on commercial flights.

Officials in the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who enjoys a close relationship with Trump, have expressed confidence that India is better positioned than most countries to deal with the Trump administration, and they have publicly expressed a willingness to accept deportees.

Former Pentagon chief denied security detail

President Donald Trump has revoked the security detail for Mark T. Esper, a former defense secretary who is among several officials who are facing threats from Iran because of actions they took on behalf of the president during his first term, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

It was not immediately clear when Esper’s security detail was called off. A White House spokesperson and a Pentagon official did not comment. Esper declined to comment.

Esper is the latest former senior U.S. official to have his security detail pulled since Trump, who has also faced threats from Iran, took office. Pentagon officials last week removed Esper’s portrait as secretary of the Army.

Within hours of his inauguration, Trump began to systematically pull security details from nearly a half-dozen people who had served in his first term. The U.S. intelligence community has said Iran has sought revenge against U.S. officials involved in the drone strike that killed Iran’s Gen. Qassem Soleimani in early January 2020.

USPS does U-turn on packages from China

The U.S. Postal Service made an about-turn Wednesday and said it would continue to accept packages from mainland China and Hong Kong, reversing a decision to temporarily halt those deliveries after an order by President Donald Trump that ended duty-free handling of many smaller parcels.

The Postal Service’s halt and reversal just hours later show how crucial parts of global delivery systems are grappling with sudden changes in U.S. trade policy, sowing confusion among businesses and potentially delaying shipments.

On Saturday, Trump ordered that all Chinese imports would be subject to tariffs starting Tuesday. Until the change, parcels worth up to $800 apiece were not required to include detailed information about their contents and were not subject to levies. That was because they were allowed to take advantage of a provision, known as the de minimis exception, that many e-commerce companies have used to send goods to the United States from China without having to pay taxes on them.

Rebels claim more Congo territory

Rwanda-backed rebels gained ground in eastern Congo on Wednesday despite the unilateral ceasefire they declared earlier this week, taking control of a town 60 miles from the provincial capital of Bukavu, civil society officials and residents told The Associated Press.

Goma remains “under occupation” by Congo’s M23 rebels and the ceasefire they announced has been broken as their forces engage in heavy fighting along the main route to South Kivu’s main city Bukavu, the U.N.’s deputy representative in Congo, Vivian van de Perre said Wednesday.

Van de Perre said all exit routes from Goma and its airport are under control of the M23 and Rwandan military forces backing them, and movements of the U.N. peacekeeping force known as MONUSCO in the city have been restricted.

New Aga Khan named to lead Ismaili Muslims

Rahim Al-Hussaini was named Wednesday as the new Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world’s millions of Ismaili Muslims, following the death of his father.

The 53-year-old was designated as the Aga Khan V, the 50th hereditary imam of the Ismaili Muslims, in his father’s will. His father died Tuesday in Portugal.

The Aga Khan is considered by his followers to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and is treated as a head of state.

Prince Rahim is the eldest son of the former Aga Khan. He was educated in the U.S., having studied comparative literature at Brown University, and has served on the boards of various agencies within the Aga Khan Development Network, the spiritual leader’s main philanthropic organization, according to a statement it released Wednesday.

McConnell reportedly takes fall in Capitol

Kentucky senior Sen. Mitch McConnell fell down the stairs in Washington on Wednesday afternoon, according to media reports.

Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram posted to social media site X that he’d confirmed the incident occurred after McConnell, 82, voted to confirm Scott Turner as the secretary of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“Unclear about injuries. But Fox is told he appears to be ok. McConnell was helped up by Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont.,and Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.,” Pergram posted.

The fall is the latest in a series of health incidents the senator has experienced.

Late last year, the senator sprained his wrist and cut his face as a result of another fall in Washington.

Lara Trump ready for prime time on Fox

Fox News Channel has hired the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to be host of a new weekend show that will debut later this month.

Trump was a contributor who made appearances on Fox in 2021 and 2022, after President Donald Trump lost his bid for a second term, then served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

Her hourlong show, “My View with Lara Trump,” will air at 9 p.m. on Saturday nights, Fox announced on Wednesday. She’s scheduled to start her show on Feb. 22.

Fox said in its announcement that Trump’s show “will focus on the return of common sense to all corners of American life as the country ushers in a new era of practicality.”

Lara Trump is married to Trump’s son Eric.

— From news services