10 h. ago Here’s one key thing you should know about Trump’s shock to the world economy: it could work | James Meadway

It’s hard to say if the president truly knows what he’s doing. But there is a precedent for the US causing short-term chaos and reaping long-term gainIt’s less than a week since Donald Trump’s sensational announcement that he was unilaterally ending the world’s trading system with the imposition of a 10% minimum tariff for trading with the US – and a very much higher rate for those countries unfortunate enough to have the US as a major export partner. Long-term allies such as Japan and South Korea have been hammered with tariffs of around 25%, while export-dependent poorer countries such as Vietnam, which sells about a third of its exports to the US, have been hit with tariffs in excess of 45%. A further round of global debt crises is possible as heavily indebted countries face the sudden loss of export earnings.Global stock markets have tumbled as panicked investors dump shares, and political condemnation has been near-universal. China has already retaliated with 34% tariffs, threa...

Politics

27 h. ago As Apple TV announces a shock fourth season of Ted Lasso... JANE FRYER reveals she loved every moment of the global hit show

JANE FRYER: Millions worldwide watched all three series of Apple TV's monster hit starring Jason Sudeikis in the title role.

Events

53 h. ago ‘Fundamentally wrong, brutal and paranoid’: how will the world respond to Donald Trump’s tariffs?

The US president’s sweeping, unprecedented tariffs on countries around the world are threatening to reshape the global economy – so, what exactly happens next?On Thursday evening, towards the end of a long week at a textiles factory on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Thi Dieu and her husband were watching the news. More than 8,700 miles away, US president Donald Trump was announcing sweeping, unprecedented tariffs on every country around the world. Nowhere was safe, even the uninhabited Heard Island and McDonald Islands off the western coast of Australia that, for some unexplained reason, were hit with a 10% tariff.His announcement launched a fierce global trade war and triggered a global market meltdown, including on Trump’s own cherished Wall Street, where hundreds of billions of dollars of stock values evaporated. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago The reckless fantasy of austerity as a panacea is coming for European football | Aaron Timms

The same economic forces that led to stagnation today are already in practice at the world’s biggest clubsThe problem with running a modern top-flight football club is that raising revenue is hard to do. Once you’ve grabbed your slice of league-wide media rights, made a vaguely colonial-sounding pre-season tour of the “Far East,” stitched up some sponsorship deals with a gambling company or a country’s tourism agency, and shipped as many shirts as the global merch market can handle, you hit the ceiling of your earning capacity. At that point, as a club, what do you do?You can raise ticket prices, which risks alienating fans and the local community you’re supposed to represent. You can try your hand at a few miserable little crypto or AI plug-ins to build “engagement” among supporters or become a pioneer in the nascent field of fan “activations,” with limited potential returns. You can promise to build a new 100,000-seat stadium, but that takes time and money and doesn’t solve your i...

Sport

3 d. ago ‘Only job I know’: tiny Lesotho’s garment workers reel from Trump’s tariffs

Impoverished African country is hit with highest tariff rate at 50%, overturning decades of global trade policyThe day after Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, Lesotho’s garment workers feared for their jobs.Last year, Lesotho sent about 20% of its $1.1bn (£845m) of exports to the US, most of it clothing, as well as diamonds, under a continent-wide trade agreement meant to help African countries’ development via tariff-free exports. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago ‘Only job I know’: tiny Lesotho’s garment workers reel from Trump’s 50% tariffs

Impoverished African country is hit with highest tariff rate, overturning decades of global trade policyThe day after Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, Lesotho’s garment workers feared for their jobs.Last year, Lesotho sent about 20% of its $1.1bn (£845m) of exports to the US, most of it clothing under a continent-wide trade agreement meant to help African countries’ development via tariff-free exports, as well as diamonds. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago IMF warns of ‘significant risk’ to global economy from Trump tariffs as markets plunge

Fund boss Kristalina Georgieva says it is important that US and trading partners avoid escalating trade warBusiness live – latest updatesThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Donald Trump’s implementation of swingeing tariffs poses a “significant risk” to the global economy, as stock markets were hit by a punishing worldwide sell-off by investors.Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF, said it was important that the US and its trading partners avoided further escalating Trump’s trade war, while stock markets plunged on Friday as China retaliated against the tariffs. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Trump tariffs list in full: Every country hit and the surprising exemptions

Some of the world’s weakest economies in Asia are among those hardest-hit in opening salvo of global trade war

Politics

4 d. ago Will Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariffs drag US into recession?

President’s move to rip up global trade rule book will hit an economy already losing momentum, say economists

Politics

4 d. ago Trump tariffs in full: Every country hit on ‘Liberation Day’ – and the surprising exemptions

Some of the world’s weakest economies in Asia are among those hardest-hit in opening salvo of global trade war

Politics

6 d. ago Adolescence hits Netflix's Top 10 Global chart in just three weeks as it reaches over 96MILLION views

Adolescence has hit Netflix's Top 10 Global chart, gaining a jaw-dropping 96.7million views in just three weeks.

Events

6 d. ago Trump tariffs latest: EU vows ‘strong plan’ to hit back at Trump’s global trade war as UK ‘prepares for worst’

Donald Trump to unveil sweeping tariffs on any country that ‘treats the US unfairly’ on Wednesday

Events

6 d. ago Trumpism is sinking democratic values. It’s Starmer’s job to steer the UK back to safety | Polly Toynbee

US tariffs hit this week just as other costs start to bite in Britain. To meet these challenges, Labour will finally have to changeThe prime minister may pretend to “like and respect” Donald Trump, but elsewhere in parliament anti-Americanism is running hot. In a Lords debate on obesity last week, Labour’s Lord Brooke suggested imposing 25% tariffs on “American products which are causing us difficulties – Coca-Cola, Pepsi, KFC, McDonald’s”. The government replied that the US is an “indispensable ally”. That craven attitude may be politic today – right until it fails tomorrow.The outlook for Britain and other countries is bleak. Wednesday is “liberation day”, when Trump’s tariffs will hit a range of goods likely to send global economies tumbling. There is near-zero expectation that Britain’s genuflections will save us from the same punishment as the rest. As for Trump demanding no VAT on US imports to the UK, that’s extorting with menaces a benefit denied to our own producers. Even i...

Politics

1 week ago The most shocking claims from the Facebook whistleblower's memoir

Never has a gag order been so ill-judged. Meta's attempts to quash Sarah Wynn-Williams' memoir, Careless People – the inside story of her six years at the company, which was then called Facebook – have made it a bigger hit than its former director of global public policy could ever have imagined.

Events

3 w. ago Trump trade wars are slowing global growth and fuelling inflation, says OECD

Economic organisation downgrades forecasts for growth in UK as well as US, Canada and Mexico due to tariffsBusiness live – latest updatesDonald Trump’s trade wars are splintering the global economy and unpicking progress made to reboot growth and tackle inflation, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned.In its latest update on the health of the world economy, the leading Paris-based institution downgraded the prospects for global growth this year and next, including a sharp hit to activity in the US, Canada and Mexico. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Happy Face: this drama about a serial killer’s daughter is so mind

At times, this true-crime drama feels like a meta satire of an industry that milks private pain for entertainment. It is, however, no such thing You know the feeling: you’re watching a shocking docudrama about a toxic waste scandal, or the baseless prosecution of 555 sub-postmasters, or the fraudulent founder of a blood-testing biotech company, and you start thinking – did this all really happen? So you do some digging online. Usually, it turns out there has been a mild massaging of the truth in the name of narrative efficiency: a couple of characters conflated, a timeline slightly rejigged. Only very occasionally (once?) will a case of dramatic licence result in a hysterical media storm, a global debate about the ethics of dramatisation and Netflix being hit with a $170m lawsuit. And yet it is almost unheard of to settle down to watch a series based on real events – or, in the case of Paramount+’s Happy Face (from Thursday 20 March), “inspired by a true life story” – and be confron...

Events

3 w. ago Ted Lasso to return for fourth series with Jason Sudeikis and co

Ted Lasso has been renewed for a fourth season on Apple TV+, and Jason Sudeikis dropped a hint that alongside the old stars viewers could expect a whole new team to crop up at AFC Richmond

Politics

3 w. ago Ted Lasso season four confirmed as Jason Sudeikis teases exciting spoilers

Ted Lasso has been confirmed for a fourth season on Apple TV+, with lead actor Jason Sudeikis revealing his character will be coaching a women's football team

Politics

3 w. ago Ted Lasso fourth season officially confirmed by Apple TV+ but there's one thing we don't know

The Kansas football coach will be back on our screens to teach his team to 'Leap before they look'

Politics

3 w. ago How White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood went from humble Manchester upbringing where she was bullied for her teeth to being Hollywood's new golden girl

While Aimee, 31, has previously starred in Sex Education and nabbed roles in BBC and Netflix series, her stint on the smash hit HBO show has seen her garner global attention.

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