US markets rally as Trump's treasury secretary calls China tariff escalation a 'big mistake'
Summary
US stocks rally after days of turmoil, as European and Asian markets also stabilise
White House Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calls Beijing's response to US tariffs a "big mistake", after China says it will "fight to the end"
It comes after Trump threatened to hit Beijing with an extra 50% tariff if it doesn't withdraw its 34% retaliatory levy by the end of the day - here's how the tit-for-tat tariffs unfolded
With a deadline looming for China, who will blink first?
In the UK, Chancellor Rachel Reeves says "nothing is off the table" in trade deal talks with the US
Confidence in markets remains fragile, analysts say
Nick Edser
Business reporter
US stocks have rallied as investors hope that trade agreements can be completed to remove US President Trump's tariffs.
Sentiment appears to have improved as Trump said a team from South Korea is heading to Washington to negotiate on a deal and said "things are looking good", while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Japan had sought talks.
The S&P 500 index has risen 3.8%, the Dow Jones is also 3.8% higher and the Nasdaq has added 4.1%.
Two Chinese nationals caught fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian president says men’s capture shows Moscow is trying to involve Beijing in the war ‘directly or indirectly’
Tue 8 Apr 2025 15.45 BST
Ukrainian forces have captured two Chinese nationals fighting with the Russian army in the eastern Donetsk region, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
They are two of what Ukraine’s president described as many more Chinese members of the Russian armed forces, and their capture prompted him to accuse the Kremlin of trying to involve Beijing in the conflict “directly or indirectly”.
Zelenskyy said he would ask his foreign minister “to immediately contact Beijing and clarify how China intends to respond to this”, though it is not clear if the captured soldiers had been sent by at the behest of their government or were individuals who chosen for themselves to sign up.
Attacks on journalists double in Germany, report says
A new report has revealed how many citizens see the media as an enemy. In the past year, attacks on journalists and media houses in Germany have increased dramatically.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has reported a dramatic increase in attacks on journalists in Germany, with the number of incidents more than doubling in 2024.
The report, released on Tuesday, documents 89 attacks on media professionals last year, compared to 41 cases in 2023.
This surge is only surpassed by the 103 documented cases in 2022.
Despite Trump’s rant, Japan may be low priority for U.S. car firms
By DAISUKE MATSUOKA/ Staff Writer
April 8, 2025 at 17:43 JST
U.S. President Donald Trump is clearly a stickler when it comes to image, but he seems to be ignoring that quality in a re-emerging trade rift with Japan.
Trump claims that “non-tariff barriers,” such as vehicle inspection systems and strict safety standards, are the reason American cars have not sold well in Japan, a U.S. complaint that has been made for decades.
But Trump has failed to refute the Japanese side’s argument that U.S. cars are not designed for Japanese consumers. The American vehicles are too big, consume too much gas, and are too unreliable, Japanese officials have said.
Israel cuts off 70 percent of Gaza’s water supply
The Israeli army has halted the flow of water from Israeli company Mekorot to the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off 70 percent of the Palestinian enclave’s total water supply.
According to Gaza municipality spokesperson Hosni Mehanna, the disconnection affects the main pipeline located in Shujayea neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City, where Israeli forces have been conducting a military assault since Thursday.
- Israeli officials, accompanied by police officers. forcibly entered six schools affiliated with UNRWA, and announced plans to close the facilities.
- At least 58 Palestinians have been killed and 213 injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
- Ahmed Mansour, a journalist who suffered severe burns in Monday’s Israeli attack on a media tent near Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, has died of his wounds, taking the toll from that assault to at least three.
- US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have met at the White House and discussed countries that would be “amenable” to taking Palestinians forcibly displaced from Gaza.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 50,810 Palestinians are confirmed dead and 115,688 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. The Government Media Office updated its death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
- At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.
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