11 h. ago Trump news at a glance: president berates Putin; judge blocks changes to voting rights

US renews push to end Ukraine war, reportedly on terms favourable to Russia – key US politics stories from 24 AprilDuring his election campaign Donald Trump had promised to end the war in 24 hours. But almost 100 days into his second term the US president has appealed directly to Russian president Vladimir Putin, telling him on social media: “Vladimir, STOP!”Trump’s remarks referred to the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv this year, which killed 12 people and injured at least 90 on Thursday. The attack comes as Trump has made a renewed push to end the Ukraine war, reportedly on terms favourable to Russia. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Trump news at a glance: Hegseth reportedly had Yemen Signal chat with wife, brother

Defence secretary reportedly sent the group flight schedules for strikes on Houthis; draft order calls for drastic restructure of state department – key US politics stories from 20 AprilDefence secretary Pete Hegseth is in the spotlight for a communications blunder in which he reportedly created his own Signal group chat that included his wife and brother, in which he shared confidential details of a US strike on Yemen this March.The chat on Signal, a commercially available app not authorized as a means to communicate sensitive or classified national defense information, allegedly included more than a dozen people. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Trump news at a glance: Maryland senator says Ábrego García moved from notorious El Salvador prison

Senator Chris Van Hollen accuses El Salvador’s government of planting margarita glasses to undermine his trip – key US politics stories from Friday 18 April at a glanceMaryland senator Chris Van Hollen revealed that Kilmar Ábrego García had been moved from El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison – where he was sharing a cell with 25 other inmates – to a detention center with better conditions.Van Hollen met with Ábrego García, whom the Trump administration admits it mistakenly deported, and said that he had been left “traumatized” after facing threats in the Cecot facility. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Trump news at a glance: Trump pulls back on global tariffs but slaps China with 125%

Move comes after stock market turmoil; Ice chief says deportations should run ‘like Amazon Prime’ – key US politics stories from 10 April at a glanceDonald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries except China, whose tariffs he raised to 125% on Wednesday.After insisting for days that he would hold firm on his aggressive trade strategy, Trump announced that all countries that had not retaliated against US tariffs would receive a reprieve – and only face a blanket US tariff of 10% – until July. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Go Trump’: Florida shoppers back tariffs – but others are worried

Some Gainesville voters remain loyal to the president, while others cut back on buying and business owners hike pricesIn Gainesville, Florida, a small city in the north-central part of the state, small businesses and shoppers are bracing for the impacts of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.The Trump administration announced a baseline of 10% tariffs on nearly every country in the world last week, with much higher rates on countries such as China, Taiwan and Vietnam, and 20% tariffs on European Union countries. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump news at a glance: Wild swings on global markets as Trump threatens further China tariffs

Extreme volatility has plagued global stock markets, with Donald Trump defying stark warnings about economic damage – key US politics stories from 7 April Global stock markets fell catastrophically on Monday following President Trump’s tariff rollout.Despite the economic turmoil, the US president doubled down on his plan, threatening to impose an additional 50% tariff on imports from China on Wednesday, unless the country rescinds its retaliatory tariffs on the United States by Tuesday. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Netanyahu discusses Gaza and tariffs with Trump at White House meeting

President says the pair had a ‘great discussion’ while prime minister says Israel will eliminate trade deficit with USThe Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, met with Donald Trump on Monday for the second time since the US president’s return to office, marking the first effort by a foreign leader to negotiate a deal after Trump announced sweeping tariffs last week.Speaking alongside Trump in the Oval Office, Netanyahu said Israel would eliminate the trade deficit with the US. “We intend to do it very quickly,” he told reporters, adding that he believed Israel could “serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The Latest: Asian markets fall as Trump's tariffs roil global trade

Asian markets plunged on Monday following last week’s two-day meltdown on Wall Street, and President Donald Trump said he won’t back down on the sweeping new tariffs he announced on April 2 that have roiled global trade

Politics

2 w. 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

2 w. ago Trump insists he won’t back down from global trade war as markets slump

On social media, the president said, ‘My policies will never change’, before suggesting possible change with VietnamDonald Trump doubled down on his decision to launch a global trade war, declaring that he would “never” back off from sweeping tariffs on US trading partners.The US president’s announced action sent shock waves around the world this week, prompting fierce threats of retaliation and sharp sell-offs in stock markets. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago US trade war with China is 'single stupidest thing you’ll ever see’ says expert

Political expert Ian Dunt has issued a scathing attack on Donald Trump after the US President announced a sweeping range of import tariffs on territories around the world

Events

3 w. 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 w. 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 w. ago FTSE 100 hits lowest level since January as IMF warns Trump tariffs ‘a significant risk’ to global economy – business live

Kristolina Georgieva warns against retaliation to US levies while US president insists ‘markets will boom’ after sweeping tariff announcementGlobal markets in turmoil as Trump tariffs wipe $2.5tn off Wall StreetAnalysis: Trump’s ‘idiotic’ and flawed tariff calculations stun economistsNew Civil Liberties Alliance, a conservative legal group, has filed what it says is the first lawsuit seeking to block Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports, saying the US president overstepped his authority. Reuters reports:The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, alleges that Trump lacked the legal authority to impose the sweeping tariffs unveiled on Wednesday as well as duties authorized on February 1 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.“By invoking emergency power to impose an across-the-board tariff on imports from China that the statute does not authorize, President Trump has misused that power, usurped Congress’s right to control tariffs, and upset the Constitution’s ...

Events

3 w. ago The far right has seemed unstoppable in Europe. Here’s how Trump’s tariffs could change that | Nathalie Tocci

With populist leaders on the back foot and EU support at its highest in years, the US trade war could be an opportunity for the unionDonald Trump has unleashed a trade war on the world, and Europe, considered by Washington to be among the “worst offenders”, is a major target. After hitting European steel, aluminium and cars, this week Trump announced sweeping 20% tariffs on almost all EU imports. Europeans have seen this coming for a long time. Well before his re-election, officials in Brussels were drawing up plans on how the EU might respond to Trump 2.0 and a possible transatlantic trade war.What might the political fallout in Europe be? The good news is that Trump’s trade war puts Trump-friendly far-right forces in Europe in a terribly uncomfortable position. It’s one thing for the European far right to support Trump in principle, or to support the administration’s tyranny over peoples it doesn’t care about, be it Ukrainians, Canadians, Mexicans or Palestinians. It’s quite anoth...

Politics

3 w. ago Asian markets drop further as IMF warns Trump tariffs ‘a significant risk’ to global economy – business live

Kristolina Georgieva warns against retaliation to US levies while US president insists ‘markets will boom’ after sweeping tariff announcementFull report: Global markets in turmoil as Trump tariffs wipe $2.5tn off Wall StreetAnalysis: Trump’s ‘idiotic’ and flawed tariff calculations stun economistsSenior senators introduced new bipartisan legislation on Thursday seeking to claw back some of Congress’s power over tariffs after Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new import taxes and rattled the global economy with sweeping new import taxes.The Trade Review Act of 2025, co-sponsored by Senator Chuck Grassley, a top Republican lawmaker from Iowa, a state heavily reliant on farm exports, and Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, whose state shares a border with Canada, would require the president to notify Congress of new tariffs, and provide a justification for the action and an analysis on the potential impact on US businesses and consumers. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago US stock markets tumble as investors shaken by Trump tariffs

Dollar hits six-month low after president announces sweeping tariffs on US’s largest trade partnersTrump condemned as global markets tumble – live updatesUS stock markets tumbled on Thursday as investors parsed the sweeping change in global trading following Donald Trump’s announcement of a barrage of tariffs on the country’s trading partners.All three major US index funds were down as trading started on Thursday morning. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fund was down 4.5%, while S&P 500 and the Dow dropped 3.4% and 2.7% at opening, respectively. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Stocks tumble on Wall Street as Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs send shockwaves through global markets – business live

Ursula von der Leyen says tariffs a ‘major blow’ to world economy, as US dollar falls to six month low after US President Trump’s ‘liberation day’Full report: Trump announces sweeping new tariffsAnalysis: Trump’s tariffs likely to raise prices and cause chaosWhat are tariffs and why do they matter?The new US tariffs “will only create losers” with US consumers particularly hard hit, the German Automotive Industry Association (VDA), has said in a statement, calling on the EU “to act together and with the necessary force, while continuing to signal its willingness to negotiate.”The body, which represents the powerful German auto industry, said the tariffs markedthe United States’ departure from the rules-based global trade order – and thus a departure from the foundation for global value creation and corresponding growth and prosperity in many regions of the world.This is not America first; this is America alone. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago US dollar ‘at risk of confidence crisis’ as Trump tariffs rattle global markets – business live

Ursula von der Leyen says tariffs a ‘major blow’ to world economy, as US dollar falls to six month low after US President Trump’s ‘liberation day’Full report: Trump announces sweeping new tariffsAnalysis: Trump’s tariffs likely to raise prices and cause chaosWhat are tariffs and why do they matter?The new US tariffs “will only create losers” with US consumers particularly hard hit, the German Automotive Industry Association (VDA), has said in a statement, calling on the EU “to act together and with the necessary force, while continuing to signal its willingness to negotiate.”The body, which represents the powerful German auto industry, said the tariffs markedthe United States’ departure from the rules-based global trade order – and thus a departure from the foundation for global value creation and corresponding growth and prosperity in many regions of the world.This is not America first; this is America alone. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Trump’s tariffs will ‘clearly have economic impact’ in UK – Starmer

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gathered business chiefs in No 10 for talks after Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs.

Economics