Author: AFP

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order withdrawing his country from a number of United Nations bodies, including its Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and setting up a broader review of US funding for the multilateral organization. The executive order said it withdrew Washington from UNHRC and the main UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), and would review involvement in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to speak by phone on Tuesday, just hours after slapping tariffs on each other’s economies in an escalating trade war. Beijing said it was imposing levies on imports of US energy, vehicles and equipment in a return salvo minutes after Trump’s threatened tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect. Trump suspended tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Monday for a month after they vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and crossing of undocumented migrants into the United States. Stock markets wavered on Tuesday…

North Korea on Monday criticized Marco Rubio for calling the country a “rogue state,” dismissing as “nonsense” a comment made by the top US diplomat during a recent interview. In North Korea’s first public denunciation of the new Trump administration, a foreign ministry spokesman said that “we will never tolerate any provocation of the US… but will take tough counteraction corresponding to it as usual,” according to a statement carried on state news service KCNA.

Aston Villa signed Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United until the end of the season on Sunday. The England international, 27, has not featured for United since December 12 and admitted earlier this season he was ready for a “new challenge”.

President Donald Trump is imposing steep tariffs on major US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, with a lower rate on Canadian energy imports, said the White House on Saturday. Washington will impose a 25 percent levy on imports from Canada and Mexico, with a 10 percent rate on Canadian energy resources, until both work with the United States on drug trafficking and immigration. Goods from China, said the White House, would face 10 percent tariffs.

The EU warned Sunday it would hit back “firmly” if US President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to hit imports from the bloc with tariffs. “The EU would respond firmly to any trading partner that unfairly or arbitrarily imposes tariffs on EU goods,” said a European Commission spokesman.

Türkiye could take in some Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel under the terms of its ceasefire deal with Hamas, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a visit to Qatar on Sunday. “Our president has declared that we are ready to take in some freed Palestinians… in order to support the agreement. Türkiye , along with other countries, will do its part in this regard so the ceasefire agreement can remain in force,” he said at a press conference in Doha.

Iran revealed a new ballistic missile on Sunday that it said was capable of travelling 1,700 kilometres, unveiling it in a Tehran ceremony attended by President Masoud Pezeshkian. State television broadcast images of the missile, dubbed Etemad, or “trust” in Persian, saying it had a maximum range of 1,700 kilometres (1,056 miles) and was “the most recent ballistic missile” built by the Iranian defence ministry. Western countries have grown concerned over advances in Iran’s ballistic missile programme, accusing it of destabilising the Middle East. Iran’s missiles, including this newest design, are capable of reaching its arch-foe Israel, which it targeted…

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Americans may feel economic “pain” from his tariffs on key trading partners, but argued it would be “worth the price” to secure US interests. “Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not!)” Trump wrote in all-caps on his Truth social media platform, a day after signing off on tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China over illegal immigration and drug trafficking concerns. “But we will Make America Great Again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid,” he added.

President Donald Trump is due to unleash fresh tariffs Saturday on major US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, threatening upheaval across supply chains from energy to autos. Trump promises 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, pointing to their failure to halt illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl across US borders. He also vows a 10 percent tariff on imports from China, the world’s second biggest economy, charging that it had a role in producing the synthetic opioid. Trump has repeatedly expressed his love for tariffs, and has signaled that Saturday’s action could be the first volley in…