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Europe
Vatican
Sunday 09 February 2025 Pope Francis reappeared in public for the first time since he was diagnosed with bronchitis on Thursday to celebrate an outdoor Jubilee Mass for the armed forces, police and security personnel from around the world. The Pontiff told that armed force can only be used for legitimate defense and must always respect international law. However, after a few words, he handed off his homily to an aide to read, saying he was having difficulty with his breath. “I would like to recall the teaching of the Church in this regard: The Second Vatican Council says that those who exercise their profession in the ranks of the army in the service of their homeland should consider themselves as servants of the security and freedom of their people,” Francis said in his final prayer. “This armed service must be exercised only for legitimate defense, never to impose dominion over other nations, and always observing international conventions regarding conflicts,” he added. The pontiff launched a new appeal for peace, citing conflicts around the world, including Ukraine, the Middle East, Myanmar and Sudan. “Let the weapons be silenced everywhere and let the cry of the people asking for peace be heard,” Francis said. /Photo/ (Source: Independent - United Kingdom)
Asia
China
9 Feb 2025 China has imposed retaliatory tariffs on the US, hitting about $14bn worth of goods. China’s embassy in Washington said the tariffs came into effect at 12.01am Beijing time on Monday (11.01am on Sunday in Washington DC). Beijing last week also announced an antitrust probe into Google, whose search engine is blocked in China, and Illumina, a US biotechnology company. And it blacklisted the holding company of US clothing brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. China underlined its control of the rare earths supply chain by restricting exports to the US of five critical metals used in defence-related industries, solar panels, electric vehicle batteries and other green energy products. China produces about 60 per cent of the world’s rare earths and accounts for 90 per cent of processing in the industry. Trump has accused China, along with Mexico and Canada, of failing to curb the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the US. Beijing has taken some measures to stem the flow of ingredients for fentanyl - known as precursor chemicals - since a summit in San Francisco in late 2023 involving the then US president Biden and Xi. But the Trump administration accuses Beijing of subsidising Chinese companies that make the precursors. Trump has also instructed the US Trade Representative to investigate Chinese compliance with the first phase of the trade deal he sealed with China in 2020 during his first term in the White House, under which Beijing agreed to buy more American products. The USTR is due to report the findings from the probe on April 1. (Source: Financial Times - headquarters London, England)
North America
February 9, 2025 "If you think the big defense contractors have too much power and too much influence, wait until you dig into the USAID contractors and the subcontractors and the subcontractors and the local contractors," Trump security advisor Waltz said. "The president wants action and that's what he's getting." "Many of these senior aid officials have their own agenda, have gone their own direction, and these programs - many of which are no longer authorized by Congress - just seemed to continue in perpetuity. So, we can talk the entire time about USAID." "I have a lot of experience about it on the ground, but in these first two weeks, we've had major foreign leaders. We have the Mexicans putting thousands of their troops on the border. The Canadians putting their assets on the border. Panama moving away from Belt and Road. Colombia first refusing to take deportation and then now taking it - and we can go on and on, with the successes of the hostages that the previous administration couldn't get out. President Trump says, 'There's all hell to pay,' and now we have, not only hostages from Hamas reuniting from their family, from Venezuela and from the Taliban, too. So, we've had an amazing two weeks. We can get into the details of foreign assistance, but it badly needs reformed." /Video/ (Source: YouTube / NBC = U.S.)
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(Sunday), Feb 9, 2025 US President Trump said he expects Musk to find billions of dollars of fraud and abuse at the Pentagon during an audit that the billionaire will lead. "I'm going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education. Then I'm going to go, go to the military. Let's check the military," Trump said in an interview with Fox News' aired today morning. "We're going to find billions, hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud and abuse," Trump said of the largest federal department. In December, then-President Biden signed a bill authorising USD 895 billion in defence spending for the fiscal year ending September 30. Leaders from across the political spectrum have long criticised waste and inefficiency at the Pentagon. Musk, who the White House says is a special government employee, has been tasked by Trump to lead an effort to slash the size of the US federal workforce. As part of that initiative, Musk aides have sought access to confidential information in computer systems at various government agencies. National Security Adviser Waltz suggested in a separate interview today that the Pentagon's shipbuilding processes could be an area of particular interest for the Department of Government Efficiency, and he characterised the Pentagon in general as full of unnecessary bloat. "Everything there seems to cost too much, take too long and deliver too little to the soldiers... We do need business leaders to go in there and absolutely reform the Pentagon's acquisition process," Waltz said. (Source: India Today)
Feb 09, 2025 Musk has alleged massive fraud in the United States Treasury's entitlement payments - over $100 billion per year is paid to people without a Social Security Number or temporary ID number. He further alleged Treasury insiders estimated half of these payments, or roughly $50 billion/year, could be "unequivocal and obvious fraud." "Nobody in treasury management cared enough before," Musk posted on X. The working-level people in treasury have wanted to do this for many years but have been stopped by prior management, he added. US District Judge Engelmayer temporarily barred the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive Treasury data. A lawsuit from 19 Democratic state attorneys general claim granting DOGE full access to the Treasury's payment systems violates federal laws protecting sensitive information. Musk emphasized an agreement between DOGE and the Treasury to enhance financial oversight by mandating payment categorization codes for audits. He said many transactions currently don't have such coding, making audits difficult. Musk also urged for mandatory documentation of payment rationales in Treasury records. On the security side, he pushed for stricter enforcement of the "Do-Not-Pay" list to prevent fraudulent payments and said it should be updated weekly/daily. (Source: NewsBytes – India)
United States
(February 9, 2025) Trump says he has spoken to Putin by phone about ending the war in Ukraine. (Source: RNZ - New Zealand / Reuters - United Kingdom)
Oceania
Cook Islands
(Sunday, February 9, 2025) New Zealand's Foreign Minister's office says Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown headed to Beijing today without "properly consulting" New Zealand about agreements he plans to sign with China. The Cook Islands operates in free association with New Zealand. It means the island nation conducts its own affairs, but Aotearoa needs to assist when it comes to foreign affairs, disasters, and defence. There had always been natural tensions between Aotearoa and the Cook Islands over free association independence. New Zealand is asking for more consultation over what is in the China deal. Foreign Minister Peters said neither New Zealand nor the Cook Island people knew what was in the agreement. Today, a spokesperson from the Foreign Minister's office said the lack of consultation in particular was a matter of significant concern to the New Zealand government. "Cook Islanders are treasured members of the New Zealand family. The Deputy Prime Minister will continue to defend and protect the interests of Cook Islanders, in the context of New Zealand protecting the security and prosperity of all New Zealand citizens and of the Realm of New Zealand." (Source: RNZ - New Zealand)
Samoa
09 February 2025 Miss Samoa Ieremia-Allan as the new Queen of the Pacific. Samoa triumphs with ninth Miss Pacific title at the 38th Miss Pacific Islands pageant, held in Honiara, Solomon Islands. /Photo/ (Source: Samoa Observer)
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