More than two years of Israeli bombardment have left Gaza buried under an estimated 61 million tonnes of rubble, much of it dangerous. UN teams warn clearing debris is essential for recovery but could take seven years without access, fuel, machinery and sustained support.
US President Donald Trump praised Iran for halting what he said were plans to hang more than 800 political prisoners, calling the move worthy of “great respect.”
Officials of the administration of United States President Donald Trump have said that Canada will regret its decision to allow China to import up to 49,000 Chinese EVs, and that those cars would not be allowed to enter the US.
“I think they’ll look back at this decision and surely regret it to bring Chinese cars into their market,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Friday at an event with other government officials at a Ford factory in Ohio to tout efforts to make vehicles more affordable.
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Canada in 2024 imposed 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) following similar US duties. But on Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a trade deal in Beijing that would allow in up to 49,000 Chinese EVs at a tariff of 6.1 percent on most-favoured-nation terms. That move has prompted alarm in the US that it could help China get a broader foothold in North America even as Washington takes an increasingly hardline on Canadian vehicles and parts.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the limited number of vehicles would not impact US car companies exporting cars to Canada.
“I don’t expect that to disrupt American supply into Canada,” he said. “Those cars are going to Canada – they’re not coming here.”
The Canadian Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.
Greer, in a separate CNBC interview, called Canada’s decision “problematic” and added, “There’s a reason why we don’t sell a lot of Chinese cars in the United States. It’s because we have tariffs to protect American auto workers and Americans from those vehicles.”
As per the trade agreements announced in Beijing on Friday, Carney said he expects China to lower tariffs on its canola seed by March 1 to a combined rate of about 15 percent, down from 85 percent.
Greer questioned that agreement. “I think in the long run, they’re not going to like having made that deal,” he said.
Greer said rules adopted in January 2025 on vehicles that are connected to the internet and navigation systems are a significant impediment to Chinese vehicles in the US market.
“I think it would be hard for them to operate here,” Greer said. “There are rules and regulations in place in America about the cybersecurity of our vehicles and the systems that go into those, so I think it might be hard for the Chinese to comply with those kind of rules.”
In contrast, President Donald Trump has said he would like Chinese automakers to come to the US to build vehicles.
However, lawmakers from both major US parties have expressed strong opposition to Chinese vehicles as major US car makers warn China poses a threat to the US car sector.
Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, a Republican, said at the event he was opposed to Chinese vehicles coming into the US — and drew applause from the other government officials.
Global warming is thawing the Arctic and igniting a high-stakes race for the riches beneath its ice.
Global warming is heating up the Arctic, and global powers like the United States, Russia and China are manoeuvring to stake a claim to the resources under its melting ice. Some experts say the region, once known as an exception – an island of international cooperation in the midst of geopolitical struggles – is becoming the site of a second cold war.
Presenter: Stefanie Dekker
Guests:
Pavel Devyatkin – nonresident fellow at the Quincy Institute
Miyuki Qiajunnguaq Daorana – Indigenous rights and climate activist
Tehran, Iran – Most of Iran’s 90 million-strong population remains cut off from the rest of the world more than one week after an unprecedented, state-imposed communications blackout amid nationwide protests, which began in December and quickly turned deadly.
The Iranian government abruptly cut off all internet access across the 31 provinces of the vast country on the night of January 8 when protests swelled into mass demonstrations against the clerical leadership, days after shopkeepers first shuttered their businesses in downtown Tehran in protest over rising prices.
Mobile communications were also blocked and people were unable even to call rescue services on that first night.
After the start of the blackout, it took authorities several days to restore an intranet designed to provide access to local websites and services.
It is unclear when or to what extent access to the global internet will be restored. Local phone services have been restored but SMS text messages remain blocked.
Since Tuesday, only outgoing international phone calls have been reconnected. The state continues to send many one-way text messages to people across the country daily, urging them not to fall victim to ploys by “enemies” and to report any suspicious activity.
The government has not released official figures for the number of people killed during clashes between protesters and government forces, mostly on the night of January 8 and January 9. The widely cited United States-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) put the death toll at 2,615 on Wednesday this week, although Iran’s government claims that is an exaggeration.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday this week, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi denied that Tehran had any plans to execute protesters. During that interview, he downplayed the death toll being reported.
“I certainly deny the numbers and figures they have said. It is an exaggeration, it is a misinformation campaign, only to find excuses, only to do another aggression against Iran,” Araghchi said, adding that the number was being exaggerated to involve US President Donald Trump in the conflict.
While Iranian authorities have confirmed that protesters, including children, women and unarmed civilians, are among those who have died, officials claim “terrorists” and “elements” trained and armed by the US, Israel and their allies are behind all of the mass killings as well as the “riots” that saw government buildings attacked, and public property burned across the country.
The Iranian authorities have not confirmed the killings of protesters by state forces. Instead, they have conversely claimed that members of the Iranian forces were killed, including by being burned or beheaded.
Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the casualty figures because of the communications blackout.
At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, and in communications with the UN and international stakeholders, Iranian authorities placed the blame for deaths during the protests on the US and Israel, saying they, in effect, hijacked protests that started peacefully in reaction to a quickly deteriorating economic situation.
The UN has emphasised that violence must not be used against protesters. At the same time, it has also opposed any form of armed intervention amid persistent concerns that Trump could attack Iran as he has threatened to do.
The streets of Tehran and other cities across the country have been relatively quiet in the aftermath of the deadly protests. But many may fear what is to come.
There is a heavy presence of security forces on the streets, where countless checkpoints and armed patrols have been set up.
The government has also organised massive counter-demonstrations across the country during the past several days and has held public funerals for the killed security forces in many cities, including Tehran.
State television has referred to those participating in these displays “the real people of Iran” while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proclaimed that Iranians participating in state-organised demonstrations “diffused the plot by foreign enemies that was to be implemented by local mercenaries”.
The judiciary has set up courts and said it will prioritise protest-related cases, with Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei pledging “no mercy” will be shown to “rioters”.
Late on Wednesday, Trump said he had received assurances that the Iranian government would not carry out executions of protesters.
Iranian state media rejected reports by foreign media outlets that a young man had been sentenced to execution for participating in the unrest and could be hanged soon.
In his first interview with state television early this week to address the people after the protests, President Masoud Pezeshkian chose to focus on condemning violent “terrorists” and engaging in economic reform, making no mention of the fact that the entire country remained gripped by a state-imposed digital blackout.
The Pezeshkian administration has begun rolling out electronic coupons worth under $7 per person each month for four months to buy essential goods subsidised by the government as rampant inflation continues to erode public purchasing power.
This is not the first time that Iran has witnessed protests in recent years. People say they are angry about corruption, mismanagement, economic hardship, devaluation of the currency and eroding social freedoms.
In September 2022, a young woman named Mahsa Amini, aged 22, was arrested in Tehran for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. She collapsed while in custody and died in hospital a few days later.
Her death caused national outrage and widespread protests in Iran that lasted for several weeks. The slogan “woman, life, freedom” was chanted in the streets. HRANA reported in October 2022 that 200 people died and about 5,500 people were arrested during those protests.
Civilians are fleeing Kurdish-led areas near Aleppo after the Syrian government ordered people to leave amid rising tensions with the Syrian Democratic Forces. The unrest has forced more than 150,000 Syrians to flee in recent days.