PANAMA CITY – U.S. Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth said on Wednesday he sees the Panama Canal as key terrain that Panama should secure together with the United States and not with China, adding it was important to protect it from…

WASHINGTON – U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told lawmakers on Wednesday that President Donald Trump was not trying to re-invigorate trade with Russia by sparing Russian goods from new tariffs, but it was up to Trump whether to impose any…

BEIJING/BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON -China and the European Union announced new trade barriers on U.S. goods on Wednesday in response to steep duties imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, escalating a global trade war that has hammered markets and raised the likelihood of…

LONDON – Blackstone has said it has closed a 9.8 billion euro ($10.8 billion) European property fund, as it bets on signs of recovery for the sector despite deepening market turmoil. The fundraise for the Europe Real Estate Partners VII…

GENEVA -China told the World Trade Organization on Wednesday that the United States’ decision to impose what it has called reciprocal tariffs on Beijing threatens to further destabilise global trade. “The situation has dangerously escalated. …As one of the affected…

ATHENS – Thousands of Greeks gathered in Athens on Wednesday to demand higher wages to cope with rising living costs and a one-day strike left ferries docked at ports, flights grounded and trains at a standstill. Along with air traffic…

HONG KONG – China began censoring some tariff-related content on social media on Wednesday after U.S. “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries took effect, including massive 104% duties on Chinese goods, while posts criticising the U.S. were top hits. Hashtags…

SHAOXING, China – Chinese producers of plastic Christmas trees and other festive decorations say orders from U.S. clients, which are crucial for their business, should have started to come in by now. But because of surging import tariffs, they haven’t….

MADRID – Spain will pursue closer trade ties with China in the interests of its citizens and of the EU, its agriculture minister Luis Planas said on Wednesday, rejecting a U.S. warning that moving closer to the Asian country would…

BEIJING – China needs to implement more proactive macroeconomic policies and roll them out in a timely manner as “external shocks” have put pressures to China’s economic stabilisation, Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday, according to state media. During a…

U.S. stock index futures moved sharply lower on Wednesday after China announced additional tariff measures on U.S. goods, retaliating to President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs which came into effect. China will impose 84% tariffs on U.S. goods from Thursday, up…

BAMAKO/MONTREUIL – In December, Moussa Sacko spent his birthday in Mali scrolling through messages from friends with whom he celebrated a year earlier on Paris’ Champs-Elysees. He hasn’t seen any of them since being deported from France in July. Like…

WASHINGTON – China’s move to impose 84% retaliatory tariffs against the United States is unfortunate and a losing proposition for Beijing, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday. “I think it’s unfortunate that the Chinese actually don’t want to…

MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that bombing Iran would not pave the way to peace with, and that Moscow hoped that talks between the U.S. and Iran may help to avoid a crisis. Answering…

NAIROBI -Eight people in South Sudan, including five children, died on a three-hour walk to seek medical treatment for cholera after U.S. aid cuts forced local health services to close, the UK-based charity Save the Children said on Wednesday. The…

PANAMA CITY -The United States will “take back” the Panama Canal from Chinese influence, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday during a visit to the Central American nation. After talks with Panama’s government, Hegseth vowed to deepen security…

LONDON – A British lawmaker has introduced a private member’s bill that would set new rules around debt restructurings in a push to speed up negotiations for poor countries struggling with unsustainable debt. Bambos Charalambous, who introduced the bill late…

SYDNEY – Stocks in Asia extended a slide on Wall Street on Wednesday as President Donald Trump looked set to press ahead with whopping 104% tariffs on Chinese goods, pummelling oil prices to four-year lows as global recession fears gripped…

China’s top leaders plan to convene a meeting as early as Wednesday to discuss measures to boost the economy and stabilise the capital markets, people with knowledge of the matter said, amid an escalating trade war with the U.S. The…

BEIJING – China on Wednesday vowed to take resolute and effective measures to safeguard its rights and interests, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s 104% duties on Chinese imports kicked in. “The U.S. continues to abuse tariffs to pressure China, China…

MADRID – The impact of U.S. tariffs on Spain will lead the Bank of Spain to revise down its growth forecasts, Spain’s central bank governor and European Central Bank’s policymaker Jose Luis Escriva said on Wednesday.

BEIJING -China’s car sales rose 14.4% in March from a year earlier, as government-subsidised trade-ins bolstered demand for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, despite deepening deflationary pressures in the world’s largest auto market. Passenger vehicle sales hit 1.97 million units…

WASHINGTON – The U.S. warned on Tuesday that Chinese intelligence is using deceptive methods to target current and former U.S. government employees for recruitment. The warning from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center comes amid mass federal firings led by…

European shares fell on Wednesday as steep U.S. reciprocal tariffs kicked in, exacerbating fears over the economic damage caused by the trade war that even spread to the bond market. The pan-European STOXX 600 slumped 2.5% at 0711 GMT, as…

BEIJING – China does not want a trade war with the United States but will be compelled to take the fight to the world’s No.1 economy if President Donald Trump continues to ramp up trade tensions, its commerce ministry said…

PARIS – The head of France’s Medef business lobby group warned on Wednesday that U.S. tariffs, that are deepening a global trade war, could hit economic growth and lead to a recession. “Of course I am worried,” Patrick Martin told…

WASHINGTON -U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told U.S. senators on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration will not change tactics on tariffs in the near term and warned that some pain for businesses will be necessary to bring home manufacturing…

HONG KONG/BEIJING – A handful of major Chinese companies like home appliance maker Midea have new badges of honour this year: mandatory clock-off times for staff and bans on after-hours meetings. Staff at Midea once toiled till late in the…

SEOUL – South Korea on Wednesday announced emergency support measures for its auto sector, seeking to reduce the blow of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on a sector that has seen years of sharply rising exports to the United States….