Donald Trump has said he will declare an emergency at the US-Mexico border as one of a host of executive orders the incoming president will sign on Monday and in the coming days.
Incoming White House officials have said the first wave of executive orders will cover a mix of campaign trail promises, reversals of outgoing President Joe Biden’s policies and restructuring of the federal government workforce.
One of the most high-profile orders will be Mr Trump declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border as part of a wider crackdown on immigration and other cross-border crimes.
Sky News’ US partner NBC News has reported Mr Trump is expected to sign more than 50 executive orders on Monday, and possibly more than 100, citing a person in his transition operation.
Border and immigration
On the border, Mr Trump said he would declare a national emergency in his inaugural speech.
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During the inauguration ceremony, Mr Trump said: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places they came.
“I will end the practice of catch and release and I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.
“Under the orders I sign today we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organisations.”
Image: President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term.
Pic: Reuters/Carlos Barria
However, the border emergency is not the only one Mr Trump intends to declare.
During his speech, the president said he would also declare “a national energy emergency”, adding: “We will drill baby drill.”
He continued: “We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.”
NBC News reported this is aimed at expanding the administration’s ability to improve domestic energy production.
Alongside that, he reportedly will: allow more drilling both offshore and on federal lands, end a freeze on liquid natural gas exports and cut off climate-related funding that was approved under the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden.
In another executive order, Mr Trump reportedly will implement Schedule F.
This eliminates job protections for potentially thousands of federal workforce positions, which could make it easier to fire them.
Gender and diversity
Matching talking points from the campaign trail, Mr Trump said it would be government policy, through an executive order, that there would only be two genders recognised by the US government – male and female.
Speaking on Martin Luther King Jr Day he also promised to slash diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, saying: “This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.
“We will forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the US government that there are only two genders, male and female.”
Mr Trump also intends to reverse an order by President Biden that allows transgender people to serve openly in the military in their self-identified gender.
The order also provided greater access to medical care and even support for gender transition.
The Pentagon and military
Alongside that, NBC News said that Mr Trump would reverse two other decisions by the Democrat who beat him in the 2020 election.
One would change the location of the US Space Command headquarters, moving it from Colorado to Alabama.
The other would reverse a 2022 decision that provided paid leave and reimbursed transportation costs for troops and dependents who travelled out of state for abortion and other reproductive care.
TikTok and Hunter Biden
Mr Trump has said he would sign an extension for TikTok to find a buyer, to comply with the law that went into effect on Sunday.
Mr Trump would also reportedly suspend security clearance for 51 national security officials who signed a letter saying that Hunter Biden’s emails and laptop had the hallmarks of a Russian operation.
Europe must “ramp up” pressure on Russia “to bring an end to this barbaric war”, a Downing Street spokesperson said after Sir Keir Starmer chaired a meeting with the Coalition of the Willing.
Earlier, the prime minister met with Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at Downing Street for crisis talks on the future of Ukraine.
After the Downing Street meeting, a spokesperson said Sir Keir “convened a call with other European allies alongside President Zelenskyy”.
“The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war.”
Image: Friedrich Merz, Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron at Downing Street. Pic: Reuters
During the earlier meeting, the Downing Street spokesperson said that the leaders “discussed the importance of the US-led peace talks for European security and supported the progress made”.
All four “underscored the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, which includes robust security guarantees,” the spokesperson added.
“The leaders agreed that, while diplomatic efforts continue, Europe must stand with Ukraine, strengthening its ability to defend against relentless attacks that have left thousands without heat or light,” they said.
“They also discussed positive progress made to use immobilised Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine’s reconstruction.”
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Mr Zelenskyy arrives at Downing Street
After arriving in the UK, Mr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram that “we are joining our efforts to end this war with a decent peace for Ukraine” and that “security must be guaranteed”.
He later said: “We can’t manage without Americans, we can’t manage without Europe and that is why we need to make some important decisions.”
The discussions come as US President Donald Trump accused Mr Zelenskyy of having failed to read the latest peace plan.
He said he was “a little disappointed” in the Ukrainian leader, while insisting Russia’s Vladimir Putin was “fine with it”.
When asked directly if he believed the US president would walk away from Ukraine, he answered: “I think he may, what’s good about my father and what’s unique about my father is you don’t know what he’s going to do. He’s unpredictable.”
Image: Pic: Reuters
Sir Keir had earlier insisted any ceasefire must be “just” and “lasting”, adding: “We are at a critical stage in the push for peace.
“The principles remain the same. We stand with Ukraine, and if there is to be a ceasefire, it needs to be a just and lasting ceasefire.”
Mr Macron had insisted Ukraine’s allies have “a lot of cards” – but the main issue was to “finalise these peace negotiations” and find the “best possible conditions for Ukraine, for the Europeans, and for collective security”.
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Why the meeting in London is important
Moments after arriving at Downing Street, Mr Merz said he was “sceptical about some of the details in documents coming from the US” but that was one of the reasons for Monday’s talks.
The four European leaders emerged from Downing Street at around 2.20pm for a group photo – but declined to answer any questions from the media.
Sir Keir and Mr Zelenskyy then went back inside the prime minister’s residence for further talks while Mr Macron and Mr Merz departed.
The London meeting comes after Mr Zelenskyy’s officials concluded three days of talks with US diplomats.
Over the weekend, Mr Zelenskyy said he had discussed “next steps” with Mr Trump’s advisers and was “determined to keep working in good faith”.
According to Vatican sources, the Ukrainian president will next meet with Pope Leo at Castel Gandolfo, the papal residence outside of Rome, on Tuesday morning.
The Israeli government has been accused of intimidation, harassment and a “blatant disregard” of its obligations by the United Nations after Israeli officials raided a UN building in Jerusalem.
Police officers, along with officials from the town council, entered the East Jerusalem compound of UNRWA, the UN agency that provides services to Palestinian refugees.
Having gained entry to the compound, the officials filled vehicles with possessions, including office furniture, and raised an Israeli flag in place of the United Nations flag.
They claimed that the building had been raided because UNRWA owed around hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of local taxes.
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However, under the UN charter, UN buildings are exempt from such taxes and are also considered “inviolable”, meaning that, rather than raiding the building, Israelhas an obligation to protect it.
Since its staff were told to leave, there have been attempts to break into the compound, which has been secured by a team of guards employed by the UN.
Sky News has been told that, when the Israeli officials arrived on Monday morning, the security guards were detained in a room within the compound.
“We didn’t let them in when they first came to the compound, but they cut the chains and the locks and took control,” said George, the head of security, who was standing outside the front gate when we arrived.
“They told my guards to stay in one room, took their phones from them, and told them they couldn’t leave.”
‘The false accusations led to this’
UNRWA’s commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, said the raid was “a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations Member State to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises”.
He said that failing to cooperate with UN agencies “represent a new challenge to international law, one that creates a dangerous precedent anywhere else the UN is present across the world”.
His anger was not isolated. Outside the gates of the UNRWA compound, we met Hakam Shahwam, who used to work here as UNRWA’s chief of staff. It was, he said, “a very sad day”.
Shahwam says the claims that UNRWA was a breeding ground for Hamas had led to the raid.
He told me: “The false accusations led to this. This is a shameful day, not only for the United Nations but also for the government of Israel.
“There must be a strong protest, and a response from the international community. This is unacceptable.”
The Israeli government remains adamant that its criticism of UNRWA is justified.
When I asked Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about the raid, she said: “UNRWA is a stain on the United Nations.”
She added: “It is time for UNRWA to be dismantled. It is not part of the solution for Gaza, it is part of the problem.”
She did not comment on the legality of the raid, or on Israel’s ongoing commitment to the UN Charter.
Greek farmers angered by delayed subsidy payments have shut down the international airport on Crete and clashed with riot police.
Images from local media showed dozens of farmers standing on the apron at Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport in Heraklion, the largest city on Crete.
Image: Pic: Reuters
The airport was forced to suspend all flights, while fights between protesters and riot police broke out in Chania, the Greek island’s second-largest city, where two people were reportedly injured.
Officers used tear gas to disperse protesting farmers who pelted them with rocks and overturned a police patrol car, according to local media.
Image: Pics: AP
The protests were sparked after delays in the payment of European Union-backed agricultural subsidies, which followed a scandal over fraudulent subsidy claims.
Authorities are reviewing all requests for EU farm subsidies, which protesters argue amount to collective punishment and leave farmers in debt and unable to plant their fields for next season.
Meanwhile, Greece’s farming sector has been hit by an outbreak of goat and sheep pox, leading to a mass cull of livestock.
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Farmers have since deployed thousands of tractors and other agricultural vehicles at border crossings and key points along highways across the country, as well as ports and airports.
Michalis Chrisochoidis, Greek minister for public order, said last week that the government remained open to talks with protest leaders, but warned it wouldn’t tolerate the shutdown of major transit points.
It comes after riot police fired tear gas at protesting farmers attempting to block the main access road to the international airport outside the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Friday.
Elsewhere, police have been enforcing traffic diversions in several parts of northern and central Greece, while farmer roadblocks at the country’s northern borders with Bulgaria, Turkey and North Macedonia have hampered truck traffic.
Protests by farmers are common in Greece, and similar blockades in the past have sometimes severed all road traffic between the north and south of the country for weeks.