The Trump administration will impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China starting on Saturday over the countries' roles in the flow of illicit fentanyl into the United States.  |
- The Trump administration will impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China starting on Saturday over the countries' roles in the flow of illicit fentanyl into the United States.
- The White House held an eventful press conference on Friday, revealing developments on tariffs, foreign affairs, and the deportation operation. Here are five takeaways from the briefing.
- A large number of federal government employees are embracing resignation offers made by the Trump administration.
- Young Americans are dying at unprecedented rates, with a new study showing a surge in mortality driven by drug poisoning, alcohol-related deaths, and emerging health challenges.
- After the news: Why are we so fascinated with twins?
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☀️ It's Saturday. Thank you for reading Morning Brief. |
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews in Washington on Jan. 31, 2025. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) |
The Trump administration will impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China starting on Feb. 1 over the countries' roles in the flow of illicit fentanyl into the United States. The tariffs on Mexico and Canada will be 25 percent. The levy on China will be 10 percent. The move marks a follow-through of a pledge made by Trump in November 2024 to place tariffs on goods from those countries. These tariffs will be on top of existing levies, Trump said. He noted, however, that tariffs on Canadian oil imports will "probably" be set at 10 percent, rather than 25 percent. The president said that there's nothing China, Canada, or Mexico can do to prevent the tariffs from going into effect on Saturday. "No, not right now," he told reporters in the Oval Office, noting that the tariffs are not a negotiating tactic. Trump noted that the United States has significant trade deficits with all three countries. Huge quantities of fentanyl are pouring into the U.S., he said, which is responsible for killing tens of thousands of people every year. "We're not looking for a concession. We'll just see what happens," he said. Trump said that China makes fentanyl and sends it to the United States through various places, primarily Mexico, but also a significant amount through Canada. The president also previewed sweeping tariffs in the coming weeks on chips, pharmaceuticals, medicine, steel, aluminum, and copper, as well as against the European Union. (More) More Politics |
- A federal judge in Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 31 preventing the Trump administration from freezing federal financial assistance.
- The Department of Justice has dropped a lawsuit which sought to stop the state of Virginia from removing non-citizens from its voter registration rolls.
- The Department of Government Efficiency says 104 diversity, equity, and inclusion contracts have been scrapped across 25 federal agencies, saving taxpayers over $1 billion.
- President Trump has prohibited his former national security adviser John Bolton and the intelligence officials who called the Hunter Biden laptop Russian disinformation from having unescorted access to secure federal buildings.
- U.S. House offices have been told to avoid using Chinese artificial intelligence software DeepSeek, according to a notice to staffers obtained by The Epoch Times.
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Young Americans are dying at unprecedented rates, with a new study showing a surge in mortality driven by drug poisoning, alcohol-related deaths, and emerging health challenges. Young adult deaths in 2023 were 70 percent higher than they would have been if pre-2011 trends had continued. "One surprising thing about the increases in these causes of death are that these are causes of death that primarily kill people at much older ages," Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, associate professor of sociology, associate director at Minnesota Population Center, and study author, told The Epoch Times. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, examined over 3.3 million deaths of Americans aged 25–44 between 1999 and 2023. Unnatural causes of death like drug poisoning were the leading cause of death in young adults, constituting a third of all deaths in 2023. Drug poisoning has been the leading cause of death among young adults since 2014, with a sharp rise in 2020 and a stable excess death rate since. The researchers did not offer an explanation of how drug poisoning contributed to these deaths. With the exception of COVID-19, most of the leading causes of death in young adults were not-health related. (More) More U.S. News |
- A medical transport jet carrying a pediatric patient and five others crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood about 30 seconds after taking off on Friday, with the incident leaving homes and cars in flames.
- The FAA has indefinitely restricted helicopter flights near Reagan National Airport following a midair collision that killed 67 people.
- Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has formally directed state agencies not to hire individuals who were pardoned for their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, events at the U.S. Capitol, according to a letter reviewed by The Epoch Times.
- The U.S. Department of Education is reminding schools and colleges across the country that complaints of sex-based discrimination must be handled according to the traditional definition of sex—recognizing only male and female sexes.
- Retailer Costco Wholesale will increase pay for most of its hourly store workers in the United States to more than $30 in 2025, according to an internal memo CEO Ron Vachris sent to employees on Jan. 28.
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Police in Norway seized and boarded a Norwegian ship with an all-Russian crew on suspicion of involvement in causing damage to a telecoms cable under the Baltic Sea on Friday. The Silver Dania cargo ship was grabbed at the request of Latvia and with the assistance of the Norwegian coast guard, police in the city of Tromso said. Tromso lies in the far north of the Nordic nation. "It is suspected that the ship has been involved in serious damage to a fiber cable in the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Sweden," the police said in a statement. The Silver Dania's owner, the Silver Sea shipping group, denied that it had been involved in the undersea cable damage, Norway's TV2 channel reported. Sweden and Latvia are investigating the suspected sabotage on Sunday of the cable linking the two countries, and Swedish police seized and boarded the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Vezhen on suspicion it was behind the damage. Norwegian police confirmed that both ship seizures were related to the cable breakage. "The suspicion is that someone on the [Silver Dania] has something to do with the cable incident," police lawyer Ronny Joergensen told a press conference, declining to elaborate further. (More) More World News: |
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the Trump administration is not ruling out military action against Mexican drug cartels after they were declared foreign terrorist organizations earlier this month.
- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has voiced concerns over a string of espionage cases involving Chinese nationals, a situation that has left officials in Manila on high alert.
- President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Jan. 31 that tariffs will "absolutely" be imposed on the European Union (EU), though he did not elaborate on the timing or the rate.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio has doubled down on President Trump's remarks about buying Greenland, saying the issue is vital to U.S. national interest. "This is not a joke," Rubio said.
- The Italian data protection watchdog has blocked access to the Chinese artificial intelligence application DeepSeek due to concerns over its handling of user data.
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🎤 Fact Matter: Agencies attempt to hide from the great purge of the federal government. (Watch on EpochTV) ✍️ Opinion: Is This Hotel Really Progress? By Jeffrey A. Tucker 🍵 Health: Four ways to boost mood and lower depression-related tumor risk. 💛 Inspiration: When Your Mind Can't Let Go 🍿 Documentary: The Blind Sea follows a champion blind surfer tackling Nazaré's monster waves. (Watch free on Gan Jing World) 🎵 Music: Edward Elgar - March No. 1 (Listen)
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Damien Meyer/AFP via Getty Images |
"The Sacrifice of Abel," 1576, by Johann SadelerI, after Michiel Coxie. Engraving, plate 1 from "The Story of Cain and Abel," published by Gerard de Jode. (Metropolitan Museum of Art) |
From the beginning of human history, we've been captivated by the phenomenon of twins. Consider four classic examples: Castor and Pollux (the Gemini twins from Greek mythology), Romulus and Remus (Romulus being the legendary founder of Rome), Jacob and Esau (Jacob, who became Israel and wrestled with God), and Cain and Abel (the sons of Adam and Eve). While Cain and Abel aren't explicitly denoted as twins, tradition suggests they were, and their dynamic, intertwined relationship strongly implies twinship. So, why this ancient fascination with twins? Among our examples, Castor and Pollux exemplify a loving, harmonious bond. Castor, mortal, and Pollux, immortal, were non-identical twins. When Castor was killed in a conflict, Pollux, overcome with grief, pleaded with Zeus to reunite them. Zeus offered a compromise: The brothers would alternate between Olympus and the Underworld, sharing Pollux's immortality. Their eternal bond was immortalized as the constellation Gemini. This myth underscores duality—the body (Castor) as mortal and the soul (Pollux) as immortal. Their reunion hints at resurrection or transcendence. Romulus and Remus present a stark contrast. Overcoming adversity together (they were suckled by a wolf), they later quarrel over the founding of Rome. Romulus kills Remus, committing fratricide. Unlike Castor and Pollux, they represent irreconcilable divisions. Rome, named after Romulus, becomes a symbol of enduring civilization, but its foundation is stained with blood. This permanent rupture contrasts sharply with Castor and Pollux's reconciliation. Twins captivate us because they mirror our inner duality. Castor and Pollux offer hope through unity and transcendence; but Romulus and Remus, and Cain and Abel, remind us of division and its consequences.
Read the full article by our colleague James Sale here.
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