business 
The day after Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, Lesotho’s garment workers feared for their jobs. Last year, Lesotho sent about 20% of its $1.1bn (£845m) of exports to the US, most of it clothing, as well as diamonds, under a continent-wide trade agreement meant to help African countries’ development via tariff-free exports. Now, all … Read more
A woman who killed her newborn baby 27 years ago while suffering from postnatal depression has been spared jail because her thinking was “substantially impaired” by mental illness. Joanne Sharkey, 55, was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility over the death of her … Read more
Good morning. Donald Trump’s barrage of tariff announcements has wiped trillions of dollars off the value of the world’s largest companies and supercharged recession fears, with London’s stock market opening on Friday morning at its lowest level since January. Wednesday’s dramatic import tax announcements of between 10% and 50% are being met with alarm around … Read more
An activist whose case had prompted concern by the US state department over “freedom of expression” in the UK has been convicted of breaching a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic. Livia Tossici-Bolt, an anti-abortion campaigner, had gone on trial at Poole magistrates court last month accused of breaching a public spaces protection order on … Read more
The International Monetary Fund has warned that Donald Trump’s implementation of swingeing tariffs poses a “significant risk” to the global economy, as stock markets continue to be hit by a brutal sell-off by investors. Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF, said it is important that the US and its trading partners avoid further … Read more
Good morning. The British government, like the rest of the world, is still preoccupied with trying to absorb the consequences of Donald Trump’s decision to obliterate global free trade with a blizzard of tariffs. In London, the stock market has opened, and shares are still heading down. Graeme Wearden has the latest on that on … Read more
Authorities investigating mystery debris balls that closed beaches in Sydney and on the south coast have determined they likely originated from Sydney Water’s land-based sewage treatment network, the NSW Environment Protection Authority says. “The development comes after a comprehensive scientific and technical investigation found similarities between the makeup of the debris balls and samples taken … Read more
Michael Hurley, the American singer-songwriter whose unique path through the US folk scene made him an inspiration to generations of alternative musicians, has died aged 83. A statement from the family announced his “recent sudden passing”, though no cause of death has been given. It added: “The ‘godfather of freak folk’ was for a prolific … Read more
Donald Trump has claimed that the UK is “very happy” with tariffs imposed on the country as part of his shock upending of global trade, but the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, said he regretted the “return to protectionism”. Wielding a chart in the White House Rose Garden, the US president revealed on Wednesday that … Read more
A man accused of murder who blamed his co-accused for the death of Indigenous teenager Cassius Turvey has had his version of events challenged while giving evidence in his defence. During testimony on Thursday at the West Australian supreme court, Jack Brearley, 24, told a jury that prosecutors had it wrong and he did not … Read more