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Hello, I'm Neil Nunes with the BBC News.
Donald Trump has defended the tariffs he's imposed on U.S. imports from around the world despite a global stock market sell-off. Wall Street has suffered its worst day since the early months of the COVID pandemic. More from John Sudworth. The day after his big tariff announcement, with the markets now in turmoil, President Trump spoke to reporters on the White House lawn. The motors of his helicopter turning over in the background. "I think it's going very well. It was an operation, like when a patient gets operated on. And it's a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is." Mr. Trump insists that this is what he was elected to do, to rip up the established rules of the global order, with the outsourcing of U.S. jobs, growing trade deficits and a ballooning national debt. Global financial bodies have expressed alarm about the impact of the new U.S. tariffs. The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said the taxes represented a significant risk. The World Trade Organization has sharply downgraded its forecast for economic growth. More from Jonathan Josephs. The drastic scale of this reduction shows how these U.S. tariffs are the biggest challenge to the global trading system since the World Trade Organization began drawing up and enforcing the rules 30 years ago. Only the COVID pandemic and global financial crisis sparked bigger force in global trade volume. The director-general, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the tariffs would also have substantial implications for economic growth prospects. She said she was deeply concerned about retaliatory measures, which have already started, making things even worse. Humanitarian agencies are appealing to governments around the world not to abandon the international convention banning landmines. The Ottawa Treaty has helped lead to a huge reduction in the use of landmines, but a growing number of countries have signaled their intent to withdraw. The Baltic states, as well as Poland and Finland, say they're needed to counter the threat from Russia. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, ???, told the BBC such a move would be ludicrous and illogical. "We are deeply, deeply concerned about the implications that this kind of decision would have for the people in those countries, the civilians in those countries, and the damage that it does to the convention and to the fundamental rationale for international humanitarian law, which is to protect people in times of conflict." The Pentagon says it'll investigate the U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, over his use of a messaging app to discuss airstrikes on Yemen. Last week, it emerged a prominent journalist was accidentally invited to the group. On Signal, senior officials shared details of the attack. World News from the BBC. The U.S. Senate has confirmed the television personality, Dr. Mehmet Oz, as the head of the agency that oversees government health insurance programs. The former heart surgeon had never held public office before. The department he'll lead, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has an annual budget of more than $2.5 trillion. The international broadcaster, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, says the satellite service it uses to broadcast TV news programs to Russia has been switched off by the U.S. government. The organization's budget was cut earlier this year by Donald Trump, who is fostering warmer relations with President Putin. An indigenous rights group has warned that social media influencers pose a new and growing threat to uncontacted tribes. It follows the arrest on Thursday of an American tourist who had traveled to a prohibited Indian Ocean island in an apparent attempt to contact the Sentinelese people. More from Jessica McAllen. Survival International described Mykhailo Polyakov's behavior as reckless and idiotic. Not only did he endanger his own life, the charity said, but also the lives of the Sentinelese. Like many uncontacted tribes, they have no immunity to common diseases like flu or measles and could be completely wiped out by them. The 24-year-old reportedly filmed his visit and left a can of Coca-Cola on the shore as an offering to the tribe, but doesn't seem to have made any contact with them. A hawk that's been repeatedly attacking residents of an English village has finally been captured. The bird of prey had wreaked havoc swooping down on at least 50 people in Flamstead in Hertfordshire. One man told the BBC the hawk chased him every time he went out for a run. Eventually, a falconer's cage was used to ensnare the bird. BBC News. |