Global markets in turmoil as Trump tariffs wipe $2tn off Wall Street
Posted on Thursday April 03, 2025

Economists say levies of 10-50% have dramatically added to the risk of a worldwide downturnGlobal financial markets have been plunged into turmoil as Donald Trump’s escalating trade war knocked trillions of dollars off the value of the world’s biggest companies and heightened fears of a US recession.As world leaders reacted to the US president’s “liberation day” tariff policies demolishing the international trading order, about $2tn (£1.5tn) was wiped off Wall Street and share prices in other financial centres across the globe. Continue reading...

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Trump’s ‘idiotic’ and flawed tariff calculations stun economists
Posted on Thursday April 03, 2025

‘Willing sycophants’ came up with simplistic formula that has thrown global economy into disarrayUS politics live – latest updatesWaving a big chart as a prop in the White House Rose Garden, Donald Trump suggested his new tariff plan was simple: “Reciprocal – that means they do it to us, and we do it to them. Very simple. Can’t get simpler than that.”Perhaps a bit too simple. The method used to calculate the most important numbers in international trade, politics and economics has left some of the world’s leading experts shocked.Goods trade deficit: $291.9bnTotal goods imports: $438.9bnThose figures divided = 0.67, or 67%And halved = 34%Reciprocal tariffs are calculated as the tariff rate necessary to balance bilateral trade deficits between the US and each of our trading partners. This calculation assumes that persistent trade deficits are due to a combination of tariff and non-tariff factors that prevent trade from balancing. Continue reading...

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Trump ‘is not going to back off’ from tariff policies, US commerce secretary says – live
Posted on Thursday April 03, 2025

Howard Lutnick tells CNN that US president stands by decision to impose sweeping tariffs on nations around the worldUS stock markets tumble as investors shaken by Trump tariffsIn the aftermath of the disastrous debate against Donald Trump that ultimately ended his political career, Joe Biden skipped a White House meeting with the congressional Progressive caucus in favor of a Camp David photoshoot with the fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz, a new book says.“You need to cancel that,” Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff and debate prep leader, told the president, as he advocated securing the endorsement of the group of powerful progressive politicians perhaps key to his remaining the Democratic nominee. Continue reading...

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Floppy disks and vaccine cards: exhibition tells tale of privacy rights in UK
Posted on Thursday April 03, 2025

Forty items on display in Manchester, collated by information commissioner, chart evolution of personal data usage over 40 yearsForty years ago, it would take a four-drawer filing cabinet to store 10,000 documents. You would need 736 floppy disks to hold those same files; now it takes up no physical space at all to store 10,000 documents on the cloud.As data storage has evolved, so too has the whole information landscape, and with it the challenges of storing, transferring and appropriately using people’s personal data. Continue reading...

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Italian police increase security at Tesla dealerships after 17 cars destroyed in Rome fire
Posted on Wednesday April 02, 2025

State police anti-terrorism unit investigating whether blaze in Torre Angela was started by anarchistsItaly’s interior ministry has written to police forces across the country to increase security at Tesla dealerships after 17 of the electric cars made by Elon Musk’s company were destroyed in a fire in Rome.Italy’s state police anti-terrorism unit, Digos, is investigating whether the fire at the Tesla dealership in Torre Angela, a suburb in the east of the capital, was started by anarchists. Continue reading...

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Chelsea v Tottenham: Premier League – live
Posted on Thursday April 03, 2025

Premier League updates from the 8pm BST kick-offLive match centre | Read Football Daily | And mail NiallCraig Pawson gets us under way. Could be lively, this one.St. Totteringham’s Day thoughts: Continue reading...

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ECB insists sale of Hundred teams will go through despite TV rights wrangle
Posted on Thursday April 03, 2025

Delays caused by negotiations around overseas rightsECB also launch review into crowded domestic scheduleThe England and Wales Cricket Board insists that the sale of the eight Hundred franchises will be completed by the end of April, despite the delays to negotiations.The governing body’s chief executive, Richard Gould, said that the high valuations were not one of the issues behind the delays, but admitted that future broadcasting rights were. “All the discussions are on a very, very sound footing,” Gould said, “we’re just trying to work out how to maximise value from sponsorships, tickets sales and broadcast revenues. They’re investing a lot of money into our game and we want to make sure that pays dividends.” Continue reading...

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