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BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
President Trump has announced plans to impose new tariffs on eight European allies, including Germany, France and Britain, until a deal is reached over the future of Greenland. He said the 10 percent levy would come into force on the 1st of February. David Willis is in Washington. The president believes the island is crucial to America's national security interests and that only the U.S. can protect Greenland against invasion by China or Russia. Mr. Trump has now threatened tariffs of up to 25 percent on imports from eight European countries until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland. Without such a deal, the president and his allies insist the security of the U.S. and the world is at stake. President Macron of France called Mr. Trump's threat "unacceptable." He said Europeans would not be influenced by intimidation as Hugh Schofield reports from Paris. If the tariffs were to be confirmed, President Macron said the Europeans would "respond in a unified and coordinated manner" to defend European sovereignty. France, like the other seven nations named, has sent a small detachment of troops to Greenland in preparation for military exercises there and President Macron said it was a question of Arctic and European security. The Danish foreign minister said he was surprised by the American threat because the planned military exercises in Greenland were precisely, he said, to increase Arctic security. Britain's Keir Starmer said applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the NATO's collective security was completely wrong. There's been criticism from both Israel and Palestinians about the makeup of committees that the Trump administration has begun to announce to help oversee the Gaza peace process. Palestinians have highlighted the absence of Palestinian representatives. The office of the Israeli prime minister said one of the key boards was not coordinated with his government and run contrary to Israeli policy. The Syrian army says it has captured the military airport in the city of al Tabqa, east of Aleppo, as it continues its push into territory held by the Kurdish forces. State media said the army also took over the major Freedom Dam west of Raqqa. ??? reports. Capturing these strategic sites in the north, the Syrian army has further dislodged Kurdish forces from territory over which they in effect held autonomy. For over a decade, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have controlled swaths of the oil-rich northeast, seized during the civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group. On Friday, President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a national language, but his goal is to integrate the Kurdish forces into state institutions. World news from the BBC. The European Union has signed a huge trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur despite objections from several EU countries. The provisional agreement was signed in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion. It follows 25 years of negotiations and aims to create one of the world's largest free trade areas, encompassing 700 million people. The U.S. military says it has killed an al-Qaeda-affiliate leader linked to an Islamic State attack on Americans in Syria last month. It described Bilal Hasan al-Jasim as an experienced terrorist leader, who plotted attacks and was directly connected with the ISIS gunman, who ambushed two U.S. service members and an interpreter. The U.S. military launched large-scale strikes in Syria in response to the December attack. Internet connectivity has been restored in Uganda, hours after President Yoweri Museveni was announced as the winner of Thursday's general election. Earlier, the Electoral Commission announced that Mr. Museveni had received 71 percent of the vote to secure a seventh term in office. Richard Kagoe has been following developments. Based on the trends that we've seen in the past, it was widely expected he's going to secure the seventh term. There's been a lot of speculation in terms of succession. That was really quite a major talking point in the run-up to this election. But now that extends his rule of the East African country for more than 40 years, having come to power in 1986, on January 30. And now he becomes amongst one of the longest serving African leaders, actually the third one. Football under the men's Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria have secured third place after beating Egypt on penalties in their bronze medal play-off clash, following a goalless draw. The host Morocco take on Senegal in the final on Sunday evening. BBC News. |