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"Trump imposes tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China."

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Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing   By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. You might have heard about Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and why it’s freaking out the tech world. Our correspondents Jeffrey Dastin and Anna Tong join the World News podcast to tell us what it’s all about. And our City Memo takes us to Taipei.

Trump hits Canada, China and Mexico with tariffs   REUTERS/Carlos Barria The latest: It’ll be 25% for Canada and Mexico and 10% for China. While Donald Trump promised to bring down costs for ordinary Americans, their grocery bills likely will rise. The president also said wider tariffs on oil and natural gas will come later this month, though possibly at a lower rate. Some Trump allies in Congress are saying as delicately as they can that tariffs could hurt their states' economies. Barred: Aides to Elon Musk who are running the government’s human-resources agency locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain federal-employee data. Trump largely froze foreign aid, and may move USAID into the State Department after putting dozens of officials on leave. A federal judge blocked Trump from freezing federal grants, loans and other financial assistance. The administration is cutting jobs at the Justice Department as it targets prosecutors and FBI officials involved in the investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and lawyers who participated in cases against Trump. His aides told federal workers to look for private-sector jobs and take a “dream vacation” if they take Trump’s early-resignation offer.

Wiping out ‘gender ideology’ Binary work: The CDC removed web pages with HIV statistics and other data to comply with Trump’s orders on gender identity and diversity. A judge blocked federal prison officials from transferring a transgender woman to a men’s facility and denying her access to gender-affirming care. He ordered an end to federal funding or support for helping transgender children transition, and said he would end federal funding for “anti-American ideologies,” such as white privilege and unconscious bias. DEI: Trump suggested that government efforts to diversify the workforce helped cause the deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter as the plane tried to land at Reagan National Airport.

Summary killings and mass rape in eastern Congo Report: The U.N. rights office documented the summary executions of at least 12 people by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels as well as new cases of sexual violence by Congolese armed forces and their allies. Learn more about what is happening in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Wanted: Migrants in Italy condemned Rome for releasing a Libyan policeman wanted by the ICC and allowing him to return home. Some accused the government of freeing Osama Elmasry Najeem because Italy relies on Libyan security forces to slow the flow of boat migrants. Prosecutors are investigating Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and three other officials over Najeem’s release.

UNRWA carries on Gaza relief work Banned: The aid group’s spokeswoman said its Palestinian staff in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are facing stone-throwing and hold-ups at checkpoints and its sites. Israel said some UNRWA staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and kidnappings of Israelis and banned the group from operating. Today: Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages and Israel released dozens of Palestinians in exchange as the Gaza truce holds. The U.N. secretary-general demanded that 2,500 children in Gaza be released for medical treatment after U.S. doctors told him they were at imminent risk of death.

Starbucks mobile coffee orders: Hot, disruptive The beverage you’re about to enjoy: CEO Brian Niccol wants Starbucks coffee shops to have more comfortable seating and a personal touch for customers. Its popular mobile-ordering program is getting in the way. Arabica futures hit record highs on the ICE exchange. Maybe that’ll help. Stop right there: Walgreens suspended its dividend. The Justice Department sued to block Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion deal to buy Juniper Networks. And NATO said acts of sabotage carried out across the alliance over past years included a plot to kill defense-industry leaders, including the head of Rheinmetall.

Before I forget… Have you ever tried to operate a drone when it’s -40 degrees outside? Russia has, and that alarms NATO states, which are working on making tougher models that can survive the Arctic. Jews in Australia are hiring security guards and removing visible signs of their religious identity after police said they foiled a planned antisemitic attack using a trailer filled with explosives. A man who brought his family back to Pakistan after living in the U.S. for more than two decades confessed to shooting his teenage daughter dead because he didn’t like what she was posting on TikTok. Trump’s military deportation flight to Guatemala last Monday likely cost $4,675 per migrant. That’s more than five times the price taxpayers would have paid to send them first class on a commercial airplane. A tuberculosis outbreak in the Kansas City area has grown into one of the largest ever recorded in the U.S. Cozy video games can be good for you, new research suggests. Play with our little radish and find out.

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