US President Donald Trump has made a surprise suggestion at a press conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US could take control of the Gaza Strip and develop it into an international residential and tourist area. This fits in with his recent expansionist rhetoric, which also includes proposals to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal. Trump's statement sent diplomatic shockwaves around the world. Human rights organizations criticized his idea of resettling Palestinian residents as possible ethnic cleansing. Experts suspect that Trump merely wants to shift negotiating positions with such extreme proposals. According to surveys, however, the US public is skeptical of his expansionist policy.
The US Postal Service is temporarily stopping parcels from China and Hong Kong after Trump abolished a tariff regulation for cheap imports. Retailers such as Shein and Temu are affected. A 10% tariff on Chinese goods was also introduced.
11 people died in a mass shooting at a school in Örebro. The Swedish police warn against misinformation online and do not currently see any ideological motives. According to the police, the perpetrator, who is among the dead, was probably acting alone.
Many Syrians who returned from Turkey after Assad's fall are disappointed by the poor living conditions in Syria. Power and water cuts, a lack of education and few job opportunities have made some of them regret their decision. A return to Turkey is no longer possible for many, as they have signed voluntary return documents.
Elon Musk's father, Errol Musk, mediated a phone call between his son and South Africa's President Ramaphosa after Musk accused the government of “openly racist property laws”. This followed Trump's announcement to cut US aid to South Africa due to a new land reform law. Ramaphosa emphasized that no expropriations had taken place.
The US government has brought migrants to Guantanamo Bay by military flight for the first time. President Trump plans to expand the camp to over 30,000 places. According to the US authorities, the first nine to ten migrants were “highly dangerous criminals”. The cost of the flights is high and it remains unclear whether families or children will be accommodated there.
Mexico rejects the transfer of Mexican migrants to Guantanamo Bay and demands their direct repatriation. Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente sent a diplomatic note to the US embassy. The USA began the first military flights of migrants to Guantanamo on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia reaffirms its support for an independent Palestinian state, while the US under Trump plans to take control of the Gaza Strip. This is met with international criticism, particularly because of the possibility of US troop deployment. In addition, a former Syrian minister has turned himself in to the new judicial authorities and the US agency USAID is releasing its employees worldwide.
The so-called “Quadrell” brings together the candidates for chancellor of the four strongest parties in a TV debate for the first time: Olaf Scholz (SPD), Friedrich Merz (CDU), Robert Habeck (Greens) and Alice Weidel (AfD) will face off against each other on RTL and ntv on February 16. Originally, only a duel between Merz and Scholz was planned, but the format was expanded due to pressure from the parties. While ARD and ZDF are sticking to classic TV duels - for example between Merz and Scholz on February 9 - RTL is opting for a larger round in order to confront all relevant candidates directly. The Quadrell could therefore play a decisive role in the 2025 Bundestag election campaign, especially as approval ratings are on the move according to current polls.
Pam Bondi was confirmed by the US Senate as the new Attorney General after Matt Gaetz resigned. All 53 Republican senators and Democrat John Fetterman voted in her favor. Bondi, former Attorney General of Florida, brings 20 years of experience and promised to focus the department on its core responsibilities. Democrats, however, are expressing concerns about her loyalty to Trump and fear that she could push his line in the department.
In Vienna, around 20,000 people demonstrated against a possible government under the FPÖ. The participants, who carried banners such as “Human rights instead of right-wing people”, protested against the shift to the right as the FPÖ continues to negotiate a coalition with the ÖVP. The talks are at a difficult stage as there are disputes over demands such as a bank levy. The FPÖ was the strongest force in the last general election and the ÖVP has changed its stance on entering into a coalition, although there are still unresolved differences.
The EU heads of state and government rejected a trade war with the USA, but emphasized that they would react in the event of US tariffs. Chancellor Scholz explained that Europe, as a strong economic area, could act cooperatively but with countermeasures. Tariffs have already led to price losses for German car and truck shares.
US President Donald Trump will introduce new economic measures against Iran by executive order. The Treasury Department is to tighten sanctions in order to dissuade Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons and reduce its influence in the Middle East. The aim is to limit Iran's room for maneuver through “maximum economic pressure”.
Alice Weidel fires AfD honorary chairman Alexander Gauland and bans him from the party.
Germany cannot afford to spend 5% of GDP on defense as Trump demands, Germany's defense minister said. “5% of our GDP would correspond to 42% of the federal budget, that's almost every second euro the government spends, 230 billion euros. We can't afford that and we can't spend that much,” Pistorius said.
Although Google's parent company Alphabet increased its revenue by 12% in the last quarter of 2024, this was just below expectations. Progress in the cloud business in particular was slower than hoped. Before that, profits were above expectations. (CNBC)
Germany's market leader for over-the-counter medicines wants to return to the stock market. CEO Peter Goldschmidt explains his plans. Under one condition, Stada could even end up in the DAX. (HB)
The ECB's interest rate cuts are having an effect - in Germany, new business with real estate loans to private households and the self-employed grew by 23% in 2024. In December alone, new business amounted to €17 billion according to the evaluation - an increase of 40% compared to the same month last year. (MM)
- DAX: Stabilizes despite customs uncertainty (MM)
- Rheinmetall: Receives order worth billions from the Bundeswehr (NTV)
- BGH: Declares negative interest on savings deposits invalid (SPG)
- Lufthansa: Expects profitability at ITA as early as 2025 (HB)
- Nintendo: Sales slump - mainly due to the Switch (NTV)
- Nasdaq: Rises despite China tariffs (YAH)
- US government: Orders the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund that could potentially buy TikTok (BBG)
- Hedge funds: dumped pretty much everything last week except real estate stocks (RT)
- Global investors: Pouring record sums into leveraged loan ETFs (BBG)
- Climate change: Could wipe out $1.5 trillion in US real estate values (WSJ)
- EU Commission: Wants to invest up to €54 billion in EU AI (HB)
- DeepSeek: Continues to grow rapidly in the app charts (LI)
- OpenAI: Used subreddit to optimize AI persuasion (TC)
- India: Government wants to host China AI DeepSeek on local servers and make it available nationwide (TC)
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