Nation and world news — at a glance — for February 5
EPA demotes career employees overseeing science, enforcement and more
(NYTimes) — The Environmental Protection Agency is demoting career employees who oversee scientific research, the enforcement of pollution laws, hazardous waste cleanup and the agency’s human resources department and will replace them with political appointees, according to two people familiar with the approach. The move would give Trump administration loyalists more influence over aspects of the agency that were traditionally led by nonpartisan experts who have served across Republican and Democratic administrations. It would also make it easier for the Trump administration to bypass Congress.
At least 10 dead in Sweden’s worst mass shooting, prime minister says
(NYTimes) — A shooting at an adult education campus in Sweden on Tuesday left at least 10 people dead and injured an undisclosed number of others, in what the prime minister called the worst mass shooting in the country’s history. The suspect was among the dead, the country’s justice minister said. Authorities released few other details, including the person’s identity and a possible motive. The shooting occurred in Orebro, a city about 120 miles west of the capital, Stockholm. It came as Sweden, which used to be associated with equality and welcoming asylum policies, has one of the highest per capita rates of gun violence in the European Union, statistics show.
Trump signs executive order calling for review of US funding and ties to UN
(NYTimes) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday calling for a general review of U.S. funding and involvement in the United Nations, casting uncertainty on the leadership role the United States has played as the global body’s top donor. Trump also withdrew the United States from the U.N.’s Human Rights Council and stopped funding the U.N. agency that aids Palestinians, UNRWA, which provides crucial humanitarian assistance to millions of people in the war-torn Gaza Strip. In addition, Trump’s order called for a review of U.S. involvement in UNESCO, which protects world heritage sites, on allegations that it had exhibited what the White House staff secretary called “anti-American bias.”
Greenland, eyeing Trump, bans foreign political funding
(NYTimes) — Greenland’s parliament on Tuesday banned foreign and anonymous political funding, in the semiautonomous island’s latest reaction to President Donald Trump’s stated intentions to acquire it. Greenland’s lawmakers fast-tracked the law — an effort to protect against outside interference — before upcoming parliamentary elections. The law is Greenland’s most aggressive effort yet to push back against Trump, who refused last month to rule out using military force to take the island. The law does not directly name him as a potential campaign contributor, but a proposal that laid out the law and its rationale made clear that his insistence inspired its authors.
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