Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was long seen as the key vote in the campaign by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to rally support for the trade deal with the Mercosur nations of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Von der Leyen could now potentially sign the deal next week during a meeting in Paraguay. European Parliament will vote on it before it enters into force.

Italy confirmed its support for the deal on Friday, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani hailing it as “good news for Italy.”

“This agreement is destined to boost our exports, with the goal of reaching 700 billion euros in exports,” Tajani wrote in a post on X. He acknowledged the deal required a long negotiation, but added that Italy had secured protections for its farmers, “especially regarding production standards.”

Meloni said at a press conference on Friday she never had “any ideological objections” to the Mercosur agreement.

“We have always said we will be in favor of it when there are sufficient guarantees for our farmers,” she said. “The agreement’s potential is good, but not at the expense of the excellence of our products.”

Deal to create huge free trade zone

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a statement Friday that the agreement “is a milestone in European trade policy and an important signal of our strategic sovereignty and ability to act.”

He stressed that “with this agreement, we are strengthening our economy and trade relations with our partners in South America — which is good for Germany and for Europe.”

The deal would create one of the world’s largest free trade zones, covering some 780 million people from Uruguay to Romania and a quarter of the globe’s gross domestic product.

It also gives Brussels a diplomatic win at a time of economic upheaval, providing a stark counterpoint to the gunboat diplomacy of Washington and the coercive export controls of Beijing.

“Given Trump’s policies of isolating the U.S. from the rest of the world, it is an imperative for the EU to lead trade integration policies at the global level and to look for partners elsewhere,” said Antonio Fatas, a macroeconomist at the French business school INSEAD.

Countering Trump’s tariff threats

In the wake of Trumps’ tariff wars, Brussels has sought to curtail its dependency on the U.S. market with trade deals forged across the world. The EU has struck deals with Japan and Indonesia, and are working on one with India.

A delay in December to the signing of the deal had infuriated Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and led experts to worry a last-minute stumble would wreck the EU’s credibility.

“For Europeans, the finalization of free-trade agreements with new partners stands among the best responses to US tariffs, growing protectionism and trade tensions with China,” said Agathe Demarais, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She said the current EU reliance on China for some critical raw materials could be broken by tapping into Mercosur’s deposits.

Opposition to the deal was led by France and Poland, with riled-up farmers flooding streets and blocking roads with tractors from Brussels to Athens. Austria, Hungary and Ireland also voted against it.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Thursday in Shanghai during a state visit to China that “we don’t have confidence that (Irish farmers) wouldn’t be undercut by that,” according to Irish public broadcaster RTE.

Both Martin and French President Emmanuel Macron said that internal negotiations sparked by the political furor surrounding the deal had led to reforms that better protect European farmers. But they acknowledged such reforms were not enough to overcome domestic political pressure.

Posting on X on Thursday, Macron said three of France’s key demands were now being met: New safeguards to an “emergency brake” of imports if they are found to undercut EU prices by 5% or more; the mirroring of EU food safety regulations in the Mercosur bloc; and an increase of inspections of agrifood imports at EU ports and beyond.

Still, Macron said the potential economic gains of the Mercosur deal are limited and do not justify the risks it poses to EU agriculture. His office stated that the deal would only add 77 billion euros ($89.7 billion) by 2040 — half a percent of the EU’s GDP.

Green members of European Parliament had vowed to take the Commission to court over the deal. They said the agreement would accelerate deforestation in the Amazon and weaken the EU’s climate targets.

Frances Verkamp, trade campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, described the deal as “toxic.” She said Brussels is “playing a game of imperial dominance in global trade with China and the US that wins nothing for workers or consumers — and even less for nature and climate.”

The post Italy gives key support to EU trade deal with South American nations first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The European Commission imposed a 500 million euro ($571 million) fine on Apple for preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.

The commission, which is the EU’s executive arm, also fined Meta Platforms 200 million euros because it forced Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them.

The punishments were smaller than the blockbuster multibillion-euro fines that the commission has previously slapped on Big Tech companies in antitrustcases.

Apple and Meta have to comply with the decisions within 60 days or risk unspecified “periodic penalty payments,” the commission said.

The decisions were expected to come in March, but officials apparently held off amid an escalating trans-Atlantic trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly complained about regulations from Brussels affecting American companies.

The penalties were issued under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, also known as the DMA. It’s a sweeping rulebook that amounts to a set of do’s and don’ts designed to give consumers and businesses more choice and prevent Big Tech “gatekeepers” from cornering digital markets.

The DMA seeks to ensure “that citizens have full control over when and how their data is used online, and businesses can freely communicate with their own customers,” Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, said in a statement.

“The decisions adopted today find that both Apple and Meta have taken away this free choice from their users and are required to change their behavior,” Virkkunen said.

Both companies indicated they would appeal.

Apple accused the commission of “unfairly targeting” the iPhone maker, and said it “continues to move the goal posts” despite the company’s efforts to comply with the rules.

Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said in a statement that the “Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards.”

In the App Store case, the Commission had accused the iPhone maker of imposing unfair rules preventing app developers from freely steering consumers to other channels.

Among the DMA’s provisions are requirements to let developers inform customers of cheaper purchasing options and direct them to those offers.

The commission said it ordered Apple to remove technical and commercial restrictions that prevent developers from steering users to other channels, and to end “non-compliant” conduct.

Apple said it has “spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours and made dozens of changes to comply with this law, none of which our users have asked for.”

“Despite countless meetings, the Commission continues to move the goal posts every step of the way,” the company said.

The EU’s Meta investigation centered on the company’s strategy to comply with strict European data privacy rules by giving users the option of paying for ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram.

Users could pay at least 10 euros ($11) a month to avoid being targeted by ads based on their personal data. The U.S. tech giant rolled out the option after the European Union’s top court ruled Meta must first get consent before showing ads to users, in a decision that threatened its business model of tailoring ads based on individual users’ online interests and digital activity.

Regulators took issue with Meta’s model, saying it doesn’t allow users to exercise their right to “freely consent” to allowing their personal data from its various services, which also including Facebook Marketplace, WhatsApp, and Messenger, to be combined for personalized ads.

Meta rolled out a third option in November giving Facebook and Instagram users in Europe the option to see fewer personalized ads if they don’t want to pay for an ad-free subscription. The commission said it’s “currently assessing” this option and continues to hold talks with Meta, and has asked the company to provide evidence of the new option’s impact.

“This isn’t just about a fine; the Commission forcing us to change our business model effectively imposes a multi-billion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service,” Kaplan said. “And by unfairly restricting personalized advertising the European Commission is also hurting European businesses and economies.”

The post The European Union fines Apple 500 million euros and Meta 200 million in separate digital cases first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The Commerce Ministry said Tuesday the U.S.‘s imposition of “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” on China is “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.”

Trump’s threat Monday of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war. Stock markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens.

___

Here’s the latest:

Indian foreign minister speaks with Rubio about trade agreement

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar spoke with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, late Monday to push for an early conclusion of negotiations over a bilateral trade deal.

The call came days after the U.S. slapped a 26% tariff on Indian imports. India wants to seek concessions as part of the trade deal, the first tranche of which is expected by fall.

Brendan Lynch, a U.S. assistant trade representative, visited India last month to discuss the initial contours of the deal. The U.S is pushing India to grant greater market access for agricultural and dairy products, but New Delhi is reluctant since its farm sector employs the bulk of the country’s workforce and is a main source of family income.

Malaysia prime minister says ASEAN will send a delegation to Washington

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says his government and others in Southeast Asia will send a delegation to Washington to discuss the tariff situation.

In a keynote speech Tuesday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Investment Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Anwar said ASEAN leaders would try to build a consensus and present a united response to Trump’s tariffs.

“We do not believe in megaphone diplomacy,” Anwar said. “As part of our soft diplomacy of quiet engagement, we will be dispatching together with our colleagues in ASEAN our officials in Washington to begin the process of dialogue.”

Indonesia markets plunge after holiday break

Indonesia’s stock market plunged 9.2% in early trading on Tuesday, as markets in the Southeast Asian country reopened after an extended Eid holiday break.

Its currency, the rupiah, also sank to a record low, hitting 16,846 against the U.S. dollar.

The Indonesia Stock Exchange halted trading for 30 minutes following the steep decline. When it resumed, shares recovered slightly but remained down nearly 8%.

Hong Kong leader calls tariffs ‘bullying’ and ‘ruthless behavior’

Hong Kong leader John Lee has described the latest U.S. tariffs as “bullying,” saying the “ruthless behavior” has damaged global and multilateral trade and brought great risks and uncertainties to the world.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Lee pledged to take several steps to address the tariffs. He said the city would seize more opportunities in China’s development, sign more free trade agreements with other economies, and continue to push for Hong Kong’s accession to the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

He also vowed to advance international financial cooperation, attract foreign companies and capital to Hong Kong, and support Hong Kong enterprises to cope with the tariff impacts.

New Zealand prime minister criticizes tariffs as a ‘shift away from agreed rules’

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has delivered stronger criticism of the U.S. tariffs, decrying what he says is a “shift away from agreed rules” of trade and warning of the risk of “backsliding into a global trade war.”

“A trade war is in nobody’s interests,” Luxon told reporters in Wellington on Tuesday. “It will slow global growth, hurt jobs and reduce the amount of money we have in our wallets.”

He said New Zealand, which is set to receive the 10% baseline tariff rate on goods exported to the U.S., would not impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.

The U.S. in January overtook Australia to become New Zealand’s second-largest export partner, behind China, with New Zealand exports largely made up of meat, dairy, wine and agricultural machinery.

Asian markets open higher after volatile session a day earlier

Asian markets opened higher on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark shooting up more than 6% after it fell nearly 8% a day earlier.

The rebound followed a wild day on Wall Street as U.S. stocks careened after Trump threatened to crank his double-digit tariffs higher.

Hong Kong also recovered some lost ground, but not anything close to its 13.2% dive on Monday that gave the Hang Seng its worst day since 1997 during the Asian financial crisis. The Hang Seng gained 1.7% to 20,163.97 on Tuesday morning.

The Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.8% to 3,121.72, South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.6% to 2,364.22, and the S&P/ASX 200 also was up 1.6%, at 7,462.60.

Japan’s prime minister meets with Cabinet after call with Trump

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met with his Cabinet on Tuesday to discuss how to respond to the U.S. tariffs, after he spoke by phone late Monday with Trump.

Ishiba has appointed Ryosei Akazawa, the economy revitalization minister, as Japan’s trade negotiator with the U.S., Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tuesday. The appointment was based on an agreement between Ishiba and Trump, Hayashi added.

Japan’s prime minister also dispatched senior officials from the foreign and trade ministries to Washington to follow up on his conversation with Trump.

Ishiba is considering traveling to Washington for direct talks with Trump at an appropriate time, Hayashi said.

At Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Ishiba instructed his ministers to fully examine and mitigate the tariffs’ impact on Japanese industries and pursue diplomatic efforts to address them. Ishiba told his ministers the tariffs would be a blow to all industries. He said the auto industry is essential to Japan, while steel and aluminum are also key to its economy.

The post China vows countermeasures over Trump tariffs as trade war threatens to intensify first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The modest rebound for most markets followed a wild day on Wall Street, where stocks careened after Trump threatened to crank his double-digit tariffs higher.

Early Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry said it would “fight to the end” and take unspecified countermeasures against the United States after Trump threatened another 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

Germany’s DAX gained 0.9% to 19,975.81 while the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.3% at 7,018.79. Britain’s FTSE 100 also picked up 1.3%, to 7,804.73.

The future for the S&P 500 gained 1.5% early Tuesday while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.9%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed a smidgen over 6% higher, at 33,012.58.

Hong Kong also recovered some lost ground, but nothing close to the 13.2% dive Monday that gave the Hang Seng its worst day since 1997, during the Asian financial crisis.

The Hang Seng gained 1% to 20,036.03. The Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.4% to 3,140.15 after the government investment fund Central Huijin directed state-owned companies to help support the market with share purchases.

South Korea’s Kospi picked up 0.3% to 2,334.23, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 2.3% to 7,510.00.

Markets in Thailand and Indonesia tumbled, however, as they reopened after holidays. Trading was suspended briefly in Jakarta when the JSX index fell more than 9%. It was down 7.6% by mid-afternoon. Thailand’s SET lost 4.2%.

In Taiwan, the Taiex lost 4%, pulled lower by losses for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., or TSMC, the world’s largest computer chip maker. Its shares fell 3.8% on Tuesday.

On Monday, the S&P 500 sagged 0.2% as shell-shocked investors watched to see what Trump will do next in his trade war. If other countries agree to trade deals, he could lower his tariffs and avoid a possible recession. But if he sticks with tariffs for the long haul, stock prices may fall further.

The Dow sank 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by 0.1%.

All three indexes started the day sharply lower. But a false rumor that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his tariffs caused the Dow and S&P 500 to shoot higher in the late morning. A White House account on X quickly labeled as “fake news” the rumor that raised hopes Trump may let up on tariffs, causing shifts in trillions of dollars of investments.

Soon afterward, Trump dug in further, saying he may raise tariffs more against China after the world’s second-largest economy retaliated last week with its own set of tariffs against U.S. products.

Trump’s trade war is an attack on the globalization that’s shaped today’s world economy and helped bring down prices but also caused manufacturing jobs to leave for other countries.

He has said he wants to bring factory jobs back to the United States, a process that could take years. Trump also says he wants to narrow trade deficits with other countries, but it’s unclear how much room for negotiation there is on the U.S. side or among its trading partners.

Indexes swung between losses and gains Monday, partly because investors are still hoping negotiations may forestall actual implementation of the stiff duties on all imports.

All that seemed certain Monday was the financial pain hammering investments around the world.

Hurt by worries that a global economy weakened by trade barriers will burn less fuel, the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil dipped below $60 on Monday for the first time since 2021. Early Tuesday, it was up 67 cents at $61.37 per barrel.

Brent crude, the international standard, gained 65 cents to $64.86 per barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 147.32 Japanese yen from 147.85 yen. The euro fell to $1.0982 from $1.0905.

The price of gold rose $54 to about $3,028.00 an ounce.

Bitcoin gained 6.2% to about $79,400. On Monday it sank below $79,000, down from its record above $100,000 set in January.

The post World shares advance, led by 6% jump in Tokyo as markets calm somewhat after Trump’s tariff shocks first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

In just over a month, President Donald Trump has overturned old certainties about U.S. reliability as a security partner, as he embraces Russia and withdraws American support for Ukraine.

On Monday, Trump ordered a pause to U.S. military supplies to Ukraine as he sought to press President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia, bringing fresh urgency to the EU summit in Brussels.

Here’s the latest:

Baltic nations welcome Macron’s idea of nuclear deterrent

Baltic nations welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal for talks about using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats.

Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda praised a “very interesting idea” at his arrival at an emergency EU summit on defense and Ukraine in Brussels. “We have high expectations because nuclear umbrella would serve as really very serious deterrence towards Russia,” Nausėda said.

Latvia Prime Minister Evika Siliņa said she sees the French proposal “as an opportunity to discuss,” stressing that more time is needed for talks with European allies and at home.

Macron said he has decided to open a “strategic debate” on the protection of European allies by France’s nuclear deterrent. Macron said the use of France’s nuclear weapons would remain only in the hands of the French president.

Kremlin criticizes Macron’s speech as confrontational

The Kremlin on Thursday dismissed as “extremely confrontational” a speech by Emmanuel Macron, in which the French president called Moscow a “threat” to Europe.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Macron also said that he’s ready to start discussions on nuclear deterrence with European allies.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during a regular call with journalists said the speech was “extremely confrontational” and said that it was clear that France wasn’t thinking about peace.

“One can conclude that France thinks more about war, about continuing the war,” Peskov added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov echoed Peskov, saying during a news conference in Moscow that Macron’s speech and his comments on discussing nuclear deterrence with European allies were a “threat” against Russia.

Zelenskyy arrives at EU summit

Zelenskyy arrived at the emergency EU summit on Thursday and thanked European Union leaders for their unwavering support for Ukraine.

“During all this period, and last week, you stayed with us. … Big appreciation. We are very thankful that we are not alone. And these are not just words — we feel it,” Zelenskyy said.

He said EU support for Ukraine “signals to increase our production, and signals to a new program to increase European security.”

Limited room to increase spending

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a plan to loosen budget rules so countries that are willing can spend much more on defense. Her proposal is underpinned by 150 billion euros ($162 billion) worth of loans to buy priority military equipment.

Most of the increased defense spending would have to come from national budgets at a time when many countries are already overburdened with debt.

France is struggling to reduce an excessive annual budget deficit of 5% of GDP. Five other countries using the euro currency have debt levels over 100% of GDP: Belgium, Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Europe’s largest economy, Germany, has more room to borrow, with a debt level of 62% of GDP.

France steps in to provide military intelligence to Ukraine

France is providing military intelligence to Ukraine after Washington announced it was freezing the sharing of information with Kyiv.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said, “Our intelligence is sovereign. We have intelligence that we allow Ukraine to benefit from.”

He added that following the U.S. decision to suspend all military aid to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron asked him to “accelerate the various French aid packages” to make up for the lack of American assistance.

Russian ballistic missile kills 4 in Zelenskyy’s hometown

In Ukraine, a Russian ballistic missile killed four people staying at a hotel in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown during the night.

Zelenskyy said a humanitarian organization’s volunteers had moved into the hotel in Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine, just before the strike, including Ukrainian, American and British nationals. He didn’t say whether those people were among the 31 injured.

Russia fired 112 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as two ballistic Iskander missiles, at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.

Flurry of early morning meetings in Brussels

Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, conferred in Brussels with summit chairman Antonio Costa over breakfast on how to fortify Europe’s defenses on a short deadline. Merz only days ago pushed plans to loosen the nation’s rules on running up debt to allow for higher defense spending.

At the same time, the 27-nation bloc was waking up to the news that French President Emmanuel Macron would confer with EU leaders about the possibility of using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats.

The bloc will “take decisive steps forward,” Macron told the French nation Wednesday evening. “Member states will be able to increase their military spending” and “massive joint funding will be provided to buy and produce some of the most innovative munitions, tanks, weapons and equipment in Europe,” he said.

The post EU leaders hold emergency talks on increasing military spending for Ukraine first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Selling pressure kicked in after Wall Street’s rally, which was spurred by President Donald Trump’s decision to give a one-month exemption for U.S. automakers on his 25% tariffs for Mexican and Canadian imports. That raised hopes he may avoid a worst-case trade war that grinds down economies and sends inflation higher.

Germany’s DAX gained 0.5% to 23,194.03 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.5% to 8,135.30. Britain’s FTSE 100 sank 1% to 8,670.99.

The future for the S&P 500 was down 1.2% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1% lower.

In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.8% to 37,704.93. Japanese automakers’ shares surged in U.S. trading, though Toyota Motor Corp.’s shares fell back in Tokyo trading. losing 1%. Honda Motor Corp. gained 2% and Nissan Motor Co. rose 1.1%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 3.3% to 24,369.71 following Chinese government reports to the annual legislative session that showed a greater resolve by Beijing to boost consumer spending and other domestic demand.

The Shanghai Composite index advanced 1.2% to 3,381.10.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 0.7% to 2,576.16, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia slipped 0.6% to 8,094.70.

Taiwan’s Taiex shed 0.7%, while the SET in Bangkok skidded 1.4%.

On Wednesday, gains for Ford Motor and GM stocks helped lead Wall Street higher.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, while the Dow added 1.3%. The Nasdaq composite advanced 1.6%.

Trump said he was granting a one-month exemption for U.S. automakers on his 25% tariffs for Mexican and Canadian imports after talking with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler. That sent relief through Wall Street, and Ford’s and General Motors’ stock both jumped more than 5% to help lead a widespread rally across the market.

Trump did not roll back all of the tariffs he announced on the United States’ largest trading partners, including on China. He said in an address before Congress Tuesday night that he’s going ahead with additional tariffs on track to go into effect on April 2.

He has upped uncertainty in markets already reeling after he said Monday that there was no more room for negotiations. The higher tariffs effect Tuesday, causing the U.S. stock market to tumble.

Whatever the outcome, just the threat of tariffs has hit U.S. households and businesses, with consumer confidence souring sharply because of expectations they will fuel inflation. With all the changes coming from Washington, U.S. manufacturers say their growth is approaching stall-speed amid worries about tariffs.

A recent stream of weaker-than-expected reports on the U.S. economy has raised the possibility of a worst-case scenario known as “stagflation.” It’s something that doesn’t happen often, where the economy is stagnating and inflation is high.

The U.S. economy closed out last year running at a solid pace. If it weakens, the Fed can cut its main interest rate to make borrowing easier and goose growth. But rate cuts push inflation higher. It could be boxed in if prices for eggs and other everyday items surge because of tariffs.

In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 2 cents to $66.33 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up 2 cents, to $69.32 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 147.90 Japanese yen from 148.89 yen. The euro fell to $1.0789 from $1.0790.

The post World shares are mixed after Trump pulls back on some tariffs first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Energy industry executives will mull Trump’s vow to “drill, baby, drill.” Foreign leaders will decipher what he means by his wish to expand U.S. territory. Environmentalists will decry his planned exit from the Paris climate deal. Trade advocates can digest his newly christened “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs and duties.

From the earliest speeches, panel discussions and back-channel meetings in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos, Trump’s executive orders and evocative oratory will loom large.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap Tuesday in Davos.

Von der Leyen, Scholz take the stage a day after Trump

Right from the start, participants will be able to riff off of, and possibly rip into, Trump’s new tack.

One of the earliest sessions serves up “early thoughts” about the U.S. presidency; another focuses on electric vehicles, a Biden administration “mandate” for which Trump vowed to revoke.

Yet another dissects how the European Union will balance its environmental ambitions with a need for economic development — and Trump’s vow to declare a “national energy emergency” will certainly weigh on minds in Brussels.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, speaking Tuesday, said the bloc should “definitely stick to the goal” of the European Green Deal for both competitiveness and environmental reasons, as he alluded to Trump’s vision and steps.

“The world is full of uncertainty — after yesterday even more, and maybe tomorrow there might be even more uncertainty,” De Croo told a morning panel about Europe’s way forward. “Let’s please, as Europeans within the European Union, not add uncertainty by creating ambiguity on our goals.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gets early billing on the Davos dais. Her morning speech will send an early signal about how the 27-country bloc is interpreting Washington’s new line.

She’s likely to try fancy footwork — France and her native Germany are riven by political discord and uncertainty, and some recently ascendant leaders like Italy’s Giorgia Meloni have cast themselves as more Trump-friendly.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has lashed out at Trump ally Elon Musk’s support for the European far-right, will also speak.

Scholz’s hold on power in economically sluggish Germany appears tenuous: His Social Democrats are trailing third in polls showing conservative Friedrich Merz is the favorite to become the next chancellor after the Feb. 23 elections. Merz himself is set to take part in a discussion in Davos late Tuesday.

Trump didn’t talk Ukraine. Zelenskyy will in Davos

During his presidential campaign, Trump said he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day. He didn’t mention either country in his inaugural address, even if he did say he wants to be “a peacemaker and a unifier” more generally.

Nearly three years after Russia’s full-blown invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will take the stage. Both Moscow and Kyiv have been seeking battlefield gains to strengthen their negotiating positions ahead of any prospective talks to end the conflict.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and the prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, are likely to discuss the Gaza ceasefire.

And U.S. corporate chieftains for companies like Coca-Cola, Bank of America and Boston Consulting Group will share thoughts on the direction of the U.S. economy under Trump’s new term.

The post Trump’s first day actions loom large as Davos begins first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Trump overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, and he planned to act swiftly after the ceremony. Dozens of executive orders have already been prepared for his signature to clamp down on border crossings, increase fossil fuel development and end diversity and inclusion programs across the federal government.

The orders from the incoming Republican president will begin the process of unraveling the Democratic agenda of Joe Biden, whose term ended at noon, moments before Trump took the oath of office.

Declaring that government faces a “crisis of trust,” Trump said in his inaugural address that under his administration, “our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced.”

Trump claimed “a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal,” promising to “give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”

“From this moment on,” he added as Biden watched from the front row, “America’s decline is over.”

The executive orders are the first step in what Trump calls “the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.”

Other goals will prove more difficult, perhaps testing the patience of supporters who were promised quick success. Trump has talked about lowering prices after years of inflation, but his plans for tariffs on imports from foreign countries could have the opposite effect.

Frigid weather rewrote the pageantry of the day. Trump’s swearing-in was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda — the first time that has happened in 40 years — and the inaugural parade was replaced by an event at a downtown arena. Throngs of Trump supporters who descended on the city to watch the ceremony outside the Capitol from the National Mall were left to find other places to view the festivities.

At the Capitol, Vice President JD Vance was sworn in first, taking the oath read by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on a Bible given to him by his great-grandmother. Trump followed moments after noon, using both a family Bible and the one used by President Abraham Lincoln at his 1861 inauguration as Chief Justice John Roberts administered his oath.

A cadre of billionaires and tech titans — including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai — were given prominent positions in the Capitol Rotunda, mingling with Trump’s incoming team before the ceremony began. Also there was Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who is expected to lead an effort to slash spending and federal employees.

Trump and his wife, Melania, were greeted at the North Portico of the executive mansion by Biden and first lady Jill Biden for the customary tea and coffee reception. It was a stark departure from four years ago, when Trump refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory or attend his inauguration.

“Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump after the president-elect stepped out of the car. The two presidents, who have spent years bitterly criticizing each other, shared a limo on the way to the Capitol. After the ceremony, Trump walked with Biden to the building’s east side, where Biden departed via helicopter to begin his post-presidential life.

Trump followed Biden’s departure with freewheeling remarks to supporters, revisiting a litany of conspiracy theories about voter fraud and grievances against perceived enemies such as former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whom he called “a crying lunatic.”

He spoke for even longer than in his inaugural address, saying, “I think this is a better speech than the one I gave upstairs.”

Trump’s inauguration realized a political comeback without precedent in American history. Four years ago, he was voted out of the White House during an economic collapse caused by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Trump denied his defeat and tried to cling to power. He directed his supporters to march on the Capitol while lawmakers were certifying the election results, sparking a riot that interrupted the country’s tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.

But Trump never lost his grip on the Republican Party and was undeterred by criminal cases and two assassination attempts as he steamrolled rivals and harnessed voters’ exasperation with inflation and illegal immigration.

Trump used his inaugural address to repeat his claims that he was targeted by political prosecutions, and he promised to begin “fair, equal and impartial justice.” He also acknowledged that he was taking office on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which honors the slain civil rights hero. “We will strive together to make his dream a reality,” he said.

Now Trump is the first person convicted of a felony — for falsifying business records related to hush money payments — to serve as president. He pledged to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution from the same spot that was overrun by his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. He’s said that one of his first acts in office will be to pardon many of those who participated in the riot, and he referred to them as “hostages” on Monday.

“It’s action, not words, that count, and you’re going to see a lot of action,” Trump said.

Eight years after he first entered the White House as a political newcomer, Trump is far more familiar with the operations of federal government and emboldened to bend it to his vision. Trump wants to bring quick change by curtailing immigration, enacting tariffs on imports and rolling back Democrats’ climate and social initiatives.

He has also promised retribution against his political opponents and critics, and placed personal loyalty as a prime qualification for appointments to his administration.

With minutes to go before leaving office, Biden issued preemptive pardons to his siblings and their spouses to shield them from the possibility of prosecution. He said in a statement that his family “has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats” and that he has “no reason to believe these attacks will end.”

Earlier in the day, Biden took a similar step with current and former government officials who have been the target of Trump’s anger. Biden said “these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.”

Trump has pledged to go further and move faster in enacting his agenda than during his first term, and already the country’s political, business and technology leaders have realigned themselves to accommodate him.

Democrats who once formed a “resistance” are now divided over whether to work with Trump or defy him. Billionaires have lined up to meet with Trump as they acknowledge his unrivaled power in Washington and his ability to wield the levers of government to help or hurt their interests.

Long skeptical of American alliances, Trump’s “America First” foreign policy is being watched warily at home and abroad as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will soon enter its third year, and a fragile ceasefire appears to be holding in Gaza after more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.

Trump said he would lead a government that “expands our territory,” a reference to his goals of acquiring Greenland from Denmark and restoring U.S. control of the Panama Canal.

He also said he would “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.” Musk, the owner of a space rocket company with billions of dollars in federal contracts, cheered and pumped his arms above his head as Trump spoke.

Trump is planning to crack down on the U.S. southern border with a playbook that’s similar to his first term — declaring a national emergency, limiting the number of refugees entering the U.S. and deploying the military. An app called CBP One, which has allowed nearly 1 million people to legally enter the U.S. with eligibility to work, has already stopped working.

He’s expected to take additional actions — including constitutionally questionable ones — such as attempting to end birthright citizenship automatically bestowed on people born in the U.S.

Trump will also sign an executive order aimed at ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government.

The post Trump returns to power after unprecedented comeback, emboldened to reshape American institutions first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Under the 325-million-euro ($350 million) deal, Lufthansa takes an initial 41% stake in ITA, formerly Alitalia, from the Italian government, gaining full control by 2033 with a total investment of 829 million euros.

The remaining 59% will initially continue to be held by the Italian Treasury.

This deal was originally announced in May 2023 and was approved by the European Commission following a year-long investigation and with conditions to protect competition. The commission noted that Lufthansa, ITA and its partners, for example, control most routes from Rome and Milan to North America.

Under the deal, the merged company must make it possible for rival airlines to launch non-stop flights between Rome or Milan and central European airports, where competition is limited; make room for rivals on long-haul routes between Italy and the United States and Canada, and allot slots at Milan’s Linate airlines to competitors.

“With our investment, we will now strengthen the Italian and European aviation market and the position of the Lufthansa Group as number one in Europe,” said Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive Officer Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

“Our joint passengers worldwide will benefit from improved offers and optimized connections as early as this upcoming summer flight schedule,” he added.

The post German Lufthansa closes deal to acquire 41% of ITA Airways, gaining full control by 2033 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The nation’s capital has prepared in unprecedented ways to keep the unfolding events save and secure. But unlike when Trump helped spark a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol and tried to retain power in 2021 after his loss to Democrat Joe Biden, officials are not expecting massive protests, unrest and violence this time. Instead, the city is braced for crowds celebrating Trump’s second term and MAGA’s total control of the Republican Party.

It is a remarkable turnaround after Trump left the nation’s capital four years in disgrace and skipped the inauguration of his successor. Trump blasted his way through the 2024 GOP presidential primary and won November’s election by an Electoral College margin unseen since Democrat Barack Obama was reelected in 2012.

Yet even with that comfortable victory and his party in full, albeit narrow, control of Congress, the incoming president remains one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. history, with nearly as many fierce detractors as ardent supporters.

That means it could be difficult to fulfill postelection pledges about promoting bipartisanship while healing political differences. He told NBC News on Saturday that unity would be a theme of his inauguration speech Monday at the Capitol, along with strength and fairness.

“January 20th cannot come fast enough!,” Trump also posted this week on his social media site. “Everybody, even those that initially opposed a Victory by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Administration, just want it to happen.”

National and global events drew some of his attention Sunday as he commented on the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the U.S. ban on TikTok.

“Hostages starting to come out today! Three wonderful young women will be first,” Trump wrote on his social media site.

Overnight, millions of U.S. users of TikTok were no longer able to watch videos on the social media platform as a federal ban on the app took effect. The company posted a message making a personal appeal to Trump.

“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office,” the message said. Trump’s online response: “SAVE TIKTOK!”

Incoming national security adviser Michael Waltz said Trump discussed TikTok on a weekend call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “They agreed to work together on this,” Waltz told CBS’ ”Face the Nation,” adding that the app’s suspension was “extremely problematic.”

He insisted that Trump could find a solution by Monday. “I think we should all be confident that he can craft that kind of a deal,” Waltz said.

In keeping to tradition, Trump spent Saturday night at Blair House, the president’s official guest residence on Pennsylvania Avenue, across from the White House. He held a private breakfast with Republican senators Sunday.

Trump had arrived at Blair House after a party at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, about 30 miles west of the city, that featured a fireworks display that illuminated the night sky.

Trump came back to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, aboard a C-32, the military variant of the Boeing 757, painted in the iconic presidential powder blue and white color scheme. The aircraft that would be known as Air Force One if the president were aboard carried the president-elect as Special Air Mission 47.

Sunday will be Trump’s first full day back in the capital since the election. It gives him a chance to enjoy the moment and fire up his core supporters before Inauguration Day’s heavy dose of official pomp, including the swearing-in at noon.

Trump planned to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery before addressing a rally downtown at Capital One Arena, home of Washington pro basketball and hockey teams.

With frigid temperatures expected Monday, Trump directed his oath of office — now set for the Capitol Rotunda — and most of Monday’s outdoor events be moved indoors. The traditional parade will be held, in some form, at Capital One Arena.

Trump also was to attend a candlelight dinner Sunday where he was expected to speak.

Biden, in his final full day in office, scheduled a trip to South Carolina, a state that holds special meaning after his commanding win in the 2020 Democratic primary there set him up to achieve his life’s goal of being elected president.

Biden, accompanied by his wife, first lady Jill Biden, was set to visit a church in North Charleston to worship and speak on the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the White House said. Monday is also the federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader.

The president used his farewell address earlier in the week to warn of a growing “oligarchy” of ultra-rich interests gaining power and threatening the nation’s very democracy.

The post It’s inauguration eve and Trump is ready to revel in his return to power first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.