China filed a World Trade Organization complaint against US President Donald Trump's new 10% tariff on Chinese imports and his cancellation of a duty-free exemption for low-value packages, arguing the actions are "protectionist" and break WTO rules. The WTO said China submitted a request for consultations with the US on the tariffs. China argues in the document that Trump's new duties aimed at halting the flow of fentanyl opioids and their precursor chemicals to the US "are imposed on the basis of unfounded and false allegations concerning China."

Beijing's request for US trade consultations came as confusion reigned among shippers and retailers over Trump's closure of the "de minimis" exemption for package imports valued under $800 and widely used by e-commerce firms. The request for consultations is the start of a dispute process that could lead to a ruling that Trump's duties violated trade rules in the same manner that a 2020 WTO ruling found that his first-term China tariffs broke trade regulations.

Swedish police said they were still investigating the motive behind the country's deadliest mass shooting, as local media began reporting details about the gunman. The suspect, named in reports as 35-year-old local man Rickard Andersson, was reported to be a former student of the school in Orebo, a city 157 km (98 miles) west of Stockholm, where the attack took place on Tuesday (Feb. 4). Eleven people died in the shooting, including the attacker, with at least six others injured.

The attack has sent shockwaves through the nation, with King Carl XVI Gustaf on Wednesday saying: "All of Sweden is mourning." Authorities are still yet to release details about the dead and injured. Health officials said three women and two men were in a critical but stable condition, while another woman was treated for minor injuries. Police declined to confirm media reports naming Andersson as the suspect. Orebro police said they had identified the suspect but would "not publish his name yet, due to the investigation".

The Palestinian president said he strongly rejects President Donald Trump's proposal for the US to take over Gaza and permanently resettle the 2.1 million Palestinians living there. "We will not allow the rights of our people to be infringed on," Mahmoud Abbas stressed, warning that Gaza was "an integral part of the State of Palestine" and forced displacement would be a serious violation of international law. Hamas, whose 15-month war with Israel has caused widespread devastation, said Trump's plan would "put oil on the fire" in the region.

The idea was also rejected by regional powers including Jordan and Egypt, which the US president wants to take in many of the displaced Gazans. Saudi Arabia said Palestinians would "not move" from their land and it would not normalise ties with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump's proposal could "change history" and was "worth paying attention to".

Argentina's president, Javier Milei, has followed Donald Trump's example and announced that Argentina will also leave the World Health Organization (WHO). Milei attributed his decision to the WHO's management of the Covid-19 pandemic, which he described as a "caveman quarantine that involved ... one of the most outlandish crimes against humanity in history". The decision prompted immediate criticism from the opposition and health organisations who fear that withdrawing from the WHO will reduce the country's access to funding.

A self-declared "anarcho-capitalist", Milei is a prominent fan of Trump, who within hours of his January 20 inauguration signed an order for the United States to withdraw from the WHO, which he also has criticized for its handling of the pandemic, describing it as "the executing arm of what was the largest social-control experiment in history," on social media. But critics said that the decision was not Milei's to make, as such a move would require approval by congress.