PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, February 4: We look at reactions from the Canadian and Mexican press after US President Donald Trump's decision to suspend tariffs on imports from both countries in exchange for more policing at the borders. Is it a victory or a concession? Meanwhile, The New York Times reports on how Elon Musk has garnered alarmingly unfettered access to federal institutions and systems. Plus: we look at a key legal victory in the French #MeToo movement.

We start with reactions from the Canadian and Mexican press after Trump agreed to suspend a plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports, in exchange for soldiers and personnel to secure the Mexican and Canadian borders. The Canadian daily The Globe and Mail headlines on this 30-day reprieve. In its analysis, the paper says that for Trump, brinkmanship isn’t just a tactic but a way of life. The writer adds that the livelihoods of many Canadians and Mexicans float precariously on the capricious whim of Trump – and that’s how he likes it.

Another Canadian daily, the National Post, sees it as Trump backing down because he sees the foolishness of fighting the Canadians. The paper concedes, though, that the threat of tariffs is a hostile act from a nation Canada thought was like a best friend. Meanwhile La Jornada, a Mexican newspaper, underlines that Trump has merely suspended but not cancelled the threat of tariffs.

Trump's right-hand man Elon Musk is also causing alarm because of the extraordinary amount of control he has over government affairs. As The New York Times explains: in just two weeks,  Musk and his lieutenants have gained access to key financial and data systems, while they've shuttered specific programmes and entire agencies. They've ended USAID, a key source of foreign assistance with massive repercussions around the world. It represents an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual on government affairs and sources close to Musk say he's even moved a bed into a bureau near the White House to work around the clock, deploying the same frantic, obsessive strategy he used at Twitter and Tesla. An article from Wired magazine looks at how Musk has surrounded himself with young Silicon Valley tech executives from his own companies. In some cases, they are accessing classified material – despite not being elected public officials. Worse, Congress can't intervene precisely because they’re not public officials, allowing Musk to operate virtually unchecked.

Here in France, the papers are reacting to the sentencing of French director Christophe Ruggia to four years in prison, with two suspended, for sexual assault on actress Adèle Haenel when she was underage. Ruggia says he'll be appealing the decision, but Mediapart, the French investigative website, hails the ruling as a victory and a ray of hope in this unprecedented case, which opened the door to the #MeToo movement in France. French actress Haenel became a flagbearer for the moment and a symbol of resistance by daring to speak out against the impunity of those who commit sexual assault. For Belgian paper Le Soir, it’s an historic verdict and a turning point for French cinema, where investigations and lawsuits continue to be filed, but where there is little justice for the accused or guilty.

Finally, a fungus that causes spiders to become zombies may sound like the plot of the hit TV series "The Last of Us". But the fungus, named gibellula attenboroughii, has been discovered to alter the behaviour of cave-dwelling orb weaver spiders, known for their geometric webs. Basically the fungus goes on to nearly swallow the spider whole, in research observed in Northern Ireland. The fungus was named after British naturalist David Attenborough because it was first observed in one of his documentaries. It was previously known that fungi can cause ants to become zombies, but this is the first time the phenomenon has been documented in spiders. Sadly for the spiders, it does not end well.

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.