- Three weeks that changed the world: How Trump turned against Ukraine and Europe Reuters
- High Stakes: the Showdown Looms Center for European Policy Analysis
- Russia-Ukraine war: Can Europe replace US aid for Ukraine? Vox.com
- Politics The Economist
- Asserting agency: How Europeans can ensure Ukraine’s security European Council on Foreign Relations
Ontario sets 25% surcharge on energy exports to US to counter Trump tariffs
Premier Doug Ford says province ‘won’t back down’ until US president retracts duties on Canada
The Canadian province of Ontario is imposing a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the states of New York, Michigan and Minnesota in protest against Donald Trump’s tariffs, the premier, Doug Ford, said on Monday.
“President Trump’s tariffs are a disaster for the US economy. They’re making life more expensive for American families and businesses,” Ford said in a statement.
Continue reading...Starmer facing Reform UK byelection challenge as Mike Amesbury quits as MP after assault conviction – UK politics live
Contest in Runcorn and Helsby will be a challenge for Labour
Around 80 Labour MPs could refuse to back government plans to cut billions from the welfare budget, Amy Gibbons and Tony Diver claim in a story for the Daily Telegraph. They report:
The Telegraph understands that around 80 Labour MPs – roughly a fifth of the parliamentary party – “won’t tolerate” billions of pounds of welfare cuts set to be announced by the Chancellor later this month.
The anger is said to have spread beyond the “usual suspects”, with MPs who would not typically criticise Sir Keir threatening to “give the government a slap” over the proposals.
Our Labour values are built on a simple but powerful idea: that every individual, regardless of background or circumstance, should have the support they need to make the most of their lives. Everyone who is capable of working deserves the security, dignity and agency that employment offers. Of course, there are some people who are not able to work and they must be treated with compassion and respect. But for those that can, we must restore the pathways to opportunity which are currently so sparse for millions of people. It is exactly what a Labour government exists to do …
As MPs, we understand that delivering this new social contract requires hard choices to be made. We welcome the work that has begun to rebuild our welfare system, and we are fully supportive of it. We believe reforming our broken system is not only necessary, but also a truly progressive endeavour. And so we have established the Get Britain Working Group to make that argument, insistently.
The radical package of reforms will see:
-£5bn in savings by making it harder to qualify for Personal Independence Payments - a benefit not linked to work that is meant to help people with the additional costs of their disability
This government is determined that instead of facing a life on benefits … we stretch every sinew and pull every lever to ensure that we can get those people into work, because that is the best way for them to have a successful and happy life into the future.
So I think it’s quite right to look at a benefit system which is clearly broken.
Continue reading...Mike Amesbury resigns as MP, triggering byelection
Amesbury, 55, resigns two weeks after receiving a suspended prison sentence for punching a constituent
Mike Amesbury has resigned as an MP after being given a prison sentence for punching a constituent.
The 55-year-old was suspended by Labour and lost the party whip on 27 October after a clip was published by MailOnline.
Continue reading...NATO’s Rutte backs Bosnia after separatist moves by Serbian region
Visit to Sarajevo comes after Bosnian Serb leaders bar federal judicial authorities and police from Republika Srpska.
Stocks slide as Trump warns of US economy ‘transition’
Investors are nervous about the possibility of a US recession, say experts.
Trump confirms detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil: ‘the first arrest of many to come’ – live
Trump says Ice took the Palestinian student protester into custody after his executive order
Secretary of state Marco Rubio has announced that USAid will cancel the majority of its programs, while the rest will be folded into the state department.
Writing on X, Rubio said:
After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID.
The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States.
Continue reading...Violent protests after Romania bans far-right presidential candidate
Protests broke out in front of Romania’s Central Election Bureau after it rejected the candidacy of Calin Georgescu.
One person in hospital but all crew accounted for after North Sea ships collide, says local MP – live
Graham Stuart says other 36 mariners across both crews are ‘safe and accounted for’
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has expressed concern about the collision and thanked emergency workers who are dealing with the situation.
The Labour MP for Swindon South said “I’m concerned to hear of the collision between two vessels in the North Sea this morning and am liaising with officials and HM Coastguard as the situation develops. I want to thank all emergency service workers involved for their continued efforts in responding to the incident.”
Continue reading...‘Dog-whistle v fog horn’: why Rupert Lowe’s reach on X may not cut through
Lowe’s online presence, helped by Elon Musk, dwarfs that of Nigel Farage, but may not bring him new Reform voters
If you were to looking for answers as to why Rupert Lowe, a relatively little-known Reform UK MP, thinks he can lecture Nigel Farage about running a party and winning an election, there is one place you should probably start: X.
For all that in person Lowe can sometimes resemble a slightly embarrassing uncle at a wedding, on the social media site formerly known as Twitter, the Great Yarmouth MP is a big name – and by some metrics, a notably bigger one even than his party leader.
Continue reading...Dozens killed and missing after flash floods in Argentina
At least 16 people have died in flash floods that swept through Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca.
Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water – ABC News
- Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water ABC News
- UN warns of ‘dire consequences’ for civilians after Israel cuts power to Gaza The Times of Israel
- Israeli Energy Minister Cuts Off Electricity to Gaza The New York Times
- Live briefing: Israel cuts electricity to Gaza, as Trump envoy heads to ceasefire talks The Washington Post
- What does Israel cutting off Gaza’s electricity mean? Al Jazeera English
‘Reeks of McCarthyism’: outrage after Ice detains Palestinian student activist
Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil a ‘targeted, retaliatory’ attack on his first amendment rights, say civil rights groups
Free speech organizations and advocates are expressing outrage after a prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian protests last year, was arrested and detained over the weekend.
Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent US resident with a green card, was taken into custody by federal immigration authorities on Saturday night, who reportedly said that they were acting on a state department order to revoke his green card.
Continue reading...Risk of ‘Trumpcession’ rising, economists say, as global markets fall
Donald Trump’s brinkmanship and stop-start approach to tariffs rattle investors
The risk that the US economy will enter recession this year is rising, according to economists, as Donald Trump’s chaotic approach to tariffs continued to hit markets.
Shares on Wall Street fell sharply on Monday as investors bet the president’s unpredictable tariff trade war and handling of the economy would hit growth, amid a recent plunge in business and consumer confidence.
Continue reading...Top Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus resigns after piece critical of Jeff Bezos is scrapped
The column was disapproving of paper’s new opinion policy of supporting only ‘personal liberties and free markets’
Washington Post associate editor and top political columnist Ruth Marcus is reportedly resigning following CEO Will Lewis’ decision to kill her opinion column critical of owner Jeff Bezos’ latest changes to the paper.
“It is with great sadness that I submit my resignation as columnist and associate editor of the Washington Post,” Marcus wrote in a letter addressed to publisher Will Lewis and billionaire Jeff Bezos and posted on X by a New York Times media reporter.
Continue reading...Oil Tanker and Container Ship Collide in the North Sea – The New York Times
- Oil Tanker and Container Ship Collide in the North Sea The New York Times
- U.S. tanker is leaking fuel in the North Sea after a collision with a container ship NPR
- Cargo vessel collides with US-flagged tanker carrying jet fuel off UK coast, causing huge fire CNN
- One person in hospital but all crew accounted for after North Sea ships collide, says local MP – live The Guardian
- 'Incompetence' caused tanker collision off UK coast, expert says Yahoo
Rubio announces 83 percent of USAID contracts cancelled under Trump
Trump administration has targeted USAID as part of president's efforts to trim government spending and reduce 'waste'.
Romania’s pro-Russia presidential candidate to fight election ban
Cǎlin Georgescu to contest decision to bar him from election rerun in May after claims of Russian meddling
Romania’s far-right presidential frontrunner, Cǎlin Georgescu, has said he will appeal against a decision to bar him from standing in a rerun of the presidential election, calling it “a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.
Georgescu, a Moscow-friendly populist, surged from almost nowhere to win the first round of the country’s presidential election last year, but the result was annulled by Romania’s top court because of evidence of suspected Russian interference.
Continue reading...Syria says operation against Assad loyalists over after deadly violence
A monitoring group says 973 civilians have been killed in revenge attacks against the Alawite sect since Thursday.
There’s only one thing in Mark Carney’s in-tray: Trump
Canada’s incoming prime minister warns the US president’s tariffs threaten the ‘greatest crisis of our generation’
When Mark Carney becomes Canada’s prime minister later this week, a list of simmering crises across the country will demand his attention: housing is unaffordable, healthcare is breaking, living costs keep rising and the climate crisis is ransacking livelihoods.
But most – if not all – of those concerns will be pushed aside, supplanted by a far greater threat to the country: the US president, Donald Trump.
Continue reading...