January 21, 2025

Daily News Brief

Trump expresses scepticism over Gaza ceasefire US President Donald Trump has expressed scepticism about the Gaza ceasefire deal when asked if he was confident that all three phases of the agreement would be implemented. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he signed executive orders, Trump said the blockaded enclave looked like "a massive demolition site" and that it had to be rebuilt in a different way. Trump signs first executive orders after inaugural parade US President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders following the inaugural parade in Capital One arena in Washington. Trump started on Monday by signing the rescission of 78 Biden-era orders. He also signed other orders that included a freeze on new regulations, a hiring freeze on federal workers and the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. Israel preparing for large-scale attacks in occupied West Bank Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has instructed the army to prepare for large-scale attacks in the occupied West Bank, a day after a ceasefire deal took effect in Gaza. Alongside enhanced defensive preparations in Gaza, Israeli army must be ready for significant operations in the occupied West Bank in the coming days, Halevi said in a statement. The statement did not specify the locations of these attacks, though activity in recent years has largely concentrated in the northern occupied West Bank. Türkiye-Sweden security meeting to discuss counter-terrorism, defence ties A meeting of the Türkiye-Sweden Security Mechanism is set to take place in the Turkish capital on Tuesday with the participation of high-level officials from both countries. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya plus Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard and Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer are expected to take part, diplomatic sources said. This meeting is key for advancing collaboration between the two nations' counter-terrorism efforts. Biden pardons his siblings and their spouses as he vacates White House Joe Biden has pardoned his siblings and their spouses on his way out of the White House. The former US president claimed that his family had been "subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats", motivated solely by a desire to hurt him, and called it "the worst kind of partisan politics". The family pardons were the surprise finale in a series of unprecedented presidential actions by the Democrat, who has been known as an institutionalist during his half-century in politics.