FINANCIAL TIMES
-Donald Trump has announced plans to impose tariffs on the European Union (EU), adding the bloc to a list of targets including Canada and Mexico. The US president acknowledged that the new tariffs could cause market disruption but claimed they would help the country close its trade deficits. Trump claimed that the tariffs would make the US rich and strong. Before his plan for 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump widened his threat to include the EU, which he said had treated the US "very badly". He said that the EU doesn't take our cars, farm products, and farm products, and that the US has a tremendous deficit with the EU. This sharp escalation in his rhetoric on trade means the world's biggest economy is on the verge of imposing tariffs on its most significant trading partners.
-Canada's former finance minister Chrystia Freeland has called for Ottawa to retaliate against US tariffs by adding significant levies on Tesla vehicles to punish Elon Musk, one of Donald Trump's billionaire friends. Freeland, who is running to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister, emphasized the need for a swift, punitive response if Trump follows through on his threat to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting this weekend. She suggested that Canada must threaten to impose a 100% tariff on all Tesla vehicles and a 100% tariff on US wine, beer, and spirits if unfair tariffs are imposed on Canadians. This comments mark a sharp escalation in the trade dispute with Washington, which escalated after Trump announced tariffs on the US's two biggest trading partners from February 1.
-China is on the brink of a historic breakthrough in artificial general intelligence (AGI), with DeepSeek's algorithmic innovations reminding the industry that its technological edge isn't guaranteed. Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO and chair, says that to achieve AGI first, China needs to continue investing in talent, supporting its open-source ecosystem, and out-innovating competitors. DeepSeek, founded in 2023 as a side project for Liang Wenfeng, has become one of China's leading AI labs, aiming to out-innovate competitors rather than just outspend them. The company's algorithmic innovations highlight the importance of continued investment in talent and open-source ecosystem support.
-Hamas has released three Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners, marking the fourth exchange of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. The hostages, Yarden Bibas, Ofer Kalderon, and Keith Siegel, were handed over to Israeli forces in Gaza before being returned to Israel. Israel then began releasing the 183 Palestinian prisoners in return, with a large crowd gathering in Ramallah. The six-week truce is the first part of a complex three-stage deal negotiated by US-led mediators, which has raised hopes of an end to the hostilities in Gaza. The 15-month war has become the deadliest round of fighting in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leaving Gaza in ruins, consuming Israeli society, and putting the Middle East on the brink of a full-scale war.
-India's finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has announced tax breaks for middle-class Indians and measures to improve business ease. The move comes amid a economic slowdown following Modi's re-election last year. The measures aim to revive the world's fifth-biggest economy and boost demand among urban consumers. The personal income tax threshold for taxpayers below Rs700,000 has been increased to Rs1.2M ($13,842), and brackets for taxable income rates have been raised. The government plans to introduce a new income tax bill next week. The new rates aim to reduce middle class taxes, boosting household consumption, savings, and investment.
-Belgium has formed a governing coalition led by a rightwing, nationalist party, the N-VA party, after eight months of negotiations. Bart De Wever, a founding member of the party, will be the prime minister. The N-VA party has advocated for greater independence for Flanders and Wallonia, Belgium's Dutch-speaking half, and pushed for them to exist as confederal states. The agreement was announced after De Wever met with King Philippe. Maxime Prévot, leader of Les Engagés, praised the agreement for its commitment to future generations. De Wever, the first N-VA politician to become prime minister, has been mayor of Antwerp since 2013, advocating for strong measures to crack down on cocaine smuggling at Antwerp's port.
-Former Federal Reserve official John Rogers has been arrested in the US for allegedly passing on economic secrets to China. Rogers, a senior adviser in the Fed's international finance division from 2010-21, was accused of accessing sensitive data on China-related tariffs, briefings to officials, and policy debates. He transferred sensitive information to his personal email account and passed it on to Chinese officials disguised as graduate students. Rogers also used encrypted messaging apps to communicate with Chinese officials. The justice department claimed Rogers met his co-conspirators in Chinese hotel rooms where he gave them sensitive trade secret information belonging to the Fed. Rogers was paid about $450,000 as a part-time professor at Fudan University in China. The indictment is the latest in a rising number of cases where officials from the US government, particularly agencies like the CIA and the military, have been charged with providing sensitive or secret information to the Chinese government.
-Progressive movements, such as "wokeness," have faced resistance from those who opposed civil rights in the 1960s and the suppression of sexist and racist jokes in the 1990s. The term "wokeness" emerged from the American Black community to describe awareness of injustices faced by Black people, later gaining currency among the wider left. Critics on the right have weaponized the word, making it pejorative. Today, wokeness refers to attempts to address systemic inequalities faced by disadvantaged groups, including women, people of color, LGBT+ people, and those with disabilities.
-Meta is considering reincorporating outside of Delaware, becoming the latest tech group to consider leaving the state that has long been considered an American corporate haven. The social media group is weighing moving its legal residence to another state, such as Texas, but has not decided on a destination. Meta's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the company would move its US-based trust and safety staff from California to Texas as part of a broad 'free speech' overhaul of its approach to content moderation. The company has faced allegations from President Donald Trump and his allies that it censors conservatives and is staffed by liberal-leaning employees. Meta declined to comment on a possible relocation but stated that it had no plan to move its corporate headquarters out of California.
-Panama, once a strong US ally and global business hub, is now facing criticism for its portrayal as a corrupt rogue state in conflict with Iran and China. The Central American nation, known for its baseball passion, is caught in a geopolitical battle with the US. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed that China could potentially shut down the Panama Canal in any conflict, indicating that they have contingency plans to do so. This situation offers a glimpse into what could happen to other nations that have profited from globalisation and hoped to stay neutral if they fall foul of Washington's anti-China sentiment.
-Goldman Sachs has been approved by Vladimir Putin to sell its Russian subsidiary to an Armenian investment fund, marking the end of the US investment bank's exit from Russia almost three years after it first pledged to leave. The sale, for an undisclosed amount, comes as western banks struggle to secure sign-off for disposals of their Russian businesses since the Russian president launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Despite Dutch lender ING's €700M exit, some larger players, like Raiffeisen, have yet to make visible progress in leaving Russia. Russia has tightened restrictions on business sales by companies from "unfriendly" jurisdictions since the invasion, with deals requiring state approval and pricing at no more than 50% of market value.
NEW YORK TIMES
-A medical plane carrying six people crashed near a shopping center in Northeast Philadelphia, leaving no survivors and igniting a large fireball that engulfed homes and vehicles. The plane was transporting a young female patient from Philadelphia to her home in Mexico, with her mother, two pilots, a doctor, and a paramedic on board. All six people on the plane were Mexican, according to Mexico's Foreign Ministry. The burning debris left an apartment building and several vehicles in flames, and several blocks within a half-mile radius were cordoned off. Residents reported thick smoke rising from the crash site and smelling fuel.
-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported arresting 7,400 people in nine days, a significant increase in enforcement. However, details of these arrests are scarce, making it unclear whether the targeted criminals constitute a significant portion of those being captured. ICE and the White House have highlighted a few dozen cases, but no information is available for the remaining thousands of cases.
-Laredo, America's busiest port, is facing 25 percent tariffs on Mexican products by President Trump, as he aims to pressure the Mexican government to curb illegal immigration. Trump is also expected to impose 25% levies on Canada and impose a 10% tax on Chinese imports. He is a longtime proponent of tariffs and a critic of free trade deals, but has other concerns with Mexico, including the economic competition it poses for US workers. He and his supporters believe that imports of cars and steel from Mexico are weakening US manufacturers and that the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement needs to be updated or scrapped.
-Trade integration in North America is about to be disrupted due to tariffs President Trump plans to impose on Canada and Mexico, Washington’s top trading partners. While the tariffs are expected to cause pain on all three nations, they would disproportionately damage Canada and Mexico, which are smaller economies heavily dependent on the US. While Trump initially stopped short of including tariffs in his executive orders, he later revealed that he plans to pursue tariffs in the form of 25% on Mexico and Canada. Howard Lutnick, Trump's nominee to run the Commerce Department, suggested that Canada and Mexico could avoid a first wave of tariffs if they addressed Trump's demands to manage undocumented migrants and curb fentanyl exports.
-The Trump administration plans to scrutinize thousands of FBI agents involved in the Jan. 6 investigations, potentially targeting rank-and-file agents. This comes as over a dozen prosecutors at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington were informed they were being terminated. The move demonstrates Trump's willingness to use federal law enforcement to punish perceived political enemies, despite his cabinet nominees' assurances they would abide by the rule of law. Forcing out both agents and prosecutors would amount to a wide-scale assault on the Justice Department.
-Trump administration officials have released significant amounts of water from two dams in California's Central Valley, allegedly to make a political point. The water has been directed towards low-lying land in the Central Valley and will not reach Southern California. President Trump claimed that the same action would have prevented the Los Angeles wildfires on the other side of mountain ranges. However, experts expressed dismay that the water released now serves little use for farmers, who typically have higher irrigation needs during the spring and summer months.
-Secretary of State Marco Rubio's first overseas trip in Panama is amidst tensions in Central American countries due to President Trump's confrontational approach. The region is grappling with potential economic repercussions, such as mass deportations and a halt in foreign aid. Michael E. Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue research institute, believes that each country is "each country for himself." Despite attempts to secure meetings with Trump's team in the lead-up to his presidency, the region faced rebuffs. With Trump in office and treating Latin America as a critical focus, the stakes are high.
-Hamas released three more hostages and Israel freed a group of Palestinian prisoners as part of an ongoing cease-fire deal. The release took place in a highly performative ceremony in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, and in a separate ceremony in Gaza City. The freed hostages were expected to head to hospitals in Israel, where they would be reunited with their families and receive medical care after 15 months in captivity. Israel watched live broadcasts of the releases from "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv, cheering as the three were handed over. The Palestinian prisoners' commission reported that Israel was releasing about 180 Palestinians from custody. The exchange was the fourth in a multiphase cease-fire deal that Israel and Hamas agreed to last month. Under the deal, Hamas pledged to free at least 33 of the 97 remaining hostages over the first six weeks in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinians jailed by Israel.
-Black History Month, established nearly five decades ago by Republican President Gerald R. Ford, is now gaining new significance amid President Trump's attacks on diversity programs. The study of Black history, particularly the dark corners of slavery, segregation, and bigotry, is seen as an act of defiance. Martha Jones, a professor of history and presidential scholar at Johns Hopkins University, believes that Black History Month existed before presidents endorsed it and will continue even if they do not. However, she also laments the suppression of American history and calls for more attention to its contributions.
NEW YORK POST
-A small medevac jet carrying six people, including a pediatric patient and her mother, crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood on Friday, resulting in multiple casualties and causing a massive explosion that lit up the night sky. The Learjet 55 out of Northeast Philadelphia Airport was headed to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it plunged to the ground shortly after taking off. The child had just received "life-saving treatment" and was heading home to Mexico with her mother, a doctor, paramedic, pilot, and copilot. Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the company that owns the aircraft, confirmed that they cannot confirm any survivors at this time.
-The military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines CRJ700 airliner flight over Washington, DC, was flying nearly twice as high as it should have been, but was not equipped with new technology that would have alerted air traffic control to its dangerously deviated path. The revelations come as questions plague the Pentagon over why the Army allowed its pilots to train in an area home to the most densely trafficked air path convergences in the country and as the Federal Aviation Administration prohibited most helicopter traffic in the area as the deadly midair collision continues to be investigated.
-The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has requested that CBS-parent Paramount Global turn over footage and transcripts from a "60 Minutes" interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris as part of its review of the company's planned merger with Skydance Media. CBS News stated it is working to comply with the FCC's request for the full, unedited transcript and camera feeds from the interview, which aired on October 7, 2024. The interview led Donald Trump to file a $10B lawsuit, alleging that the Tiffany Network "deceptively" edited the sit-down to make his presidential opponent look better just before the election. CBS had previously said it aired a more succinct version of Harris' answer to a question about Israel on "60 Minutes" than the one shown during a promo on "Face the Nation" the day before, and called the allegations meritless.
