The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought free trade agreement, strengthening commercial ties in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world. The deal creates one of the world's largest free trade zones and promises to make shopping cheaper for more than 700 million consumers. The signing ceremony in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, capped more than a quarter-century of torturous negotiations.
It marks a major geopolitical victory for the EU in an age of American tariffs, expanding the bloc's foothold in a resource-rich region increasingly contested by Washington and Beijing. It also sends a message that South America is keeping a range of trade and diplomatic relationships even as the US makes an aggressive push for geopolitical dominance of the Western Hemisphere. The agreement could still face hurdles in the EU parliament, which must ratify it before it can take effect. Ratification is considered all but guaranteed in South America.
A massive fire tore through a shopping centre in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, killing 60 people, including a firefighter, as rescuers kept finding bodies inside the badly-damaged building throughout the week. It took firefighters more than 24 hours to put out the blaze in Gul Plaza that started on Saturday night (Jan. 17). The building housed 1,200 stores and spanned 8,000 sq m. The fire spread quickly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr. Abid Jalal Sheikh, Karachi's chief rescue officer.
Although the authorities could only confirm some six deaths on the first night, it was always known that rescuers were struggling to reach parts of the severely damaged building where some people were believed to be trapped after losing contact with their families. Karachi South Deputy Inspector General Asad Raza said that the remains of 30 bodies were recovered from a shop called "Dubai Crockery" located on the mezzanine floor, raising the death toll to 61.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced she will be dissolving parliament on Friday, paving the way for an early election on February 8 that she hopes will translate her strong public polling into a big majority in the lower house. It was an "extremely weighty decision" that would "determine Japan's course together with the people", Takaichi told a news conference in Tokyo. The country's first female leader and her cabinet have enjoyed high public support since taking office last October.
But her party lags behind in polls and the move is risky. It's Japan's second general election in as many years and will test appetite for her plans to boost public spending when cost-of-living is top of voters' minds. Describing the decision to call as snap election as "very difficult", Takaichi told reporters: "I am putting my future as prime minister on the line. I want the people to decide directly whether they can entrust the management of the country to me."
On a trip to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, US President Donald Trump seemed to scrap the tariffs that he threatened to impose on eight European nations to press for US control over Greenland, pulling a dramatic reversal shortly after insisting he wanted to get the island "including right, title and ownership." In a post on his social media site, Trump said he had agreed with the head of NATO on a "framework of a future deal" on Arctic security, potentially defusing tension that had far-reaching geopolitical implications.
He said "additional discussions" on Greenland were being held concerning the Golden Dome missile defense program, a multilayered, $175 billion system that for the first time will put US weapons in space. Trump offered few details, saying they were still being worked out. But one idea NATO members have discussed as part of a compromise with Trump was that Denmark and the alliance would work with the US to build more US military bases on Greenland.
