NOW: EU-India trade deal agreement has been signed in New Delhi.

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NOW: EU and India sign security and defence pact in New Delhi.

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EU's von der Leyen on trade deal with India:

We did it. We delivered the mother of all deals.

We are creating a market of two billion people.

It will cut up to four billion euros in annual tariffs for exporters of all sizes.

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NEW: Saudi Arabia has paused major construction on the futuristic Mukaab cube megaproject in Riyadh.

Source: Reuters

India's Modi on security and defence pact with the EU:

This will deepen our partnership in counter-terrorism, maritime, and cyber security.

The scope of our cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region will further increase.

Our defense companies will realize new opportunities for co-development and co-production.

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India's Modi on trade deal with the EU:

Today, India has concluded the largest-ever Free Trade Agreement in its history.

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John Bolton on Iran:

One strike isn’t going to bring the regime down if he is committed to regime change, as he has now said.

You need to think in a more programmatic, strategic way.

You have to think about what multiple strikes might do to degrade the regime’s ability to cause problems in the nuclear field and the terrorism field, but also to reduce its power to repress its own people.

Starmer Heads to China Defying Trump's Tariff Threat

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BIG: Iran’s currency has hit a new historic low, with the dollar rising to about 1.51 million rials.

Fears of possible military action and continued U.S. pressure are pushing Iranians to rush into foreign currency, despite heavy dollar sales by Iran’s central bank.

The rial has collapsed from around 800,000 per dollar last June, while Iran’s stock market has fallen for a fourth straight day.

France’s lower house has approved a bill to ban social media for children under 15, requiring real age verification instead of self-declared birthdays.

The measure, backed by Macron, now goes to the Senate and could take effect in September 2026 if passed.

US Links Security Guarantees For Ukraine To Peace Deal Ceding Donbas

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BIG: Türkiye is preparing for a worst-case scenario in Iran and is considering establishing a buffer zone on the Iranian side of the border to prevent a new wave of refugees.

Officials briefed lawmakers that Ankara wants to prevent migrants from crossing into Türkiye and has already reinforced the border with walls, ditches, towers, drones, and surveillance systems.

Turkish officials also said recent protests in Iran left about 4,000 dead and 20,000 wounded after unrest driven by inflation and currency collapse.

Source: MEE

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Zelensky:

When we speak of 50,000 Russian losses per month, this is the optimal level.

It is undoubtedly a difficult goal, but it is the level at which Russia will begin to question what it is doing and why it is fighting.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:

Trump spoke to Prime Minister Carney; Carney very aggressively walked back some of the unfortunate remarks he made at Davos.

Zelensky:

Ukraine expects to join the EU in 2027.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:

I am not sure what Carney was thinking; Canada depends on the U.S.

There is much more north-south trade than there could ever be east-west trade.

He talks about middle countries doing their own thing. I am old enough to remember when French President Mitterrand tried that and it failed back in the 80s, and it will fail now.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:

Carney should do what is best for the Canadian people rather than trying to push his own globalist agenda.

Turkish President Erdogan:

When we look around us, we can all see that from north to south our surroundings are practically on fire.

Turkish President Erdogan:

As Syria achieves stability and security, all neighboring countries—starting with us—will directly feel its positive effects.

Trade will accelerate, investments will increase, and tourism will develop. In the residential areas that were reduced to rubble by the former regime’s barrel bombs, a major reconstruction campaign will begin.

As the effects of the oppression that cost the lives of one million Syrians are erased, and as Syria heals its wounds and rises to its feet again, very different winds will begin to blow across our region.

Turkish President Erdogan:

Millions of Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland, including 600,000 from our country.

Turkish President Erdogan on Syria:

Resources that should be spent on the welfare of the Syrian people will no longer be used to dig tunnels underground, but instead to build schools, hospitals, bakeries, factories, and roads above ground.