Category Archives: World News

First Thing: Deep confusion as Trump signals new tariffs on smartphones and computers

Posted on by

President says he will lay out new levies on Monday and relief on electronics will be short-lived. Plus, the rise of end times fascism and how to defeat it

Good morning.

Donald Trump’s tariff war has plunged deeper into chaos after a cabinet official floated a plan for new levies on semiconductors – a crucial component in electronic goods – just days after the Trump administration exempted computers and smartphones from tariffs.

How is the continuing tariff whiplash being received? The billionaire investor Ray Dalio said he was worried the US would experience “something worse than a recession” as a result of Trump’s trade policies.

What has the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said? He issued a dramatic plea to Trump telling him: “Before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead.”

Continue reading...

Georgetown alumni and students call for release of scholar detained by immigration authorities

Posted on by

Letter says Trump administration’s detention of Khan Suri ‘represents a fundamental violation of academic freedom’

More than 370 alumni of Georgetown University joined 65 current students there in signing on to a letter opposing immigration authorities’ detention of Dr Badar Khan Suri, a senior postdoctoral fellow at the institution’s Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU).

The letter, dated Sunday and shared with the Guardian, follows the Trump administration’s detention of Khan Suri – a citizen of India – on 17 March. He is being held at an immigration prison in Alvarado, Texas, where his next hearing is scheduled for 6 May.

Continue reading...

Ecuador’s President Noboa re-elected in vote seen as test of his ‘war on drugs’

Posted on by

Noboa made armed forces central, initially leading to drop in crime but also to surge in reports of rights violations

In an election seen as a referendum on his “war on drugs”, Ecuador’s rightwing president, Daniel Noboa, won Sunday’s presidential runoff, defeating the leftist candidate Luisa González.

With 97% of ballots counted, the incumbent had secured 55.65% of the vote, compared with 44.35% for the former congresswoman.

Continue reading...

UN calls on Trump to exempt poorest countries from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

Posted on by

Unctad says many countries targeted with high tariff rates are unlikely to be a threat to US

The UN’s trade and development arm, Unctad, is calling on Donald Trump to exempt the world’s poorest and smallest countries from “reciprocal” tariffs, or risk “serious economic harm”.

In a report published on Monday, Unctad identifies 28 nations the US president singled out for a higher tariff rate than the 10% baseline – despite each accounting for less than 0.1% of the US trade deficit.

Continue reading...

Sky-high US-China tariffs are a mutual trade embargo that will hurt both sides

Posted on by

Effects could tip one into recession and undermine other’s fragile economy but prospects for rapprochement are not hopeless

Sky-high tariffs that now hang heavily over US-China trade mean, effectively, that they have declared a trade embargo on each other, normally an act of war. The economic consequences for both will hurt.

The US’s $150bn (£113bn) or so of exports to China will fall away quickly, while China’s $440bn worth of exports to the US may drop by up to 75% over the next 18 months, unless some sort of negotiation happens. No one will be spared the effects.

Continue reading...

‘No winners’ in a trade war, says China’s Xi as he heads to Vietnam on charm offensive

Posted on by

Xi Jinping expected to present China as reliable partner in contrast to US, which imposed – then suspended – tariffs over 40% on some countries

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, warned there would be “no winners” in a trade war and that protectionism “leads nowhere”, as he began a three-nation trip to south-east Asia, starting in Vietnam on Monday.

Xi’s tour, which started in Hanoi, also includes rare visits to Malaysia and Cambodia and will seek to strengthen ties with China’s closest neighbours amid a trade war that has sent shock waves through global markets.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: north-west Italy braces for thunderstorms and snow

Posted on by

Turin and Genoa likely to be among worst hit, while central and eastern Europe could get early taste of summer

North-west Italy is braced for heavy rainfall and thunderstorms across the southern side of the Alps, particularly in Piedmont and Liguria.

Turin and Genoa are expected to be among the worst affected, with snowfall also likely on higher ground. The region has been forecast to receive 140-160mm of rainfall between Sunday and Friday this week.

Continue reading...

‘The sky won’t fall’: China plays down Trump tariff risks as stock markets rally

Posted on by

Chinese customs official says trade has diversified away from US in recent years and plays up its ‘vast domestic market’

China has played down the risk of damage to its exports from Donald Trump’s tariffs, with an official saying the “the sky won’t fall”, as stock markets rose on Monday amid signs of a retreat on electronics restrictions.

The world’s second-largest economy has diversified its trade away from the US in recent years, according to Lyu Daliang, a customs administration spokesperson, in comments reported by state-owned agency Xinhua.

Continue reading...

UK MP refused entry to Hong Kong accuses China of ‘hidden blacklist’

Posted on by

Wera Hobhouse says her apparent presence on secret list of critics of country’s human rights record made her a target

A Liberal Democrat MP refused entry to Hong Kong to see her young grandson has said her experience should be “a wake-up call for any parliamentarian”, given that it seems to show China holds a secret list of banned politicians.

Wera Hobhouse, who was turned back by officials on Thursday, said she was given no explanation as to why this happened, and could only assume that it was because she had spoken out about rights abuses by China.

Continue reading...

Hungary poised to adopt constitutional amendment to ban LGBTQ+ gatherings

Posted on by

The controversial amendment also recognises only two sexes, providing a basis for denying other gender identities

Hungarian lawmakers are expected to vote in a controversial constitutional amendment on Monday that rights campaigners have described as a “significant escalation” in the government’s efforts to crack down on dissent and chip away at human rights.

Backed by the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and his rightwing populist party, Fidesz, the amendment seeks to codify the government’s recent ban on Pride events, paving the way for authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attenders and potentially fine them.

Continue reading...

Hedge fund billionaire says US may face ‘worse than a recession’ from Trump tariffs

Posted on by

Ray Dalio’s comments come after rocky week across stock markets after policies including 145% tariff raise on China

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio said that he is worried the US will experience “something worse than a recession” as a result of Donald Trump’s trade policies.

Speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, the 75-year-old hedge fund manager said: “I think that right now we are at a decision-making point and very close to a recession. And I’m worried about something worse than a recession if this isn’t handled well.”

Continue reading...

US deports 10 more alleged gang members to El Salvador, says Rubio

Posted on by

Secretary of state says ‘criminals’ were taken to country thanks to alliance between Trump and Nayib Bukele

The US has deported another 10 people that it alleges are gang members to El Salvador, secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Sunday, a day before that country’s president is due to visit the White House.

“Last night, another 10 criminals from the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua Foreign Terrorist Organizations arrived in El Salvador,” Rubio said in an Twitter/X post.

Continue reading...

US stock markets expected to recover after Trump drops tariffs on mobiles

Posted on by

Exemption, seen as a climbdown, includes laptops and chips, and is likely to help firms such as Apple and Nvidia

US stock markets were expected to stage a recovery on Monday after Donald Trump excluded imports of smartphones and laptops from his tariff regime late on Friday night.

Shares in Apple and chip maker Nvidia were on course to soar after tariffs on their products imported into the US were lifted for 90 days.

Continue reading...

Arrest warrant issued in Bangladesh for UK MP Tulip Siddiq

Posted on by

Former City minister accused of illegally receiving plot of land from her aunt, ousted PM Sheikh Hasina

An arrest warrant for the former City minister Tulip Siddiq has been issued in Bangladesh with a new allegation accusing her of illegally receiving a plot of land from her aunt, the ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladeshi media reported the warrant was issued by a judge for 53 people connected to Hasina, including Siddiq. There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Bangladesh.

Continue reading...

Civilian deaths in Sumy attack may force Washington to get tough with Putin

Posted on by

Talks between US and Russia continue unabated as attacks on Ukraine’s cities appear to have stepped up

Even by the warped standards of wartime, Russia’s Sunday morning attack on Sumy was astonishingly brazen. Two high-speed ballistic missiles, armed, Ukraine says, with cluster munitions, slammed into the heart of the border city in mid-morning as families went to church, waited for a theatre performance or were simply strolling about on a mild spring day.

The death toll currently stands at 34, including two children. Images from the scene show bodies or body bags on the ground, a trolley bus and cars burnt out, rubble and glass scattered around. It was reckless, cruel and vicious and its consequences entirely predictable to those who gave the order and pressed “launch”.

Continue reading...

More than 200 civilians killed as Sudan’s RSF attacks Darfur displacement camps

Posted on by

Relief International medics among dead as paramilitaries step up violence against region’s displaced people

Paramilitaries in Sudan have murdered more than 200 civilians in a wave of attacks in displacement camps and around the city of El Fasher, the last big city still in the hands of the Sudanese army in the Darfur region.

The deaths include at least 56 civilians killed by the Rapid Support Forces over two days of attacks in Um Kadadah, a town they seized on the road to El Fasher.

Continue reading...

Russian missile strike kills dozens in Ukrainian city of Sumy

Posted on by

Volodymyr Zelenskyy decries attack on ‘ordinary city street’ while people were going to church for Palm Sunday

At least 34 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a Russian ballistic missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Sumy as people were going to church for Palm Sunday, in the worst attack on civilians this year.

Two missiles landed in the crowded city centre on Sunday morning. One hit a trolley bus full of passengers. Footage from the scene showed bodies lying in the street, burning cars, and rescuers carrying bloodied survivors. Two of the dead were children.

Continue reading...

Xi Jinping seeks to strengthen economic ties during tour of south-east Asia

Posted on by

President’s first stop is Vietnam as China urges US to end trade war and return to ‘right path of mutual respect’

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will visit Vietnam on Monday as he begins a tour of south-east Asia where he will seek to strengthen ties with neighbouring countries amid an escalating trade war.

Xi will visit Vietnam from Monday before travelling to Malaysia and Cambodia, a high-profile tour that Chinese officials have described as being of “major importance”.

Continue reading...

Labour MPs push for Foreign Office to recognise Palestinian statehood

Posted on by

Emily Thornberry calls for UK to join France, as Emmanuel Macron says June UN conference must be decisive moment

The Foreign Office is under pressure from Labour MPs to recognise a Palestinian state if Emmanuel Macron, the French president, presses ahead with plans to recognise Palestine at an international conference set for June.

France is co-chairing the conference at the UN in New York alongside Saudi Arabia, and Macron has said the conference must be a decisive moment.

Continue reading...

British man, 63, dies after falling at Roman aqueduct in Spain

Posted on by

Unnamed tourist fell from viewing platform overlooking the historic structure in Segovia, authorities say

A 63-year-old British man has died after falling from a viewing platform overlooking the historic aqueduct of Segovia in central Spain, according to local authorities.

In a brief statement on Saturday, officials described the man as a British passport holder who had arrived in the city on Thursday with two other people.

Continue reading...