Category: International News

Donald Trump has threatened China with an extra 50% tariff on goods imported into the US if it does not withdraw its 34% counter-tariff, as global markets continue to fall.

Beijing retaliated on Sunday, following last week’s decision by Trump to slap a 34% tax on Chinese imports as part of his “Liberation Day” that set a minimum 10% levy on nearly all of America’s trading partners.

In a social media post on Monday, Trump gave China until Tuesday to scrap its countermeasure or face the 50% tax.

In response, the Chinese embassy in the US accused Washington of “economic bullying” and said that Beijing “will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests”.

If Trump acts on his threat, US companies could face a total rate of 104% on Chinese imports- as it comes on top of 20% tariffs already put in place in March and the 34% announced last week.

There are fears that this could deepen a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies and global rivals.

In his post on Truth Social, Trump also warned that “all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us [on tariffs] will be terminated!”

Also on Monday, the US president said he was not considering a pause on the global import tariffs to allow for negotiations with other countries.

“We’re not looking at that. We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and there are going to be fair deals,” he said.

Trump said China had introduced its countermeasure “despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs… will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs”.

Beijing shot back, saying that “pressuring or threatening China is not a right way to engage”.

“The US hegemonic move in the name of ‘reciprocity’ serves its selfish interests at the expense of other countries’ legitimate interests and puts ‘America first’ over international rules,” Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said in a statement.

“This is a typical move of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying.”

Speaking from the White House, the US president said there could be both permanent tariffs and negotiations.

“We have $36tn (£28tn) debt for a reason,” he said, adding that the US would be talking to China among other countries to make a “fair deal and a good deal”.

“It’s now America first,” Trump said.

The tariffs would come as a major blow to China’s manufacturers, for whom the US is a key market for exports.

China’s top exports to the US include electrical products and other machinery, computers, furniture, toys, vehicles and equipment.

The US’s top exports to China are oilseeds and grains, as well aircraft, machinery and pharmaceuticals.

Uncertainty around the tariffs led to a turbulent day on global stock markets.

Markets worldwide have plunged since Trump announced the global tariffs.

The value of US stock markets dropped sharply again on opening on Monday, while Europe’s biggest markets, including London’s FTSE 100, closed more than 4% down.

Asian share indexes had nosedived on Monday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index falling by more than 13%, its biggest one-day fall since 1997. However, most showed a slight correction on Tuesday with most bourses opening higher.

The impact on the FTSE 100, America’s S&P 500, Germany’s Dax and Japan’s Nikkei has been wide-ranging.

Negotiations

Trump’s post on Monday also indicated that negotiations on countries’ tariff rates would “begin taking place immediately.”

Trump met Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, on Monday in the White House. Netanyahu said that his country would eliminate the trade imbalance with the US, which he said was the “right thing to do”.

“We intend to do it very quickly… and we’re going to also eliminate trade barriers.”

Israel faces a 17% tariff from April 9 under Trump’s “Liberation Day” policy.

The US president also posted earlier that Japan was sending a negotiation team to discuss tariffs.

And Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, offered Trump a “zero-for-zero tariff” deal – although she previously said that she had not ruled out retaliation.

“We are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests,” she said.

Trump said later that the EU had been formed “to really do damage to the United States and trade.”

Tesla sales have plummeted to their lowest level in three years after a backlash against its boss Elon Musk.

The electric car maker delivered almost 337,000 electric vehicles in the first three months of 2025, a 13% drop from a year ago.

Tesla shares tumbled in early trading on Wednesday after the release of the low sales numbers.

The cars face increasing competition from Chinese firm BYD, but experts believe Musk’s controversial role in the Trump administration has had an effect too.

The firm has blamed the sales drop on the transition to a new version of its most popular car.

However some analysts have pointed the finger at Musk himself.

“These numbers suck,” early Tesla investor Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management wrote on X.

“The brand is broken and may not be fixable”, added Mr Gerber, who was once a Musk supporter but has recently called for the board to remove the billionaire as CEO.

‘Tesla takedown’
There have been protests and boycotts around the world prompted by Musk’s outspoken and controversial political involvement.

He has been heading up President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to cut federal spending and slash the government workforce.

On Wednesday, Politico reported that Trump had told his inner circle Musk would be stepping back from the administration in the coming weeks.

Shortly after the report was published, Tesla’s share price turned positive.

The White House shot down the report as “garbage”. Because he is considered a special government employee, Musk by law can only serve 130 days in the administration this year, which would put his departure closer to June.

The Tesla boss is the world’s richest man and contributed more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump get elected in November.

In recent weeks, he poured millions into a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, supporting former Republican attorney general Brad Schimel who was soundly defeated on Tuesday.

The backlash against Mr Musk has included “Tesla Takedown” protests at Tesla dealerships across the US and in Europe.

Tesla vehicles have also been vandalised, and Trump has said his administration would charge people who deface Teslas with “domestic terrorism.”

Musk’s stewardship of his businesses, including Tesla, has been called into question.

In an recent interview, he admitted he was running his enterprises “with great difficulty,” adding: “Frankly, I can’t believe I’m here doing this.”

Tesla shares have lost more than a quarter of their value since the beginning of this year, as of 13:51 EDT (18:51 BST) on Wednesday.

“We are not going to look at these numbers with rose colored glasses… they were a disaster on every metric,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note on Wednesday.

“The more political [Musk] gets with DOGE the more the brand suffers, there is no debate.”

Tesla did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment, but said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the numbers released on Wednesday “represent only two measures” of the company’s performance and “should not be relied on as an indicator of quarterly financial results.”

Those results will be made public on April 22 in a full earnings report for the quarter. They will “depend on a variety of factors, including average selling price, cost of sales, foreign exchange movements and others”, Tesla said.

It also noted that it had temporarily suspended production of its Model Y sport utility vehicles in January.

Following the release of Wednesday’s report, Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers, one of the most powerful labour unions in the US, wrote to dozens of public pension funds about the state of Tesla, saying the company’s latest sales numbers were “shaping up to be abysmal”.

She urged them to take close looks at their Tesla holdings and at what their money managers are doing to “safeguard retirement assets”.

“These declines seem in part to be driven by Musk spending his time pursuing political activities, some of which appear to be in conflict with Tesla’s brand and business interests, rather than managing Tesla,” Weingarten wrote.

The comptroller for New York City has already announced he is seeking to sue Tesla on behalf of the city’s massive pension systems, saying on Tuesday they had lost more than $300m in three months from the company’s plummeting stock price.

“Elon Musk is so distracted that he’s driving Tesla off a financial cliff,” said Comptroller Brad Lander in a statement.

Heavy rains have triggered severe flooding from a key river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo capital Kinshasa, killing some 30 people and destroying homes and roads.

Provincial Health Minister Patricien Gongo provided the death toll on Sunday but stressed it was “provisional”. Most of the fatalities in the deluge, he added, were caused by collapsing walls.

The Ndjili River, which cuts through the teeming city of nearly 17 million people, burst its banks on Friday night, submerging the main national road. Motorists were left stranded for hours, with some spending the entire night in their cars.

“On the way home from the airport last night to welcome a friend, we spent the night in the car because there was no safe place to park,” Patricia Mikonga, a Kinshasa resident, told Reuters news agency.

Many neighbourhoods were plunged into darkness, while others suffered water shortages.

Kinshasa Governor Daniel Bumba Lubaki said water infrastructure had been damaged but assured residents that supply would be restored within days. Speaking on state television, he blamed illegal housing for some of the deaths and warned that people living in unplanned settlements could face eviction.

Raphael Tshimanga Muamba, a hydrologist, said human activity had worsened the river’s condition over time.

“These are anthropogenic actions where rivers are degraded; their dimensions no longer represent their initial capacity to contain floods,” he told Reuters.

The flooding comes as the country faces mounting instability with conflict in the eastern part of the country. Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have ramped up attacks there since the start of the year, with more than 7,000 people killed and millions displaced in recent months.

US President Donald Trump has revoked security clearances from his previously defeated Democratic election rivals, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, as well as a number of other top former officials.

He confirmed that move in the latest announcement, adding that he was also revoking the security clearance of “any other member” of the Biden family.

“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump’s memorandum read.

Former US presidents and top security officials usually keep their security clearance as a courtesy.

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Republican lawmakers Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were also on the list of those who lost their security clearances – as well as Fiona Hill, a former Russian affairs adviser in the first Trump administration.

The other names were: Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann and Alexander Vindman.

Trump had earlier pulled security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials whom he accused of meddling in the 2020 election in Biden’s favour without providing evidence.

In 2021, Biden – serving president at the time – barred his defeated rival Trump from having access to intelligence briefings citing his “erratic behaviour”.

Ghana’s Vice President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has described the inauguration of Namibia’s first female president, H.E. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, as a powerful testament to the resilience and determination of African women.

In a message shared on her official Facebook page on Saturday, March 22, 2025, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang expressed her honor in witnessing what she called a historic moment for the continent.

“Her leadership is a testament to the strength, resilience, and determination of African women,” she wrote. “May she continue to inspire men and women across the continent and prove that with courage and commitment, no dream is beyond reach.”

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang was in Namibia as part of Ghana’s delegation to the swearing-in ceremony, which took place on March 21, 2025, coinciding with Namibia’s 35th Independence Day.

President Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, a veteran member of Namibia’s ruling SWAPO party, takes office after decades of public service. Her inauguration was attended by several African leaders, international dignitaries, and representatives of regional institutions.

In her first address as president, she emphasized key issues including governance, regional cooperation, economic diversification, youth unemployment, and climate change.

Ghana and Morocco have reached a significant agreement to implement a visa waiver for all categories of travelers from both nations.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, expressed optimism about the development and indicated that the agreement will soon be submitted to Parliament for formal ratification.

“We have both additionally pledged to deepen collaboration in agribusiness, tourism, and security,” he said after discussions with the Moroccan Ambassador to Ghana, Her Excellency Imane Ouaadil.

Describing the meeting as “productive and assuring,” Mr. Ablakwa noted that the Moroccan Ambassador had also addressed concerns regarding the safety of Africans in Morocco.

He emphasized that contrary to widely circulated social media videos alleging the massacre of approximately 700 Africans, the Moroccan government has assured that Ghanaians and all Africans living in the country are safe.

The Trump administration is considering issuing sweeping travel restrictions for the citizens of dozens of countries as part of a new ban.

This is according to sources familiar with the matter and an internal memo seen by Reuters.

A U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity cautioned there could be changes on the list and that it was yet to be approved by the administration, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

For now, Ghana does not feature on the list but as revealed by the source, there could be changes to the list even before it receives final approval and authorization.

Below is a list of countries being considered for the potential ban:

The memo lists a total of 41 countries divided into three separate groups.

Full visa suspension:

Afghanistan

Cuba

Iran

Libya

North Korea

Somalia

Sudan

Syria

Venezuela

Yemen

Partial visa suspension (tourist, student and some other visas affected):

Eritrea

Haiti

Laos

Myanmar

South Sudan

Countries recommended for a partial suspension if they do not address deficiencies:

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Belarus

Benin

Bhutan

Burkina Faso

Cabo Verde

Cambodia

Cameroon

Chad

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Dominica

Equatorial Guinea

Gambia

Liberia

Malawi

Mauritania

Pakistan

Republic of the Congo

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Sao Tome and Principe

Sierra Leone

East Timor

Turkmenistan

Vanuatu

Dangote Refinery has announced a temporary suspension of petroleum product sales in naira, citing the need to align its sales currency with its crude oil procurement obligations, which are currently denominated in U.S. dollars.

The dispute with Dangote refinery stems from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited’s naira-for-crude policy requiring local refiners to purchase crude oil in naira instead of dollars, an initiative aimed at stabilizing foreign exchange reserves.

While the deal was in effect, the refinery sold Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to Nigerian marketers in naira because it purchased crude in the local currency under its agreement with NNPC.

However, with the deal set to expire this month, The Cable reports that the refinery has announced plans to halt the loading of petroleum products for the Nigerian market, as negotiations to renew the naira-for-crude arrangement have not made significant progress.

Following the expiration of the initial naira-for-crude deal, Business Insider Africa earlier reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited confirmed ongoing negotiations for a new agreement with Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, stated that the initial agreement was structured as a six-month contract, set to expire in March 2025.

Analysts warn that Dangote’s reluctance to supply the Nigerian market could exacerbate fuel scarcity

This development comes amid concerns that Nigerians may face another hike in petrol prices after reports emerged that NNPC has halted its naira-for-crude deal with Dangote and other local refineries.

Impact on Dangote Refinery

The Dangote Refinery, which has a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is a critical player in Nigeria’s efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in petroleum products.

However, the unresolved naira-for-crude arrangement has created uncertainties regarding crude supply, potentially delaying the refinery’s full operations and limiting its ability to distribute petrol domestically.

Analysts warn that Dangote’s reluctance to supply the Nigerian market could exacerbate fuel scarcity and increase dependence on imported refined products, undermining the country’s energy security goals.

With the deal now coming to an end, there are fears that if local refineries, including Dangote, are forced to source crude in dollars, production costs could rise significantly.

This shift could put additional pressure on the naira and ultimately lead to an increase in petrol pump prices.

The situation further highlights the broader challenges in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, including foreign exchange volatility and regulatory uncertainties, which continue to impact investment and operational efficiency.

If the deadlock persists, the Nigerian government may have to negotiate new terms to ensure that the Dangote Refinery remains a reliable source of petroleum products for the local market.

Dozens of passengers on a bus in Ethiopia have been abducted by armed men in the country’s largest region, Oromia, as they were travelling from the capital, Addis Ababa.

Details are only just emerging of the kidnappings, which took place earlier this week.

The incident happened in Ali Doro, which is near an area where around 100 university students were similarly abducted as they were heading home from their campus last July.

Survivors and local authorities blamed those abductions on the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a rebel group that operates in the area. The group denied involvement at the time.

Referring to this week’s incident, the OLA has said it had received reports of the abductions and that it was “conducting an investigation”.

According to one report by a local media organization, the passengers were heading to Debre Markos, a town in the country’s Amhara region, when they were attacked by the armed men, who exchanged fire with local security forces.

Another report said several buses were attacked, during which at least one person died. The number of abductees could be as high as 50, according to this report.

The government has not yet said anything about the kidnappings, and the BBC’s attempts to get an official response have been unsuccessful.

Abductions of civilians – including passengers – have become increasingly common in the area. Armed groups here have in the past demanded ransoms for the release of the people they hold.

The OLA says it is fighting for the self-determination of Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo.

It has been classified as a terrorist organization by the federal parliament and operates in various areas in Oromia, including the district where Ali Doro is located.

Adjaye Associates has reported a pre-tax loss of £720,000, a significant decline from the £2.5 million profit recorded in its previous trading period.

Published on Monday, March 17 at Companies House, the accounts for the year ending December 31, 2023, reveal that David Adjaye’s firm saw a turnover drop of more than £3 million, falling from £20.4 million in 2022 to £17.1 million in 2023.

The company attributed part of its loss to a one-off exceptional item of £1.46 million, described as a “provision against withholding tax debtors.”

The firm’s workload in Asia dropped sharply from £4.8 million to £891,500, while income from the Middle East declined slightly from £14.1 million to £13 million. However, revenue increased in Africa (£261,000 to £1.4 million), the UK (£684,000 to £984,000), and the Americas (£398,000 to £641,000).

The financial period covered by the accounts coincides with the publication of sexual misconduct allegations against David Adjaye by the Financial Times—claims he has consistently denied.

During the same year, the firm implemented redundancies, reducing its London workforce, which stood at 110 employees at the time. By 2023, the total staff count had dropped to 85, with turnover per employee declining from £213,000 in 2022 to £202,000 in 2023.

Despite the reported loss, the company paid out a dividend of £1.89 million.

In the strategic report accompanying the figures, company director David Adjaye wrote:

“2023 was a commercially challenging year for the construction industry at large and this is reflected in our financial reporting for the period.

“Our position as one of the most diverse practices in the world, recognised for the representation we bring to architecture and for the quality and social impact of our work, together with our ability to be agile with resourcing, is a resilient basis from which to recover from a temporary downturn.”

The report, which describes the studio as having “built a robust reputation for both its built portfolio and intellectual and cross-cultural endeavors,” noted that Adjaye Associates continues to secure projects across the UK, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.

The firm has also won new commissions, including a major art project in Saudi Arabia and a large-scale residential development in France.