Donald Trump says the US will “definitely” impose trade tariffs on the EU, after already announcing tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China. The 25% import tax on goods from Canada and Mexico, and 10% on goods from China, begin on Tuesday. Asked by the BBC if the EU was next, President Trump says “it will definitely happen.” On tariffs on UK goods, Trump says the UK is “out of line. But... I think that one can be worked out.” Trump has given a range of reasons for imposing tariffs on countries, including border security, inflows of drugs, and trade deficits. A European Commission spokesperson said the EU will “respond firmly to any trading partner that unfairly or arbitrarily imposes tariffs on EU goods”. Meanwhile, stock markets fell in Asia during Monday’s trading, while European markets dropped shortly after opening - BBC

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A day after signing steep new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, Donald Trump acknowledged what economists, members of Congress and even some of his own aides — in their previous lives — have been saying all along: Americans may find themselves paying the costs. “THIS WILL BE THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA! WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!),” Trump posted, in all capital letters, on his Truth Social platform. The message, which appeared in the hour before Trump arrived to his West Palm Beach, Florida, golf club for the second day in a row, amounted to an advance warning. Trump is serious about fulfilling his campaign promises to end illegal immigration, curb the flow of deadly drugs and rebalance continental trade. But doing so will be uncomfortable, Trump is suggesting, and could serve to undermine another of his top campaign vows: lowering costs for Americans - CNN

The two top security officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development were put on administrative leave on Saturday night after refusing to give representatives of Elon Musk access to internal systems, according to three U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. And the agency’s chief of staff, Matt Hopson, a Trump administration political appointee who had started his job days ago, has resigned, two of the officials said. The employees working for Mr. Musk’s task force who clashed with John Voorhees, U.S.A.I.D.’s director of security, and his deputy Brian McGill were seeking to enter a secure area of the agency’s offices to get at classified material, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the incident said. It is not clear exactly what exchange took place between them, Mr. Voorhees and Mr. McGill, who could not immediately be reached for comment. Mr. Hopson also could not be immediately reached. Mr. Voorhees and his deputy are the latest senior officials at the agency to be put on administrative leave. Last week, Trump administration appointees suspended about 60 senior officials and issued stop-work orders that led to the firing of hundreds of contractors. There has been talk among current and former agency employees and lawmakers that U.S.A.I.D., which receives its funding from Congress, could be subsumed within the State Department in a drastically reduced form as President Trump continues to slash foreign aid. - NYT

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A major review into the UK’s defence is expected to recommend increasing the country’s homeland protection against attacks from Russia and other hostile states, The i Paper understands. General Sir Richard Barrons, one of the authors of the Strategic Defence Review, is “really into the idea of ‘hedgehog Britain’” where the UK’s missile defence systems would be strengthened, according to military insiders. This follows calls for the UK to develop its own version of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system. The review is also expected to include recommendations on protecting the UK’s critical infrastructure, including undersea telecommunications cables, after increased attempts at interference by Russia in the Baltic in recent months. The SDR was commissioned by Sir Keir Starmer last year within weeks of becoming Prime Minister and is a top priority for the Government amid the ongoing threat from Russia, Iran and a potential blockade of Taiwan by China. - iPaper

Sir Keir Starmer’s personal email account was compromised by Kremlin-linked hackers shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, it was claimed last night. According to Get In, a new book on Labour’s journey to power, Starmer was forced to stop using the email address after the security services suspected a Russian hack in 2022. The sophisticated operation happened when Starmer was leader of the Opposition and led to him changing his email address. The relevations were reported by journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund in their book Get In, which is being serialised in The Times and Sunday Times. - Daily Mail

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Ukrainian member of parliament Oleksiy Goncharenko has blasted the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for doing little to protect cultural sites in Ukraine - including Odesa, a World Heritage Site struck again by Russian missiles on Friday. “This attack on the center of Odesa is not the first. It is not the first time that Russia has damaged a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Ukraine. This has been going on for almost three years now. Unfortunately, this organization, one of the purposes of which is to protect historical monuments, has little to offer other than concern. And, as we can see, sometimes even the expression of concern is very partial. Goncharenko was referring to a tweet posted by UNESCO’s Kyiv office over the weekend, in which it condemned the strike and said: “These repeated attacks much stop. International law must be respected.” It added that it is already working to assess and document the damage and preparing to “deploy a mission” to the southern port city. (The Tweet did not mention Russia as the aggressor nor was the brief statement posted on UNESCO’s website or on its main Twitter feed). Referring to the UN in general, Goncharenko, who is also a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, told World Briefing: “The organization that is supposed to protect peace and strengthen global security has been watching Ukrainian civilians being killed by rockets and Ukrainian cities being destroyed for three years…But, as we can see, Russia is still in the UN and even has the right to speak there.” He also slammed the Paris-based organization for apparently retaining Russian singer Zara (aka Zarifa Mgoyan) as a so-called artist for peace. “In July 2024, she received an order personally from Putin. So in this case, what kind of ‘artist of peace’ status can we even talk about if she accepted awards from the hands of a man who started a bloody war and killed hundreds of thousands of people? This is pure nonsense.” Last week, UNESCO’s chief, Audrey Azoulay, visited Lviv with the stated aim “to increase UNESCO’s support for cultural professionals involved in the country’s recovery.”

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Tens of thousands of student protesters blocked three bridges in the Serbian city of Novi Sad on February 1. The students are demanding that the authorities take criminal and political responsibility for the collapse of a railway station roof in the city in November which killed 15 people - RFE/RL

Russia has started taking DNA samples from people charged with misdemeanors — like participating in protests and promoting ‘childfree propaganda.’ On January 1, 2025, an amendment to Russia’s law “On state genomic registration” went into effect, allowing law enforcement to conduct “mandatory state genomic registration” of individuals convicted of administrative (misdemeanor) offenses. Dozens of offences can result in jail time. They include battery, disorderly conduct, failure to pay child support, “childfree propaganda,” drug use, driving without a license or under the influence, and, of course, participation in an unsanctioned protest - Meduza

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