business

Samoa is in the grip of an “energy crisis” prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said this week, as she declared a state of emergency over power outages that have swept the country for weeks, causing huge disruption to businesses and daily life. The government is scrambling to provide relief to affected businesses and households, with … Read more

Donald Trump is finally making good on his campaign promises to “build that wall” – but instead of steel fencing along the Mexican border, it will be constructed from tariffs, and will enclose the entire United States. In his pugnacious and typically rambling speech on the White House lawn on Wednesday, Trump set out plans … Read more

What is the best way to respond to Donald Trump and his sweeping tariffs? Keir Starmer thinks the answer is to tread softly, softly – while engaging in intensive negotiations behind the scenes. There are signs that this strategy is bearing fruit. On Wednesday night, the president announced “reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world” … Read more

Donald Trump hit the UK with tariffs of 10% on exports to the US as he ignited a global trade war that could wipe billions off economic growth. The US president accused other nations, including allies, of “looting, pillaging, raping and plundering” the US, as he announced tariffs on economic rivals including 20% on the … Read more

Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and his team have created at least 20 different group chats on the encrypted messaging app Signal to coordinate sensitive national security work, sources tell Politico. The revelation, which cites four people with direct knowledge of the practice, follows heightened scrutiny of the administration’s handling of sensitive information … Read more

Potentially deadly flash flooding, high-magnitude tornadoes and baseball-sized hail could hit parts of the midwest and south on Wednesday as severe thunderstorms blowing eastward become supercharged, forecasters warned. There were tornado warnings Wednesday morning near the Missouri cities of Joplin and Columbia – merely the opening acts of what forecasters expect will be a more … Read more

Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Welcome Good morning and welcome to our live election coverage. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories to get us into gear before Krishani Dhanji takes the wheel. Former Liberal prime minister John Howard says Peter Dutton is … Read more

A pet reindeer beloved by many in Alaska’s largest city has been euthanized, just weeks after someone tampered with his cage and possibly poisoned him, his caretaker said on Wednesday. “I don’t have an answer as to why he had to be put down other than it relates back to what happened,” said Albert Whitehead, … Read more

There was “no agenda” in the Guardian’s investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against Noel Clarke, the high court has heard. In her second day in the witness box, Lucy Osborne, an investigative correspondent at the Guardian, defended the publication’s reporting in the face of questioning from the former Doctor Who star’s barrister, Philip Williams. Osborne, … Read more

There will come a moment when the Labour claim that the Tories are to blame for everything will no longer stick. People will start shaking their heads and reckon that Labour have something to answer for. But we’re not quite there yet. At least not at prime minister’s questions. For half an hour in the … Read more