President Donald Trump agreed to delay tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico by a month. The levies had been due to take effect on Tuesday. Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, and Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, pledged to bulk up security at each of their borders to crack down on the smuggling of fentanyl into America.
Marco Rubio, America’s secretary of state, announced that he had become acting director of USAID and that the development agency would in effect be absorbed by the State Department. He said “a lot of functions” would continue as long as they aligned with America’s foreign policy. Earlier, USAID employees were told not to report to work and hundreds lost access to their email accounts.
In his first interview since becoming Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa told The Economist he would take the country in “the direction of” democracy and promised to hold presidential elections. He called America’s military presence in Syria “illegal”, welcomed negotiations with Russia about its military bases and warned Israel that its recent advance into Syria “will cause a lot of trouble in the future”.
Mr Trump signed an executive order directing America’s Treasury to set up a sovereign wealth fund. Mr Trump said it might be used to purchase TikTok and has previously suggested that it could be financed by tariffs “and other intelligent things”. Joe Biden’s advisers worked on a blueprint for such a fund to promote America’s national-security interests but did not create it.
Armen Sarkisyan, the leader of a pro-Russian paramilitary group in eastern Ukraine, was killed in a bombing at a luxury apartment block in Moscow, according to Russian state media. One of Mr Sarkisyan’s bodyguards was also killed and three others injured. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Ukrainian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Mr Sarkisyan in 2014.
Bart De Wever became Belgium’s prime minister after five parties agreed on Friday to form a coalition. Mr De Wever, whose centre-right N-VA party won Belgium’s election nearly eight months ago, will be the first Flemish nationalist to become the country’s leader. He vowed to implement “the strictest migration policy ever” and cut public spending to improve Belgium’s finances.
Jenni Hermoso, who led the Spanish women’s football team to a World Cup victory in 2023, gave evidence at the trial of Luis Rubiales, the former head of Spanish football. Mr Rubiales, who kissed Ms Hermoso when giving medals to her team, is accused of sexual assault and of later trying to coerce Ms Hermoso into saying that the kiss was consensual. (He has apologised and denies all charges.)
Figure of the day: 13, the number of people employed by America’s State Department in its “office of diversity and inclusion” last year. Read the full story.
American politics matters intensely to the rest of the world. Read The US in brief—a daily update to help you keep on top of the political stories that matter. Sign up here to receive it as a newsletter, each weekday, in your inbox.