Partial US Government Shutdown Expected to Last Until Tuesday
Washington D.C. – A partial shutdown of the United States federal government, which began on Saturday, is expected to continue until at least Tuesday, February 4, 2026, due to disagreements between Democrat and Republican lawmakers over immigration enforcement, according to US House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Johnson blamed Democrat lawmakers for the impasse, citing their "lengthy demands" regarding the Trump administration's immigration policies. He expressed confidence that he would eventually secure enough votes to end the shutdown. "It will be a few days before a government funding package comes up for a vote," Johnson stated on Sunday.
The shutdown stems from a debate over reigning in the Trump administration's sweeping immigration enforcement operations, according to Euronews.
In other news related to the Trump administration, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the Defence Committee in the EU Parliament, has raised concerns about the safety of Germany's gold reserves stored in the United States. Germany currently stores 1,236 tonnes of gold in the USA. Amid tariff threats and pledges to conquer Greenland, citizens and politicians in Europe are unsettled questioning a long-standing alliance. Some politicians are calling for the repatriation of these reserves, but such a move could be risky. "As the Trump administration ploughs forward with its incendiary policies, European trust in the US government is fading," according to Euronews.
Meanwhile, discussions between Denmark and the United States regarding a potential Greenland deal are underway. Experts suggest that Denmark's largest industry, pharmaceuticals, may not provide significant leverage in these negotiations, despite Novo Nordisk, a Danish manufacturer of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, having a large market share in the US. In 2024, Denmark's top exports to the United States were chemicals and related products, including pharmaceuticals, worth approximately DKK 21.5 billion (2.8 billion), representing 34 percent of the country's exports.
In other international news, grain wagons from Russia were dispatched to Armenia via Azerbaijan on Sunday, February 2, 2026, as part of the ongoing normalization process between Baku and Yerevan. A total of 25 grain wagons, weighing 1,746 tonnes, were sent from Russia to Armenia through Azerbaijani territory. According to Euronews, a total of 285 wagons, carrying nearly 19,900 tonnes of grain, have been transported in recent months.
Finally, newly released documents related to Jeffrey Epstein reveal that he and his network sought to exploit the political and economic turmoil in Libya for financial gain in 2011. An email dated July 2011, disclosed as part of the US Department of Justice's investigation, shows plans to access frozen Libyan state assets through a network of former British and Israeli intelligence officials. The email was sent by one of Epstein's associates and revealed plans to take advantage of the "political and economic turmoil" in Libya to identify and secure access to these assets.
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