Trump temporarily spares carmakers from US tariffs on Canada and Mexico

After a call with top executives at GM, Ford and Stellantis, president approves one-month exemption from tariffs

Donald Trump has temporarily spared carmakers from sweeping US tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, one day after an economic strike on the US’s two biggest trading partners sparked warnings of widespread price increases and disruption.

The US president extended his aggressive trade strategy at midnight on Tuesday by targeting the country’s two closest neighbors with duties of 25%.

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European markets soar as Germany moves to lift ‘debt brake’ and raise defence spending

Berlin’s ‘big bazooka’ proposal sends industrial stocks surging but fiscal sea change also hikes borrowing costs

European financial markets have rallied sharply and German borrowing costs have soared after the country’s prospective leaders announced a historic deal to loosen its “debt brake” rule to boost spending on defence.

The yield – in effect the interest rate – on 30-year German government bonds rose by about 25 basis points to 3.08% in its biggest daily increase since October 1998.

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Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice

Photographer captures 20-minute clash between birds emblematic of Canada and US amid high trade tensions

For the second time in weeks, a Canadian icon has emerged as the unlikely victor in an existential battle on the ice.

Mervyn Sequeira, an Ontario photographer, was out with his family on a recent morning when they spotted a bald eagle descending towards a frozen lake.

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UK, France and Germany say Gaza aid freeze could breach international law

Ministers issue joint statement after Israel cuts off supplies in effort to push Hamas to accept change in ceasefire deal

Britain has joined Germany and France to warn that Israel could be in breach of international law by halting the entry of aid into Gaza, which is facing a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis.

The foreign secretary, David Lammy, signed a joint statement with his French and German counterparts to urge Israel and Hamas to engage constructively to get ceasefire talks back on track.

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Greenland politicians condemn ‘disrespectful’ Trump takeover claim

Prime minister says country not for sale after laughter in Congress at US president’s assertion ‘we’re going to get it’

Donald Trump’s claim in his address to Congress that the US will acquire Greenland “one way or the other” was widely condemned in Nuuk as “disrespectful” and was said to present an “unacceptable view of humanity”.

In his speech on Tuesday night, the US president was met with laughs, including from the vice-president, JD Vance, who was sitting behind him, when he said: “I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland.”

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Syria vows to destroy chemical weapons stockpile left by Assad regime

Foreign minister says country needs international help to dismantle programme and ensure Syria becomes ‘aligned with international norms’

Syria’s foreign minister has vowed to swiftly rid the country of the chemical weapons remaining after the downfall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, and he appealed to the international community for help.

Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani spoke during closed-door meetings at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, where he became the first Syrian foreign minister to address the disarmament agency.

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Refugees in Kenya’s Kakuma camp clash with police after food supplies cut

Teargas fired during protest at reduced rations after US aid freeze wipes out half of World Food Programme budget

Thousands of refugees clashed with police in a Kenyan refugee camp this week after receiving news that their food allocations would be cut because of funding problems.

The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, confirmed that four refugees and a local government official had been injured when police intervened to stop the protesters at the Kakuma refugee camp on Monday.

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EU ambassador to China urges Beijing to stop building coal-fired power plants

Jorge Toledo’s comments come after approvals for coal power projects increased in second half of 2024

The EU’s ambassador to China has urged Beijing to stop building coal-fired power plants, saying that its rapid approval of new projects was increasingly at odds with its green ambitions.

Speaking at an EU-hosted event in Beijing, Jorge Toledo said the war in Ukraine had underlined the need for energy security, but that the EU had managed to navigate the issue without reverting to fossil fuels.

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Middle East crisis: Netanyahu tells new military chief Israel ‘determined’ to achieve victory – as it happened

Lt Gen Eyal Zamir says that mission to defeat Hamas is ‘not accomplished’ amid deadlock over ceasefire negotiations

An Israeli rights group says Israel demolished a record number of Palestinian homes in annexed East Jerusalem last year, reports the Associated Press (AP).

Ir Amim, which closely tracks settlement activity and demolitions in the city, said on Wednesday that 181 homes were destroyed last year, in addition to dozens of other structures.

It said that more recently, Israel appears to have dropped a longstanding policy against demolishing homes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began last weekend. It said a residential building and three apartments have been destroyed over the past week, according to the AP.

Rights groups say discriminatory policies make it nearly impossible for Palestinians to expand or redevelop their neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, forcing many to build without permits. Israel also demolishes the family homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks, reports the AP.

The US state department has reinstated the “foreign terrorist organization” designation for Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group, fulfilling an order announced by Donald Trump shortly after he took office.

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Exposure to combination of pesticides increases childhood cancer risk – study

Study on cancer data in US agricultural heartland finds children more at risk than if exposed to just one pesticide

Exposure to multiple pesticides significantly increases the risk of childhood cancers compared to exposures to just one pesticide, first-of-its-kind research finds, raising new fears that children are more at risk to the substances’ harmful effects than previously thought.

The study’s authors say they are the first to look at the link between exposures to multiple widely used pesticides and the most common childhood cancers. Most research considers pesticides’ toxicity on an individual basis, and the substances are regulated as if exposures occur in isolation from one another.

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IRS workforce ‘could halve’ after Trump hails cuts to federal staffing in marathon Congress speech – US politics live

Federal agencies have until 13 March to formulate staff reduction plans as allies and critics react to Trump’s marathon Congress speech

The Trump administration has listed over 300 buildings for sale in a further move to gut the federal government. It describes the properties as “not core to government operations”.

In a posting to US general services administration website, the administration says the 320 properties across multiple states are “designated for disposal”.

We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal. Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces. Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.

I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the US.

We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it. But we need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it — one way or the other, we’re going to get it.

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Tesla’s UK sales rise despite threat of backlash over Musk’s political role

Sales of battery-powered cars jumped in February, with Model 3 and Model Y most popular after Mini Cooper

Sales of Teslas in the UK rose by more than a fifth last month as demand for battery-powered cars increased, despite the prospect of a buyer backlash over Elon Musk’s controversial and divisive behaviour since becoming a key figure in Donald Trump’s administration.

Almost 4,000 Teslas were sold in the UK in February, with the Model 3 and Model Y proving the second and third most popular after the Mini Cooper, according to the latest new car registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

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Key court hearing as Alabama threatens prosecutions over abortion support

Experts say victory for state could give green light for other states to attack those who help women travel for procedure

A bellwether test of states’ ability to prosecute people over abortions that take place across state lines will hold a critical hearing on Wednesday, when Alabama abortion rights supporters will square off against the state attorney general over his threats to prosecute groups that help women travel for the procedure.

In the months after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, clearing the way for Alabama to ban virtually all abortions, Alabama attorney general Steve Marshall repeatedly suggested that abortion rights activists who help people go out of state for abortions could be charged as participants in an illegal conspiracy. The Yellowhammer Fund, an abortion fund that helped people pay for the procedure, and the West Alabama Women’s Center, a former abortion clinic that pivoted to providing services like miscarriage management, joined with other abortion rights advocates to sue Marshall over his comments.

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Exile is ‘a little bit less than death’ for lawyer forced to flee Guatemala

Virginia Laparra spent two years in prison after reporting her suspicion that a judge leaked sealed details of a case

A Guatemalan anti-corruption prosecutor forced into exile after being pursued by the country’s conservative elite has said that leaving the country was the only way to save her life but was only “a little bit less than death”.

Virginia Laparra, 45, spent two years in prison for allegedly abusing her position after she reported her suspicion that a judge had leaked sensitive details from a sealed corruption case to a colleague in 2017.

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US offered to resettle Uyghurs that Thailand deported to China, sources say

Canada and US said they would take 48 people held in Thai detention, according to officials, but Bangkok said to have feared upsetting China

Canada and the US offered to resettle 48 ethnic Uyghurs held in detention in Thailand over the past decade, sources have said, but Bangkok took no action for fear of upsetting China, where most of them were covertly deported last week.

Thailand has defended the deportation, which came despite calls from United Nations human rights experts, saying that it acted in accordance with laws and human rights obligations.

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Former Gabon youth coach banned for life by Fifa over sexual abuse of players

  • Patrick Assoumou Eyi found guilty by Fifa
  • Eyi banned for life and fined 1m Swiss francs

Fifa has banned the former Gabon youth-team coach Patrick Assoumou Eyi, known as “Capello”, for life after its adjudicatory chamber found him guilty of committing repeated acts of sexual abuse against multiple players.

Eyi – who left his post as head coach of Gabon’s under-17 team in 2017 – admitted charges of raping, grooming and exploiting young players after allegations first reported by the Guardian in 2021. One former player who was coached by Eyi claimed he would lure alleged victims to his home, which he called the “Garden of Eden”.

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Wednesday briefing: The view from ​Russia as ​Trump upends the world order

In today’s newsletter: Pjotr Sauer explains Russia’s response to the new Trump administration following a fraught week in global relations

Good morning. In his address to Congress last night, Donald Trump recited a letter from Volodymyr Zelenskyy offering to return to the negotiating table – and warmly welcomed the tone of discussions his administration has held with Russia. “We’ve received strong signals that they are ready for peace,” he said. “Wouldn’t that be beautiful?”

That was not the first sign of Trump’s faith in Vladimir Putin’s promises – but it served to underline what is surely the most radical US foreign policy shift in a generation. Whether parroting Kremlin talking points on Zelenskyy’s democratic credentials, making false claims that Ukraine started the war or cutting off vital military aid to Kyiv, the US president has created a dynamic that would have scarcely been believable six months ago.

Killed women count | Nearly one in 10 of all women who died at the hands of men in the UK over the past 15 years were mothers killed by their sons, a report reveals. The statistics have led to calls for the government to take specific action to tackle matricide.

Tariffs | Justin Trudeau has claimed the aim of a “dumb” trade war launched by Donald Trump is to usher in the “complete collapse” of the Canadian economy and make it easier for the US to annex Canada. Leading stock market indices fell sharply, with the US benchmark S&P 500 losing all its post-election gains, as the US slapped 25% taxes on Canadian and Mexican goods and hiked tariffs on China.

Scams | An organised network operating from the former Soviet state of Georgia has scammed thousands of savers from the UK, Europe and Canada out of $35m (£27m) after they fell for fake celebrity adverts on Facebook and Google. The scheme was revealed in a leak of call centre data covering more than 1m recordings.

Gaza | Arab leaders have endorsed a $53bn (£42bn) plan to rebuild Gaza under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority (PA), in a rushed attempt to present an alternative to Donald Trump’s idea for a property development-style plan. The Arab League presented the plans at a summit in Cairo.

Media | Failings in the making of a documentary on Gaza are a “dagger to the heart” of the BBC’s claims of trustworthiness and impartiality, the corporation’s chair has said, as he indicated that figures inside the corporation had fallen short in their handling of the film.

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Trump softens tone on Zelenskyy but repeats threat to take over Greenland

President praises letter from Ukraine’s leader backing peace talks and says US will get Greenland ‘one way or another’

Donald Trump has said he appreciated Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s willingness to sign a minerals deal with the United States and come to the negotiating table to bring a lasting peace in Ukraine closer.

“Earlier today, I received an important letter from President Zelenskyy of Ukraine,” the US president said in a speech to Congress after last week’s disastrous meeting at the White House. Quoting from the letter, Trump said Zelenskyy told him that “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians.”

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London exhibition explores design based on needs of nature and animals

Curator of Design Museum show says ‘human-centric’ approach to design needs overhaul amid climate crisis

Designers need to “fundamentally rethink our relationship with the natural world”, according to the curator of a new exhibition which argues the needs of nature and animals should be considered when creating homes, buildings and products.

Justin McGuirk, the curator of the upcoming More Than Human exhibition at the Design Museum in London, said our current “human-centric” approach to design needs to be radically overhauled as the world adapts to the climate crisis.

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China sets GDP target of 5% for 2025 amid tariff war with Trump

Economists believe that meeting the target will be challenging as Beijing grapples with Donald Trump’s new trade war

China has set its GDP target for 2025 at “around 5%”, a figure which was unveiled by Premier Li Qiang at the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing on Wednesday.

Li announced the growth target in the annual government work report, which also outlined plans to stabilise economic growth by boosting domestic demand and creating 12m new urban jobs.

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