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Rubio warns against China reliance

Senator Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state, has warned that the US must change course to avoid becoming more reliant on China, as he promised a robust foreign policy focused on American interests. The remarks from the Republican senator, who is expected to comfortably win confirmation as the nation’s top diplomat, sent a stark message about changes in US policy. Rubio, 53, addressed major foreign policy issues in a friendly hearing before a committee where he has served for 14 years.

Reuters

Technology

TikTok prepares to shut down

TikTok plans to shut US operations of its social media app used by 170 million Americans on Sunday, when a federal ban is set to take effect, barring a last-minute reprieve, people familiar with the matter say. President-elect Donald Trump, whose term begins a day after a ban would start, is reportedly considering issuing an executive order to suspend enforcement of a shutdown for 60 to 90 days. It was unclear how Trump could legally do so.

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Politics

Bondi vows to end Justice Department ‘weaponisation’

Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general, Pam Bondi, has vowed not to use the US Justice Department to target people based on their politics, but dodged direct questions about investigating people scorned by the president-elect. “There will never be an enemies list within the Department of Justice,“ Bondi told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I will not politicise that office. I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation.“

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Canada

Trudeau: Nothing ruled out in tariffs response

Canada will consider every kind of countermeasure if US President-elect Donald Trump goes ahead with a threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian imports, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says. Trump’s proposed move would be crippling for the economy, given Canada sends 75 per cent of all goods and services exports to the United States. “Nothing can be off the table if the US continues to choose to move forward with these punishing tariffs,“ Trudeau said after meeting the premiers of the 10 provinces to discuss potential responses.

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Ukraine

Russia targets gas infrastructure

Russia has launched scores of missiles and drones at Ukraine, targeting gas infrastructure and other energy facilities in western regions in a new barrage against the struggling power system in the depths of winter. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian forces launched more than 40 missiles during the morning attack and used more than 70 drones overnight. Ukrainian air defences shot down 30 missiles and 47 drones, the air force said. Another 27 drones were “lost” in reference to Kyiv using electronic warfare to redirect them.

Reuters

Germany

22 hours ago

German economy shrinks again

The German economy, Europe’s biggest, shrank for the second consecutive year in 2024, according to figures released weeks before an election in which the economy is the top issue. The Federal Statistical Office said gross domestic product contracted by 0.2 per cent last year following a decline in 2023. The head of the office, Ruth Brand, said that it’s believed to have shrunk by 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three-month period, but that is a rough initial estimate as hard economic data for December haven’t been released yet.

Reuters

22 hours ago

Rescue

23 hours ago

Man and dog rescued after falling into frozen lake

Drone footage released by authorities in Wellesley, Massachusetts shows the rescue of a dog and its owner after they both fell through the ice on Lake Waban. In a video posted on the police department’s social media, rescuers from the local fire department can be seen crawling along a tether line towards a hole in the ice next to an empty row boat. The police department said they received a call on Sunday, about a dog that fell through the ice at the lake, and added that the owner followed suit after trying to rescue it.

Reuters

23 hours ago

Middle East

Gaza ceasefire deal remains elusive

Negotiators are trying to hammer out the final details of a complex, phased ceasefire in Gaza after marathon talks in Qatar. US and Egyptian leaders promised to stay in close contact about a deal over the coming hours. More than eight hours of talks in Doha had fuelled optimism. Officials from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US as well as Israel and Hamas said on Tuesday that an agreement for a truce in the besieged Palestinian enclave and the release of hostages was closer than ever. But a senior Hamas official told Reuters that the Palestinian group had not yet delivered its response because it was still waiting for Israel to submit maps showing how its forces would withdraw from Gaza.

Reuters

Caribbean

Biden to relax Cuba sanctions

The Biden administration says it will remove Cuba from its terrorism blacklist, while Cuba said separately it would release upward of 500 prisoners from its jails, dual announcements poised to reshape US-Cuba relations just days before Donald Trump takes office. President Joe Biden’s announcements effectively roll back many of the sanctions put in place by President-elect Trump during his previous term ending in 2021. If they endure, they would represent the most significant advance in US-Cuba relations since the Obama-era detente. Trump, a harsh Cuba critic who designated the island a state sponsor of terrorism - has not yet commented on the measures but has promised a hard line on the communist-run country. He also nominated US Senator Marco Rubio, the son of immigrants from Cuba and an outspoken critic of the island’s government, as secretary of state.

Reuters

Washington

Sullivan passes baton to Trump adviser

Top advisers to US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have put aside their differences for a symbolic “passing of the torch” event focused on national security issues. Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan passed a ceremonial baton to US Congressman Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick for the same job, in a revival of a Washington ritual organised by the nonpartisan United States Institute of Peace since 2001.

Reuters

Trade

Trump eyes foreign revenue collection agency

US President-elect Donald Trump says he will create a new government agency called the External Revenue Service “to collect tariffs, duties, and all revenue” from foreign sources as he readies new import tariffs ahead of his inauguration next week. Trump said in a social media post he would create the department on January 20, the day he takes office as president for a second term, adding that Americans have been taxed for too long by the Internal Revenue Service.

Reuters

Gaza

Ceasefire deal is ‘closer than ever’

Negotiators were meeting in Qatar hoping to finalise a plan to end the war in Gaza, after US President Joe Biden indicated a ceasefire and hostage release deal was close, after 15 months of conflict that upended the Middle East. More than five hours after talks began there was still no word on an outcome. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told a news conference that the talks on the final details were underway and this was the closest point to a deal reached over the past months. Hamas said the talks had reached the final steps and that it hoped this round of negotiations would lead to a deal after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Reuters

South Korea

Authorities at Yoon residence with arrest warrant

South Korean authorities investigating impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol have arrived at his official residence to execute an arrest warrant over insurrection accusations related to his December 3 martial law declaration. Video footage showed vehicles from the investigating authorities in front of Yoon’s hillside villa in Seoul, where he has been holed up for weeks.

Reuters

Security

NATO moves to protect Baltic Sea

NATO countries will deploy frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones in the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure and reserve the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat, alliance members said. The military and political alliance is taking the action, dubbed “Baltic Sentry”, following a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Reuters

Government

Treasury minister resigns over ties to ousted Bangladesh PM

The British minister responsible for financial services and fighting corruption has resigned after weeks of questions over her financial ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, ousted last year as prime minister of Bangladesh. Tulip Siddiq, 42, had...

Reuters