The Bulletin

• Explosion inside Russian consulate: An explosion took place inside the Russian Consulate in Marseille, France, La Marseillaise reported, citing the consul general.

• Stephen King's reaction to Governor: Stephen King had a strong reaction to the Governor of Maine's recent interaction with Donald Trump. Find out here.
• North Korea threatens US: North Korea on Friday doubled down on expanding its nuclear forces, warning it will use "strategic means" to counter military cooperation between the U.S. and its South Korean ally. Learn more.

• ICE immigration jacket: A jacket resembling those worn by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has become a best seller on Amazon, raising concerns about potential impersonations. Here's what we know.

• Iran reacts to Israel's flyover: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned Israel for flying fighter jets over Beirut during the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, calling it "an act of terror." Get more details.

• Weather warnings: The National Weather Service had winter weather-related warnings in place for six states early on Monday, with up to 2 feet of snow forecast for some parts of the United States. See the affected areas.

The rundown: Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany's mainstream conservatives, has said that Europe must become independent from the United States in security matters, after his grouping won the biggest share of the vote in federal elections. Read his full remarks.

Why it matters: Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, has warned that Europe can no longer count on the U.S., which he said had become "largely indifferent" to the continent's fate. His comments follow the success of the CDU/CSU grouping Merz leads getting 28.5 percent of the vote in Sunday's election, which also saw the surge of the far-right party AfD to second place, with 20.8 percent. He added that he did not know whether NATO could exist in its current guise or whether an independent European defense capability would have to be established quickly.

Read more in-depth coverage:
Germany's Far-Right AfD Party Surges In Election After Elon Musk Support

TL/DR: Merz has spent much of his professional career as a lawyer working with American firms and is a considered a very pro-U. S. politician.

What happens now? Merz's first task would be to put together a stable governing coalition, which he has to do within eight weeks. While the AfD got more than one-fifth of the vote, a long-standing rejection of working with the far right, known as a "firewall," leaves the Social Democrats as the most-likely partner.

Deeper reading Europe Should 'Achieve Independence' From US, Says Germany's Merz

The rundown: Elon Musk's power is being tested as a number of key federal agencies, including the FBI, the State Department and the Pentagon, have instructed their employees not to comply with his demand that workers explain what they accomplished last week or risk losing their job. Get more details.

Why it matters: An email sent to hundreds of thousands of federal employees from the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday gave them little more than 48 hours to list five things they had accomplished in the past week, the Associated Press reported. The deadline was listed in the email as Monday at 11:59 p.m. In a post on X, Musk said that "failure to respond will be taken as resignation." But several agencies have told employees that they do not have to comply if they received the email. Pentagon employees were told to "pause" any response to Musk's email.

Read more in-depth coverage:
List of Federal Agencies That Have Begun Mass Layoffs of Probationary Employees

TL/DR: President Donald Trump tapped Musk, the world's richest man, to shrink the size of the U.S. government.

What happens now? As many of 200,000 federal government employees have lost their jobs amid mass layoffs in the first month of Trump's second term. It remains to be seen whether, and how many, federal employees, will be removed from their posts after the deadline to respond to Musk's email passes. Legal challenges can be expected if that happens.

Deeper reading Elon Musk's Power Is Being Tested

The rundown: Russia's fossil fuel exports generated €242 billion ($253.8 billion) in revenue in the third year of its war in Ukraine, with some income coming indirectly from Western countries in spite of sanctions, according to a new report.

Why it matters: Russia has made a total of €847 billion in fossil fuel revenue since the war began in 2022, said the report from independent research organization Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and campaign group B4Ukraine, which seeks to cut off economic support for Moscow. The report, using data from Kpler, a global trade intelligence company that focuses on shipping markets, was shared exclusively with Newsweek. The report's figures come despite Western sanctions and are in contrast to the $199.1 billion Russia is believed to have earned from fossil fuel exports in 2021, the year before its invasion of Ukraine.

Read more in-depth coverage:
Russia Prepares to Declare 'Victory Over NATO': Ukraine Intelligence

TL/DR: Moscow's forces invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and Western countries have worked to stop Russian oil imports since.

What happens now? How long sanctions will last has been thrown into question under President Trump, who has pledged to end the war in Ukraine and has taken a more lenient approach to President Vladimir Putin than his White House predecessor, Joe Biden.

Deeper reading Exclusive: Russia Making Billions From Fossil Fuels Despite Sanctions

The rundown: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signaled his support for eliminating property taxes in the Sunshine State or drastically lowering them, though such a move is expected to be an uphill battle. Learn more.

Why it matters: The Republican governor agreed with a post shared on X, formerly Twitter, last week that said property taxes should not be based on the assumed value for new construction homes. Eliminating property taxes would set Florida apart from other states, according to Assaf Harpaz, assistant professor of law at the University of Georgia, told Newsweek, as it would be the only one to collect no income or property taxes. The move to eliminate or reduce property taxes seems to be growing across the U.S., Harpaz said. Various laws related to property tax reform have been proposed in North Dakota, Illinois, Texas and other states in recent years, suggesting there's interest in reducing or completely eliminating them.

Read more in-depth coverage:
Florida Insurers Sent Billions to Affiliates While Claiming Losses: Report

TL/DR: "Property taxes help fund essential services such as schools, police and fire departments, so the foregone revenue would have to be made up somehow," Harpaz said.

What happens now? The property taxes are collected at the local level rather than the state level, so their elimination would require an amendment to the Florida Constitution. To achieve this, lawmakers would need to pass a joint resolution with a three-fifths majority in both legislative chambers, followed by approval from 60 percent of voters in a general election.

Deeper reading Could Florida Eliminate Property Tax? It's Complicated

The rundown: Three years after Russian President Vladimir Putin began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow's losses are high and continue to increase daily, according to Ukrainian estimates.

Why it matters: On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Moscow has since lost 868,320 soldiers, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced on Monday. In comparison, estimates of Ukraine's losses are a fraction of Moscow's. However, it is difficult to assess the true circumstances of Russia's losses as the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's estimates are often higher than other sources, and both sides are tight-lipped about their losses. The personnel losses Russia and Ukraine have experienced since the war began are expected to affect their demographic and economic futures as Moscow and Kyiv face crises related to declining birth rates.

Read more in-depth coverage:
Russia's Losses in Ukraine Pass Grim Milestone

TL/DR: As a result of its casualties, Russia has struggled with a personnel shortage amid its large-scale assaults, having difficulty replenishing its ranks with adequately trained personnel.

What happens now? Given the challenges of independently verifying the reported losses of either country, it is hard to construct the true picture of their total losses. Though U.S.-mediated peace deals are underway, Russia's and Ukraine's losses could continue to increase as the war escalates.

Deeper reading Russia's Staggering Losses in Three Years of Ukraine War