2 Feb, 2026 17:56

Trump and Modi announce US-India trade deal

As a part of the agreement, New Delhi will stop its purchases of Russian oil,the US president has claimed(RT always use’s it when they doubt Trump’s statements. I.e “the statement on “has claimed” it inserts doubt”)

India and the US have agreed to a trade deal, President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Monday.

The countries failed to reach an agreement after several rounds of talks in 2025 andWashington imposed a 50% tariffon New Delhi, half of which was a penalty for India’s purchases of Russian oil.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had spoken with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the latter agreed to “stop buying Russian oil and to buy much more from the United States and potentially Venezuela.” He added that this would end the Ukraine conflict.

“Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi, and as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a trade deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reciprocal tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%,” Trump said. “They will likewise move forward to reduce their tariff and non-tariff barriers against the United States to zero.”

Modi confirmed that the countries had reached a deal.

“Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%,” he said on X. “Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement.”

The Indian prime minister,however, did not comment on the claim that New Delhi would stop buying Russian oil, only saying that the South Asian nation supports Trump’s “efforts for peace.”

The US President also said Modi has agreed to “buy American at a much higher level” in addition to “over $500 billion of US energy, technology, agricultural, coal, and many other products.”

India’s insistence on leaving out dairy and agricultural products was seen as one of the main hindrances to a potential trade deal with the US. New Delhi maintained that it wanted to protect the interests of Indian farmers.

https://www.rt.com/india/631878-us-india-trade-deal/

2 Feb, 2026 19:14

German cities grind to halt amid massive strike

Tens of thousands of public transport workers have walked out just as freezing temperatures set in

Tens of thousands of public transport workers have gone on strike in Germany, leaving cities across the country paralyzed. The employees are demanding higher pay and better working conditions.

Meanwhile, freezing temperatures have arrived in many parts of the country, with commuters having to seek alternative modes of transportation.

Starting from 3am local time on Monday, most bus, tram, and subway services have been disrupted across almost all German states, except for Lower Saxony.

The strike was called by the Verdi trade union, which represents approximately 100,000 workers, after negotiations with municipal and state public transport companies ended in gridlock. Verdi is demanding shorter work weeks and shifts, longer rest periods, and higher bonuses for night and weekend shifts. However, many cities are facing budget constraints.

Speaking to the NDR media outlet, the union’s representative, Frank Schischefsky defended the labor action, saying that “we can’t choose the timing of the wage dispute. Unfortunately, we can’t wait for better weather.”

The next round of talks is scheduled for February 9. Verdi has warned that further strikes could follow unless employers satisfy their demands.

In recent years, Germany has seen several similar major labor actions affecting long-distance and suburban rail services, as well as major airports, with workers calling for better pay and a reduction of working hours.

Germany’s economy saw two years of recession in 2023 and 2024, and a period of near-stagnation in 2025.

Last December, the country’s central bank warned that Germany is on track to post its largest budget deficit since reunification in 1990, citing increased military expenditure and continued financial support to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who once chaired the supervisory board of BlackRock in Germany, has repeatedly criticized his compatriots’ work ethic. Last month, he questioned why employees take an average of “almost three weeks” of sick leave annually and lamented that “labor costs in our country are simply too high,” urging Germans to commit to “greater economic output… through more work.”

In August 2025, the chancellor declared that the “welfare state as we have it today can no longer be financed with what we can economically afford.” Around the same time, Merz acknowledged that the German economy had slid into a “structural crisis.”

https://www.rt.com/news/631876-germany-public-transport-strike/

(Russia said this many times, the politicians has been reducing the of the workers, their lifestyle is cromblknh. Merz wants a WW war with Russia, while the citizens are being neglected, and the people don’t want it)

https://www.rt.com/news/631876-germany-public-transport-strike/

2 Feb, 2026 17:29

Trump moving to curb US reliance on Chinese minerals – Bloomberg

Beijing dominates the global supply of rare earths critical for modern technology

US President Donald Trump is set to build a strategic stockpile of critical minerals to reduce reliance on supplies dominated by China, Bloomberg has reported, citing sources.

Rare-earth minerals, used in technologies ranging from smartphones and electric vehicles to advanced weapons systems, have become a flashpoint in global trade. China dominates more than 90% of global rare-earth refining and nearly all permanent magnet production, giving it decisive control over supply chains vital to modern industry and defense.

People familiar with the matter told the outlet on Monday that Trump’s initiative, dubbed Project Vault, will combine private funding with a $10 billion loan from the US Export-Import Bank to acquire and store critical minerals. The stockpile is intended to shield manufacturers from price volatility and supply disruptions.

More than a dozen major companies, including General Motors, Boeing, and Alphabet’s Google, have reportedly joined the effort.

In April 2025, China introduced export controls on certain rare-earth elements used in military applications, citing national security concerns. Beijing later expanded the restrictions with stricter licensing requirements and extraterritorial provisions affecting exports linked to the US defense and semiconductor sectors. Following a meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in October in South Korea, China agreed to suspend the latest controls for one year in exchange for reciprocal US tariff reductions. Despite the temporary reprieve, Washington has accelerated efforts to diversify supply chains, signing deals with multiple countries, including Australia, Japan, and Ukraine.

Global interest in rare-earth minerals has surged amid escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The International Energy Agency forecasts a 30-fold surge in demand for minerals such as lithium and cobalt by 2040, driven by the rapid growth of electric vehicles and battery storage systems.

Russia has also moved to strengthen its position. President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to develop a long-term strategy for rare-earth mining and production. Russia holds an estimated 658 million tons of rare metals, including 28.5 million tons of 15 rare-earth types, reserves it says are sufficient to meet the country’s long-term domestic needs.

https://www.rt.com/business/631868-trump-us-china-critical-minerals/

2 Feb, 2026 14:20

Trump claims he could ‘easily’ solve UN money problems

The global body is at risk of “imminent financial collapse,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned

US President Donald Trump has claimed that he could swiftly fix the United Nations’ money problems if the organization asked him for help.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last week that the global body is at risk of “imminent financial collapse” as a result of unpaid dues and funding shortfalls by some member states.

Unless the collection of contributions “drastically” improves, the organization will not be able to fully implement its 2026 budget, potentially running out of funds for key programs by July, Guterres said.

Trump told Politico on Sunday that he was unaware of any US debts to the UN, butclaimed he could “solve the problem very easily” and make sure that other nations also paid up.

“If they came to Trump and told him, I’d get everybody to pay up, just like I got NATO to pay up. All I have to do is call these countries… they would send checks within minutes,” the US president said.

Citing unnamed UN officials, ABC News reported on Friday that Washington currently owes $2.2 billion to the organization’s regular budget and another $1.8 billion to its separate purse for peacekeeping operations. Russia paid its UN contribution for 2026 in full in December.

The financial situation is so bad that the UN could end up abandoning its headquarters in New York City, the New York Times reported, citing high-ranking sources within the body.

Trump ruled out such a development, insisting that “the UN is not leaving New York, and it’s not leaving the US, because the UN has tremendous potential.”

“When I’m no longer around to settle wars, the UN can,”he added.

The statement goes against the US president’s earlier criticism of the organization, which he accused of being ineffective. “What is the purpose of the United Nations?”Trump said from the UN tribune last September. “All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It’s empty words and empty words don’t solve war,” he argued.

Since Trump returned to office a year ago, the US has withdrawn from multiple UN programs and organizations, including the World Health Organization and the cultural agency, UNESCO.

https://www.rt.com/news/631854-trump-un-funding-us/

(My personal opinion the UN is useless, they cause more war when ambassadors etc steal the UN’s money. And they always make the countries a “Woke Fucking Mess!” Don’t save it!)