China hikes taxes on US goods as trade war escalates

China announced it has increased its tariffs on US imports to 125 percent, warning that the rate was high enough to effectively dampen US access to the Chinese market.
This comes after the White House clarified yesterday that it was actually imposing tariffs totalling 145 percent on China, combining the previously announced 125-percent rate with a 20-percent import tax levied for fentanyl smuggling.Russian envoy Dmitriev calls Putin-Witkoff talks ‘productive’
Russian investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev described talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff as “productive”.

“Welcome to Saint Petersburg, Russia!” Dmitriev, who attended the talks, wrote on social media platform X in English.OCHA to cut staff by 20 percent due to ‘brutal cuts’ in funding
The United Nations’ humanitarian body has announced plans to reduce its staff of more than 2,000 people by 20 percent, citing “a wave of brutal cuts”.

In a letter to staff, Tom Fletcher, the head of the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), wrote that the organisation would become more streamlined.

“We will reduce bureaucracy and reporting layers. We will become less top-heavy, substantially reducing senior positions … but have dynamic and full responses where we are present,” he explained.

In the letter, Fletcher said the agency is facing a funding gap of almost $60m. While he indicated several countries had made cuts to OCHA’s funding, he signalled foreign aid reductions from the US was part of the shortfall.

“The U.S. alone has been the largest humanitarian donor for decades,” he wrote.

Since February, OCHA has implemented austerity measures to save $3.7m internally. The latest cuts will also “reduce its presence and operations” in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkiye and Zimbabwe.

“The context we face is the toughest it has ever been for our mission as OCHA, and the system we coordinate,” Fletcher said. “The humanitarian community was already underfunded, overstretched and literally, under attack. Now, we face a wave of brutal cuts.”Rights advocates sue Trump over ICC sanctions
In February, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its decision to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

The two men had been accused of committing war crimes during Israel’s war in Gaza.

Trump’s sanctions, however, extended not just to ICC officials but to anyone who cooperated with the international court.

Rights advocates have warned that Trump’s decision could stifle an array of investigations for abuses committed around the world, preventing witnesses from coming forward or experts from weighing in.Today’s lawsuit against the Trump administration argues that the sanctions infringe on the US right to free speech and the freedom of US citizens to interact with the court’s investigators.

“Because of this order, I’ve been forced to stop helping the ICC investigate horrific crimes committed against the people of Myanmar, including mass murder, torture, and human trafficking,” Matthew Smith, co-founder and CEO of Fortify Rights, said in a statement.

“This executive order doesn’t just disrupt our work — it actively undermines international justice efforts and obstructs the path to accountability for communities facing unthinkable horrors.”