The Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports came into force today, ratcheting up the global trade war with levies applied without exemptions worldwide on economic rivals as well as US allies. The move triggered an immediate reprisal from the European Union, while major Asian producers including South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia held off on retaliating.
Romania’s constitutional court upheld a decision banning presidential frontrunner Călin Georgescu from May’s election, risking a further confrontation with members of Trump’s team, including Vice President JD Vance, who have criticized the case. The decision leaves Romania’s far right with just days to come up with a new candidate to tap into the anti-establishment sentiment that Georgescu’s candidacy brought into the open.  A man wearing a Romanian flag with a picture of Georgescu in Bucharest on Jan. 24. Photographer: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images
Greenland’s voters unexpectedly picked a party backing a slower approach to independence in a general election overshadowed by Trump’s plans to take over the Arctic island. The social liberal Demokraatit party emerged as the biggest with 29.9% of the ballots, up more than 20 percentage points from four years ago, a government tally showed.
House Republicans passed legislation to keep the US government open past a Saturday shutdown deadline, daring moderate Democrats in the Senate to block the measure over objections it fails to constrain Elon Musk’s cost-cutting crusade. Republican congressional leaders didn’t negotiate with Democrats on the Trump-backed funding measure, which runs through Sept. 30.
Portugal’s parliament toppled Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s center-right minority government in a confidence vote yesterday, likely leading the country to its third early election in just over three years. The premier requested the vote last week, saying he wanted to clarify whether his government had “all the conditions” to carry out its program after struggling to put an end to speculation about potential conflicts of interest related to a company owned by his family.
The Houthi militant group in Yemen warned it will resume attacks on Israeli ships for the first time in about two months after demanding the country end a ban on aid entering Gaza.  A screen grab from a video showing Houthi fighters' takeover of a ship in the Red Sea in November 2023. Photographer: Getty Images
The most powerful political families in the Philippines are locked in a feud that threatens to derail one of Asia’s economic growth stars.
Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 rebels will engage in direct negotiations in the coming days to end the conflict in the country’s mineral-rich east, with Angola mediating the talks.
Pakistani security forces killed at least 27 people in an exchange of gunfire with insurgents who have been holding a train since yesterday in southwestern Balochistan province thought to have hundreds aboard. | 
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