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The Trump administration sent emails on Saturday evening to U.S. federal government employees telling them to detail their work accomplishments from the previous week by Monday night or risk losing their jobs.
The emails came shortly after Elon Musk, the billionaire head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, posted on the social media site X that not responding to the email request would be viewed as a resignation.

“All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted on X. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Musk issued his post just hours after President Donald Trump posted on his own social media network, Truth Social, that DOGE should get more aggressive in its attempts to downsize and reshape the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce.
As of Saturday evening, emails were sent to employees across federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others with the subject line, “What did you do last week?”

The email, seen by Reuters, asks employees to reply with five bullet points summarizing “what you accomplished at work last week,” and to copy their managers.
It was sent from a human resources address from the Office of Personnel Management, and gives employees until 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday to respond.
It is unclear what legal basis Musk has to terminate federal workers if they fail to respond to his request and what would happen to employees that cannot detail confidential work.
Some federal judiciary employees received the email on Saturday from OPM, even though the court system is not part of the executive branch, people familiar with the matter said. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the judiciary’s administrative arm, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also received the email, according to people with knowledge of the matter. However, most agency staff had been ordered not to perform any tasks since early this month, creating a conundrum. The agency is also under temporary court order not to resume mass firings pending the outcome of legal proceedings.

A spokesperson for DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

UNION PROMISES FIGHT

The AFGE, the union representing federal employees, said in a statement it will challenge any “unlawful terminations.”
“Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people,” said Everett Kelley, the AFGE’s president.
The Trump administration’s fast-paced and controversial process to reduce government spending by shrinking the federal workforce spearheaded by Musk and his young aides at the cost-cutting DOGE has led to haphazard firings that resulted in numerous mistakes and forced several agencies to quickly rehire vital employees, such as those working on nuclear safety, defense and power generation.
The first wave of job cuts has targeted workers who are easier to fire, such as probationary employees on the job for less than two years or those who have started new roles within an agency.
The indiscriminate firings have led to DOGE terminating people whose jobs are not funded by taxpayers and have begun to anger people across the country who are concerned about a loss of services and the impact of federal job losses on local economies.
Trump has repeatedly talked about Musk as the functional leader of DOGE, which is not a cabinet-level department, but the White House said in a court filing this month that Musk had no authority over DOGE and was not an employee of the program.
Some federal agencies sent follow-up emails to employees advising staff not to respond to the email over the weekend as they assess its validity and devise a protocol for responding to the message.
“To be clear, this is irregular, unexpected and warrants further validation by management,” said one email sent to NOAA employees and seen by Reuters.
The Executive Office for United States Attorneys also sent an email, seen by Reuters, to employees, advising them to wait to respond until they verify the validity of the emails.
Some federal employees, already on edge after two weeks of mass firings, expressed outrage after receiving the email.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-orders-us-federal-workers-report-work-or-get-fired-2025-02-22/

Indian-origin Kash Patel on Friday was sworn in as the ninth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), taking oath on the sacred Hindu text of Bhagavad Gita.

Kash Patel’s girlfriend and family members were present at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as he was sworn in by US Attorney General Pam Bondi following his confirmation as the FBI director by the US Senate. He succeeded Christopher Wray.

Kash Patel is not the first Indian-American to have taken his oath of office on the Gita. Earlier, Congressman Suhash Subrahmanyam also took his oath on the Gita.

‘The American dream’

Kash Patel called this opportunity to lead the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency as the “greatest honour” of his life.

He also said he was living the American dream, “and anyone who thinks the American dream is dead, look right here. You are talking to a first-generation Indian who is about to lead the law enforcement agency of the greatest nation on earth. That can’t happen anywhere else”.

Patel also made a strong commitment towards his work within the FBI and promised that there would be accountability both inside and outside of the federal agency.

After Patel’s oath ceremony, the White House posted on its X account, “It’s time we restore integrity and justice at the FBI. MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!”

US President Donald Trump, while speaking to reporters ahead of Patel’s oath ceremony, said, “I think he’ll go down as the best ever at that position,” adding that the “agents love this guy”.

“Turned out he was very easy to get approved. He is a tough and strong guy. He has his opinions. Trey Gowdy came out with an incredible statement and said that Kash is an incredible person and people’s don’t realise it. When he said that, there was no doubt left. It was a big statement made by someone who is respected and is on the moderate side,” Trump added.

However, the Democrats did not seem very happy with Patel’s appointment, sounding alarms that they fear he will work as a Trump loyalist and abuse the FBI’s powers to go after the adversaries of the president. They even cited past comments from before Patel’s nomination where he had said that he would “come after” anti-Trump “conspirators” in the government and media.

At his confirmation hearing, Patel sought to clarify all these concerns and said that he intended to follow the Constitution, with no intention in pursuing any retribution. Patel also said at his oath ceremony that some reports about him were “fake, malicious, slanderous and defamatory”.

Notably, Patel has also expressed his desire to implement severe changes at the FBI, including a reduced footprint in Washington and renewing emphasis on the bureau’s traditional crime-fighting duties rather than the intelligence-gathering work that has come to define its status over the past two decades.

On Friday, Patel also said that the FBI’s “national security mission” was as important as its efforts to fight violent crimes and drug overdoses.

“Anyone that wishes to do harm to our way of life and our citizens, here and abroad, will face the full wrath of the DOJ and FBI,” Patel said, adding that “if you seek to hide in any corner of this country or planet, we will put on the world’s largest manhunt and we will find you and we will decide your end-state”.

Patel, a former Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor, was nominated to replace Christopher Wray as the FBI director in November.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/kash-patel-sworn-in-as-9th-fbi-director-takes-oath-on-bhagavad-gita-watch-101740182758204.html

U.S. negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country’s access to Elon Musk’s vital Starlink satellite internet system, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Ukraine’s continued access to SpaceX-owned Starlink was brought up in discussions between U.S. and Ukrainian officials after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy turned down an initial proposal from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the sources said.

Starlink provides crucial internet connectivity to war-torn Ukraine and its military.
The issue was raised again on Thursday during meetings between Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special Ukraine envoy, and Zelenskiy, said one of the sources, who was briefed on the talks.
During the meeting, Ukraine was told it faced imminent shutoff of the service if it did not reach a deal on critical minerals, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss closed negotiations.
“Ukraine runs on Starlink. They consider it their North Star,” said the source. “Losing Starlink … would be a massive blow.”

Zelenskiy has rejected demands from President Donald Trump’s administration for $500 billion in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay Washington for wartime aid, saying the U.S. has offered no specific security guarantees.
On Friday, the Ukrainian president said the U.S. and Ukrainian teams were working on an agreement and Trump said he expects a deal will be signed soon.
Musk rushed thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine to replace communications services destroyed by Russia after its February 2022 invasion. Hailed as a hero in Ukraine, Musk later curtailed access at least once before in the fall of 2022 as he became more critical of Kyiv’s handling of the war.

U.S. lawmakers are divided over Trump’s efforts to find a quick end to the Ukraine war and some have raised questions about Musk’s rapid-fire efforts to cull thousands of federal workers and shut down Federal agencies.
Melinda Haring, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, said Starlink was essential for Ukraine’s operation of drones, a key pillar of its military strategy.
“Losing Starlink would be a game changer,” Haring said, noting that Ukraine was now at 1:1 parity with Russia in terms of drone usage and artillery shells. Ukraine has a wide range of different drone capabilities, ranging from sea drones and surveillance drones to long-range unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Ukrainian embassy in Washington, the White House and the U.S. Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX, which operates Starlink, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last fall, Ukraine floated the idea of opening its critical minerals to investment by allies. This was part of a “victory plan” that sought to put it in the strongest position for talks and force Moscow to the table.
Trump has embraced the idea, saying he wants Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort.
Zelenskiy rejected a detailed U.S. proposal last week that would have seen Washington and U.S. firms receiving 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals, which include graphite, uranium, titanium and lithium, a key component in electric car batteries.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/us-could-cut-ukraines-access-starlink-internet-services-over-minerals-say-2025-02-22/

VOLODYMYR Zelensky should flee Ukraine “immediately” amid escalating tensions between Washington and Kyiv, insiders in the White House have warned.

US-Ukraine relations exploded this week, with military intelligence suggesting Russia is just days from declaring victory over the almost three-year war.

Donald Trump and Zelensky have been waging a war of words with the US President openly criticising the Ukrainian leader and branding him a “dictator.”

In response, Kyiv slammed his attempts at peace talks with Russia and accused him of being “in a disinformation bubble”.

As the relationship between the two leaders continues to deteriorate, a source close to the American President told the New York Post “the best case for [Zelensky] and the world is that he leaves to France immediately.”

Asked about the growing tensions between the US and Kyiv, another source close to the White House said the public spat was a long-time coming.

They said: “It’s nothing new to me.

“I heard months ago it’s time for an election and new leadership,”

The “real question is, has anyone told [Trump] they really, really like him?”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency says the Kremlin is only days away from declaring victory in Vladimir Putin’s war.

The Russian leader may portray it as a triumph over NATO as well, amounting to a defeat for the West, according to the GUR.

The agency said: “Russia is preparing to declare an alleged ‘victory’ in the war against Ukraine by the ‘round date’ – 24 February 2025, the third anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale war.

“Moreover, these plans may also include a ‘Russian victory over NATO’, as Muscovite propaganda has long described the war against Ukraine as a war with the Alliance.”

A key aim is to “cover the status of an aggressor and war criminal isolated by the civilised world with the cloak of a supposedly ready for peaceful settlement ‘constructive side of the conflict”.

Countries hostile to Russia gaining territory through its war of aggression will be branded “enemies of peace”.

Lt-Gen Kyrylo Budanov said Putin’s propaganda machine and intelligence services “on instructions from the Kremlin, are stepping up efforts to incite disbelief among Ukrainian society, destabilise the situation inside our country and discredit Ukraine among partner states that provide critical military assistance to our Security and Defence Forces in the fight against the occupiers.”

The diplomatic turmoil escalated after Kyiv rejected the US’s proposed mineral deal as a repayment for military aid.

On Thursday the US cancelled last minute a joint press conference with Zelensky after he met with one of Trump’s envoys.

Kash Patel, a longtime loyalist to President Donald Trump, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation — an agency he has talked about drastically restructuring while echoing Trump’s claims of the “weaponization” of the bureau’s powers in its Capitol riot investigations and other recent cases.

Patel was opposed by a pair of Republican senators: Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins. But he won support from every other Republican, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, who had opposed some of Trump’s other nominees. The final vote was 51-49, with all Senate Democrats opposing Patel.

Patel’s confirmation comes at time of significant turmoil and turnover at the FBI. Since Trump took office a month ago, an Elon Musk affiliate was among those brought into the bureau, sparking worries about partisan political figures taking the reins of the powerful law enforcement agency. The head of the Washington Field Office — which oversaw the sprawling Jan. 6 probe — was forced out, as were six of the FBI’s most senior executives and multiple heads of FBI field offices around the country.

Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll sparred with Trump-appointed Justice Department superiors over an order that he said would ultimately help them fire FBI agents involved in Jan. 6 cases. The FBI ultimately handed over the names of FBI employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases as requested, and Trump has said he will fire “some” FBI personnel who worked on Capitol riot cases.

Altogether, it adds up to what many within the FBI see as the largest crisis facing the organization since the Watergate era. It stems in large part from FBI investigations into Trump himself, including two separate felony cases that were dropped when Trump was re-elected: one involving Trump’s handling of classified documents, and the other his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Patel previously worked on Capitol Hill and in the first Trump administration, after working as a federal prosecutor in Washington and a federal public defender in Florida. He was considered to take over the FBI during the first Trump administration, but then-Attorney General Bill Barr, among others, vehemently opposed the plan, saying that Patel was unqualified.

Patel, a firebrand who appeared on a broad array of conservative media shows and has spoken about his desire to “come after the people in the media,” has attempted to walk back some of his more pugnacious comments from his podcast appearances.

At his confirmation hearing in late January, Patel distanced himself from Trump’s sweeping pardons of Capitol rioters, saying he disagreed with the commutations of individuals who assaulted law enforcement officers on Jan. 6. Democratic senators also confronted Patel about his repeated false contentions that the 2020 election was stolen.

Patel has a close relationship with a network of conservative former FBI agents who were pushed out over the past several years, one of whom said he was “screaming to the heavens” when Trump nominated Patel.

Source : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/senate-confirms-kash-patel-fbi-director-rcna192842

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday she will propose a constitutional reform aimed at further protecting Mexico’s national sovereignty, after the U.S. designated various Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that are detrimental to the integrity, independence, or sovereignty of the nation… (including) violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea, or air,” Sheinbaum said during her regular morning news conference.

The United States on Wednesday designated the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican drug cartels as global terrorist organizations, a move that comes as concerns mount among some Mexican officials that U.S. President Donald Trump may be setting the stage to take unilateral military action inside Mexico, an idea floated repeatedly during his presidential campaign.
Sheinbaum said Mexico was not consulted by the United States about the decision to designate the groups as terrorist organizations.
Mexico has long opposed the move, arguing the cartels are not motivated by political ends like others on the terror list, but by profit.

The designation risks complicating international business in Mexico, including the operations of U.S. companies. It could also shift the legal landscape for U.S. asylum claims, potentially hurting migrants who are forced to pay extortion or ransoms to cartels, as they could be accused of supporting a terrorist organization.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-was-not-consulted-us-designation-cartels-terrorist-organizations-2025-02-20/

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it was directing military leaders to draw up a list of potential cuts totaling about $50 billion from the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2026 to be redirected into President Donald Trump’s priorities for national defense.
The review could set the stage for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to follow through with goals to invest more in the Asia-Pacific and prioritize securing the U.S. border with Mexico, along with other reforms.

It was unclear how the effort would square with other cost-savings initiatives led by Elon Musk’s government downsizing teams, which have started working from the Pentagon as civilian employees brace for job cuts.
Robert Salesses, performing the duties of the deputy defense secretary, said the military would develop a list of potential savings after examining the budget drawn up by the previous administration of President Joe Biden.
“The offsets are targeted at 8% of the Biden administration’s FY26 budget, totaling around $50 billion, which will then be spent on programs aligned with President Trump’s priorities,” Salesses said.

The statement clarifies a memo reported on Wednesday by Reuters from Hegseth, who asked some parts of the military to propose what could be cut as part of a potential 8% spending reduction for them over each of the next five years, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
There was a long list of exemptions, including U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, funding for the military’s mission along the U.S. border with Mexico, as well as missile defense and autonomous weapons, one of the officials said.
The military’s commands that oversee operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa were not exempt.
The Pentagon’s budget is approaching $1 trillion per year. In December, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill authorizing $895 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year ending September 30.

Hegseth has said publicly that the Pentagon’s focus is on U.S. border security and threats posed by China. He has said the U.S. can no longer be “primarily focused on the security of Europe”.
As Musk’s teams start their review, some civilian employees in the military said they had started receiving emails on Thursday saying they could be separated from the government since they were hired less than a year ago.
Leaders from across the political spectrum have long criticized waste and inefficiency at the Defense Department. But Democrats and civil service unions have said Musk, the world’s richest person, lacks the expertise to restructure the Pentagon, and the efforts of his team risk exposing classified programs.
Attempting to cancel defense programs could trigger pushback from lawmakers to defend spending in their electoral districts, a fact defense contractors are well aware of.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-looks-8-defense-budget-cut-each-next-5-years-washington-post-reports-2025-02-19/

Turkey has begun exporting around 15,000 tonnes of eggs to the United States as a devastating outbreak of bird flu is slashing U.S. production and sending prices soaring, a leading sector official said on Wednesday.
Deaths of millions of laying hens imperil U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to bring down everyday costs, as grocery stores ration supplies and restaurants raise prices for egg dishes.

Shipments to the U.S. from Turkey began this month and will continue until July, said Ibrahim Afyon, chairman of the Egg Producers Central Union in Turkey.
“The export will take place through our member companies with the required authorizations, while two firms will coordinate the process,” Afyon said.
“A total of 15,000 tonnes of eggs — equivalent to 700 containers — will be shipped,” he added.
The U.S. has been working to contain bird flu, which was first detected in dairy cattle in Texas last March and has since spread to more than 970 herds in 17 states. The virus has infected nearly 70 people since April, primarily farm workers exposed to infected poultry or cattle. One person who was infected died.

The outbreak in poultry began in 2022 and has wiped out about 162 million chickens, turkeys and other birds, according to U.S. data. A surge in recent infections is fuelling egg shortages.
“We support the temporary import of egg products to help ease the strain on the U.S. egg supply,” said Chad Gregory, CEO of United Egg Producers, a cooperative that represents U.S. egg farmers.
Faced with supply constraints, U.S. companies have sought alternative import markets, leading to negotiations with Turkish producers, Afyon said. The deal is expected to generate around $26 million in export revenue, he added.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/turkey-export-15000-tonnes-eggs-us-amid-bird-flu-disruptions-2025-02-19/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has instructed the Justice Department to terminate all remaining Biden-era U.S. attorneys, asserting that the department had been “politicized like never before.”
“We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, the White House sent termination notices to several U.S. Attorneys around the country who had been appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden.
On Monday, several U.S. attorneys appointed by Biden announced they were stepping down. Others left the government last week.
While it is customary for U.S. Attorneys to step down after a change in the presidential administration, usually the incoming administration asks for their resignations and does not issue tersely worded termination letters, current and former Justice Department lawyers say.

The termination of the U.S. attorneys, who serve as the top federal law enforcement officers in their districts, is the latest in shake-ups at the Justice Department since Trump took office last month.
Career Justice Department officials normally remain in office from one administration to the next. Yet dozens in cities including Washington and New York have been fired or quit since Trump took office.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-has-instructed-doj-terminate-all-remaining-biden-era-us-attorneys-2025-02-18/

Donald Trump has taken aim at Ukraine after its President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said it was a “surprise” his country had not been invited to talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the war with Russia.

Saying he was “disappointed” by Ukraine’s reaction, he appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war, saying the country “could have made a deal”.

A full-scale Russian invasion sparked the war in Ukraine almost three years ago.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Riyadh for the first high-level, face-to-face talks between the two countries since the invasion.

They agreed to appoint teams to start negotiating the end of the war.

Lavrov said his country would not accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, a proposal raised at a meeting of European members of Nato in Paris on Monday.

European Nato states, who remain committed to supporting Ukraine against Russia, have been smarting at being sidelined by Trump’s unilateral peace initiative, which reversed the resolutely pro-Ukraine policy of his predecessor as president, Joe Biden.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence, Trump was asked by the BBC what his message was to Ukrainians who might feel betrayed.

“I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat, well, they’ve had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily,” he said.

“You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he later added.

“I could have made a deal for Ukraine,” he said. “That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land – and no people would have killed, and no city would have been demolished.”

After the meeting in Riyadh, Trump said he was “much more confident”.

“They were very good,” he said. “Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”

“I think I have the power to end this war,” he added.

Asked about the prospect of European countries sending troops to Ukraine, Trump said: “If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it. If they want to do that, I think that’d be fine. I mean, I know France has mentioned it, others have mentioned it, UK has mentioned it.”

However, he added: “We won’t have to put any over there because, you know, we’re very far away.”

After Monday’s meeting in Paris, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said any Ukraine peace deal would require a “US backstop” to deter Russia from attacking its neighbour again.

Sir Keir said a “US security guarantee was the only way to effectively deter Russia”, and vowed to discuss the “key elements” of a peace deal with Trump in Washington next week.

Also at the talks in Riyadh were US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, as well as Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov and the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev.

Stressing that Moscow would not agree to peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, Lavrov said: “Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is of course completely unacceptable.”

He said the US and Russia would appoint ambassadors to each other’s countries as soon as possible and create conditions to “restore co-operation in full”.

“It was a very useful conversation. We listened to each other, and we heard each other,” he said.

He reiterated Russia’s previous position that any expansion of the Nato defence alliance – and Ukraine joining it – would be a “direct threat” to Russia.

Rubio for his part said he was “convinced” Russia was “willing to begin to engage in a serious process” to end the conflict.

“There has to be concessions made by all sides. We’re not going to predetermine what those are.”

“Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one”, he added.

Rubio said the European Union was going to “have to be at the table at some point because they have sanctions as well that have been imposed”.

On the absence of Ukraine at the meeting, he insisted “no-one is being sidelined”.

“Everyone involved in that conflict has to be OK with it, it has to be acceptable to them,” he added.

The talks in Paris, which were hastily arranged in response to the apparent rapprochement between Russia and the US under Trump, did not agree a unified position.

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said discussing sending troops to Ukraine at present was “completely premature”.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said he did not intend to send troops while Italy’s Giorgia Meloni – the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration – expressed doubts.

She told the meeting in Paris that deploying European troops would be “the most complex and the least effective” way of securing peace in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s leader looked visibly tired and upset when he gave his reaction to the Roiyadh meeting during a news conference in Turkey.

“We want everything to be fair and so that nobody decides anything behind our back,” Zelensky said.

“You cannot make decisions without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine.”

He will be alarmed by all the smiles on both American and Russian faces in Riyadh, but he will know that he can do little to change whatever they agree on over his head.

The Ukrainian president will also know that his country’s chances of resisting – let alone defeating – Russian troops without American help are very slim.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0n5e1pdz9o

A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport’s chief executive said.

Snow was being blown by winds gusting to 40 mph (65 kph) when the flight from Minneapolis carrying 76 passengers and four crew attempted to land at around 2:15 p.m. Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it’s not clear what went so drastically wrong when the plane touched down.

Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences but provided no details on the crash. Video posted to social media only showed the aftermath with the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR overturned, the fuselage seemingly intact and firefighters dousing what was left of the fire as passengers climbed out and walked across the tarmac.

“We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,” Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters.

Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken said 18 passengers were taken to the hospital. Earlier in the day, Ornge air ambulance said it was transporting one pediatric patient to Toronto’s SickKids hospital and two injured adults to other hospitals in the city.

Emergency personnel reached the plane within a few minutes and Aitken said the response “went as planned.” He said “the runway was dry and there was no cross-wind conditions.”

The crash was the fourth major aviation accident in North America in the past three weeks. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground. And on Feb. 6, 10 people were killed in a plane crash in Alaska.

The last major crash at Pearson was on Aug. 2, 2005, when an Airbus A340 landing from Paris skidded off the runway and burst into flames amid stormy weather. All 309 passengers and crew aboard Air France Flight 358 survived the crash.

On Monday, Pearson was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 32 mph (51 kph) gusting to 40 mph (65 kph), according to the Meteorological Service of Canada. The temperature was about 16.5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8.6 degrees Celsius).

The Delta flight was cleared to land at about 2:10 p.m. Audio recordings show the control tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow “bump” on the approach.

“It sounds to me like a controller trying to be helpful, meaning the wind is going to give you a bumpy ride coming down, that you’re going to be up and down through the glide path,” said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“So it was windy. But the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that,” Cox said. “The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that.”

The plane came to a rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L, not far from the start of the runway. Just after the crash, tower controllers spoke with the crew of a medical helicopter that had just left Pearson and was returning to help.

“Just so you’re aware, there’s people outside walking around the aircraft there,” a controller said.

“Yeah, we’ve got it. The aircraft is upside down and burning,” the medical helicopter pilot responded.

Cox, who flew for U.S. Air for 25 years and has worked on U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigations, said the CRJ-900 aircraft is a proven aircraft that’s been in service for decades and does a good job of handling inclement weather.

He said it’s unusual for a plane to end up on its roof.

“We’ve seen a couple of cases of takeoffs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it’s pretty rare,” Cox said.

Among the questions that need to be answered, Cox said, is why the crashed plane was missing its right wing.

“If one wing is missing, it’s going to have a tendency to roll over,” he said. “Those are going to be central questions as to what happened to the wing and the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. They will be found, if not today, tomorrow, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will read them out and they will have a very good understanding of what actually occurred here.”

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would head up the investigation and provide any updates. The NTSB in the U.S. said it is leading a team to assist in the Canadian investigation.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement that “the hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he has been in touch with Delta about the crash.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/delta-toronto-airport-minneapolis-4ab235ef49b2d3757c9bd5fd8c6606ce

Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled a vision for the future of Gaza, following closely on the heels of Donald Trump’s contentious plans for the region.

The Israeli Prime Minister shared a blueprint, complete with striking CGI renderings, proposing the transformation of Gaza into an urban oasis. This plan mirrors Trump’s idea to convert Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East” which the former U.S. President announced last week during a press conference with Netanyahu.

According to The Sun, speculation is rife that Trump may have been briefed on Netanyahu’s AI-enhanced vision of Gaza. Nadav Shtrauchler, a previous strategist for Netanyahu, commented to the publication: “I think it’d been shown to Trump one way or another.

“Trump didn’t wake up in the morning and come up with the idea, there would have been routes to this, probably from Israel. It was planted somehow.”

The futuristic designs, labeled “Gaza 2035” potentially influencing Trump, depict the area adorned with avant-garde skyscrapers and connected by a 132-mile railway to NEOM.

The ambitious proposal touts “US dominance” and aims to elevate Gaza “from crisis to prosperity” by completely reconstructing the territory “from nothing”.

This revelation comes amidst the furor caused by Trump, who infamously pledged to “take over” the Gaza Strip and transform it into a luxurious Middle Eastern “Riviera”. The Republican, aged 78, faced global backlash after suggesting that displaced Palestinians should be resettled elsewhere.

Trump claimed his strategy would generate “thousands of jobs” and turn the area into a “magnificent” destination inhabited by “the world’s people”.

Trump remarked: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll make that into an international unbelievable place. The potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable. You have to learn from history, you just can’t let it keep repeating itself.”

Among the numerous leaders to criticise these comments was Sir Keir Starmer, who reiterated his support for a two-state solution as the key to resolving the region’s issues.

Source : https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/163924/benjamin-netanyahu-donald-trump-gaza-s-transformation-2035

South Korean actress Kim Sae-ron has been found dead at her home in Seoul, according to the Yonhap news agency.

A friend discovered the Netflix actress after going to her house.

They called the police who found no signs of foul play, according to Yonhap.

Kim, 24, was one of South Korea’s most promising actresses and starred in a number of box-office hits, most recently in the 2023 hit Netflix series Bloodhounds.

Her career took a hit, however, after she crashed her car while driving drunk in 2022.

She was fined 20 million won (£11,000) over the incident and largely withdrew from acting.

She attempted to return to acting last year but later removed herself again over health issues, according to Yonhap.

Kim rose to prominence in 2009 with her role in A Brand New Life, which saw her appear at the Cannes Film Festival.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/popular-south-korean-actress-found-dead-in-her-home-13311185

JD Vance has taken aim at the UK and Europe over what he claimed was “backsliding” free speech and democracy.

The US vice president pulled no punches when addressing European leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.

“When I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners,” he said, during a speech that roamed across Europe targeting perceived infringes on free speech.

Speaking with unusual directness to some of the US’s closest allies, he added: “Perhaps most concerningly, I look to our very dear friends, the United Kingdom, where the backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs.”

Mr Vance criticised the country for the conviction of 51-year-old Adam Smith-Connor, who was given a conditional discharge for breaching a safe zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.

“After British law enforcement spotted him and demanded to know what he was praying for, Adam replied simply, it was on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before,” Mr Vance said.

He then went on to talk about “safe access zones” in Scotland – a 200m wide area (150m in England) outside abortion clinics to stop anti-abortion campaigners leafleting, holding vigils, or showing graphic images to people near the sites.

‘New sheriff in town’

UKRAINE’S brave President Volodymyr Zelensky has today called for the creation of an “Army of Europe” to take on Russia.

Zelensky spoke about his ambitions to create a continental military force at the Munich Security Conference – as he blasted Vladimir Putin a “liar, weak and predictable”.

The 47-year-old Ukrainian leader made the comments as he notably left out Washington’s involvement in his European army dream.

It comes amid Donald Trump urging Ukraine to find a resolution to end the war quickly.

President Trump has already shared a phone call with both Zelensky and Putin with all three men looking to agree to a peace deal.

Tyrant Putin is expected to make a number of deranged demands when he finally meets Trump for Ukraine peace for talks.

Whereas Zelensky has said he won’t accept any peace deal unless his country is given security guarantees.

Speaking in Germany today, Zelensky proposed a new plan to achieve safety for Ukraine going forwards.

He said: “Many leaders have talked about Europe and that needs its own military, an army of Europe and I believe the time has come.

“The Armed Forces of Europe must be created.

“Without Ukraine’s army, Europe’s army’s will not be enough to stop Russia.

“Only our army in Europe has real, modern battlefield experience but our army alone is not enough too.

“And we need what you can provide weapons, training, sanctions, financing, political pressure and unity.”

The Ukrainian president said Europe should be looking to create such a military separate from Nato in case “America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it”.

He added that after three years of fighting, Ukraine has managed to build up the foundations of a European army and should now act on it.

“As we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security we must build the Armed Forces of Europe so that Europe’s future depends only on Europeans and decisions about Europe are made in Europe,” he said.

“Europe has everything it takes but it needs to come together.

“We need confidence in our own friends so that others have no choice but to respect Europe’s power and without a European army that is impossible.”

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk appeared to support Zelensky’s calls as he said Europe urgently needs a plan over security.

He said he fears “global players will decide” Europe’s future if they don’t prepare.

The calls for a united force on the continent comes as disagreements over Ukraine’s potential Nato membership continues to rage on.

Ukraine has wanted to be a part of Nato for years – an issue that helped spark Vlad’s initial invasion three years ago.

This would give them protection from any foreign forces as an attack on a Nato country would result in a counter strike conducted by the remaining nations.

Moscow has constantly said they will not allow Ukraine to join the alliance with Putin vowing to continue his assault until he is given these assurances.

The US has also been accused of rolling over to Russia before negotiations had even started following on from Putin and Trump’s positive chat.

Over the past few days, those close to The White House have said Ukraine won’t be allowed to go back to its 2014 borders before the annexing of Crimea.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has also been adamant that there is no chance Ukraine would be allowed to join Nato.

Zelensky told global leaders in Munich he is refusing to accept that Ukraine won’t be allowed a Nato membership.

He even said the organisation needs to stop allowing Putin to dictate things on his terms and instead help Ukraine to prevent a wider war breaking out in Europe.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/13550475/zelenksy-army-europe-russia-putin/

Australia will ban foreign investors from buying existing homes in the country for two years, its government said on Sunday, in an effort to boost under-pressure housing supply.
“We’re banning foreign purchases of established dwellings from April 1, 2025, until March 31 2027,” treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement with housing minister Clare O’Neil. It added that a review would be undertaken on whether the ban would be extended.

Dissatisfaction with housing in Australia reached an all-time high last year and it is an issue that is expected to dominate a general election due by May.
O’Neil said in comments televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corp that the ban would likely free up around 1,800 properties per year for local buyers.
“These initiatives are a small but important part of our already big and broad housing agenda which is focused on boosting supply and helping more people into homes,” the ministers’ statement said.

Housing is the largest contributor to the rising cost of living in Australia and is set to be a key issue at the upcoming election. A recent poll had the centre-left Labor government lagging its main conservative political opposition.
The government recently passed housing reforms including a shared equity scheme and tax incentives for developers, to ease cost pressures and achieve a target of building 1.2 million new homes by 2030.\

Source: https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/australia-put-two-year-ban-foreigners-buying-existing-homes-amid-housing-crunch-2025-02-16/

The UK must be prepared to go to war with Russia if Vladimir Putin decides to escalate his war in eastern Europe, a senior MP has said.

European leaders are scrambling to respond to Donald Trump’s announcement yesterday that he discussed a plan to end the war in Ukraine with the Russian president.

In the House of Commons on Thursday, MPs sharply criticised the move, comparing it to Neville Chamberlain’s ill-fated appeasement campaign that failed to stop the Second World War.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also drawn a stark line between the US president’s position and his own, saying: ‘There’s no negotiation about Ukraine which doesn’t include Ukraine.’

Directing questions at defence minister Maria Eagle in the chamber this afternoon, MPs made clear their concerns over the potential repercussions of Trump’s move.

Sir Julian Lewis, the Conservative former head of the defence select committee, asked: ‘Will the Government impress on President Trump at every possible opportunity that the reason why appeasement led to World War Two was that it left a vacuum in Europe? ‘

He continued: ‘Whereas the reason why the occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of that war did not lead to World War Three was the United States filled any possible vacuum and contained further aggression.

‘So if he is going for a settlement against the wishes of the Ukrainian people, the least he can do is to guarantee directly the security of that part of Ukraine which remains unoccupied.’

Johanna Baxter, the Labour MP for Paisley and South Renfrewshire, echoed his sentiment, saying ‘if reports of the call between President Trump and Moscow are to be believed, then this is less the Art of the Deal and more a charter for appeasement’.

Eagle responded: ‘I’ve already said quite clearly that the fate of Ukraine in these negotiations can’t be determined without Ukraine being fully involved, and that is our priority.

‘At the moment to put them in the strongest position, war fighting is still happening, to put them in the strongest possible position to negotiate from strength.’

Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin told the minister ‘some of the defence chiefs have been expressing this, that we must be ready to fight a war with Russia if necessary, in order to be able to deter Russia’.

He added that this would be necessary ‘if we are to be in any position to guarantee the security of an independent and sovereign Ukraine, after whatever is agreed between President Trump and President Putin’.

Speaking to ITV’s Robert Peston, Sir Keir said his ‘position is the NATO position’.

The PM said: ‘Ukrainians want this conflict to end. It could end tomorrow if Russia stopped the aggression and withdrew its troops, and we must never lose sight of that.

‘But Ukraine needs to be in the strongest possible position. Ukrainians want peace. Those that have had to flee their country want to go back to their country.

‘But this has to be led by Ukraine.’

On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer said Britain is committed to Ukraine being on an ‘irreversible path’ to joining Nato after the US stated Nato membership for Kyiv is not a realistic prospect.

Britain has so far sought to strike a delicate balance between supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and keeping Donald Trump, who says he has agreed with Vladimir Putin to start ‘negotiations’ to end the conflict, on side.

But David Lammy, the UK Foreign Secretary, has told broadcasters: ‘We are still some way from a negotiated peace.’

In a readout of the Prime Minister’s conversation with Mr Zelensky, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: ‘The Prime Minister began by reiterating the UK’s concrete support for Ukraine, for as long as it’s needed.

‘He was unequivocal that there could be no talks about Ukraine, without Ukraine.

‘Ukraine needed strong security guarantees, further lethal aid and a sovereign future, and it could count on the UK to step up, he added.

‘The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s commitment to Ukraine being on an irreversible path to Nato as agreed by allies at the Washington Summit last year.’

Source : https://metro.co.uk/2025/02/13/britain-warned-must-ready-go-war-russia-22554454/

THIS is the ultra-luxury UFO submarine that can dive 650ft under the ocean and host 12-hour undersea parties.

The posh pod can be rented out for all-night bashes – and you can even get married hundreds of metres underwater.

The Triton 660/9 AVA is kitted out with surround sound, mood lighting and climate control for the ultimate custom experience.

The Florida-based engineers Triton Submarines said they “threw out the rule book” when designing the new model.

It can transform into anything from a casino to a cocktail bar during its 12-hour cruises.

The makers promise that “activities are limited only by the owner’s imagination”.

Guests on board are treated to stunning 360-degree views of the ocean, fine dining, spa treatments and subsea gaming experiences.

The swanky sub is oval-shaped and 3 metres long by 5 metres wide.

The space inside is 2.3 metres, leaving plenty of room for even the tallest of passengers.

Eight guests can fit in the plush leather seats alongside the pilot – or six if you plump for the smaller version.

The underwater craft also weighs a hefty 11 tonnes.

That’s because a lot of tough material is needed for the sub to endure the extreme conditions of the deep ocean.

The sub dives to depths where the pressure is 20 times greater than we experience on land.

The all-important controls for the sit in the middle of the vessel, in a space known as the Halo Cockpit.

This sub is also the first to feature the new wireless Hammerhead Controller, which can be used to drive the vessel from any seat in the pod.

Passengers can even have a crack at driving the thing around, under the watchful eye of the pilot.

Triton says the secret to creating such a roomy sub is their “world-first free-form acrylic hulls”.

They add: “As the shape remains constant across its width, so much more of the space is realised as additional headroom, legroom and usable space.”

The Triton sub can be booked for locations around the world, with past dive spots including the Great Barrier Reef, Antarctica, Japan, the Galapagos and the Red Sea.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13537124/inside-ultra-luxury-ufo-submarine/

The U.S. government needs to “delete entire agencies” in a cost and efficiency drive, tech billionaire and Tesla
co-founder and CEO Elon Musk said Thursday when asked about whether the changes he is implementing as part of President Donald Trump’s administration will last beyond Trump’s term.

“I think we do need to delete entire agencies, as opposed to leave part of them behind. … It’s kind of like leaving a weed,” Musk said. “If you don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back. But if you remove the roots of the weed — it doesn’t stop weeds from ever going back, but it makes it harder.”

Musk, who also founded SpaceX and owns social media platform X, made the comments while speaking via video link to an audience at Dubai’s annual World Governments Summit, as part of a conversation hosted by the UAE’s artificial intelligence minister, Omar Sultan Al Olama.

“So we have to really delete entire agencies, many of them,” Musk said. “And that’s not to say there won’t be an increase over time of bureaucracy in some new administration, but it will be from a much lower baseline. So certainly it’s a step in the right direction.”

“Nothing’s forever,” he added, “but I think we can strengthen the foundations of the United States substantially.”

Trump appointed the South African-born engineer and tech entrepreneur as a “special government employee” and the head of a new advisory body called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, under the administration. Musk has been vocal about his aims to improve government efficiency and reduce bureaucracy and regulations, and on Thursday said that such efforts could amount to a $1 trillion reduction in the federal deficit by 2026.

Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/13/elon-musk-calls-for-the-us-government-to-delete-entire-agencies-remove-the-roots-of-the-weed.html

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House, shared his vision of ‘Make India Great Again’. PM Modi said that the joint vision of MAGA and MIGA will become a mega partnership.
MIGA is a phrase inspired by Donald Trump’s famous slogan ‘Make America Great Again’. “In the language of America, it’s Make India Great Again – MIGA. When America and India work together, this MAGA plus MIGA becomes a ‘mega partnership for prosperity’ and it is this mega spirit that gives new scale and scope to our objectives,” said PM Modi while addressing a joint press conference alongside Trump.

“The people of America are well aware of President Trump’s motto ‘MAGA – Make America Great Again.’ The people of India too are focusing on heritage and development as they move forward at a fast pace and with a firm resolve towards the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047,” he added.

Sharing a glimpse from Modi-Trump joint press conference, Union Minister Piyush Goyal wrote on X, “Make America Great Again (MAGA) + Make India Great Again (MIGA) = MEGA Partnership for Prosperity.”

India and the US have decided to take a big leap in broad-basing their strategic ties in several critical areas, with President Trump announcing after talks with PM Modi that Washington is paving the way to provide New Delhi with F-35 fighter jets as part of increasing military supplies by billions of dollars.
After holding wide-ranging talks with PM Modi, Trump said there is a “special bond” between the world’s oldest and largest democracies and both sides decided to shore up cooperation in diverse areas such as energy, critical technologies and connectivity.

PM Modi is the fourth foreign leader to visit Trump in the weeks after the American leader’s inauguration as the 47th President of the US.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/india/maga-miga-mega-pm-modi-sets-new-manta-for-india-us-ties-after-meeting-with-donald-trump-article-118232223

Programmes to tackle HIV, polio, mpox and bird flu have been affected by the freeze on tens of billions of dollars of overseas aid from the US, says the head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

US President Donald Trump has taken steps to close the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), arguing that its spending is “totally unexplainable”.

However, WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged the Trump administration to consider resuming aid funding until other solutions can be found.

HIV treatments and other services have been disrupted in 50 countries, he said at a briefing on Wednesday.

Speaking publicly for the first time about the freeze on US aid funding, at a virtual press conference in Geneva, Dr Tedros said: “There are actions that the US government is taking… which we’re concerned are having a serious impact on global health.”

In particular he pointed to the suspension of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, which he said had halted HIV treatment, testing and prevention services in 50 countries.

He added that a reprieve for life-saving services had not stopped the disruption.

“Clinics are shuttered and health workers have been put on leave,” Dr Tedros said.

Experts in global health have warned of the spread of disease, as well as delays to the development of vaccines and new treatments as a result of the cuts.

Trump has argued that USAID is “incompetent and corrupt”.

He recently announced huge cuts to the agency’s 10,000-strong workforce and the immediate suspension of almost all of its aid programmes.

The agency spends about $40bn (£32bn) – about 0.6% of total US yearly government spending – on humanitarian aid, much of which goes towards health programmes.

The vast majority of USAID money is spent in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, where it is primarily used for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who is working on the White House’s effort to shrink the size of the federal government, has previously claimed that the aid agency is “a criminal organisation”.

Neither Trump nor Musk have provided clear evidence to support their claims.

As well as the freeze on USAID, President Trump has taken steps to withdraw the United States from the WHO.

Under the Biden administration the US was the largest funder of the UN’s health agency and in 2023 it contributed almost one-fifth of the agency’s budget.

Dr Tedros said Trump’s decision was affecting collaboration between countries on global health threats. He also said the US had reduced its reporting of bird flu cases in humans.

The WHO says it has employed emergency measures similar to those used during the Covid pandemic to fill the gaps where there are shortages – in life-saving antiretroviral medication, for example, which is used to treat people living with HIV.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czj3z290ngyo

Google has removed cultural events like Black History Month honoring African Americans as well as Pride Month from being listed as default holidays or national observances on Google Calendar.

Several other events and holidays like Women’s History Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, National Hispanic Heritage Month and Indigenous People Month were also removed from Calendar.

Google has yet to list out the cultural events that it has removed. A spokesperson for the tech giant told the Associated Press agency that it first made the changes in the middle of 2024.

“Maintaining hundreds of moments manually and consistently globally wasn’t scalable or sustainable,” Google said in its statement to AP, adding: “So in mid-2024 we returned to showing only public holidays and national observances from timeanddate.com globally, while allowing users to manually add other important moments.”

It is not clear why the changes are being noticed now, but they come as tech companies publicly pull away from their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office, terminating “illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/google-calendar-removes-black-history-month-and-pride-month/a-71580642

Google Maps has changed the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America for people using the app in the US.

Explaining the move, Google said it was making the change as part of “a longstanding practice” of following name changes when updated by official government sources.

It said the Gulf – which is bordered by the US, Cuba and Mexico – would not be changed for people using the app in Mexico, and users elsewhere in the world will see the label: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.

It comes after President Donald Trump ordered the body of water to be renamed in US government documents after he returned to office last month.

Mexico had decried the move, arguing that the US had no legal right to change the Gulf’s name.

The change was made by Google on Monday after the Geographic Names Information System, a US government database run by the Interior Department, listed an update to the Gulf’s name.

The listing reads: “The Gulf of America, formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico, with an average depth 5300 ft is a major body of water bordered and nearly landlocked by North America with the Gulf’s eastern, northern, and northwestern shores in the U.S. and its southwestern and southern shores in Mexico.”

It said the change was made in accordance with Trump’s executive order to “restore names that honor American Greatness”.

Following the signing of the order, President Trump proclaimed 9 February as “Gulf of America Day”.

“I call upon public officials and all the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities,” a White House statement said.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum had asked Google to reconsider its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

She argued the US could not legally change the Gulf’s name because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dictates that an individual country’s sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles out from the coastline.

The Associated Press, a global media organisation, said that it would not change the name of the Gulf of Mexico in its style guide – which is used by most US media outlets.

Because of the style guide decision, the White House said it was barring an AP reporter from covering an executive order signing in the Oval Office.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp820m733p3o

Fifteen measles cases — mostly in school-aged children — have been confirmed in a small county in West Texas with one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state.

South Plains Public Health District Director Zach Holbrooks said Monday that his department was first notified in late January about the first two cases in Gaines County, which he said were “two children who had seen a physician in Lubbock.”

Some of the cases appear to be connected to private religious schools in the district, said Holbrooks, who cautioned that the investigation is ongoing.

“I wouldn’t say they’re all connected, but our teams are looking into exposure sites and the background of those cases,” he said.

Local health officials set up a drive-through vaccination clinic last week and are offering screening services to residents.

The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60. This month, health officials in metro Atlanta are working to contain a measles case that spread to two unvaccinated family members.

Texas law allows children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs. The percentage of kids with exemptions has risen over the last decade from .76% in 2014 to 2.32% last year, according to Texas Department of State Health Services data.

Gaines County has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine: Nearly 14% of children from kindergarten through grade 12 had an exemption in the 2023-24 school year, which is more than five times the state average of 2.32% and beyond the national rate of 3.3%.

But the number of unvaccinated kids in the county is likely significantly higher, DSHS spokeswoman Lara Anton said, because Gaines County has many children who are homeschooled and whose data would not be reported.

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccines is a two-shot series: The first is recommended at 12 to 15 months old and second between 4 to 6 years old. The vaccine is required to attend most public schools in the U.S.

But vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks. Lawmakers across the country have proposed various vaccine requirement changes at a time when anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is awaiting confirmation as the secretary of Health and Human Services.

One of the early Gaines County cases traveled to neighboring New Mexico while they were still infectious, Anton said, but there were no immediate reports of infection. New Mexico Department of Health spokesman Robert Nott said the agency has been in communication with Texas officials but there was no known exposure to measles in his state.

“We’re going to watch this very closely,” Nott said.

Two cases of measles were reported in early January in the Houston area, but Holbrooks said the West Texas cases don’t appear to be connected.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/measles-outbreak-gaines-county-texas-religious-exemptions-cacdae1843fa918964a1b8e01fe757f5

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing additional tariff cuts ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that could boost American exports to India and avoid a potential trade war, government officials said.
Modi’s trip to the U.S. on Wednesday and Thursday comes as Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries, a move aimed at reshaping global trade relationships in favour of the United States.

Trump has not specified which countries would be hit but has previously called India a “very big abuser” on trade and stressed that India should buy more American-made security equipment to move toward a fair bilateral trading relationship.
India is considering tariff reductions in at least a dozen sectors, including electronic, medical and surgical equipment, along with some chemicals, to raise U.S. exports. These reductions align with New Delhi’s domestic production plans, three government officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that concessions are being considered for items that India primarily sources from the U.S. or has potential to buy more of, such as dish antennas and wood pulp. Modi is expected to discuss tariffs with Trump next week and India is open to discussing a possible mini trade deal.
The early visit hopes to avoid a “trade war-like situation that is happening between U.S. and China,” a third official said. Trump imposed sweeping 10% tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to respond with duties on American energy.

The officials did not wish to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to media. India’s trade ministry, foreign affairs ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment e-mailed outside official work days.
The discussions on tariff concessions follow a reduction in India’s average import tariff rates to 11% from 13% on several items in the country’s annual budget, and a cut in taxes on high-end bikes and luxury cars.

India is also reviewing surcharges levied on more than 30 items, including luxury cars and solar cells.
The upcoming meeting between Modi and Trump will focus on trade, defense cooperation and technology, but has been overshadowed by the recent deportation of Indians from the U.S.
One of the three officials said the meeting will help offer political direction to ties between the two countries and detailed talks on tariffs will follow the trip.
Despite Trump’s criticism of India’s trade practices, the U.S. president has called Modi “fantastic”.
The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner and two-way trade surpassed $118 billion in 2023/24, with India posting a surplus of $32 billion.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/indias-modi-meet-trump-with-planned-tariff-concessions-2025-02-10/

There’s a new race in space, but it’s not where you might think. It’s happening close to home – in the nearest bit of space, right on the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.

High in the skies of Earth, a new space race is underway. Here, just above the boundary where space begins, companies are trying to create a new class of daring satellites. Not quite high-altitude planes and not quite low-orbiting satellites, these sky skimmers are designed to race around our planet in an untapped region, with potentially huge benefits on offer.

Roughly 10,000 satellites are orbiting our planet right now, at speeds of up to 17,000mph (27,000km/h). Every one of these delicate contraptions is in constant free-fall and would drop straight back down to Earth were it not for the blistering speeds at which they travel. It’s their considerable sideways momentum, perfectly stabilised against the Earth’s gravitational pull downwards, that keeps satellites in orbit.

A new class of satellites are aiming to push the limits of this balancing act and plough a much more precarious, lower orbit that would skim the top of Earth’s atmosphere. Known as Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO), spacecraft at these altitudes have to battle against the significantly greater drag from the air in the upper reaches of the atmosphere than their loftier cousins, lest they get pushed out of the sky. Should they manage it, however, such satellites might achieve something even more jaw-dropping – they could potentially fly forever.

“When you start describing it to people, it starts to sound like a perpetual motion machine,” says Spence Wise, senior vice-president at Redwire, an aerospace firm in Florida. A perpetual motion machine is not meant to be possible. But it almost is, in this instance.

A handful of pioneering companies have begun work on designs for satellites that may be able to orbit the planet at these unusually low altitudes while simultaneously harvesting air and using it to make propellant – literally on the fly. This new generation of orbiters could enable ultra-high-definition surveillance of activities on the ground, or superfast satellite-based communications.

If you want to send something into orbit, you have to decide how high your satellite is going to fly. Earth orbits are generally described in terms of altitude and are categorised into different sections. The highest, at some 22,000 miles (36,000km) and above is called High Earth orbit. Here, satellites enter a geostationary position, meaning they are always above the same location on Earth below. This is useful for telecommunications and weather monitoring, for example. Next is Medium Earth orbit, which spans from roughly 22,000 miles (36,000km) down to 1,200 miles (2,000km) above the planet’s surface. Below this is Low Earth orbit, which stretches down to altitudes of 250 miles (400km), where the International Space Station (ISS) is found.

Even further below this lies VLEO, loosely defined as anything below the ISS and down to an altitude of about 60 miles (100km). Operating here is difficult because of the influence of Earth’s atmosphere. “The atmosphere will increase exponentially as you come down,” says Hugh Lewis, a professor of astronautics and a space debris expert at the University of Southampton in the UK.

That creates more drag on your satellite, which can spell doom. As molecules in the atmosphere smash into the satellite, they rob the vehicle of its momentum, causing the tug of our planet’s gravity to drag it towards the ground.

A satellite left in medium Earth orbit or above would carry on circling our planet for millennia. In VLEO, however, it would last barely months, weeks, or even days depending on its speed, shape and mass, dictating the amount of drag it produces and thus its lifetime. Once a satellite dips to an altitude of about 60 miles (100km), the end is imminent. The intense friction created by the thicker atmosphere subjects the satellite to temperatures of thousands of degrees, ultimately tearing it apart.

All satellites pass through VLEO on their way up or down, but not many have purposefully tried to stay there. One such spacecraft, however, was the European Space Agency’s Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite. Launched in 2009, it orbited at an altitude of around 155 miles (250km), using an ion propulsion system to fire out charged particles behind the spacecraft. This gave it a constant level of thrust that could counteract the drag of the atmosphere.

GOCE was intended to measure Earth’s gravitational field with extreme precision, which it achieved. But it also demonstrated the design choices that were necessary for operating in VLEO. It had a sleek, elongated form that helped it to overcome atmospheric drag. “It looked like a dart,” says Lewis. GOCE ultimately ran out of fuel and burned up in the atmosphere on re-entry in 2013.

Several companies are now trying to do something even more impressive. They are developing technology to harvest molecules from the thin layer of air that is present in VLEO in order to actually propel satellites here. Such a system, called Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP), has been made possible by advancements in electric and ion propulsion in recent years. In essence, it involves fixing a large bucket or opening to the front of the satellite, into which gas molecules from the atmosphere flow before they are ionised to create plasma that generates thrust.

“The idea is to use the same air slowing down your satellite as a propellant,” says Francesco Romano, a scientist at the Swiss Plasma Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, who has previously studied this technology. Using electric and magnetic fields, the engine would ionise gas from the atmosphere, taking away one electron from each molecule, to produce a free electron and an ion. Then, using magnets, the electrons and ions are pushed out the back of the spacecraft, producing thrust. “Theoretically, if you can generate a thrust that is the same as your drag, you stay at this altitude for an infinite amount of time,” says Romano.

To date, an assortment of experimental ABEP systems have been able to produce relatively small amounts of thrust at ground level, but their feasibility in orbit has yet to be properly tested.

One company investigating the potential of ABEP is Stellar Advanced Concepts in London. Together with another firm in the Netherlands and the University of Manchester, the company received a grant of £390,000 ($510,000) from the British government towards their efforts in July 2024. They hope to launch a demonstration of the technology into space by 2027. “That would be a small satellite with a small payload, maybe an Earth observation camera of some kind, as a proof of principle,” says Newsam.

A start-up called Kreios Space, based in Igualada, Spain, is also working on an ABEP prototype it aims to fly by 2026. In Kreios’s case, this would be a small satellite “that allows us to do all the testing in orbit in different altitudes,” says Adrián Senar Tejedor, the company’s CEO and co-founder. The optimal altitude for thrust and drag balancing is expected to be between 125 to 155 miles (200 to 250km). “That’s the sweet spot,” says Senar Tejedor.

But he points out that significant contracts for developing this technology are emerging on the other side of the Atlantic.

The US Department of Defense’s Otter program has already committed more than $20m (£16m) to help several companies develop air-breathing VLEO satellites. One of them, Redwire is designing a sleek “orbital drone” called SabreSat that could potentially achieve endless VLEO orbits. “That is the intent,” says Wise.

Redwire has a design for a satellite with solar panels facing edge-on to its motion, like the fins of a fish, in order to reduce drag on the spacecraft. The build would be modular, so that different versions of the satellite could fly with different instruments on board. “You can think of it like a ship,” says Wise. “It has bulkheads, and we’re able to add additional bulkheads to increase the length.”

The European arm of Redwire is concurrently developing its own VLEO satellite, called Phantom, as part of a European Space Agency (Esa) project called Skimsat. “We’re currently in the middle of the design stage, and the team is working towards a launch in 2027 or 2028,” says Juan Pablo Ramos, business development manager for Redwire in Antwerp, Belgium.

Phantom will not use air-breathing technology, however. Instead, it will rely on a specific blend of undisclosed materials on the satellite to reduce drag and an aerodynamic cone-shaped front. “The cone is designed to improve drag and protect the instruments,” says Ramos.

Getting to orbit soon is important. “I expect it to become increasingly popular,” says Newsam. “I do think it’s important to have first-mover advantage. Whoever gains the credibility of being able to produce an ABEP system, they would win the orders. But there should end up being a reasonably big market.”

There are some very good reasons for operating a satellite in VLEO. The first is Earth imaging – the closer you are to Earth, the higher resolution your images can be. “You could either have smaller cameras and gain the same quality of data, or the same camera and get a higher resolution,” adds Newsam.

That might be useful for the military, but also for civilian purposes too. “There are lots of applications in maritime, agriculture, wildfire monitoring,” says Senar Tejedor. And there could be scientific benefits from studying the atmosphere in VLEO. Putting sensors on satellites operating here “would be a dream”, says Sean Elvidge, an assistant professor of space environment at the University of Birmingham in the UK. “It would tell us an awful lot about the environment.”

The other major application of being in VLEO is that you are closer to the ground for communications. That is particularly useful for space internet services, like SpaceX’s Starlink network, which currently beams the internet to receivers on the ground from higher orbits. By using lower satellites in VLEO, the antennas can act like mobile phone towers and beam the internet straight to your phone. “Going direct to a cell phone is a challenging task to do from space,” says Tim Farrar, a satellite communications expert in California. “These lower [orbits] could enable a direct-to-cell constellation.”

The overall global market for VLEO satellite services could be vast. “We expect it to be around $15bn (£11.5bn) in 2032,” says Senar Tejedor.

An oft-touted benefit of VLEO, aside from the various novel applications, is that this kind of orbit is self-cleaning. Generally, defunct or dead satellites in VLEO will eventually fall back into the deeper atmosphere and break up, limiting the volume of space junk that would otherwise be left orbiting Earth.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250207-sky-skimmers-the-race-to-send-satellites-into-very-low-earth-orbits

More than 200,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany, on Saturday against far-right extremism ahead of the country’s general election.

The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is in second place in recent polls and has prompted widespread protests across the country before voters cast their ballots on Feb. 23.

The protest at Munich’s Theresienwiese — where Oktoberfest takes place each year — brought a significantly larger crowd than expected, according to the German dpa news agency. The event’s organizer estimated the crowd could be up to 320,000 people, many of whom carried signs against the AfD with slogans like, “Racism and hatred is not an alternative.”

The protest was supported by activist groups as well as the Munich Film Festival, churches and Munich soccer clubs FC Bayern and TSV 1860, among others. Police told dpa that the demonstration was peaceful.

Similar protests attracted large crowds on Saturday in Hanover, Rostock, and elsewhere in Germany, mirroring other demonstrations that have occurred across the country in recent weeks.

Last month, at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a huge crowd blew whistles, sang anti-fascist songs and carried banners denouncing AfD. Activists said they hoped the rally also would draw attention to other far-right parties in Europe and the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Demonstrators have recently also opposed Friedrich Merz, the center-right leader and front-runner in the upcoming election, and his Christian Democrats for last month sending to parliament proposals for tough new migration rules that received AfD’s backing.

The protesters say Merz and his party broke Germany’s unwritten post-Nazi promise by all democratic parties to never pass any rule or resolution in parliament with the support of far-right, nationalist parties like the AfD. Merz insists his position is unchanged and that he didn’t and won’t work with the party.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/germany-munich-election-afd-protests-29cdd1441e670a9f13394d2a44f035a5

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un criticised trilateral military cooperation among the United States, Japan and South Korea for raising tensions in the region and vowed countermeasures, including the further development of nuclear forces.
Kim said U.S. deployments of nuclear strategic assets, war exercises and military cooperation with Japan and South Korea were inviting military imbalance in the region and raising a grave challenge to the security environment, state media KCNA reported on Sunday.

“The DPRK does not want unnecessary tension of the regional situation but will take sustained countermeasures to ensure the regional military balance,” Kim said during a visit to the defence ministry on Saturday to commemorate the founding day of its Army.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
U.S. President Donald Trump, after a meeting on Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, said he would have relations with North Korea, as they expressed concern over its nuclear program.

But during the visit, Kim “clarified once again the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces,” according to the report.
On Russia’s war with Ukraine, Kim said: “The army and people of the DPRK will invariably support and encourage the just cause of the Russian army and people to defend their sovereignty, security and territorial integrity in keeping with the spirit of the treaty on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the DPRK and Russia.”

Last month, South Korea said it suspected North Korea of preparing to send more troops to Russia, in addition to about 11,000 soldiers who had been dispatched for the three-year-long war.
In a separate commentary released later on Sunday, North Korea’s KCNA again criticised South Korea’s military activity with the United States this year and warned that aggressive actions would be met by undesired consequences.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-vows-further-develop-nuclear-forces-2025-02-08/

Blood-red waters that filled a winding waterway near the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, raised a stink as images circulated on social media on Friday.

The area is home to tanneries and other industries that process animal hides into leather using chemicals, but along part of its banks are numerous homes and an ecological reserve.

Photos and footage raised fears that industrial chemicals had been dumped into the Sarandi Stream, which flows into the Plate River on the city’s southern outskirts.

Officials in the Avellaneda municipality, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of the Argentine capital, said they suspected the presence of aniline, a toxic substance used in medicines and dyes.

‘The smell woke us up’

The river looks like “a river of blood,” resident Maraa Ducomls told the AFP news agency. “The smell woke us up. In the daytime, when we looked at this side of the river, it was completely red, all stained.”

The Environment Ministry for Buenos Aires province said it had taken samples from the river to determine which substance caused the water to turn red. The ministry said the coloration could have been caused by “organic” substances.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/argentina-alarm-as-river-runs-blood-red/a-71544607

Surgery is scary at the best of times, but what if your surgeon was controlling the scalpel from halfway across the world?

This could be the new reality within a matter of years as technology companies look roll out 6G networks worldwide, according to a senior figure involved in its development.

6G’s nanosecond fast speed could now make ‘online surgeries’ possible for the first time.

What will make 6G unlike any other previous mobile networks is its latency, which is the time it takes for data to travel from a device to the network.

‘6G is a game-changer,’ said Greg Flak, a senior manager in networking and planning at tech company AWTG.

AWTG were instrumental in the implementation of 5G across parts the UK and are working alongside universities in the testing of 6G.

Flak added: ‘6G will be ten times faster than 5G and have fifty times lower latency.’

6G will be as close to ‘real time’ you could get, as the latency will be nanoseconds, compared to the 10 milliseconds it is with 5G.

‘It would not be detectable for the user, that is a massive amount of time for equipment,’ Flak told Metro at TechEx Global Technology Conference in London.

The results could be revolutionary for the health industry, argues Flak, and could even lead to the very first ‘online surgeries’.

‘The doctor is remote somewhere in India, and doing the surgery in the US with a robot’

‘This requires no delay. A surgeon will have to react in real time, every single millisecond from machine to machine counts. That is why it is possible with 6G.’

The latency of 6G could also make automated, or self-driving cars, ‘way safer’ because it allows for faster decision making and environment analysis.

Flak says that 6G could hit our devices by as soon as 2026, or 2027, even though the technology ‘is not ready yet.’

In order to transmit larger amounts of data, the frequency at which the data travels will have to be higher.

The equipment needed to transmit this higher frequency is yet to be manufactured.

Flak said: ‘For a ten times higher frequency for 6G,the antennas will start to be really microscopic.

‘It’s very hard to manufacture the transmitters that will be generating those kinds of frequencies.

‘Consumer equipment still needs to be manufactured and tested.

‘There is no 6G network already populated in the world. There are only test networks in the lab.’

The higher frequency will also mean a shorter range 6G can reach, limiting how effective the coverage can be.

‘‘I don’t think that we should expect 6G to be widely populated, because of the higher frequency,’ added Flak.

‘It will first only be used in small areas where there is high demand.’

An equally ambitious vision of care in England was channeled by Jake Parkinson, Intelligent Automation Lead at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Source : https://metro.co.uk/2025/02/07/surgeons-soon-operating-a-different-country-22510702/

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday denied the U.S. State Department’s claim that his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free.

Mulino said he had told U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the U.S. State Department’s statement suggesting otherwise late Wednesday.

“I completely reject that statement yesterday,” Mulino said during his weekly press conference, adding that he had asked Panama’s ambassador in Washington to dispute the State Department’s statement. He was scheduled to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday.

On Wednesday evening, the U.S. State Department said via X that “U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year.”

The Panama Canal Authority put out its own terse statement later Wednesday night saying it had “not made any adjustments” to the fees.

Mulino said the U.S. statement “really surprises me because they’re making an important, institutional statement from the entity that governs United States foreign policy under the president of the United States based on a falsity. And that’s intolerable.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with Mulino and canal administrators and visited the critical trade route earlier this week, said on Thursday from the Dominican Republic that he had no confusion about his discussions with Panama, but “I respect very much the fact that Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow.”

“The United States has a treaty obligation to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack,” Rubio said. “That treaty obligation would have to be enforced by the armed forces of the United States, particularly the U.S. Navy. I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.”

Rubio had carried a message from Trump that China’s influence at the canal was unacceptable.

Rubio had told Mulino that Trump believed that China’s presence in the canal area may violate a treaty that led the United States to turn the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal.

Canal administrators said they were open to discussing giving U.S. warships priority in crossing the canal, but did not say they had considered waiving fees.

Mulino said via X that he was scheduled to speak to Trump on Friday.

Since 1998, U.S. warships, including submarines, have transited the Panama Canal 994 times. They accounted for just 0.3% of the canal’s traffic during that period. The canal received $25.4 million in total fees for those crossings, according to data from the canal authority.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/panama-canal-trump-rubio-hegseth-b623a51ac94ef2a738195e8b894e2a8b

German voters are overwhelmingly concerned about foreign election interference according to a new poll published by the Brussels-based digital industry association Bitkom.

Overall, the poll found that 88% of those questioned — the survey polled just over 1,000 eligible voters — expressed fear that outside forces, whether governments, groups or individuals, would actively attempt to sway the vote through social media campaigns.

Ranked highest among those suspected of nefarious activity was Russia (45%), followed by the US (42%) and China (26%). There was also concern voiced over East European actors (8%).

Those voters polled also provided insight into how they form their political opinions, with 82% citing conversations with friends and family, 76% television and 69% the internet.

Some 80% of respondents felt the next government should address the problem of potential internet and social media misinformation by prioritizing digital policy.

Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst picked up on a trend in which 71% of respondents called for a new independent ministry to be created to address the issue, saying, “The new digital ministry must be equipped with all the necessary rights and resources, needs its own budget and a digital proviso for new laws and projects.”

German voters already seeing disinformation

One-third of those voters who say they use the internet as a source of news and information told Bitkom that they had already seen misinformation online.

The biggest concerns expressed by voters overwhelmingly had to do with the threat of so-called deepfakes — or realistic but entirely fake videos, photos or audio — and targeted disinformation. Some 56% of respondents said German democracy was ill-prepared to counter such threats.

Another 30% of respondents said they had already run into misinformation about the coming election online.

“Voter awareness for disinformation is increasing,” said Bitkom’s Wintergerst. “That is an important first step against Fake News. Disinformation can dramatically influence Germany’s federal elections by generally skewing public opinion and defaming candidates or parties.”

Wintergerst called elections the “heart of or democracy,” but warned that “disinformation undermines trust in the democratic process.” On a positive note, he added that “an informed society is the best protection against digital manipulation.”

German voters suspicious of Russian, US meddling

Among those countries with a reputation for foreign election interference, Russia has earned a top spot. Its well-documented troll farms, its use of bots and its efforts in past US and European elections provide ample evidence thereof.

Russia also has an antagonistic relationship with most European countries, is interested in driving EU disunity and has plenty of axes to grind with all but the most extreme populist parties on the continent — both left and right.

One glaringly obvious source of active US interference is Elon Musk.

The world’s richest man, Donald Trump’s biggest single donor and the owner of the social media platform X, Musk has been brazen in his insults of German leaders and his backing of the far-right and in part extreme Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, calling it the country’s only hope.

In early January, Musk, who has 216 million followers on X, sat down with AfD leader Alice Weidel for a rambling one-hour live discussion on the platform. He has also made a name for himself by pushing far-right extremists in the UK, using his outsized media presence — and lack of accountability — to push for government change.

US social media companies have generally abdicated responsibility for keeping disinformation in check, arguing consumers need to be aware of what they read and shirking any gatekeeping responsibility for the masses of disinformation generated and distributed on their sites.

It remains an open question as to whether the EU, which generally has tougher Code of Practice on Disinformation standards than the US (as seen in the EU’S Digital Services Act, or DSA), is up to the task of holding those sites responsible.

Domestic threats cannot be ignored — social media and the far-right

China was the third entity mentioned in the study and is known for actively engaging in malign cyber activities. Beyond its digital acts, the country has also found its way into Germany’s political system by infiltrating political parties.

Specifically, questions have been raised about Chinese influence within the far-right AfD as well as an unholy Chinese-Russian alliance that has plagued the party.

Beyond party boss Weidel’s long and unclear relationship with China, the Kremlin-friendly AfD was most famously embroiled in a Chinese spy scandal when the party’s top EU candidate, Maximilian Krah, was found to have a Chinese spy working in his office.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germany-nearly-90-of-voters-fear-foreign-manipulation/a-71528481

Thousands of protesters set fire to the home of Bangladesh’s founding leader, as his daughter, ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a fiery social media speech calling on her supporters to stand against the interim government.
Witnesses said several thousand protesters, some armed with sticks, hammers, and other tools, gathered around the historic house and independence monument, while others brought a crane and excavator to demolish the building.

The rally was organised alongside a broader call, dubbed “Bulldozer Procession”, to disrupt Hasina’s scheduled 9 p.m. online address on Wednesday.
Protesters, many aligned with the “Students Against Discrimination” group, had expressed their fury over Hasina’s speech, which they viewed as a challenge to the newly formed interim government.
Tensions have been escalating in Bangladesh since August 2024, when mass protests forced Hasina to flee to neighbouring India.

The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has struggled to maintain control as protests and unrest have continued. Demonstrators have attacked symbols of Hasina’s government, including the house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which was first set ablaze in August.
A symbol of the country’s establishment, the house is where Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal), as he is popularly known, declared Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.

A few years later it became the site of a national tragedy. Mujibur Rahman and most of his family were assassinated at the house in 1975. Hasina, who survived the attack, later transformed the building into a museum dedicated to her father’s legacy.
“They can demolish a building, but not the history. History takes its revenge,” Hasina said in her speech on Wednesday.
She urged the people of Bangladesh to stand against the interim government, accusing them of seizing power in an unconstitutional manner.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-protesters-torch-ousted-pm-hasinas-fathers-home-2025-02-06/

Indian opposition lawmakers questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and demanded a discussion in parliament on Thursday over what they said was ill-treatment of 104 Indian immigrants deported by the U.S.
A U.S. military plane carrying the immigrants landed on Wednesday in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in Punjab state, part of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. The deportation came a week before Trump is expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.

All immigrants, barring children, were handcuffed during the flight, The Times of India and the Indian Express newspapers reported, quoting unnamed officials in Punjab who said they had spoken to the deportees.
The deportees underwent hours of scrutiny at Amritsar airport before police escorted them out in small groups in police vehicles. Reuters was unable to speak to the immigrants.
Some of them were flown on a regular flight to Ahmedabad in Gujarat state on Thursday, closer to their homes, said a police official, who did not want to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

They were escorted out of the Ahmedabad airport by security personnel, according to a Reuters witness. Most of the others are from Punjab or the neighbouring state of Haryana, police have said.
“Reports have surfaced of these individuals being shackled and treated in a degrading manner during their deportation process, raising serious concerns about their human dignity and rights,” opposition Congress party lawmaker Gaurav Gogoi said in a notice to the secretary general of the lower house of parliament.

In a separate notice by another Congress party lawmaker, Manickam Tagore urged Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to make an immediate statement in parliament clarifying the Modi government’s stand and steps taken to address the issue.
The Indian foreign ministry and the U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Both houses of parliament were adjourned on Thursday as opposition lawmakers shouted slogans demanding a government response.

Migration has been among the key issues discussed by India and the U.S. since Trump assumed office last month, and is also expected to come up during Trump’s talks with Modi.
Although Indian immigrants have been deported by previous U.S. administrations, it was the first time Washington used a military aircraft to do so. It was also the farthest destination for such flights using a military aircraft.
The Trump administration has increasingly turned to the military to help carry out its immigration agenda, using military aircraft to deport migrants and opening military bases to house them.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-opposition-questions-modi-reported-us-mistreatment-deportees-2025-02-06/

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has vowed to take over the devastated Gaza Strip and “level” the site before looking to redevelop it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Republican’s clear plan to help rebuild the war-torn strip saying it will “change history”.

Trump said America “will do a job with it” if they own the Gaza Strip and take full responsibility to dismantle it safely after years of torment for the people of Palestine.

He added it is a “very dangerous place to be” at the moment and requires America’s help to rebuild completely.

Trumps Middle East envoy said they plan on creating a three to five-year timeline for the reconstruction of Gaza.

Detailed plans are yet to be revealed over the potential demolition plot but the newly-inaugurated President said it will involve a complete reconstruction.

He said they would destroy all of the buildings in the war zone before beginning to “create an economic development”.

This would create “unlimited numbers of jobs and housing”, he added.

Trump then urged as many countries as possible to take in the displaced Palestinians so the upheaval of Gaza could be completed peacefully.

The remarks were made in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from The White House.

A smiling Netanyahu described Trump as the “greatest friend Israel has ever had”.

Trump added he has spoken to dozens of people who “love the idea” of the US taking over the strip.

Last week, Trump revealed radical plans to “clean out” the strip after he described Gaza as a “demolition site”.

He said: “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.

“Almost everything is demolished and people are dying there.”

At the end of January, Trump called on neighbouring Arab nations to take in more Palestinians.

He echoed these thoughts again today and said places like Egypt and Jordan should offer to take in as many people as possible.

Gaza’s two million inhabitants should instead “go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts”, he said.

The move “could be temporary” or “long-term”, he said.

Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority condemned Trump’s proposal last month.

Trump’s plans would also be a stark change from the US’s previous policy which promoted a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

The pre-war population of Gaza was over two million people and over 45,000 people have been killed since October 7, 2023, according to the United Nations.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13455818/trump-gaza-strip-plan-netanyahu/

Hundreds of people left Santorini on ferries and planes on Tuesday to reach safety in Athens as a series of quakes kept shaking the famous Greek tourist island.
Hundreds of quakes have been registered every few minutes in the sea between the volcanic islands of Santorini and Amorgos, in the Aegean Sea, in recent days, prompting authorities to shut schools in Santorini and the small nearby islands of Ios, Amorgos and Anafi until Friday.

A tremor with a magnitude of 4.9 was recorded by the Athens Geodynamic Institute at 0246 GMT on the island, most of whose popular white and blue villages cling to steep cliffs over the sea.
Hundreds of permanent residents and workers rushed to a port early on Tuesday to embark for the Greek capital.
Flights out of Santorini to Athens were full, Greek air carrier Aegean Airlines said on Tuesday. A total of 2,500 to 2,700 people were expected to have flown out since Monday by the end of the day, it added.

“We are going to leave because I am afraid, there are constantly earthquakes, we have to leave for the kids, so the kids can calm down,” said Beni Ouklala, 38, who has temporary work on the island.

Others were unfazed. “We will stay here, why should we leave? If something happens it happens,” said Eftichis Diamantopouulos, 63, a tourist boat captain.
Santorini throngs with hundreds of thousands of tourists in the summer. It is much quieter at this time of the year, but with seismologists estimating that the intense seismic activity could take days or weeks to abate, local authorities have drafted an emergency accommodation plan.

“We have (planned for) places for shelters for the population without structures and on level surfaces, there are eight places that can accommodate people,” said Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos.
Emergency rescue crews were also on the ground, while people were advised to stay out of coastal areas due to the risk of landslides and avoid indoor gatherings.
Some hotels started emptying their pools as they were told that the water load made buildings vulnerable and construction activities have ceased.
Greece is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in Europe as it sits at the boundary of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates whose constant interaction prompts frequent quakes.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hundreds-flee-santorini-quakes-disrupt-life-2025-02-04/

A total of 205 Indian nationals, who had illegally entered the US, have been deported on a US military aircraft that took off from Texas about six hours back, sources have told NDTV. The sources said each deported Indian national is verified, indicating New Delhi’s involvement in the deportation process. This is likely the first of many such flights that will bring illegal Indian immigrants in the US back.

A C-17 US military aircraft is bringing the Indian nationals back home. Here is a trivia — unless fitted with an air-transportable galley, the US Air Force C-17 has a single toilet onboard for 205 passengers.

The deportation of illegal migrants is in line with US President Donald Trump’s hardline stand against illegal immigrants in the US. Earlier, US military aircraft flew illegal immigrants deported to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras.

The first round of deportation of illegal Indian nationals has taken amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would fly to the US next week. This will be his first visit after Trump took over as US President for the second time. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar had earlier said New Delhi is open to the “legitimate return” of Indian nationals living ‘illegally’ abroad, including in the US.

“For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came,” Trump told reporters last month.

The US President has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that India “will do what’s right” when it comes to taking back illegal Indian immigrants. According to a Bloomberg News report, India and the US have identified 18,000-odd Indian migrants who entered the US illegally.

The Ministry of External Affairs has said India is against illegal immigration because it is linked to several forms of organised crime.

“For Indians not just in the United States, but anywhere in the world, if they are Indian nationals and they are overstaying, or they are in a particular country without proper documentation, we will take them back, provided documents are shared with us so that we can verify their nationality and that they are indeed Indians. If that happens to be the case, we will take things forward and facilitate their return to India,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/205-indians-on-us-military-flight-carrying-deported-immigrants-from-texas-7629252

A car explosion in northern Syria on Monday has killed at least 20 people, the Syrian presidency said, vowing to hold those responsible “for this criminal act” to account.

The blast took place on a main road on the outskirts of Syria’s northern city Manbij, the civil defense said. Fourteen women and one man were killed, and fifteen other women were injured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) put the death toll at 18 civilians, including 14 women.

Since the lightning rebellion which toppled the rule of Bashar Assad in December, Manbij has been the scene of fighting between the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed fighters.

Spate of car bomb attacks in Manbij

Most of those killed were women farm workers who were being transported in a vehicle next to the exploding car, state news agency SANA reported, citing the civil defense, also known as the White Helmets. It added that the death toll was likely to climb.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The explosion is the second in three days. On Saturday, four civilians were killed and nine more were injured in another car bomb attack in Manbij.

Munir Mustafa, the deputy director of the White Helmets, said Monday’s car bomb explosion was the seventh in Manbij in just over a month.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/syria-car-bomb-explosion-kills-at-least-20/a-71489683

CANADA and Mexico breathed a sigh of relief after President Donald Trump shelved his punishing tariff plans for 30 days in a last-gasp deal.

The Republican was left celebrating after he managed to secure a stronger border with his two neighbors through a $1.3billion plan and 10,000 troops.

Trump dramatically stopped entering a potential trade war with Canada and Mexico by pausing sweeping 25 per cent tax increases just hours before it was scheduled to be implemented.

Stock markets had gone into a tailspin on Monday as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held last-minute calls with Trump.

The duo were left making a desperate bid to end any threat and halt a damaging world trade war.

Trump confirmed he’d decided to pause his plans for a month after both Mexico and Canada promised to keep 10,000 frontline personnel along their American borders.

The aim is to protect the US from illegal immigration and an influx of deadly drugs entering the country.

Trump praised his own negotiating skills by posting on Truth Social after his last call with Trudeau: “As President, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of ALL Americans, and I am doing just that.

“I am very pleased with this initial outcome.”

He also said Canada will implement their $1.3billion border plan and reinforce it with new helicopters, technology and personnel.

Trump added that the next 30 days will determine if he goes ahead with the tariffs or if a “final economic deal with Canada can be structured”.

Justin Trudeau later confirmed these changes in alignment with Trump’s wishes.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also announced her administration and Trump had reached a series of similar agreements.

Sheinbaum said at a news conference she had a “long conversation” with Trump on the phone on Monday.

Among the series of agreements includes Mexico’s immediate action to reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the country’s National Guard.

The bolstered security presence will be tasked with preventing drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, particularly fentanyl.

The United States said it would also commit to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons into Mexico, the Mexican president said.

“Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade,” Sheinbaum added.

Trump also gave Sheinbaum 30 days to “achieve a deal” between the two countries.

Thousands of people protested in Berlin on Sunday against plans to limit immigration proposed by opposition conservatives and supported by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Friedrich Merz, the conservatives’ leader who is tipped to become Germany’s next chancellor after a national election set for Feb. 23, sponsored a draft bill with AfD support, breaking a taboo against cooperating with the far-right party.

Around 160,000 gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, next to the Bundestag lower house, according to the Berlin police. The protesters held banners reading “We are the firewall, no cooperation with the AfD” and “Merz, go home, shame on you!”.
Merz, the CDU/CSU’s candidate for chancellor, on Friday tried to push the immigration bill in the lower house but failed to secure a majority as some of the deputies from his own party refused to support it.

Their failure to endorse his draft dealt a blow to the authority of Merz, who had pushed for the law despite warnings from party colleagues that he risked being tarnished with the charge of voting alongside the far-right.
Mainstream German parties had previously joined forces to prevent the AfD, which is under surveillance by Germany’s security services, from achieving legislative power, something they call a firewall against the far-right.

The draft law would have restricted family reunifications for some refugees and called for more people to be refused at the border. Two-thirds of the public support stronger immigration rules, according to a recent poll.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/tens-thousands-protest-berlin-against-proposed-german-immigration-crackdown-2025-02-02/

President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, drawing swift retaliation and an undeniable sense of betrayal from the country’s North American neighbors as a trade war erupted among the longtime allies.

The Republican president posted on social media that the tariffs were necessary “to protect Americans,” pressing the three nations to do more to curb the manufacture and export of illicit fentanyl and for Canada and Mexico to reduce illegal immigration into the U.S.

The tariffs, if sustained, could cause inflation to significantly worsen, threatening the trust that many voters placed in Trump to lower the prices of groceries, gasoline, housing, autos and other goods as he promised. They also risked throwing the global economy and Trump’s political mandate into turmoil just two weeks into his second term.

Trump declared an economic emergency in order to place duties of 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada. Energy imported from Canada, including oil, natural gas and electricity, would be taxed at a 10% rate. Trump’s order includes a mechanism to escalate the rates charged by the U.S. against retaliation by the other countries, raising the specter of an even more severe economic disruption.

“The actions taken today by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a somber tone as he announced that his country would put matching 25% tariffs on up to $155 billion in U.S. imports, including alcohol and fruit.

He channeled the betrayal that many Canadians are feeling, reminding Americans that Canadian troops fought alongside them in Afghanistan and helped respond to myriad crises from wildfires in California to Hurricane Katrina.

“We were always there standing with you, grieving with you, the American people,” he said.

Mexico’s president also ordered retaliatory tariffs.

“We categorically reject the White House’s slander that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of meddling in our territory,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote in a post on X while saying she had instructed her economy secretary to implement a response that includes retaliatory tariffs and other measures in defense of Mexico’s interests.

“If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious fentanyl consumption in their country, they could fight the sale of drugs on the streets of their major cities, which they don’t do and the laundering of money that this illegal activity generates that has done so much harm to its population.”

The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia, David Eby, specifically called on residents to stop buying liquor from U.S. “red” states and said it was removing American alcohol brands from government store shelves as a response to the tariffs.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country’s government “firmly deplores and opposes this move and will take necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests.”

China began regulating fentanyl-related drugs as a class of controlled substances in 2019 and conducted “counternarcotics cooperation with the U.S.,” the ministry said, calling on the U.S. government to correct what it considers wrongful actions.

The Ministry of Commerce in China said it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization for the “wrongful practices of the U.S.” and take measures to safeguard its rights and interests.

The tariffs will go into effect on Tuesday, setting up a showdown in North America that could potentially sabotage economic growth. A new analysis by the Budget Lab at Yale laid out the possible damage to the U.S. economy, saying the average household would lose the equivalent of $1,170 in income from the taxes. Economic growth would slow and inflation would worsen, and the situation could be even worse with retaliation from other countries.

Democrats were quick to warn that any inflation going forward was the result of Trump’s actions.

“You’re worried about grocery prices. Don’s raising prices with his tariffs,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York wrote in a series of posts on X. “You’re worried about tomato prices. Wait till Trump’s Mexico tariffs raise your tomato prices,” read another. “You’re worried about car prices. Wait till Trump’s Canada tariffs raise your car prices,” read another.

A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said the lower rate on energy reflected a desire to minimize disruptive increases on the price of gasoline or utilities. That’s a sign White House officials understand the gamble they’re taking on inflation. Price spikes under former President Joe Biden led to voter frustration that helped return Trump to the White House.

The order signed by Trump contained no mechanism for granting exceptions, the official said, a possible blow to homebuilders who rely on Canadian lumber as well as farmers, automakers and other industries.

The official did not provide specific benchmarks that could be met to lift the new tariffs, saying only that the best measure would be fewer Americans dying from fentanyl addiction.

The order would also allow for tariffs on Canadian imports of less than $800. Imports below that sum are currently able to cross into the United States without customs and duties.

“It doesn’t make much economic sense,’’ said William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former U.S. trade official. “Historically, most of our tariffs on raw materials have been low because we want to get cheaper materials so our manufacturers will be competitive … Now, what’s he talking about? He’s talking about tariffs on raw materials. I don’t get the economics of it.’’

With the tariffs, Trump is honoring promises that are at the core of his economic and national security philosophy. But the announcement showed his seriousness around the issue as some Trump allies had played down the threat of higher import taxes as mere negotiating tactics.

The president is preparing more import taxes in a sign that tariffs will be an ongoing part of his second term. On Friday, he mentioned imported computer chips, steel, oil and natural gas, as well as copper, pharmaceutical drugs and imports from the European Union — moves that could essentially pit the U.S. against much of the global economy.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-trade-china-mexico-canada-inflation-753a09d56cd318f2eb1d2efe3c43b7d4

The British government is intentionally “replacing the British nation with hostile, violent, aggressive migrants” who will vote for them, according to right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson, who also believes that Islam is “a mental health issue rather than a religion of peace.”

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been in a British jail cell since October for contempt of court as well as spreading false claims about an underage Syrian refugee in a video titled, “Silenced.”

He was also convicted of several prior crimes, including assault and fraud. He was formerly a member of the British National Party, a fascist UK political party; as well as the leader of the far-right, anti-Islamist, English Defense League.

But Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and US President Donald Trump’s biggest supporter, regularly uses his account on his social media platform X as a soapbox to call for Robinson’s release from prison, ostensibly in the name of free speech. Robinson, Musk has said, is behind bars for telling the “truth.”

According to British media outlets, Musk is also helping Robinson financially. In a statement on X, Robinson’s team thanked Musk and his X team for their “unexpected and generous assistance” in two legal cases. Among other things, these involve a new court case in which Robinson has been accused of violating anti-terrorism laws. A DW request for comment from X’s press department went unanswered.

Musk elevating Robinson’s profile

But what’s behind Musk’s generosity? Robinson is unpopular in the UK. A recent poll by the research institute More in Common found that only 12% of respondents had a favorable view of the right-wing agitator, while 46% held a negative opinion. Musk hasn’t helped his popularity with his efforts either: A majority of Britons surveyed said they wanted the tech billionaire to stay out of politics and concentrate on ridding his social media platform of hate speech instead.

But Musk doesn’t appear to be interested in that — quite the opposite. He has helped elevate Robinson’s profile by restoring his Twitter account — which had been blocked by the company in 2018 — after he bought the platform in October 2022. Now Robinson, who has more than 1 million followers, can once again spread his message.

Robinson’s message got a further boost last summer when three young girls were killed in a knife attack in the northern English city of Southport. Robinson incited his followers to take to the streets; race riots ensued. Musk also got involved, criticizing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his response and saying that “civil war is inevitable.” Since then, Musk has gone further, accusing Starmer of turning the UK into a police state and calling for his resignation.

Is Musk intentionally spreading misinformation?

Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nongovernmental organization, said the X owner is intentionally spreading misinformation, giving extremist voices a platform to garner more clicks and thus increase his profits. Musk, as Ahmed told DW, has transformed X into a platform that accelerates the spread of hate and disinformation in British society.

Tim Bale, a political scientist at Queen Mary University of London, goes a step further. He thinks Musk is trying to undermine trust in the UK government because its politicians are attempting to rein in the power of the US tech giant with new laws.

The Online Safety Act, passed in October 2023, is indeed something that affects online platforms like X. The law requires them to remove all illegal or harmful content or face fines equivalent to up to 10% of their revenue.

Musk campaigning for Germany’s AfD

Is the European establishment a thorn in Musk’s side for the same reason? The EU wants to use its Digital Services Act to limit the spread of false information on social media platforms, and has placed the burden for ensuring this happens on the tech behemoths themselves — casting a particularly stern eye at Musk and X.

Many EU parliamentarians have called for immediate measures, even more so since Musk began openly championing Germany’s far-right AfD — which has in part been labeled extremist. In early January, Musk described AfD co-leader Alice Weidel as “Germany’s most popular chancellor candidate,” and spent more than an hour chatting with her live on X. A few days later, he made an appearance at the AfD’s party conference via video.

Musk regularly insults German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, referring to him as “Oaf Schitz.” And Vera Jourova, the former EU commissioner for values and transparency, was forced to sit by as he railed against her as “the epitome of banal bureaucratic evil.”

Parth Patel from the progressive think tank IPPR is concerned that conspiracy theories could eventually enter the British mainstream thanks to Musk’s efforts. “It’s plausible that he will be successful in indoctrinating people to that point of view, and if he does, it will be very dangerous,” he said.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/is-elon-musk-aiding-a-british-right-wing-extremist/a-71440001

A person in a car was the seventh fatal victim of the fiery crash of an air ambulance onto a busy Philadelphia street, authorities said Saturday, as investigators sifted through burned cars, damaged homes and charred debris for clues to determine why the aircraft plummeted shortly after takeoff.

Carrying six people from Mexico, including a child who spent months in treatment at a hospital, the Learjet 55 went down just after departing from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, creating what witnesses described as a massive fireball, shaking houses and leaving a chaotic street scene.

Authorities couldn’t yet say why the jet crashed, and Adam Thiel, the city’s managing director, said it could be days — or longer — until officials are able to fully count the number of dead and injured across a sprawling impact area in a densely populated residential area.

The plane took off, reached about 1,500 feet of altitude and then plummeted in a steep descent, crashing less than a minute after takeoff in what National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy called a “high-impact crash” that left the plane “highly fragmented.”

As of Saturday morning, officials said, there were seven dead — six on the jet and the person in the car — and 19 injured. Most of the injured had been treated and released, hospitals said.

There are “a lot of unknowns about who was where on the streets” when the plane crashed, and it is possible that the casualty figures will grow, Thiel said.

The crash scene was at least four to six blocks, and authorities were working to assess the damage, including going house to house to inspect the dwellings, Thiel said.

Homendy said her agency’s staff was working to collect debris from the plane, which could take days or weeks, and haul it away to a secure location to begin evaluating it.

Air traffic controllers didn’t hear anything concerning before the crash, and her agency was still looking for the cockpit voice recorder, a helpful piece of evidence in the investigation, Homendy said.

It is likely damaged and possibly fragmented because of the impact, although her agency’s researchers and engineers have significant expertise in repairing them, she said.

The plane hit the ground just after 6 p.m., during a busy Friday evening dinner hour less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the airport.

“All of sudden I heard like a ‘boom,’ and I thought it was a thunderstorm,” said Selkuc Koc, a waiter at the Four Seasons Diner on Cottman Avenue. “And I get up and look at the smoke and the fire, it was like a balloon. I thought it was a gas station that blew up.”

One diner patron was hit and injured by a small but heavy metal object that flew through the window, Koc said.

Child patient had just finished treatment for life-threatening condition

Of the six people on board the medical transport jet, one was a child who had just completed treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia hospital, one was her mother and four were crew members, officials said.

A hospital spokesperson said the girl spent four months there receiving life-saving treatment for a condition not easily treated in Mexico. Shriners officials said they couldn’t give details about the girl or her family because of patient privacy rules.

“Her journey was one of hope and of aspiration,” spokesperson Mel Bower told The Philadelphia Inquirer. The relationships that the girl formed with staff “were true and were dear,” and she’ll be missed greatly by them, he said.

Forty-one bodies had been pulled from the Potomac River as of Friday afternoon, including 28 that had been positively identified.

The name of one of the three soldiers killed in the plane crash in Washington is not being released.

The army identified two of the soldiers killed when an American Airlines jet and a military helicopter collided mid-air as Staff Sergeant Ryan Austin O’Hara and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves.

However, it made the unusual decision, at the request of the family, not to release the name of the third soldier.

Meanwhile, investigators announced the black box from the Black Hawk helicopter has been recovered.

They are reviewing the flight data recorder along with two from the plane as they probe the cause of the devastating crash.

Forty-one bodies had been pulled from the river as of Friday afternoon, including 28 that had been positively identified, Washington DC fire chief John Donnelly Sr said at a news conference.

He said next of kin notifications had been made to 18 families, and that he expects that all 67 of the bodies of the dead will eventually be recovered.

“It’s been a tough response for a lot of our people,” Mr Donnelly said, noting that more than 300 responders were taking part in the effort at any one time.

Investigators have already recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the American Airlines plane, which struck the helicopter as the plane was coming in for a landing at the airport next to Washington.

Officials are scrutinising a range of factors in what National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy has called an “all-hands-on-deck event”.

Investigators are examining the actions of the military pilot as well as air traffic control, after the helicopter apparently flew into the jet’s path.

Air crash investigations normally take 12-18 months, and investigators told reporters on Thursday that they would not speculate on the cause.

It has been suggested the helicopter exceeded an altitude limit.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/army-withholding-name-of-female-soldier-killed-in-crash-as-helicopter-black-box-recovered-13300599

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would impose hefty new tariffs of 25% on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% on imports from China, and nothing could be done by the three countries to forestall them.
Trump did, however, reference a potential carve out for oil from Canada, saying that rate would be 10% versus the 25% planned for other goods from the United States’ northern neighbor. But he indicated wider tariffs on oil and natural gas would be coming in mid-February, remarks that sent oil prices higher.

Trump has been threatening the tariffs for weeks, saying they would be imposed on Feb. 1 and remain in place until the countries did more to stem the flow of both migrants and fentanyl over the U.S. border.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he was signing executive orders, Trump said he understood the duties could result in higher costs being passed on to consumers and acknowledged his actions may cause disruptions in the short term. Most economists estimate such sweeping import taxes, and the likely retaliation, would disrupt economic activity around the globe.

Asked if there was any opportunity at this stage for the three top U.S. trading partners to win a delay, Trump said: “No, no. Not right now, no.”
He brushed away the notion his threats for levies have been a bargaining tool. “No, it’s not … we have big (trade) deficits with, as you know, with all three of them.”
“It’s something we’re doing, and we’ll possibly very substantially increase it, or not, we’ll see how it is,” Trump said. “But it’s a lot of money coming to the United States.”

And more tariffs are on the way, the Republican president said, saying import taxes were being considered on European goods as well as on steel, aluminum and copper, and on drugs and semiconductors.
“We’re going to be putting tariffs on steel and aluminum, and ultimately copper. Copper will take a little longer,” he said.
Financial markets have been whipsawed by the rapid-fire but still not fully clear developments on Trump’s tariff plans, with currency trading showing particular volatility. The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso both weakened while Treasury bond yields rose, and stocks ended the day lower.
Still, he said he was not concerned about the reaction of financial markets to his plans to impose tariffs.
“The President will be implementing tomorrow 25% tariffs on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada, and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing.
Leavitt said details of the tariffs will be released sometime on Saturday.

When Trump imposed punitive duties on Chinese goods in 2018 and 2019, there was typically a lag of two to three weeks for Customs and Border Protection to begin collecting tariffs, due to computer system updates and notices required for importers.
Trump traveled late on Friday to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, saying he would work all weekend there. He was joined on the flight by his commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, who Trump has designated as his trade policy chief.
MAJOR DISRUPTION
Economists and business executives have warned the tariffs would spark increases in the prices of imports such as aluminum and lumber from Canada, as well as fruits, vegetables, beer and electronics from Mexico and motor vehicles from both countries.
Trump again spoke of collecting hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues from other countries, but economists generally say tariffs are paid by firms that import goods and pass the costs on to consumers or accept lower profits.
“President Trump’s tariffs will tax America first,” said Matthew Holmes, public policy chief at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “From higher costs at the pumps, grocery stores and online checkout, tariffs cascade through the economy and end up hurting consumers and businesses on both sides of the border.”
Trump’s move is expected to draw retaliatory tariffs, potentially disrupting more than $2.1 trillion in annual two-way U.S. trade with the three trading partners.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said Canada would immediately respond with forceful countermeasures, adding Canadians could be “facing difficult times in the coming days and weeks.”
Canada has drawn up detailed targets for immediate tariff retaliation, including duties on Florida orange juice, a source familiar with the plan said. Canada has a broader list of targets that could reach C$150 billion ($105 billion) worth of U.S. imports, but would hold public consultations before acting, the source said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/north-america-braces-new-trump-tariffs-saturday-deadline-nears-2025-01-31/

There were no survivors after an American Airlines regional jet with 64 people aboard collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter moments before the airplane was set to land at Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night, officials said. The accident was the worst air disaster in the U.S. since 2001.

Hundreds of first responders have switched to a recovery operation from rescue efforts, District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief John Donnelly said in a press conference Thursday morning. Donnelly said at least 28 bodies have been recovered so far: 27 from the jet and one from the helicopter.

Both aircraft plunged into the icy waters of the Potomac River. First responders including divers worked overnight to try to recover victims, battling choppy, cold waters.

Sixty passengers and four crew members were on board the American flight. Three people were on board the military helicopter, an official said.

American Eagle Flight 5342, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jetliner, was on approach into the airport’s Runway 33 when it collided with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter at around 9 p.m. ET, the FAA said. The flight was arriving from Wichita, Kansas, and flying at an altitude of about 300 feet at the time of the collision, according to FlightRadar24.

PSA Airlines is an American Airlines subsidiary and one of its regional carriers. American Eagle is how the airline brands its regional flights.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, two days into the job, said the American Airlines jetliner was broken into three sections in the Potomac.

The accident hands President Donald Trump a crisis less than two weeks into his new term, as it ends the country’s nearly 16-year stretch without a deadly commercial passenger crash.

Trump claimed at a White House news conference Thursday that policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion “could have been” to blame for the collision, the deadliest U.S. plane crash since November 2001. He did not provide evidence.

Pressed on whether he was getting ahead of the investigation and on how he could connect the collision to DEI, Trump said, “Because I have common sense, OK?”

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into Wednesday’s accident. The probe will also include the Federal Aviation Administration, American Airlines and other parties.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a memo to staff that the NTSB would be the “sole source of truth going forward, and accuracy is of the utmost importance.”

At a briefing Thursday afternoon, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the agency would leave no stone unturned in its investigation.

Investigators will look at everything from staffing levels at the airport’s air traffic control facility to pilot training, maintenance, communications between air traffic controllers and the aircraft involved in the crash, she said.

NBC News reported that two “black boxes” with flight information were recovered from the jet, citing a source with knowledge of the investigation.

Staffing at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night wasn’t at normal levels for the time of day and the amount of traffic, according to a source familiar with a FAA preliminary incident report. The FAA didn’t immediately comment.

The person said the tower at the airport normally has one controller who focuses on helicopter traffic, though FAA allows for that position to be combined so one person could watch airplanes and helicopters. That was the case Wednesday night, the source said.

“Everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely, that when you depart an airport, you get to your destination,” Duffy said in a press conference Thursday. “That didn’t happen last night, and I know that President Trump, his administration, the FAA, the DOT, you will not rest until we have answers for the family and for the flying public.”

Duffy said he thought the accident was preventable.

The FAA does not have a permanent head, which would require Senate confirmation. Former Administrator Mike Whitaker stepped down on Jan. 20, when Trump took office.

On Thursday, Trump appointed Chris Rocheleau, a former senior FAA official, as acting head of the FAA.

American CEO Isom traveled to Washington, D.C., overnight.

“I want to express my sincere condolences for the accident that happened last night. We’re absolutely heartbroken for the family members,” Isom said in a press conference. “Our focus right now is to support all of those involved and also the PSA airlines team.”

He said the American flight was at final approach and “at this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft.”

Isom said the captain of the American Eagle flight had about six years with PSA and the first officer had about two years. The plane was on a “standard” approach, he added. “That’s about all I can say.”

NBC News reported that one of the soldiers on the helicopter was an instructor pilot lending experience to the crew, which was on an annual training mission.

The airline provided contact information for people who “believe you may have loved ones on board Flight 5342.”

American and Russian figure skaters were on board the flight, according to the countries’ official groups.

Reagan Washington National was closed Wednesday night and reopened late Thursday morning. Officials said airlines would communicate any schedule changes to passengers.

Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/30/aircraft-down-in-potomic-river-near-dca-airport.html

Washington’s new top diplomat, Marco Rubio, will travel to Panama this week in his first overseas trip since assuming office. The new administration’s immigration crackdown is likely to be among the top issues during talks, but US President Donald Trump’s claim that the Central American nation had ceded control of the Panama Canal to China will also loom large.

“We didn’t give [the Panama Canal] to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” said Trump in his second inaugural address.

His comments drew quick rebuttals from both Beijing and the Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, who in a post on X said there was “absolutely no Chinese interference” in the canal.

But Trump’s remarks have prompted fresh questions about China’s involvement in one of the most vital waterways for international trade. Rubio, the new US secretary of state, addressed Trump’s concerns at his confirmation hearing earlier this month.

“An argument could be made that the terms under which that canal was turned over have been violated,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Panama and China deepen economic ties

For decades after its completion in 1914,the United States administered the Panama Canal, an 82 kilometer (51-mile) waterway connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Full control of the canal was returned to Panama in 1999, but Washington reserved the right to use military force to preserve its neutrality. Some 40% of all US container traffic passes through the canal each year with China as its second biggest user..

The waterway is managed by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), a branch of the Panamanian government. Panamanian authorities have repeatedly stated that there is no Chinese management of the canal.

China has significantly expanded its presence around the canal in recent years, especially since Panama established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 2017. That was the same year Panama became the first Latin American nation to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Concerns of Chinese overreach in the waterway have focused on two ports, Balboa and Cristóbal, located on the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the canal respectively. Since 1997, they have been operated by a subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings, itself a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.

Analysts said even if Trump’s threats are just bluster — and the Chinese threats overstated — there is a method to the new president’s rhetoric.

“We’re seeing Trump use Panama as an example,” said Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “[He’s saying] don’t think you can get away with closer ties with China on my watch.”

A critical military artery

There are concerns in Washington that Chinese operations around the Panama Canal could morph into a capacity to control it, especially if a hot conflict were to break out between the two superpowers.

In testimony to the US Congress last year, the then-commander of the United States Southern Command responsible for Central and South America, General Laura Richardson said, “[China] messages its investments as peaceful. But many serve as points of future multi-domain access for [China] and strategic naval chokepoints,” before citing the Panama Canal by name.

This stands in stark contrast to how Beijing characterizes its relationship with Panama. In a message congratulating Panamanian President Mulino on his election victory last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that establishing diplomatic ties had brought “tangible benefits to the people of both nations.”

But Evan Ellis, a research professor of Latin American studies at the US Army War College, said that in a Chinese invasion scenario of Taiwan, existing Chinese access, influence and technical knowledge could be used to “shut down the canal in deniable ways.” Ellis told DW that could come through “arranging” the sinking of a ship or through either physical or cyber-sabotaging of locks.

Ellis added that in the context of a war in the Indo-Pacific, such activity could be used by China to impede US deployments and other war-fighting efforts. In the case of Taiwan, delays to US support by even a few days could be the difference between China’s invasion being successful or not. There are several ways China could do this, Ellis said, “but one of those big pins on the drawing board is shutting down the Panama Canal.”

‘America First’ could open doors for Beijing

Since taking office, Trump has directed many of his most combative directives at other nations in the Americas, including those seen as important allies of the United States. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on all imports from Canada and Mexico from February 1.

This weekend, Colombia only managed to avoid a trade war with Washington after agreeing to accept US military aircraft carrying deported migrants. Honduran President Xiomara Castro has called for an urgent meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) this week to discuss ways to deal with the new US administration.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/panama-canal-whats-at-stake-for-china-amid-us-threats/a-71433969

U.S. President Donald Trumpsigned an executive order on Wednesday to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.
A fact sheet on the order promises “immediate action” by the Justice Department to prosecute “terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews” and marshal all federal resources to combat what it called “the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and streets” since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump said in the fact sheet.
“I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,” the president said, echoing a 2024 campaign promise.
Rights groups and legal scholars said the new measure would violate constitutional free speech rights and would likely draw legal challenges.

“The First Amendment protects everyone in the United States, including foreign citizens studying at American universities,” said Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “Deporting non-citizens on the basis of their political speech would be unconstitutional.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a large Muslim advocacy group, said it would consider challenging the order in court if Trump tried to implement it.

The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on the Palestinian coastal enclave of Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled U.S. college campuses. Civil rights groups documented a surge in hate crimes and incidents directed at Jews, Muslims, Arabs and other people of Middle Eastern descent.
The order requires agency and department leaders to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days on all criminal and civil authorities that could be used to fight antisemitism, according to the fact sheet.

It calls for an inventory and analysis of all court cases involving K-12 schools, colleges and universities and alleged civil rights violations associated with pro-Palestinian campus protests, potentially leading to actions to remove “alien students and staff.”
Many pro-Palestinian protesters denied supporting Hamas or engaging in antisemitic acts, saying they were demonstrating against Israel’s military assault on Gaza, where health authorities say more than 47,000 people have been killed.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-cancel-student-visas-all-hamas-sympathizers-white-house-2025-01-29/

Google’s maps division on Monday reclassified the U.S. as a “sensitive country,” a designation it reserves for states with strict governments and border disputes, CNBC has learned.

The new classification for the U.S. came after President Donald Trump said his administration would make name changes on official maps and federal communications. Those changes include renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and renaming Mount Denali as Mount McKinley.

Google’s order to stop designating the U.S. as a “non-sensitive” country came on Monday, according to internal correspondence viewed by CNBC. That’s when the company announced it would change the name of the body of water between the Yucatan and Florida peninsulas to the “Gulf of America” in Google Maps after the Trump administration updates its “official government sources.”

The decision to elevate the U.S. to its list of sensitive countries illustrates the challenges that tech companies face as they try to navigate the early days of a second Trump presidency. Since the start of the year, Meta, TikTok, Amazon
and others have adjusted their products and policies to reflect Trump’s political views, policies and executive orders.

Trump had a rocky relationship with Silicon Valley throughout his first presidency and didn’t shy away from criticizing the sector throughout his 2024 campaign. More recently, tech executives, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, have pursued closer ties with Trump, with several standing behind the president during his inauguration.

Google’s list of sensitive countries includes China, Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, among others. The label is also used for countries that have “unique geometry or unique labeling,” according to internal correspondence reviewed by CNBC.

The U.S. and Mexico are new additions.

The “sensitive” classification is a technical configuration that signifies some labels within a given country are different from other countries, a company spokesperson told CNBC.

It’s unclear if Google’s reclassification of the U.S. extends beyond its “Geo” division.

With more than 2 billion monthly users, Google Maps is the world’s top navigation app.

Some team members within the maps division were ordered to urgently make changes to the location name and recategorize the U.S. from “non-sensitive” to “sensitive,” according to the internal correspondence. The changes were given a rare “P0” order, meaning it had the highest priority level and employees were immediately notified and instructed to drop what they were doing to work on it.

Google’s order states that the Gulf of America title change should be treated similar to the Persian Gulf, which in Arab countries is displayed on Google Maps as Arabian Gulf.

Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/28/google-reclassifies-us-as-sensitive-country-like-china-russia-.html

Chrystia Freeland, the former finance minister who is running to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s prime minister, said Monday Canada needs to release a “retaliation list” of goods the country would target if U.S. President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on Canadian goods.

A list of products worth $200 billion Canadian dollars (US$139 billion) would send a message to U.S. exporters about the harm tariffs would cause them, Freeland said in a statement.

“Being smart means retaliating where it hurts,” she said. “Our counterpunch must be dollar-for-dollar — and it must be precisely and painfully targeted: Florida orange growers, Wisconsin dairy farmers, Michigan dishwasher manufacturers, and much more.”

“Now is the moment when Canada must make clear to Americans the specific costs that will accompany any tariff measures by the Trump administration.”

Trump has said he will use economic coercion to pressure Canada to become the nation’s 51st state. He continues to erroneously cast the U.S. trade deficit with Canada — a natural resource-rich nation that provides the U.S. with commodities like oil — as a subsidy.

Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.

John Ries, senior associate dean at the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business, said Canada should retaliate against any tariffs but warned against publicizing a list in advance, citing the risk of antagonizing Trump — and making it harder for him to back off on his threats.

“He always wants to win,” said Ries. “He doesn’t want to show any weakness.”

Freeland said Monday that if she wins the leadership race and become prime minister she would also prohibit American companies from bidding on Canadian federal procurement (excluding defense).

She also said she would convene an international summit with the leaders of Mexico, Denmark, Panama, and the president of the European Union to “coordinate a joint response to challenges to our sovereignty and our economies.”

Some lawmakers have suggested Canada could stop energy shipments to the United States, a move opposed by Daniele Smith, the premier of Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta.

Former central banker Mark Carney, who is also running for the Liberal leadership, said over the weekend that cutting off Quebec’s hydro exports to the U.S. should remain an option on the table in a trade fight with Trump.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/canada-us-tariffs-chrystia-freeland-d06de336a9ba641779f95cf0614ead20

U.S. search engine startup Perplexity AI has revised the merger proposal it had submitted to TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance to create a new entity combining Perplexity and TikTok U.S., a person familiar with the proposal told Reuters on Sunday.
The proposal calls for the U.S. government to own up to 50% of the new company upon a future initial public offering (IPO), the person said.
A Perplexity document shared with ByteDance and new investors proposed the creation of a new U.S. holding company called “NewCo”, the person said.

Under the proposal, ByteDance would sell TikTok U.S. to the investors, which would give TikTok’s existing investors equity in the company. The proposal would also exclude TikTok’s core recommendation algorithm, which ByteDance would keep, the person said.
The U.S. government would own up to half of the new structure once it goes through an IPO of a valuation of at least $300 billion.

Perplexity AI would also offer to be acquired by the holding company if its own investors received a distribution of the NewCo equity, the person said.

CNBC first reported news of the proposal.
TikTok services were restored last week after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would revive the app’s access in the country after returning to power. TikTok shut off its app for U.S. users due to a law that cited national security.
ByteDance and the White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. On Saturday, President Donald Trump said he was in talks with multiple people over buying TikTok and would likely have a decision on the popular app’s future in the next 30 days.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that a source said Perplexity submitted a bid to ByteDance for the startup to merge with TikTok U.S., adding that Perplexity would merge with TikTok and create a new entity by combining the merged company with New Capital Partners.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/perplexity-ai-revises-tiktok-merger-proposal-that-could-give-us-government-50-2025-01-26/

All bird keepers, from people with pet birds to farmers with huge flocks, are now required to follow strict hygiene measures imposed by the government – and in some counties, birds must be kept indoors.

File pic: APRestrictions have been placed on the whole of England and Scotland to try to slow the spread of bird flu.

All bird keepers, from people with pet birds to farmers with huge flocks, are now required to follow strict hygiene measures imposed by the government.

In some counties, mostly across the east of England, even stricter rules are being put in place that mean birds must be kept indoors.

“I urge bird keepers to check which requirements apply to them,” said the UK chief veterinary officer, Christine Middlemiss.

“Continue to exercise robust biosecurity measures, remain alert for any signs of disease and report suspected disease immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.”

Although the risk to humans is still low, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), bird flu cases are rising around the world.

In the US, about 10% of the nation’s egg-laying hens have been culled, leading to soaring egg prices.

The New York Times reported that shops and restaurants are now paying a record $7 (£5.60) for a dozen eggs, up from $2.25 (£1.80) last autumn.

In the UK, the average egg price increased by 16% between early 2023 and early 2024, according to the government’s most recent figures.

Properly cooked poultry products, including eggs, are still safe to eat, according to DEFRA.

A housing order has been extended and from Monday will apply in York, North Yorkshire and Shropshire, and remains in force across East Riding of Yorkshire, the City of Kingston Upon Hull, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Mandatory housing also applies within 3km of any infected premises.

Since November, 22 confirmed avian flu cases have been found in England, with one in Scotland.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/bird-flu-restrictions-put-in-place-across-all-of-england-and-scotland-as-cases-rise-13296329

Four female Israeli soldiers who were taken in the attack that sparked the war in Gaza returned to Israel on Saturday after Hamas militants paraded them before a crowd of thousands in Gaza City and handed them over to the Red Cross. Israel later released 200 Palestinian prisoners in the second exchange of a fragile ceasefire.

The four Israelis smiled, waved and gave the thumbs-up from a stage in Palestine Square, with armed, masked militants on either side as Hamas sought to show it remained in control in Gaza after 15 months of war. The hostages likely acted under duress. Previously released ones said they were held in brutal conditions and forced to record propaganda videos.

Israel’s Prison Service said it released 200 Palestinians, including 121 people serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis, while others were held without charge.

Thousands of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah celebrated their arrival. Wan-looking and wearing gray prison sweatsuits, some donned Hamas headbands given to them by the crowd and rode on supporters’ shoulders.

In the deal’s first major crisis, Israel said it would not allow displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza by Sunday as anticipated, because civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud was not released as expected.

As mediators addressed that, hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the east-west Netzarim corridor dividing Gaza.

“Why are they treating us like this?” asked one man, Khalil Abd. Families huddled around bonfires against the winter cold.

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man close to the Netzarim corridor, Palestinian medical officials said. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots in response to “gatherings of dozens of suspects.” It said it was unaware of anyone harmed.

Israel insists on release of civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel would not allow Palestinians into northern Gaza until Yehoud, taken from a kibbutz in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, was freed.

Hamas said it held Israel responsible for “any delay in implementing the agreement and its repercussions.”

A senior Hamas official said the group informed mediators that Yehoud will be released next week. An Egyptian official involved in negotiations called the matter a “minor issue” that mediators were working to resolve. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The U.S. National Security Council continues to push for Yehoud’s release, a spokesperson said.

The ceasefire began last weekend with the release of three hostages and 90 prisoners. It is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas. The deal has allowed for a surge of aid into tiny, devastated Gaza.

Who are the soldiers and prisoners released?

The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were taken from Nahal Oz base near the border with Gaza when Palestinian militants overran it, killing more than 60 soldiers.

The four squealed as they hurried to embrace loved ones. Thousands of people danced and celebrated as the soldiers arrived by helicopter near a Tel Aviv hospital, which said they were in stable condition.

“I had goosebumps watching them,” said Aviv Bercovich in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square. “I just want the war to end.”

Thousands of Israelis gathered there again Saturday night to call for all hostages to be freed, amid fears the war will resume.

A fifth female soldier in the unit, Agam Berger, 20, also was abducted. “Now she’s there alone,” said family friend Yoni Collins.

In Gaza City, resident Radwan Abu Rawiya also watched the handover. “This is huge,” he said. “People forgot about the war, destruction and are celebrating.”

A video released by Hamas’ armed wing showed the hostages thanking the militants in Arabic for the “good treatment,” again likely under duress.

Israel’s army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari criticized Hamas’ “cynical” display. He also said Israel is concerned about the two youngest hostages — Kfir and Ariel Bibas — and their mother, Shiri. Kfir Bibas marked his second birthday in captivity this month.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-ceasefire-hostages-01-25-2025-150674e17bd8b22f2c2c3aa4991cf061

The British campaign group “Led By Donkeys” has claimed responsibility for the stunt that authorities say may have breached German laws on the use of symbols linked to illegal organizations.

German authorities are investigating images projected onto the Tesla Gigafactory just outside Berlin that depicted Elon Musk apparently performing a Nazi-style salute at US President Donald Trump’s recent inauguration.

The projection appeared on the outer facade of the electric vehicle factory in Grünheide, just outside the capital’s city limits, on Thursday night, with the image of Tesla owner Musk accompanied by the German word “Heil” (hail).

In conjunction with the name of Musk’s company, this formed the phrase “Heil Tesla” — a play on “Heil Hitler,” the phrase which accompanied the use of the Nazi stiff-armed salute during dictator Adolf Hitler time in power.

Musk made a gesture twice during a speech in Washington at an event celebrating the start of Trump’s second term in office, prompting debate as to whether his raised-arm gesture had constituted a Nazi salute, which was celebrated by US white nationalists.

Now, German security services have launched an investigation into the suspected use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations, including the depicted salute itself, the use or display of which is illegal in Germany.

“After an appraisal by the responsible public prosecutor in Frankfurt (Oder), the projection of several logos by as yet unknown individuals and the distribution of the images online at least merits an initial suspicion of the use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations,” read a police statement.

‘Led By Donkeys’: UK campaign group claims responsibility

Responsibility for the stunt has been claimed by the British political campaign group “Led By Donkeys” in conjunction with the German satirical “Center for Political Beauty.”

Some on the political left in Germany contended that if authorities convict any of the group’s members for projecting an illegal image, it would show — in Germany at least — that the gesture was indeed a Nazi salute and not a means of thanking the members of the audience at his speech as Musk and other have said.

Following the publication of the images online, several social media users and news outlets initially questioned the veracity of the stunt.

After initially denying that the action had actually taken place, a German police spokesman later told local public broadcaster RBB that officers were “no longer assuming that it didn’t happen,” having analyzed images online and been present on the ground.Originally established as an anti-Brexit campaign group in December 2018, “Led By Donkeys” has regularly carried out similar stunts in the United Kingdom, targeting populist British politicians such as former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and far-right Brexit hardliner Nigel Farage in videos beamed onto famous buildings such as the Houses of Parliament in London.

Activists promise more stunts in the future

Philipp Ruch, artistic lead for the “Center for Political Beauty,” told the German dpa news agency that activists had used a special projector to beam a video onto the outside of the Tesla building from a distance of several hundred meters and promised similar stunts to come.

“The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is promoting the far right in Europe,” wrote “Led By Donkeys” in a social media post accompanying the video that had been projected onto the factory. “Don’t buy a Tesla.”

A group spokesman told the British Press Association that Musk was “using his wealth from Tesla to back far-right parties and degrade democracy” and that he “shouldn’t be surprised if people don’t fancy driving round in his cars for much longer. Increasingly it’s not a great look.”

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/german-police-investigate-musk-salute-projected-on-tesla-factory/a-71403737

More than 100 dead dolphins have been found on the coast of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region, with officials yet to establish what caused their deaths.
The region’s fisheries minister, Abdirisak Abdulahi Hagaa, told Reuters that so far at least 110 dead dolphins had been counted, not far from the port of Bosaso, and that samples had been taken to try to establish what happened.
“So far, we know their death was not caused by wounds from nets because there were no wounds or cuts on them,” he said, adding that officials did not believe toxic materials were to blame since fish in the area did not appear to have been affected.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/more-than-100-dead-dolphins-found-somali-coast-cause-mystery-2025-01-24/

Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday for tens of thousands as firefighters with air support slowed the spread of a huge wildfire churning through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles, but new blazes erupted in San Diego County, briefly triggering more evacuations.

Southern California is under a red flag warning for critical fire risk through Friday. The area has been facing constant challenges in controlling the fires, as dangerous winds gained strength again Thursday.

The Hughes Fire broke out late Wednesday morning and in less than a day charred nearly 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week.

Crews made significant progress by late afternoon on the Hughes Fire, with more than one-third of it contained.

Two new blazes were reported Thursday in the San Diego area. Evacuations were ordered but were later lifted after a brush fire erupted in the late afternoon in the wealthy enclave of La Jolla near the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. Further south, near the U.S.-Mexico border, another blaze was quickly spreading through the Otay Mountain Wilderness, home to the endangered Quino checkerspot butterfly and other unique species.

In Ventura County, a new fire briefly prompted the evacuation of California State University Channel Islands in Camarillo. Water-dropping helicopters made quick progress against the Laguna Fire that erupted in hills above the campus of about 7,000 students. The evacuation order was later downgraded to a warning.

Rain is forecast for the weekend, potentially ending Southern California’s monthslong dry spell. Winds are also not as strong as they were when the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out, allowing for firefighting aircraft to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire retardant.

That helped the fight against the Hughes Fire in the Castaic area north of Los Angeles, allowing helicopters to drop water, which kept it from growing, fire spokesperson Jeremy Ruiz said.

“We had helicopters dropping water until around 3 a.m. That kept it in check,” he said.

Nearly 54,000 residents in the Castaic area were still under evacuation warnings Thursday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. There were no reports of homes or other structures burned.

Kayla Amara drove to Castaic’s Stonegate neighborhood Wednesday to collect items from the home of a friend who had rushed to pick up her daughter at preschool. As Amara was packing the car, she learned the fire had exploded in size and decided to hose down the property.

Amara, a nurse who lives in nearby Valencia, said she’s been on edge for weeks as major blazes devastated Southern California.

“It’s been stressful with those other fires, but now that this one is close to home it’s just super stressful,” she said.

The Palisades Fire was more than three-quarters contained, and the Eaton Fire was 95% under control Thursday. The two fires have killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out Jan. 7.

Rain was expected to start Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Officials welcomed the wet weather, but crews also were shoring up hillsides and installing barriers to prevent debris flows as residents returned to the charred Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas.

The California fires have overall caused at least $28 billion in insured damage and probably a little more in uninsured damage, according to Karen Clark and Company, a disaster modeling firm known for accurate post-catastrophe damage assessments.

On the heels of that assessment, California Republicans are pushing back against suggestions by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires should come with strings attached.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/california-fires-los-angeles-winds-evacuations-ad521b22d8567d3ac8b865a715fee505

President Donald Trump said he would ask Saudi Arabia and other Opec nations to “bring down the cost of oil” and doubled-down on his threat to use tariffs.

In a speech to executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, the US president said he was ‘surprised’ that Opec hadn’t brought down the price of oil before the elections.

“Right now the price is high enough that that war will continue,” he said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war and suggesting that the higher oil price was helping to sustain funding for the conflict in Moscow.

“You gotta bring down the oil price, that will end that war. You could end that war,” he added

The president’s comments on the oil price came after he spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday. According to Saudi State media Bin Salman pledged to invest as much as $600bn in the US over the next four years, however this figure was not mentioned in the White House statement after the call.

Despite the cordial exchange, Trump said he would be asking “the Crown Prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1tn”.

The price of crude fell by 1% following Trump’s comments.

According to David Oxley, Chief Climate and Commodities Economist at Capital Economics these comments are in keeping with Trump’s desire for lower gasoline prices.

“[It’s] his clear intention to use energy as leverage over Russia to end the war in Ukraine. That said, lower oil prices will certainly not incentivise US oil producers to “drill, baby, drill” – particularly in high-cost Alaska.”

“Of course, Saudi Arabia would not be guaranteed to heed a request by President Trump to expand oil production and to bring down global oil prices.”

The US president’s appearance via video at the World Economic Forum marked his first address to a global audience since his inauguration earlier this week.

He used the platform to insist that companies around the world manufacture their products in the US or face bruising tariffs on imported goods entering the American market.

BBC reporter, Oliver Smith, who was in the room with the delegates as the President made his speech, said there were “a few stoney faces” as executives left the hall after the speech, but some happy ones too.

“A very powerful speech,” says one.

“I liked it, I thought it was really good” says another, a delegate from the US.

“A lot of it made sense. Common sense. He’s just looking for fair trade”, he added

One Swiss executive though was pretty downbeat. “It’s nothing new, but it’s clear what he wants to do”, he said.

“Am I happy? No I’m not happy. I think it’s bad for the world,” he adds

Trump also said he would demand an immediate drop in interest rates, which he said had led to deeper deficits and resulted in what he described as economic calamity under the tenure of his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

“This begins with confronting the economic chaos caused by the failed policies of the last administration,” he said.

“Over the past four years, our government racked up $8 trillion in wasteful deficit spending and inflicted nation wrecking energy restrictions, crippling regulations and hidden taxes like never before.”

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17ewl98kgvo

A new wildfire that broke out north of Los Angeles on Wednesday rapidly spread to more than 9,400 acres (38 square km), fueled by strong winds and dry brush, forcing mandatory evacuation orders for more than 31,000 people.
The Hughes fire about 50 miles (80 km) north of Los Angeles further taxed firefighters in the region who have managed to bring two major fires in the metropolitan area largely under control.

In just a few hours on Wednesday the new fire grew to two-thirds the size of the Eaton Fire, one of the two monster conflagrations that have ravaged the Los Angeles area.
Officials warned people in the Castaic Lake area of Los Angeles County that they faced “immediate threat to life,” while much of Southern California remained under a red-flag warning for extreme fire risk due to strong, dry winds.

Some 31,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders and another 23,000 face evacuation warnings, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told a press conference.
The Angeles National Forest said its entire 700,000-acre (2,800-sq-km) park in the San Gabriel Mountains was closed to visitors.
As a result of the red-flag warning, some 1,100 firefighters were deployed around Southern California in anticipation of fast-moving fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. More than 4,000 firefighters were working on the Hughes Fire, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.

Southern California has gone without significant rain for nine months, contributing to hazardous conditions, but some rain was forecast from Saturday through Monday, possibly giving firefighters much-needed relief.

Helicopters scooped water out of a lake to drop on the fire while fixed-wing aircraft dropped fire retardant on the hills, video on KTLA television showed. Flames spread to the water’s edge.
Interstate 5, the major north-south highway in the western United States, was temporarily closed in the mountain pass areas known as the Grapevine due to poor visibility from the smoke, the California Highway Patrol said. But firefighters were able to suppress enough of the fire to reopen the highway, Marrone said.
While the new fire raged, the two deadly fires that have ravaged Los Angeles since Jan. 7 came under greater control, Cal Fire said.
The Eaton Fire that scorched 14,021 acres (57 square km) east of Los Angeles was 91% contained, while the larger Palisades Fire, which has consumed 23,448 acres (95 square km) on the west side of Los Angeles, stood at 68% contained.
Containment measures the percentage of a fire’s perimeter that firefighters have under control.
Since the two fires broke out on Jan. 7, they have burned an area nearly the size of Washington, D.C., killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, Cal Fire said. At one point, 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, according to Los Angeles County officials.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/new-wildfire-breaks-out-north-los-angeles-forces-evacuations-2025-01-22/

Donald Trump has warned he will impose high tariffs and further sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin fails to end the war in Ukraine.

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, he said that by pushing to settle the war he was doing Russia and its president a “very big favour”.

Trump had previously said he would negotiate a settlement to Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in February 2022, in a single day.

Russia has not yet responded to the remarks, but senior officials have said in recent days that there is a small window of opportunity for Moscow to deal with the new US administration.

Putin has said repeatedly that he is prepared to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014, but that Ukraine would have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which are currently about 20% of its land. He also refuses to allow Ukraine to join Nato.

Kyiv does not want to give up its territory, although President Volodymyr Zelensky has conceded he may have to cede some currently occupied land temporarily.

On Tuesday Trump told a news conference he would be talking to Putin “very soon” and it “sounds likely” that he would apply more sanctions if the Russian leader did not come to the table.

But in his Truth Social post on Wednesday, he went further: “I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR,” he wrote.

“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a ‘deal’, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”

Continuing, he said: “Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL”.”

Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy earlier told Reuters news agency that the Kremlin would need to know what Trump wants in a deal to stop the war before the country moves forward.

Meanwhile Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed under any agreement.

And he told Bloomberg that any peacekeeping force for his country would have to include US troops to pose a realistic deterrent to Russia.

“It can’t be without the United States… Even if some European friends think it can be, no it will not be,” he said, adding that no-one else would risk such a move without the US.

While Ukraine’s leaders might appreciate this tougher-talking Trump – they have always said Putin only understands strength – the initial reaction in Kyiv to the US president’s comments suggest that it is actions people are waiting for, not words.

Trump has not specified where more economic penalties might be aimed, or when. Russian imports to the US have plummeted since 2022 and there are all sorts of heavy restrictions already in place.

Currently, the main Russian exports to the US are phosphate-based fertilisers and platinum.

On social media, there was a generally scathing response from Ukrainians. Many suggested that more sanctions were a weak reply to Russian aggression. But the biggest question for most is what Putin is actually open to discussing with Ukraine at any peace talks.

In Moscow meanwhile, some people are seeing signs that the Kremlin may be readying Russians to accept less than the “victory” once envisaged, which included tanks rolling all the way west to the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa.

TV editor Margarita Simonyan, who is stridently pro-Putin, has begun talking of “realistic” conditions for ending the war, which she suggests could include halting the fighting along the current frontline.

That would mean the four Ukrainian regions that Putin illegally pronounced as Russian territory more than two years ago, like Zaporizhzhia, still being partially controlled by Kyiv.

Russian hardliners, the so-called “Z” bloggers, are furious at such “defeatism”.

In his social media post, Trump also couched his threat of tariffs and tighter sanctions in words of “love” for the Russian people and highlighted his respect for Soviet losses in World War Two – a near-sacred topic for Putin – though Trump massively overestimated the numbers and appeared to think the USSR was Russia alone. In reality, millions of Ukrainians and other Soviet citizens also lost their lives.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjw4q7v7ez1o

Donald Trump On H1B Visa: US President Donald Trump said that he likes “very competent people” coming into the country at all levels.

Donald Trump On H1B Visa: US President Donald Trump said that he likes “very competent people” coming into the country at all levels as he reflected on the H1B visa programme.

In a joint news conference at the White House with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Open AI CEO Sam Altman, Donald Trump said, “I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do. But I don’t want to stop — and I’m not just talking about engineers, I’m talking about people at all levels.”

Donald Trump added, “We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maître d’, wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters — you’ve got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, Masa also needs… they need engineers like nobody’s ever needed them.”

The US President also emphasised on the importance of maintaining quality in immigration.

This comes after Elon Musk also advocated for the H1B visa programme saying that it helps in recruiting qualified tech professionals. The Tesla CEO said earlier, “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.”

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/donald-trump-says-he-doesnt-want-to-stop-h-1b-visa-us-needs-very-competent-people-9197217.html