Six In The Morning Thursday 3 April 2025

 

US stock market plunges after Trump unveils worldwide tariffs

Summary

• The US stock market drops sharply in early trading after Donald Trump announced a raft of tariffs last night

• Big brands - such as Nike, Apple and Amazon - see their shares fall as the White House tells Wall Street to "trust in President Trump"

• Trump announced 10% tariffs on most countries - including the UK - from Saturday, with higher duties on some of America's biggest trading partners from 9 April. We cover the basics in five key questions here

• In response, the UK has drawn up a 400-page list of US products it could hit with tariffs in what our chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman says is a toughening up of Starmer's stance

• EU chief Ursula von der Leyen calls Trump's tariffs a "major blow to the world economy" - while China, which faces a 54% rate, promises countermeasures

Trump tariffs decision brutal and unfounded, Macron says

After a meeting with industry representatives, French President Emmanuel Macron says Trump's tariffs are a "shock for international trade", saying it will have a "massive impact" on the European economy.

"The decision that was announced last night is a brutal and unfounded decision," he says, adding that the US economy and consumers will emerge "poorer and weaker".

‘I heard them take their last breath’: survivor recounts Gaza paramedic killings

Munther Abed, 27, was in the first ambulance on the scene of an airstrike near Rafah when Israeli soldiers opened fire

Malak A Tantesh in Gaza and Julian Borger

Thu 3 Apr 2025 15.49 BST

Asurvivor from a massacre of Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza has said he saw Israeli troops open fire on a succession of Red Crescent ambulances and rescue vehicles and then use a bulldozer to bury the wreckage in a pit.

Munther Abed, a 27-year-old Red Crescent volunteer, was in the back of the first ambulance to arrive on the scene of an airstrike in the Hashashin district of Rafah before dawn on 23 March, when it came under intense Israeli fire. His two Red Crescent colleagues sitting in the front were killed but he survived by throwing himself to the floor of the vehicle.

Turkey detains 11 people over shopping boycott

Ramisha Ali with AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters

A daylong shopping boycott was part of protests against the imprisonment of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

Turkish police detained 11 people suspected of spreading calls for a one-day shopping boycott as part of an ongoing protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

The detentions followed a call by main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel for a larger boycott of businesses with perceived ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Protests have spread throughout Turkey since Imamoglu's arrest in March on corruption charges, which he denies. Many see him as the only politician in Turkey who can compete with Erdogan in a presidential election.

Saved from destruction: Paris show offers glimpse of Gaza’s archaeological treasures

Archaeological treasures across Gaza have been damaged and destroyed in the war that is once more raging in the Palestinian territory. Some that escaped the devastation went on show at the Arab World Institute on Thursday, April 3, shedding light on the extraordinary heritage of a land that has been for centuries a crossroads of civilisations. 

Lined up in a vast exhibition hall on the banks of the River Seine, a dozen terracotta amphoras tell a little-known history of the Gaza Strip, one of prosperous trade, refined craftsmanship and intercultural exchange. 

The ancient jars, some ominously shaped like artillery shells, were once used to carry wine from Gaza to far-flung destinations across the Mediterranean world and as far as England. 

Spanning nine centuries under Persian, Greek and Roman rule, they bear witness to Gaza’s historic role as a hub that connected trade routes from Egypt to the Levant and beyond. 

Minke whaling season begins off Hokkaido with first catch

By TOMOYUKI YAMAMOTO/ Staff Writer

April 3, 2025 at 16:07 JST

This year’s commercial whaling of minke whales has begun off the coast of eastern Hokkaido, with the first catch of the season being unloaded here on April 1.

The catch was a female minke whale measuring 8.1 meters in length and weighing 5.2 tons.

It was caught about 15 kilometers off the coast of Nemuro in the Sea of Okhotsk by a whaler from Ayukawa Hogei, a fishing company based in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

Jailed Tunisian opposition figure Jaouhar Ben Mbarek goes on hunger strike

Ben Mbarek, along with about 40 other critics of the president, is being tried on state conspiracy charges.

A jailed Tunisian opposition activist facing state conspiracy charges has launched a hunger strike to protest against being barred from appearing in person at his own trial, according to his defence team.

Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, member of the opposition National Salvation Front and Citizens Against the Coup group which oppose President Kais Saied, insists on his right to be present in court to “refute the false charges” against him, lawyer Samir Dilou said in a statement on Facebook on behalf of Ben Mbarek’s defence team.

Late Night Music: Siouxsie And The Banshees - Cities In Dust (Official Music Video)

Tokyo to Kyoto? Millions Pass this Japanese City and Never Visit

Six In The Morning Wednesday 2 April 2025

 

Starmer ruling 'nothing out' on Trump tariffs as EU prepares 'robust' response

Summary

• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he "rules nothing out" ahead of Donald Trump's tariff announcement and is "preparing for all eventualities", as US-UK trade talks continue

• Meanwhile, US retailers say they're "nervous" and the European Union threatens a "robust and calibrated response"

• Trump will outline the plans at the White House at 16:00 EST (21:00 BST), on what he has dubbed "Liberation Day"

• It's unclear how high the tariffs could go and exactly which countries could be targeted. Here's what we know so far

• Trump says tariffs will address "unfair" trade with other countries - a view shared by some US industries - but analysts warn tariffs could push up global price

• As a reminder: A tariff is a tax on goods imported from abroad

What is a ‘trade war’?

Mitchell Labiak
Business reporter

Depending on who you ask, today’s tariffs from Trump either risks starting, or risks the continuation of, a trade war.

The idea refers to when one country retaliates to tariffs from another country by imposing their own tariffs, which are then retaliated against in turn, and so on.

The idea will be unfamiliar to those who have lived through decades of globalisation. For years, conversations around global trade have been about tearing down trade barriers, not putting them up.

Israel announces intention to seize large areas of Gaza Strip in major escalation

Defence minister Israel Katz says seized land ‘will be added to the state of Israel’s security areas’

Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem

Wed 2 Apr 2025 12.01 BST

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Israel’s defence minister has said the country intends to “seize large areas” of the Gaza Strip amid a major expansion of aerial and ground operations in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israel Katz said in a statement on Wednesday that “troops will move to clear areas of terrorists and infrastructure, and seize extensive territory that will be added to the state of Israel’s security areas”.

He also said he was calling on Palestinian civilians to flee areas where fighting had returned following the collapse of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas last month and to “act now to overthrow Hamas and return all the hostages”.

Myanmar: Earthquake rescues continue as junta refuses truce

The number of fatalities following a major earthquake is expected to surpass 3,000. At the same time, rescue workers were able to save a man from the rubble five days after the quake.

The death toll following a massive earthquake in Myanmar has jumped to 2,886 people, with a further 4,639 injured and 373 missing, Myanmar state-run television reported on Wednesday.

At the same time, rescuers were able to pull a man alive from the rubble five days after the tremor. Using an endoscopic camera to pinpoint his location and make sure he was still breathing, Naing Lin Tun was removed shirtless and weak but conscious and immediately put on a stretcher.

The 26-year-old hotel worker was saved by a joint Burmese-Turkish team and brought to a local hospital. 

French judges in Marine Le Pen case face death threats, police launch probe

Judges who convicted Marine Le Pen on embezzlement charges and banned the far-right politician from public office for five years have faced death threats since the sentencing earlier this week. French police have launched a new investigation into the threats as France reels from the fallout of the bombshell ruling.

French police launched a new probe after the Paris criminal court judges who sentenced far-right National Rally (RN) party leader Marine Le Pen earlier this week faced death threats, according to judicial sources.

The latest investigation came in addition to an ongoing probe, opened earlier this year, into death threats posted on the far-right Riposte Laïque website against magistrates in the trial against Le Pen’s RN party over the misappropriation of funds from the European parliament, a judicial source told AFP.

Fuji TV-Nakai texts show utter disregard for assault victim

By HIROSHI NAKANO/ Staff Writer

April 2, 2025 at 17:37 JST

Communication records revealed how former TV host Masahiro Nakai duped a woman he later sexually assaulted and highlighted the indifference that he and a Fuji TV official felt for the traumatized victim.

The records were obtained by a third-party committee that investigated the many problems at Fuji Television Network Inc.

In Kenya, girls are sold into marriage to stave off starvation from drought

Child marriage and sexual violence plague women and girls as climate change threatens the northern Marsabit region.

By Tom Parry and photos by Fredrik Lerneryd

Published On 2 Apr 20252 Apr 2025

As the sun approaches its scorching zenith, Dukano Kelle heads out from the desolate settlement of Kambinye in northern Kenya, urging her family’s reluctant donkey forward by whipping it with an acacia branch.

Though the oppressive heat is energy-sapping – and despite not having eaten since the previous morning – Dukano, a 34-year-old mother of five, has no option but to walk for several hours to the nearest borehole, a journey that will likely end in disappointment as water levels are critically low.

Late Night Music:

🔴 Al Jazeera English | Live

Six In The Morning Tuesday 1 April 2025

 

Myanmar junta accused of blocking aid for earthquake victims as airstrikes continue

Doctors helping with aftermath of disaster and UN special rapporteur say aid is disappearing or being blocked in some areas

Kate Lamb, and Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok

Tue 1 Apr 2025 15.10 BST

Myanmar’s military is facing criticism over continued airstrikes and claims it is blocking aid to earthquake survivors, as international agencies urged “unfettered access” to humanitarian aid in the conflict-riven nation.

The 7.7-magnitude earthquake that hit central Myanmar on Friday has caused widespread destruction, killing more than 2,700 people and leaving affected areas in dire need of basic necessities such as food and water.

Two Australia-based doctors helping coordinate the emergency response at the epicentre in Mandalay and Sagaing have accused the junta of blocking supplies of emergency aid.

Le Pen conviction politically motivated, party chief claims

National Rally president Jordan Bardella has said the fraud conviction against Marine Le Pen is part of an effort to attack their far-right party. But a top prosecutor has rejected the claims.

The leader of France's far-right National Rally (RN) claimed on Tuesday that the embezzlement conviction against presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and other RN officials was politically motivated.

"Everything will be done to prevent us from coming to power," Jordan Bardella told the Cnews television channel and Europe 1 radio station.

Bardella promised a "peaceful" protest over the decision this weekend, blasting the "tyranny" of the judges in the case.

Chinese military surrounds Taiwan in latest military drills

The Chinese military on Tuesday surrounded Taiwan in what it said was a practice blockade of the island and issued a "stern warning" against Taiwanese separatists as tensions continue to escalate between the two countries.

China sent its army, navy, air and rocket forces to surround Taiwan for drills Beijing said were aimed at practising a blockade of the self-ruled island.

China insists democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.

Beijing has increased the deployment of fighter jets and naval vessels around Taiwan in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty, which Taipei rejects.

UN agency closes the rest of its Gaza bakeries as food supplies dwindle under Israeli blockade

By  WAFAA SHURAFA and SAM MEDNICK

Updated 7:45 AM PDT, April 1, 2025

The U.N. food agency is closing all of its bakeries in the Gaza Strip, officials said Tuesday, as food supplies dwindle after Israel sealed the territory off from all imports nearly a month ago.

Israel, which tightened its blockade and later resumed its offensive in order to pressure Hamas into accepting changes to their ceasefire agreement, said that enough food entered Gaza during the six-week truce to sustain the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Markets largely emptied weeks ago, and U.N. agencies say the supplies they built up during the truce are running out. Gaza is heavily reliant on international aid, because the war has destroyed almost all of its food production capability.

African workers are taking on Meta and the world should pay attention

A landmark case could see the US tech giant forced to take responsibility for workers’ rights violations not just in Kenya but globally.

Mercy Mutemi

Digital civil rights attorney based in Nairobi

In 2025, the world’s largest social media company, Meta, has taken a defiant new tone on the question of whether and to what extent it accepts responsibility for the real-world harm that its platforms enable.

This has been widely understood as a gambit to curry favour with President Donald Trump’s administration, and Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg all but said so in a January 7 video announcing the end of third-party fact-checking.

Putin begins biggest Russian military call-up in years

Paul Kirby

Europe digital editor

President Vladimir Putin has called up 160,000 men aged 18-30, Russia's highest number of conscripts since 2011, as the country moves to expand the size of its military.

The spring call-up for a year's military service came several months after Putin said Russia should increase the overall size of its military to almost 2.39 million and its number of active servicemen to 1.5 million.

That is a rise of 180,000 over the coming three years.