A judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze most federal assistance while it conducts an ideological review of government spending. The order was due to come into effect on Tuesday evening. It sparked confusion among nonprofits, schools and others relying on federal grants, as well as people receiving direct benefits from programmes such as Medicaid, America’s health insurance for the poor. A group of nonprofits sued; the judge’s pause remains in effect until Monday.
Angry crowds attacked the embassies of Rwanda, Belgium, Uganda, Kenya and France in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They were protesting against the Rwandan-backed assault on Goma by the rebel group M23. The Africa Union held an emergency meeting to push for an end to hostilities in the city, on the border between Congo and Rwanda.
Germany’s economic output is likely to shrink by 0.1% this year, according to the Federation of German Industries, a lobby group. It predicts the wider euro zone’s economy will grow by 1.1%, making Germany a laggard. Ahead of an election next month the country’s economic model is sputtering, thanks in part to high energy costs and a struggling industrial sector.
Engine No. 1, a hedge fund, and Chevron, a fossil-fuel company, will partner with GE Vernova, an energy-equipment manufacturer, to make power plants for AI data centres in America. The plants will be fuelled by natural gas, and aim to deliver four gigawatts of energy by 2027. The joint venture comes as Silicon Valley grapples with competition from China’s DeepSeek.
Denmark announced plans to boost security in the Arctic, in partnership with the Faroe Islands and Greenland, two of its autonomous territories. The proposed plan, which includes an investment of $2bn in surveillance, comes after Mr Trump’s recent statements about America acquiring Greenland. Denmark’s defence minister said his country faces serious security challenges in the Arctic.
Serbia’s prime minister resigned following months of anti-government protests. Milos Vucevic is a close ally of Aleksandar Vucic, the right-wing president, who has clung to power for close to a decade despite accusations of election rigging. The latest protests started in November after a canopy collapsed at a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 15 people.
Boom Supersonic, an American startup, broke the sound barrier with its XB-1 test plane for the first time. The company aims to bring back supersonic commercial travel, last experienced by passengers on Concorde in 2003. The XB-1 reached Mach 1, about 1200kph, over the Mojave Desert. But the plane is a fraction of the size of the company’s proposed airliner, which it hopes to launch by 2029.
Figure of the day: 12, the number of the top 20 slowest-moving cities that are in Asia. Read the full story.
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