Donald Trump has issued an executive order, calling for an end to “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral” diversity, equity and inclusion schemes. In a follow-up government memo, federal agencies are told to put staff overseeing such roles on paid leave by 17:00 local time (22:00 GMT) today. Trump has also been defending his decision to pardon nearly 1,600 supporters charged in connection with the US Capitol riot in 2021, saying their “lives have been ruined.” Speaking at a press conference on the first full day of his presidency, Trump also said he was considering imposing a 10% tariff on imports of Chinese-made goods as soon as next week. He says discussions with his administration are “based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada.”
Donald Trump on his first full day in office Tuesday defended his decision to grant clemency to people convicted of assaulting police officers during the 2021 attack on the Capitol and suggested there could be a place in American politics for the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, extremist groups whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the U.S. A priority for Trump has been helping supporters who laid siege to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, making their pardons his first official action once he returned to the White House after his inauguration on Monday. Among the roughly 1,500 people pardoned by Trump were more than 200 who pleaded guilty to assaulting police. At least 140 officers were injured during the riot — many beaten, bloodied and crushed by the crowd — as Trump’s supporters tried to overturn Biden’s election victory - AP
‘Europe Must Stand Up’ – EU Lawmakers Clash Over Trump’s Return, Musk’s Political Meddling
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U.S. immigration authorities will be permitted to arrest people and carry out enforcement actions in and near places such as churches and schools, marking a departure from long-standing policy to avoid so-called sensitive areas. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman announced the end of two directives in a statement, giving agents more authority over whether they carry out enforcement and eliminating a legal pathway for migrants seeking to come to the United States. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the statement reads. It’s a key example of how enforcement is going to be different under the new Trump administration from the Biden administration - CNN
The Senate has begun the confirmation process for Trump’s Cabinet picks, with Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi for attorney general and Marco Rubio for secretary of state among those appearing for hearings, the Washington Post reported.
Donald Trump suggested he would hit Russia with additional sanctions if President Vladimir Putin does not accept peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, while he also urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a phone call to help end the conflict. “Sounds like it,” Trump told reporters at the White House on January 21 when asked if Washington would slap fresh sanctions on Russia if Putin did not come to the negotiating table. Trump did not offer details on potential new measures -- which would come on top of a vast array of sanctions already targeting Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Trump also restated his intention to speak with Putin in the near term, without providing a timeframe. “We’re talking to [Ukrainian leader Volodymyr] Zelensky. We’re going to be talking with President Putin very soon. We’re going to look at it.” - RFE/RL
Panama submitted a formal letter to U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and the U.N. Security Council on Monday, rejecting comments that President Trump made about reclaiming the Panama Canal during his inauguration speech. “We didn’t give it to China,” Mr. Trump said after being sworn in. “We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.” The letter, dated Jan. 20 and seen by The New York Times, attached a statement by President José Raúl Mulino of Panama saying that on behalf of his country and people, “I must reject in its entirety the words expressed by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its Canal in his inaugural address.” Mr. Mulino said “the canal is and will continue to be Panama’s.” The letter cited two articles of the U.N. charter that prohibit member states from using threats and force against “the territorial integrity or political independence,” calling such actions inconsistent with the purpose of the United Nations, and suggesting that Mr. Trump’s statements violated the U.N. charter - NYT
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will respond with “dollar for dollar, matching tariffs” if U.S. President Donald Trump imposes those hefty tariffs. Meanwhile, provincial leaders, eschewing the outgoing prime minister’s ’Team Canada’ approach, say they will respond with diplomacy, booze bans and counter-tariffs to Trump’s threat. Canada has until at least Feb. 1 before its products could be hit by Trump’s 25% tariffs - Global News
A fire raged through a 12-story hotel in the northwestern Turkish province of Bolu, killing at least 76 people. Officials say at least two of them died after jumping from the building to escape the flames. More than 50 others were also injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu, according to Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire broke out during a busy time of the year when hotels are packed, as schools around the country take a two-week winter break. “Our hearts are broken. We are in mourning,” said Yerlikaya to reporters outside the hotel. “You should know that whoever is responsible for causing this pain will not escape justice,” he added. Nine people have been detained as part of an investigation into the fire. Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the hotel owner was among those detained for questioning in the probe - Euronews
Israeli security forces on Tuesday embarked on a military operation in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as Israel turned its focus to an area seen as a hotbed of militancy just days after a temporary cease-fire took hold in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a statement that the operation, the latest in a string of West Bank raids over the past year, was aimed at “eradicating terrorism” and would be “extensive and significant.” The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry reported that eight people had been killed and at least 35 injured during the first hours of the operation. For Mr. Netanyahu, the operation in the West Bank could serve as a distraction from Gaza, where Hamas gunmen paraded through the streets even before the cease-fire started on Sunday, a show of force signaling that it had survived the 15-month war despite Mr. Netanyahu’s vows to destroy it. But with its strength severely diminished in Gaza, Hamas has intensified its efforts to arm militants in the West Bank to open another front against Israel, analysts said, making an Israeli offensive there almost inevitable - NYT
Two French investigating magistrates have issued an arrest warrant against ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes, the second such move by France’s judicial authorities, a source said on Tuesday. Assad, who was ousted late last year in a lightning offensive by Islamist forces, is held responsible in the warrant issued on Monday as “commander-in-chief of the armed forces” for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 that killed a civilian, a source close to the case, asking not to be named, told AFP. This mandate was issued as part of an investigation into the case of Salah Abou Nabout, a 59-year-old Franco-Syrian national and former French teacher, who was killed on June 7, 2017 following the bombing of his home by Syrian army helicopters. The French judiciary considers that Assad ordered and provided the means for this attack, according to the source. Six senior Syrian army officials are already the target of French arrest warrants over the case in an investigation that began in 2018 - France 24
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