|
Trudeau Hi, I'm VOA's Alexis Strope with your worldwide news update.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday will implement tariffs of 25 percent on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10 percent on Chinese goods with immediate effect. Reuters correspondent Jillian Kitchener has more. Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed a forceful response to any new U.S. tariffs. "We won't relent until tariffs are removed and of course everything is on the table." Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum has said Trump's tariffs would cost 400,000 U.S. jobs and drive up prices for American consumers. Trump's order and retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico threaten to disrupt nearly $1.6 trillion in North American trade as well as effectively end a 30-year free trade system that has deeply integrated the three economies. The largest sector by far to be affected by new tariffs would be autos and auto parts. That was Reuters correspondent Jillian Kitchener. Police boats have been scouring the Potomac River as part of the recovery and investigation into the deadly mid-air collision at Reagan National Airport. AP correspondent Mike Hempen reports. Authorities say the remains of 41 people have been pulled from the Potomac River following the Wednesday mid-air collision between a jet and an army helicopter. Sixty-seven people died. John Donnelly is the Washington, D.C. fire chief. "We expect to recover all of the bodies. We have a ... That's why our teams are still working. We're gonna have to work with the salvage company to do some of that work." Reagan National Airport has reopened, but officials say two of its three runways remain closed to keep aircraft from flying over the crash scene while taking off or landing. The Department of Transportation says the Federal Aviation Administration has heavily restricted helicopter traffic around the airport. Mike Hempen, Washington. This is VOA News. Three more Israeli hostages are to be released from Gaza. AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports. News that three high-profile hostages are expected to be released has brought excitement and trepidation to Israel on Friday. The men include Yarden Bibas, who is the father of the youngest captives held in Gaza. The men's release would be the fourth since a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas came into effect this month. In its first phase, 33 Israeli hostages are expected to be freed in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prison. I'm Karen Chammas. U.S. government websites have gone dark as agencies scrambled to comply with President Donald Trump's executive orders declaring his administration would recognize only two genders and ordering an end to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. In a letter sent on Wednesday, the Office of Personnel Management directed agency heads to terminate grants and contracts related to "gender ideology," ask staff to remove pronouns from their government emails and disbanded resource groups on the issue, too. The directive, which ordered agencies to institute changes by 5 p.m. on Friday, also asked agencies to remove the term "gender" from government forms and swap it out with "sex." French troops formally completed their withdrawal from Chad on Friday, marking the end of France's military presence in the Central African nation after nearly 70 years. Olivia Zollino from Reuters reports. The last French soldiers left the N'Djamena military base this week, ahead of the January 31 deadline set by Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby. Speaking at a ceremony on Friday, he hailed the departure as "a new dawn for Chad." The withdrawal from Chad is part of a broader reduction in France's military footprint across West Africa. French forces have also been ordered to leave Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali following coups in those countries. Senegal is negotiating the departure of French troops by the end of this year. Chad, along with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, has also shown interest in strengthening ties with Russia. That was Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino. A senior Trump administration official has traveled to Venezuela to urge President Nicolás Maduro's government to take back deported migrants who've committed crimes in the U.S. and release a handful of Americans in prison. The visit by Richard Grenell, who U.S. President Donald Trump appointed as an envoy for special missions, may come as a surprise to some Venezuelans who hoped that Trump would continue the "maximum pressure" campaign he pursued against the authoritarian Venezuelan leader during his first term. Mauricio Claver-Carone, Trump's special envoy to Latin America, confirmed Grenell's visit to Caracas in a conference call with journalists on Friday. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website. I'm Alexis Strope, VOA News. |