business

The European Union has announced it is launching €26bn (nearly £22bn) of trade “countermeasures” in retaliation to Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, escalating a global trade war. The European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, called the 25% levies on the metals coming into the US, which came into force at 4am … Read more

Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Opening summary Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the global response to Donald Trump’s new tariffs. The 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminium came into effect at midnight ET “with no exceptions or exemptions”. The European Commission responded … Read more

Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Russia says Moscow will make decisions about Ukraine, not the US Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Moscow would make its own decisions about the conflict in Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to support Washington’s … Read more

Poverty, abuse and discriminatory laws are driving a huge rise in the number of women in prison globally, according to a new report. With the rise of the far right and an international backlash against women’s rights, the research said there was a risk that laws would increasingly be used to target women, forcing more … Read more

Mental health charities in England are struggling to cope with the number of sick patients referred to them by GPs, with under-qualified professionals increasingly tasked with treating the seriously ill. Experts told the Guardian that some desperate GPs were “signposting” patients to services not always equipped to deal with them. These are provided by unregulated … Read more

Legal, human rights and First Nations groups have condemned the Victorian government’s overhaul of the state’s bail laws, which will force courts to treat children accused of serious crimes like adults when deciding whether to remand them or release them into the community. The premier, Jacinta Allan, on Wednesday announced proposed changes to the Bail … Read more

The renowned German classical violinist Christian Tetzlaff was blunt in explaining why he and his quartet have cancelled a summer tour of the US. “There seems to be a quietness or denial about what’s going on,” Tetzlaff said, describing his horror at the authoritarian polices of Donald Trump and the response of US elites to … Read more

Lawyers for the former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte have demanded that he be returned to Manila in a petition filed to the supreme court, as victims of the former leaders’ bloody “war on drugs” expressed jubilation. Duterte, who was flown to The Hague on Tuesday night to face charges of crimes against humanity in relation … Read more

New Zealand police are launching a fresh operation in the rugged North Island wilderness to track down a fugitive father and his three children who have been missing for more than three years. Just before Christmas 2021, Tom Phillips fled into a remote area of Waikato with his children Ember, thought to be now aged … Read more

More than half of the increase in disability benefits is due to more mental health claims, according to research. Since the pandemic, the number of working-age adults in England and Wales paid disability benefits has increased by nearly 1 million people to 2.9 million in 2024, with 7.5% of 16-64 year olds claiming. A report … Read more