Pakistan’s army says it has freed more than 300 hostages from a passenger train seized by militants in Balochistan province on Tuesday.

The military spokesperson said 33 militants were killed during the operation.

Twenty-one civilian hostages and four military personnel were killed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) before the operation began, the military spokesperson said. These numbers have not been verified by the BBC.

The military continues its search operation in the area to rule out any remaining threats.

There were approximately 440 passengers on board the train when it was attacked, according to the army’s spokesperson.

Security officials have been quoted as saying some of the militants may have left the train, taking an unknown number of passengers with them into the surrounding mountainous area.

The military is working to find the passengers who escaped and fled into the surrounding area during the attack, the spokesperson said. It is not clear how many passengers are unaccounted for.

The Pakistani authorities – as well as several Western countries, including the UK and US – have designated the BLA as a terrorist organisation.

The BLA is one of the rebel groups demanding either greater autonomy or independence for Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province.

They accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s rich mineral resources while also neglecting it. In the past, they have attacked military camps, railway stations and trains – but this is the first time they have hijacked a train.

At least 100 of those on the train were members of the security forces, officials have said.

The militants had threatened to kill hostages if authorities did not release Baloch political prisoners within 48 hours, according to local reports.

During the attack, the militants blew up a section of the tracks and opened fire on the train near a mountain tunnel.

Eyewitnesses described the “doomsday scenes” on board the train as the attack unfolded, with passenger Ishaq Noor telling the BBC: “We held our breath throughout the firing, not knowing what would happen next.”

Officials had difficulty communicating with passengers at the time of the attack, because the remote area has no internet or mobile coverage.

Some passengers who managed to disembark from the train late on Tuesday evening walked for nearly four hours to reach the next railway station.

Among them was Muhammad Ashraf, who had been travelling from Quetta to Lahore to visit his family.

“We reached the station with great difficulty, because we were tired and there were children and women with us,” he told the BBC.

Helicopters and hundreds of troops were deployed to rescue the hostages. More than 100 passengers had been freed by Wednesday morning.

The hijacking lasted more than 30 hours. Information relating to the attack and subsequent rescue operation has been tightly controlled throughout.

A spokesperson for the military said anyone involved in the attack would be brought to justice.

The fentanyl dealer from Los Angeles stands to the side watching carefully as a Mexican drugs cartel operative prepares his latest shipment. The synthetic opioid drug is wrapped in foil, sealed in plastic, then dropped with an oily splash into the petrol tank of the trafficker’s nondescript car.

Jay, not his real name, had crossed earlier from the US to this cartel-run safe house on the Mexican side of the border. The house looks like any other in this neighbourhood. We are told to drive in quickly and an iron gate closes firmly behind us. They don’t cook the drug here, but still they are wary of attracting attention. The men all speak in hushed voices and work quickly.

Their lethal business has become the centre of a global economic dispute. The White House has used fentanyl smuggling through US borders as a key justification for raising tariffs on other nations. US President Donald Trump has also vowed to “wage war” on the drug cartels.

The BBC gained rare access to a cartel’s operation along the border and travelled to the US to meet their ultimate customers, to see if the international row was doing anything to halt the illegal flow of narcotics.

The men we meet at the safe house are foot-soldiers of a well-known cartel. Two of them loading the car admit to fleeting moments of remorse. But when I ask the man packing the drugs into the fuel tank if he feels guilty about the deaths the pills cause, he sniggers. “We have family too, of course we feel guilty. But if I stop, it’s going to continue. It’s not my problem,” he tells me with a shrug.

The men keep their faces covered while they remove the back seat of the car to gain access to the tank, taking care not to spill petrol. The smell inside the car could alert customs officers on the other side of the border that the fuel tank has been tampered with.

The light green pills, 5,000 in total and marked with an M, are packed tightly – a fraction of what Jay says he sells every week in LA and across the American northwest.

“I try to get 100,000 pills a week, every week,” the softly spoken dealer tells me. “I don’t send them in one vehicle. I try to spread it in different cars. That way I minimise my risk of losing all my pills.”

A 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico was introduced in response to what President Donald Trump said was the unacceptable flow of illegal drugs and illegal immigrants into the US. Some of those tariffs have since been delayed until 2 April.

Defeating the fentanyl trade is one of President Trump’s top policy goals, but Jay doesn’t rate his chances.

“Last time he was in office, he tried to do the same thing, and it never happened. There’s always going to be a demand. And where’s the biggest demand? United States, lucky for us. We’re here in the border,” says Jay with a smile.

There is so much of the drug flowing into the US, most of it coming from Mexico, that according to Jay the price he sells it for in LA has fallen from about $5 or $6 per pill a year ago, to $1.50 now (£1.16).

Mexican police say cartels switched in a big way to fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, because unlike other opiates – which are made from the opium poppy – it is completely synthetic and much easier to make and transport.

Fentanyl’s strength and addictiveness has left a deep scar on American society: drug overdoses kill more people in the US than guns or car crashes. Fatalities have started to decline, perhaps in part to the greater availability of Naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of overdoses of opioids. But the latest figures are still stark: 87,000 overdose deaths (mostly from opioids) from October 2023 to September 2024, down from 114,000 the year before.

In an attempt to stave off punitive tariffs from the White House, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has pledged to send 10,000 National Guard troops to the border. The government has made more than 900 arrests since October in Sinaloa, a major drug trafficking hub. Back in December, Mexico announced its biggest ever fentanyl seizure in the state: more than a tonne of pills. In fact, the country has seized more fentanyl in the past five months than it did in the previous year.

Mexico has also made it harder to import a key ingredient of fentanyl from China, prompting cartels to reduce the strength of each pill – and, in the process, making them less deadly.

And at the end of February, 29 senior drug cartel figures were handed over to the United States, including members of five of the six Mexican crime syndicates that President Trump’s administration recently designated as terrorist organisations.

President Sheinbaum also said she had agreed to the CIA increasing surveillance drone operations over Mexican territory in search of fentanyl drugs labs, after the media revealed the covert missions.

Jay acknowledges the dangers of his trade to himself and his customers, but is untroubled.

“They always try to blame us, that we are the ones that are poisoning American citizens. But they’re the biggest users.

He coolly insulates himself from responsibility and guilt for the deaths his drugs cause. He claims not to know anyone who has died using his product. “I only deal with other suppliers,” he tells me.

The cartels mostly use American citizens to courier their drugs across the border, as they are less likely to be stopped by US Customs and Border Protection. The driver, who goes by the name Charlie, has a US passport. He, too, is mostly indifferent to the suffering the fentanyl epidemic has caused.

“I need the money,” he says. When I ask him how many times he has made the drugs run, he replies: “Too many.” (I later learn that the 5,000 pills in the fuel tank made it across the border without incident.)

President Sheinbaum has also recently emphasised the demand side of the crisis, saying the US fentanyl crisis began with the legal but “irresponsible approval” of painkillers, such as OxyContin, starting in the late 1990s. “The US government should take responsibility for the opioid-consumption crisis that has caused so many deaths,” she said at a daily news conference.

On the other side of the border is Derek Maltz, who has spent a lifetime in US drug enforcement. He has been made the interim leader of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and spoke to me just before his appointment.

“The Mexican cartels need to know that we’re coming down there,” he tells me. “We’re going to have aggressive operations to go after you and your business because you are killing our American kids at record levels and it’s not going to be tolerated.”

Mr Maltz agrees, though, that targeting the cartels alone will not solve the opioid crisis. “The cartels are very bad guys,” he tells me. “They’re transnational criminals. They’re narco-terrorists. However, there is a bad demand problem in America, we have to address why our population is turning to drugs for help.”

In Philadelphia’s Kensington neighbourhood – dubbed the largest open-air drugs market on the US east coast – Rosalind Pichardo of Operation Save Our City is on to her second Bible. She records in the book’s back pages the number of times she has reversed an opioid overdose using the quick-acting drug Naloxone.

For the past six years, the figure totals 2,931. She flicks through the pages and that number written in red comes alive with the memories of the individuals she saved, and the ones she lost.

She begins to list: “Male in his 60s… male 30s… female in her 30s, very thin, no hair.” Beside each name in this roll-call of fentanyl victims, is the number of doses of Naloxone – sold under the name Narcan – she used to attempt to revive people.

Ms Pichardo, who runs a drop-in centre called Sunshine House, operates what she calls a “no-judgement zone”. She bristles at the terms like “addict”, “junkie” or “zombie”, which have been used to describe the people of her neighbourhood. Instead, she calls everyone “sunshine”.

Some she doesn’t remember; others she will never forget.

“Look at this one, seven years old, two Narcans,” she points out. Ms Pichardo had been called to a neighbour’s house where a woman was holding in her arms a child who had turned blue. Ms Pichardo went inside and the girl was placed on the floor, but as she entered the child’s father ran upstairs carrying a bag. “I’m thinking if that was my child, I’d be running to help the child,” she recalls.

At first, she thought it might be epilepsy, but she spotted drug scales and plastic baggies on a nearby table. The kid’s dad was a drug dealer; the seven-year-old had been poisoned by his stash and overdosed. “I was livid,” she says.

Those two doses of Narcan were enough to save the child’s life.

On another page, a woman, six months pregnant, two doses of Narcan. She also survived.

In Kensington, drugs are cheap and plentiful, and people shoot up in the open. As she walks the neighbourhood, Ms Pichardo finds people passed out on the pavement, a woman in a stupor with her trousers down, a man lying prone next to a metro turnstile, another man in a wheelchair, his eyes closed and money in his hands.

He, like a growing number of opioid users, has had a limb amputated. A new drug on the street, the animal tranquilliser Xylazine, is being mixed with fentanyl. It leads to open wounds which become infected. The air is rank in places.

John White is 56 years old, and for 40 of those years he has struggled with addiction. At Sunshine House, Ms Pichardo serves him a bowl of homemade soup.

“I’ve been in this city all my life,” he says. “The fentanyl and opioid epidemic is the worst I’ve ever seen. Fentanyl will get you so hooked that you have to get more. So they put it in everything.”

Mr White had a fentanyl overdose after smoking a joint laced with the drug: it is being added to all kinds of illicit drugs, including heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

Ms Pichardo holds out little hope that even if the fentanyl trade is cut off from Mexico that it will improve people’s lives in Kensington.

“The problem that we have with the war on drugs is – it didn’t work then [and] I don’t believe it’s going to work now,” she explains.

When the supply of one drug is cut off, another replaces it, she says. “Once there was heroin, now there’s no more. Now there’s fentanyl. When there’s no fentanyl, now it’s going to be Xylazine. So it’s like they’ll find a way to keep people addicted so that people can make money off of people, off the suffering of people,” says Ms Pichardo.

Directly across from Sunshine House, a young woman is found collapsed on the pavement, her body splayed across the concrete: she’s unresponsive. Ms Pichardo is quickly on the scene, her medical kit by her side, yet again administering Naloxone. The woman is eventually revived – she will survive.

Roz Pichardo returns to Sunshine House, another life saved and another digit to be added to the back pages of her tattered Bible.

Canada’s Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney has said he is ready to negotiate a renewed trade deal with President Donald Trump, as long as there is “respect for Canadian sovereignty”.

Carney made these comments during a visit to a steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario, as Canada unveiled C$29.8 billion ($20.7 billion) in reciprocal tariffs on US imports.

It comes after Trump slapped 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium coming into the country.

Since President Trump took office in January, the two countries have been involved in an escalating trade war, with the US president repeatedly threatening to annex its neighbour.

Carney on Wednesday condemned the latest round of US tariffs as “unjustified”.

“We’re all going to be better off when the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed, relaunched,” he said.

Canada, which is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminium to the US, is heavily exposed to the tariffs.

Trump has justified the tariffs, claiming they are necessary for US national security and to boost demand for domestic producers, which he argues has been “depressed” by foreign competition.

• What are tariffs and why is Trump using them?
• Is the US really heading into a recession?

The US president implemented a blanket 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, citing concerns over drugs and migrants crossing the US border.

The tariffs on steel and aluminium, effective Wednesday, mark the end of exemptions previously granted to several countries, including Canada.

In retaliation, Canada announced tariffs on US goods, including steel and aluminium, with additional measures set to take effect at 00:01 EST (04:01 GMT) on Thursday.

The new tariffs cover a range of products, including C$12.6 billion on steel, $3 billion on aluminium, as well as tools, computer equipment, water heaters, sports equipment, and cast-iron products.

Experts say the growing trade dispute threatens economic stability for both countries.

On Wednesday, Canada’s central bank cut interest rates to 2.75% from 3% to prepare the country’s economy for disruption.

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc told a news conference that the country was still seeking to de-escalate.

“If you’re racing to the basement, there’s no real prize for the first person to get to the basement,” Leblanc said.

On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, along with federal representatives, will meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Lutnick told Fox Business Network that at the meeting he plans to try to “level set” things between the two nations.

Mark Carney, who was elected leader of the governing Liberal Party on Sunday, is set to be sworn in as prime minister, replacing Justin Trudeau. He has promised to win the trade war against Trump, following his landslide victory.

Ineos Automotive, the vehicle maker owned by multi-billionaire businessman and Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has recalled more than 7,000 of its sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in the US.

The recall centres on latches that may not engage properly, which could lead to the doors on Grenadier SUVs opening while being driven “increasing the risk of injury to passengers inside the vehicle.”

To fix the problem, Ineos says it will replace all door button assemblies on the affected vehicles, free of charge.

The recall is the latest issue faced by the car company, which last year had to temporarily pause manufacturing after one of its parts suppliers became insolvent.

The recall affects Ineos’ Grenadier SUVs produced between 6 July 2023 and 19 April 2024.

The door button mechanism on affected vehicles may have been assembled without enough grease in them, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) filing.

“This may allow the exterior door buttons to remain in the depressed position and prevent the door from fully latching,” the document said.

Launched in 2022, the Grenadier was the first vehicle produced by Ineos Automotive. It is inspired by the iconic Land Rover Defender.

Sir Jim’s decision to start the car company was motivated by his disappointment over Jaguar Land Rover’s decision to stop making the Defender.

In 2020, the entrepreneur, who had campaigned for Leave in the run-up to the 2016 Brexit referendum, announced that the vehicle would be assembled in France, putting an end to hopes that it would be made at a plant in Wales.

According to the company, there are currently about 20,000 Grenadiers on the road in 50 countries around the world.

Ineos Automotive lost more than 1.4 billion euros (£1.1bn, $1.5bn) before tax in 2023, according to a filing with the UK registry Companies House.

Sir Jim, who is one of the UK’s richest people, owns a 27.7% stake in Manchester United.

A plane carrying former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has arrived in the Netherlands where he is to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his deadly “war on drugs”.

Duterte was arrested at Manila airport on Tuesday and within hours was on a chartered jet which flew via Dubai to The Hague, where the ICC sits.

The 79-year-old could become the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.

Duterte, who contested his extradition, led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022 and presided over a violent “war on drugs” that saw thousands of small-time drug dealers, users and others killed without trial.

The Gulfstream G550 landed in Dubai for a stopover early on Wednesday and its expected departure was delayed for several hours while Duterte received medical checks, Reuters news agency reports.

Once the plane had landed in Rotterdam, the ICC confirmed that Duterte was in its custody to face charges “of murder as a crime against humanity”.

“A hearing will be scheduled in due course for Mr Duterte’s initial appearance before the Court.”

Meanwhile the former leaders’ supporters gathered outside The Hague Penitentiary Institution protesting his arrest. Many of them waved the Philippine flag, while others mimicked Duterte’s signature fist-pumping gesture.

“We stand with Duterte,” read a banner held up by supporters.

Duterte’s main political rival, current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, was instrumental in handing him over. Minutes after Duterte left Philippines airspace, Marcos gave a televised address saying the country was fulfilling its legal obligation.

“This is what the international community expects of us,” Marcos said.

The Duterte and Marcos families are the Philippines’ most powerful political dynasties. They joined forces to sweep the country’s last national election in 2022, but have fallen out in recent months as they pursued separate agendas.

Duterte being handed to the ICC is the latest twist in a political feud that has unfolded spectacularly in the public view.

The Duterte and Marcos families formed a formidable alliance in the 2022 elections. Against the elder Duterte’s wishes, his daughter Sara ran as Marcos Jr’s vice-president instead of seeking her father’s post.

Marcos initially refused to co-operate with the ICC investigation, but as his relationship with the Duterte family deteriorated, he changed his stance.

Vice-President Duterte said her father’s arrest amounted to “kidnapping”, claiming it violated Philippine sovereignty. She left Manila for the Netherlands on Wednesday, according to her office.

Rodrigo Duterte previously insisted that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, since he pulled the country out of the tribunal in 2019, three years after it took note of the drug war’s rising death toll.

But according to the Rome Statute that is the basis for the ICC, the court maintains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed before a nation leaves the tribunal.

The ICC investigation covers 2011-2019, which includes the period when Duterte was mayor of Davao, a sprawling metropolis in the country’s south, where his family has held power for decades.

Complaints filed against Duterte at the ICC allege that he kept a “death squad” of bounty hunters to go after drug suspects in Davao, and later replicated this model on a national scale when he was elected president.

Human Rights Watch called Duterte’s arrest a “critical step for accountability in the Philippines”.

Duterte built a reputation for Davao as one of the Philippines’ safest cities, and cultivated the image of a tough-talking, anti-establishment man of the masses to pull off a dark horse win in the 2016 presidential elections.

Polls show he is the most popular Philippines president since the restoration of democracy in 1986.

His supporters have threatened to hold large rallies to protest against his arrest. They had asked the Supreme Court to issue a restraining order against the ICC warrant – but the court did not act before the former president was flown out on Tuesday.

On social media, where the Dutertes maintain a strong following, the reaction was mixed.

Many praised the ICC for delivering justice for those who died in the drug war, while others defended Duterte’s legacy, with some calling for widespread rallies.

“Justice served,” read a top-liked comment on TikTok.

“Philippines was safe during Duterte’s time,” another TikTok user wrote, saying the former leader built bridges, roads and other infrastructure. “He was the best president.”

US President Donald Trump has pledged to impose more tariffs after his latest move to introduce import taxes on steel and aluminium entering the US prompted retaliation from the European Union (EU) and Canada.

Trump said “of course” he would respond to the countermeasures, repeating his warning to reveal “reciprocal” tariffs next month on countries around the world.

“Whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them,” he said.

The threat marked a further escalation of a trade war which has rattled financial markets amid concerns over the impact on the economies and consumers in many countries around the world, including the US.

On Wednesday, Trump moved forward with a plan to widen US tariffs on steel and aluminium, imposing a blanket duty of 25% and ending exemptions that the US had previously granted for shipments from some countries.

That followed an order earlier this month that raised levies on Chinese imports into the US to at least 20%.

Trump has also threatened tariffs – which are taxes applied to goods as they enter a country – on a range of more specific items, including copper, lumber and cars.

Leaders in Canada and Europe called the new metals taxes unjustified and struck back with their own tariffs on a range of US products.

Other countries that are key US suppliers of metals, including the UK, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, held off on any immediate retaliation.

“Like everybody else, I’m disappointed to see global tariffs in relation to steel and aluminium but we will take a pragmatic approach,” said UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

“We are…negotiating a deal which covers and includes tariffs if we succeed. But we will keep all options on the table.”

Canada said from Thursday it would start charging a 25% tax on nearly C$30bn ($20bn; £16bn) worth of US products, including steel, computers and sports equipment.

Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney said he was ready to negotiate a renewed trade deal with Trump, as long as there is “respect for Canadian sovereignty”.

The EU said it would raise its levies on up to €26bn ($28bn; £22bn) worth of US goods, including boats, bourbon and motorbikes, from 1 April.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen said the response was intended to be “strong but proportionate” and added that the EU stood “ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue”.

“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and worse for consumers,” she said, warning the economic disruption put jobs at stake and would send prices higher.

“Nobody needs that – on both sides, neither in the European Union nor in the United States.”

Trump had said he wants to boost US steel and aluminium production in the longer run, but critics say in the immediate term the taxes on imports of the metals will raise prices for US consumers and dent economic growth.

Major packaged food makers including Quaker Oats and Folgers coffee asked Trump for targeted exemptions from tariffs on imports such as cocoa and fruit, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

PepsiCo, Conagra and J M Smucker, also requested the president exempt ingredients not available from US sources in the letter, which was sent by the trade group the Consumer Brands Association.

Coffee, oats, cocoa, spices, tropical fruit and tin mill steel, used for some food and household goods, are among the imports listed as unavailable domestically, Reuters reported.

The import taxes are also expected to reduce demand for steel and aluminium that is not made in the US – a blow to makers of the metals elsewhere.

The EU estimated that the latest US tariffs affect about 5% of its total exports to the US, while the US is the destination for roughly 90% of Canada’s steel and aluminium exports.

Shares in the US were mixed on Wednesday, after two days of sharp decline. The Dow closed down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 ended nearly 0.5% higher and the Nasdaq jumped 1.2%.

In an appearance at the White House with the Irish prime minister, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Trump said he did not plan to back down from his trade fight, saying he was “not happy” with EU trade policies.

He cited concerns about legal penalties it has imposed on Apple and rules he claimed put US farm products and cars at a disadvantage.

“They’re doing what they should be doing perhaps for the European Union but it does create ill will,” he said.

Repeating his threat to hit European cars with tariffs, he added later: “We’re going to win that financial battle.”

With Donald Trump’s tit-for-tat tariffs on India looming next month, millions of Americans may have to brace for steeper medical bills.

Last week, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal made an unscheduled trip to the US for discussions with officials, hoping to strike a trade deal.

It followed Trump’s announcement that he would impose tariffs – which are government taxes on foreign imports – on India by 2 April, in retaliation to India’s tariffs on American goods.

Goyal wants to stave off tax increases on India’s critical export industries like medicinal drugs.

Nearly half of all medicines taken in the US come from India alone. Generic drugs – which are cheaper versions of brand-name medications – imported from countries like India make up nine out of 10 prescriptions in the US.

This saves Washington billions in healthcare costs. In 2022 alone, the savings from Indian generics amounted to a staggering $219bn (£169bn), according to a study by consulting firm IQVIA.

Without a trade deal, Trump’s tariffs could make some Indian generics unviable, forcing companies to exit part of the market and exacerbating existing drug shortages, experts say.

Tariffs could “worsen the demand-supply imbalances” and the uninsured and poor will be left counting the costs, says Dr Melissa Barber, a drug costing expert from Yale University.

The effects could be felt across people suffering from a range of health conditions.

Over 60% of prescriptions for hypertension and mental health ailments in the US were filled with Indian-made drugs, according to the IQVIA study funded by the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).

Sertraline, the most prescribed antidepressant in the US, is a prominent example of how dependent Americans are on Indian supplies for essential drugs.

Many of them cost half as much as for those from non-Indian companies.

“We are worried about this,” says Peter Maybarduk, a lawyer at Public Citizens, a consumer advocacy group fighting for access to medicines. One in four American patients already fail to take medicines due to their costs, he adds.

Trump is already reportedly facing pressure from US hospitals and generic drugmakers because of his tariffs on Chinese imports.

The raw materials for 87% of the drugs sold in the US are located outside the country and primarily concentrated in China which fulfils around 40% of global supply.

With tariffs on Chinese imports rising 20% since Trump took office, the cost of raw materials for drugs have already gone up.

Trump wants companies to shift manufacturing to the US to avoid his tariffs.

Big pharma giants like Pfizer and Eli Lily, that sell brand name and patented drugs, have said they are committing to move some manufacturing there.

But the economics for low-value drugs do not add up.

Dilip Shanghvi, chairman of India’s largest drugmaker Sun Pharma, told an industry gathering last week that his company sells pills for between $1 and $5 per bottle in the US and tariffs “do not justify relocating our manufacturing to the US”.

“Manufacturing in India is at least three to four times cheaper than in the US,” says Sudarshan Jain of the IPA.

Any quick relocation will be next to impossible. Building a new manufacturing facility can cost up to $2bn and take five to 10 years before it is operational, according to lobby group PhRMA.

For local pharma players in India, the tariff blow could be brutal too.

The pharmaceutical sector is India’s largest industrial export according to GTRI, a trade research agency.

India exports some $12.7bn worth of drugs to the US annually, paying virtually no tax. US drugs coming into India, however, pay 10.91% in duties.

This leaves a “trade differential” of 10.9%. Any reciprocal tariffs by the US would increase the costs for both generic medicines and specialty drugs, according to GTRI.

It flags up pharmaceuticals as one of the sectors that is most vulnerable to price increases in the US market.

Indian firms which largely sell generic drugs already work on thin margins and won’t be able to afford a steep tax outgo.

They sell at much lower prices compared to competing peers, and have steadily gained dominance across cardiovascular, mental health, dermatology and women’s health drugs in the world’s largest pharma market.

“We can offset single-digit tariff hikes with cost cuts, but anything higher will have to be passed down to consumers,” the finance head of a top Indian drugmaker who didn’t want to be identified, told the BBC.

North America is their biggest revenue source, contributing a third of the earnings and profitability of most companies.

“It is the fastest growing market and most crucial. Even if we increase exposure to other markets, it will not adjust for any loss in the US market,” the finance head said.

Umang Vohra, CEO of India’s third-largest drug firm Cipla, said at a public gathering recently that tariffs should not ultimately dictate what businesses do, “because there is a risk that four years later, those tariffs may go away”.

But four years is a long time, and could make or break the fortunes of several companies.

To avoid any of this, “India should just drop its tariffs on pharma goods”, Ajay Bagga, a veteran market expert told the BBC. “US drug exports into India are barely half a billion dollars, so the impact will be negligible.”

The IPA, which consists of India’s largest drug makers, has also recommended zero duty on US drug exports so that India isn’t negatively impacted by reciprocal levies.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government recently added 36 life-saving drugs to the list of medicines fully exempted from a basic customs duty in the budget, and President Trump dropped a hint last week that India could be yielding to his pressure.

India has agreed to cut tariffs “way down”, he said, because “somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done”.

Delhi has not responded yet, but pharma players in both countries are nervously waiting to see the specifics of a trade deal that could have a bearing on lives and livelihoods.

“In the short term, there may be some pain through new tariffs, but I think they’ll make significant progress by the fall of this year for a first tranche [trade] agreement,” Mark Linscott, former assistant US trade representative, told the BBC, adding that neither country could afford a breakdown in pharma supply chains.

Deena Ghazarian had only been in business for a year when the trade policies of President Donald Trump’s first term of office sent her company into a tailspin.

It was 2019 and her California-based firm, Austere, had just agreed to supply several big US retailers with its high-end audio and video accessories that are largely manufactured in China.

Then Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on China, and overnight Deena found herself paying a 25% surcharge on every cable and component she imported – up from zero previously.

She was forced to absorb the costs and for a while thought she would go bust.

“I literally thought I am going to start and end a business in less than a year,” she says. “I had spent all this time, money and effort, and to have something like this blindside you was shocking.”

The firm pulled through, but like numerous other US businesses it now finds itself in a strikingly similar situation.

Since returning to office in January, Mr Trump has raised tariffs on all goods imported from China by 20%, and put taxes of 25% on Canadian and Mexican products, only to delay some of them until April.

The president says he wants to force these countries to do more to stop flows of illegal drugs and migrants into America, to bring more manufacturing back to the US, and to address what he sees as unfair trade imbalances.

But the duties are much broader in scope than last time, when they were phased in gradually and many products were granted exemptions.

Goods like smartphones, desktop computers and tablets are now incurring tariffs for the first time, while taxes on others have climbed higher.

“US importers have to pay these taxes not the exporters,” says Ed Brzytwa, vice president of international trade at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), a North American trade body that represents more than 1,200 tech firms.

“It’s American businesses and consumers who will suffer.”

Businesses like Ms Ghazarian’s are particularly exposed. China is still the number one supplier of electronic products to the US, with imports totalling $146bn (£112bn) in 2023, according to official data.

Meanwhile, 87% of US video game console imports came from China that year, 78% of smartphones, 79% of laptops and tablets, and two-thirds of monitors, says the CTA.

While many American companies like Austere have diversified their supply chains away from China since Mr Trump’s first term, countries such as Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam still do not offer the same manufacturing capabilities and expertise.

At the same time, the US president is now targeting Mexico – another major electronics supplier. And while domestic manufacturing in the US has increased, partly due to tariffs, it is still limited by higher costs and stricter regulations.

“Yes, Apple now makes some iPhones in India and [the Taiwanese chipmaker] TSMC has been diversifying to Arizona,” says Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington DC.

“But China is still a massive part of the supply chain. Relationships with new suppliers take time to develop, they are costly to develop.”

Research suggests that companies pass on a large proportion of the costs of tariffs by putting up prices. Earlier this month Corie Barry, boss of US electronics retailer Best Buy, said that the “the vast majority” of the new tariffs will “probably be passed on to the consumer” because vendors in the industry have such small margins.

In February, Taiwanese firm Acer said the price of its laptops would likely rise by 10% based on the 10% duties in place on China at the time, while US group HP has warned its profits would be lower because of the tariffs.

Ms Ghazarian says she may have to raise her prices this year, but worries it could backfire. “There is a price point where the customer is satisfied with the value of goods provided.

“The moment I shift above that I start to lose customers. High inflation has squeezed Americans.”

During Mr Trump’s first term, companies such as Apple successfully secured exemptions for products, and we may yet see carve-outs.

Insiders have also suggested Mr Trump views tariffs as a negotiating tactic and could ease them if he wins concessions, as he did when China agreed to buy more American goods in a deal reached in 2020.

Fears of a US economic slowdown could also make him change course.

For the time being, though, tensions look likely to escalate. China, Mexico and Canada have vowed to retaliate against any US duties imposed on them, and this week Mr Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium only to row back at the last minute.

He plans to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on the rest of the world soon, and threatened tariff increases of up to 60% on Chinese goods while on the campaign trail.

There is a risk this could drive up the price of tech goods around the world if China is forced to relocate manufacturing to countries where labour costs are higher. Moreover, countries may hit back with tariffs on imported US technology.

Ms Ghazarian says she is worried but at least she’s prepared this time. Like many other US business-owners she bulk-ordered extra inventory before Mr Trump took office, and is storing it in her east coast warehouse.

She hopes that will get the company through the next year until it can “pivot” again.

“That might mean finding a more cost-effective way to produce the product or doing something completely different. It’s frustrating I have to focus on survival rather than growing my business.”

Catholics around the world are marking the 12th anniversary of Pope Francis’s election as pontiff by praying for his recovery.

Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital for almost a month. He is being treated for double pneumonia and other infections, and has suffered several respiratory crises, which raised concerns about his survival.

Latest bulletins from the Vatican have said the 88-year-old is stable after a chest X-ray confirmed “improvements” in his condition in recent days.

But they said his condition was still complex and that he required further hospital treatment. It is not clear when he will be allowed to leave.

“The clinical condition of the Holy Father has remained stable in the context of an overall complex medical picture,” according to a statement published by Vatican News.

“The chest X-ray performed [on Tuesday] has radiologically confirmed the improvements observed in the previous days,” it said.

The Pope has not been seen in public since his admission to hospital and no photographs have been released.

But earlier this month, an audio recording of him speaking in his native Spanish was played in St Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

His voice, as he thanked the faithful for their rosary prayers for his health, was breathless and weak.

In recent days, the Pope has joined spiritual exercises of prayers and meditation held at the Vatican via video link, without being seen.

In a break with tradition, the Holy See has provided daily updates at Francis’s own request.

He has been receiving non-invasive oxygen therapy, administered by nasal tubes during the day and via a mask at night.

His illness has changed the tenor of the way Catholics are celebrating his anniversary.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, a senior Vatican official known to be close to Francis, called the occasion “a reason for gratitude”.

“This year, his illness makes us especially grateful to God,… redoubling our prayers for his full recovery,” the Cardinal said.

Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is the first pope from the Americas.

In his native Argentina, churches across the country will hold masses of thanksgiving to mark the anniversary. The services will also include prayers for his health.

Father Claudio, who was visiting St Peter’s Square from Angola, said: “The situation that we find the Holy Father in, that he is so ill, truly it is a very great worry at this moment.”

He added: “We’re praying for the Holy Father that he is returned to full health.”

Arianna, a student from Piacenza in Italy, said she was “really happy” that the Pope was getting better.

“I was really upset when I heard he was ill, because he’s a very important figure for everyone. I was really concerned about him.”

The Pope, who has been known to work himself to exhaustion, is likely to face a long road to recovery.

There has been speculation that he could choose to follow his predecessor Benedict XVI and resign the papacy. But his friends and biographers have insisted he has no plans to step down.

2025 is a Catholic Holy Year, with 32 million pilgrims expected to come to Rome.

Francis has also been planning at least one foreign trip to Turkey for the celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of a major Christian council of bishops in ancient Nicaea.

Despite his fragile health, he has continued his work from hospital.

“Happy anniversary, Pope Francis,” the Italian Catholic writer Andrea Tornielli wrote on Vatican News.

“We look with affection and hope at the windows of the 10th floor of Gemelli Hospital,” he said.

He thanked Pope Francis for “that still feeble voice of his that has joined the Rosary in St Peter’s Square in recent days – a fragile voice that continues to implore peace and not war, dialogue and not oppression, compassion and not indifference.”

“We still need your voice so much,” he said.

Hours of talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday ended with a joint US-Ukraine statement backing an American-proposed 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia.

Trump administration officials see this as a major breakthrough towards the foreign policy goals of a leader who campaigned on a promise to end the war.

For Ukraine, the joint announcement amounts to a critical reprieve for President Volodymyr Zelensky after a humiliating attack in the Oval Office a fortnight ago by Trump and Vice-President JD Vance.

For Moscow, it shifts the onus to them, while the war itself intensifies.

But so far only one side in the war – the one dependent on the Americans – has signed up. And the proposal is only eight paragraphs long, with meagre details beyond the desire to rapidly press ahead.

So does it make a ceasefire plausible? And if so, can it end the war after Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago in a just and sustainable way, and on terms that keep the region and the world safe?

Statement:

Analysis: The key word here is “immediate,” which doesn’t leave any doubt: Trump wants the guns to fall silent now. His sense of urgency, however, has often led to concerns in Europe.

Many fear that rushing the desired outcome without first working out the terms takes the military pressure off Moscow as the invading power and could lead to a truce being exploited.

They argue it empowers the occupying force.

The fear is of ultimately leading Ukraine into an effective surrender. The theory is that Russia – the bigger, more populous and militarily more self-sufficient power – could use a truce without first establishing concessions to consolidate its forces, string out a negotiation process and wait to see what happens politically for Trump during his term while it holds on to everything it seized; and even then try to take more ground, building on its current occupation and potentially using a fracture in the Western alliance to threaten more of Europe.

The process of negotiating terms before a ceasefire in conflicts can be important to ensure the sides convert current military threats into meaningful strategic gains.

Zelensky has previously tried to persuade the Americans that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted, evidenced by the fact he broke the European-backed Minsk agreements after seizing Ukrainian territory in 2014.

Trump dismisses these concerns, saying there will be security for Ukraine, but without saying how this will be assured. He has said Putin will be deterred and is in a difficult position with “no choice” but to make a deal for reasons that “only I know”.

Rubio said on Tuesday the US delegation had substantive discussions with the Ukrainians on a permanent end to the war, including “what type of guarantees they’re going to have for their long-term security and prosperity”, but again didn’t elaborate.

Statement:

Analysis: This is the big win for Zelensky in this agreement and sees US weapons supplies being delivered at a rate of around $2bn (£1.5bn)-worth a month, restored.

Critically, it also means Washington will once again share its intelligence data and satellite pictures with Kyiv, which helps it target Russian positions. The White House said it suspended this aid because it felt Zelensky wasn’t “committed” to Trump’s peace plan.

The Ukrainian leader had tried to voice his concerns based on some of the reasons above when he was ejected from the Oval Office. His reservations are likely being set aside while he welcomes the agreement in this form – a necessary price to pay to restore US security assistance.

• Ukraine ceasefire plan live updates
• US set to present 30-day ceasefire offer to Russia

Statement:

Analysis: This paragraph is confusing because it’s unclear whether it refers to negotiations between Ukraine and the US on establishing any security guarantees for Ukraine, or if it refers to negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to permanently end the war once a ceasefire is under way.

If it is the former, it appears to suggest that Washington and Kyiv will hammer out any decisions on how to back up Ukraine’s security and deter Russian breaches of a truce, and the US will then discuss these with Moscow.

But it is all a far cry from the kind of security guarantee Zelensky ultimately wanted, which was membership of Nato, which Trump has said won’t happen – a major long-term concession to Moscow’s demands.

The paragraph also contains a vague and lukewarm reference to the idea of European peacekeepers, which have been pitched by the UK and France, with the line attributed only to the Ukrainian delegation.

It’s notable that the US appears not to be putting its name to this part after Moscow categorically rejected the idea.

Statement:

Analysis: This was the agreement that never got signed after Zelensky was told to leave the White House last month.

It would give the US a future stake in some of Ukraine’s state-owned mineral deposits, as well as oil and gas revenues.

Trump sees it as an effective security guarantee for Ukraine, arguing it would deter Russian re-invasion because American companies would be on the ground.

Opponents point out this is meaningless because US economic presence in Ukraine didn’t deter Putin in 2014 or 2022.

Statement:

Analysis: This is a key line that might help explain Zelenky’s rehabilitation in the eyes of the White House.

Vance had castigated him in the Oval Office for not thanking Trump, even though the Ukrainian leader has thanked the US dozens of times for its military support.

Now Trump has an official Ukrainian thank you, on a piece of paper meant to make peace.

US officials are headed to Russia to discuss a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, according to President Donald Trump.

The news comes after Ukrainian officials agreed to a 30-day ceasefire following a highly anticipated meeting with American officials in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the “ball is truly in their [Russia’s] court” and that the US believes the only way to end the fighting is through peace negotiations.

The Kremlin has said it was studying the ceasefire proposal, and that a phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is possible.

Following the meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky said it was now up to the US to convince Russia to agree to the “positive” proposal.

Speaking alongside Ireland’s Taoiseach – or Prime Minister – Micheál Martin in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said he had received “positive messages” about the possibility of a ceasefire.

“But a positive message means nothing,” he said. “This is a very serious situation.”

Trump did not specify which officials were travelling to Moscow.

However, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House that National Security Secretary Mike Waltz had spoken to his Russian counterpart.

• UK helped Ukraine and US reach ceasefire deal – government sources
• US set to present 30-day ceasefire offer to Russia

Earlier this week, a source familiar told the BBC that Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff would head to Moscow for negotiations following the talks in Jeddah.

The White House confirmed the plans on Wednesday.

“We urge the Russians to sign on to this plan. This is the closest we have been to peace in this war,” Leavitt said.

The Kremlin has said it is studying the proposed ceasefire and further details, which spokesman Dmitry Peskov said will come “via various channels” over the course of the next several days.

In the Oval Office, Trump said that he believes a ceasefire would make sense for Russia, adding – without further details – that there is a “lot of downside to Russia” as well.

“We have a very complex situation solved on one side. Pretty much solved. We’ve also discussed land and other things that go with it,” Trump added. “We know the areas of land we’re talking about, whether it’s pull back or not pull back.”

To pressure Russia, Trump said that he “can do things financially”.

“That would be very bad for Russia,” he said. “I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace.”

The meeting in Jeddah was the first between US and Ukrainian officials since a 28 February meeting between Zelensky, Trump and Vice President JD Vance descended into a shouting match and, ultimately, a pause in US military assistance and intelligence sharing.

The pause was lifted following the meeting in Jeddah, and Trump said that he believes that the “difficult” Ukrainian side and Zelensky now want peace.

Even as negotiations over a potential ceasefire are ongoing, fighting has raged in Ukraine.

Russian drones and missiles reportedly struck targets in Kryvyy Rih – Zelensky’s hometown – overnight, as well as in the port city of Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv.

Clashes also continued in Russia’s Kursk region, where Peskov said Russian troops were “successfully advancing” and recapturing areas held by Ukrainian forces.

And later on Wednesday, the Kremlin said President Putin had visited a command post in the region. He was shown in footage released by the Kremlin walking alongside his military chief Valery Gerasimov, with both men wearing combat gear.

It marked the Russian president’s first visit to the region since Ukraine’s incursion across the border in August last year.

Russian media report that President Putin ordered the military to “fully liberate” the region during the visit. He is yet to comment on the ceasefire proposal agreed by Ukraine and the US on Tuesday.

The head of Ukraine’s military, Oleksandr Syrsky, also indicated on Wednesday that some of its troops were withdrawing from Kursk. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, he said: “In the most difficult situation, my priority has been and remains saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.”

Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 71-year-old former mafia boss on a motorway near Grenoble in south-eastern France.

Jean-Pierre Maldera, described by French media as a “godfather” of the local mafia in the 1980s, was reportedly chased in his car and shot as he travelled up the A41 motorway on Wednesday morning.

The shooters fled the scene and the burnt-out remains of the stolen Renault Megane car they were driving was found in a Grenoble parking lot shortly after.

His death comes ten years after the disappearance of his younger brother, Robert Maldera, another mafia boss reportedly nicknamed “the madman” by members of Grenoble’s criminal underworld.

Regional newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré reported Maldera left the BMW he was driving and attempted to escape on foot across the motorway.

He was chased and killed by the assailants in the attack involving three or four gunmen, local media said.

They are reported to have used a military-grade weapon, such as a Kalashnikov rifle, to carry out the killing.

Maldera is reported to have been a key figure in the so-called “Italo-Grenoblois” mafia group during the 1980s and 1990s, along with his brother Robert.

In 2004, the pair were found guilty of a series of offences linked to organised crime, though they were released the following year due to an administrative error, according to the French media.

However, this was not the first time Maldera had been convicted. He had a rap sheet stretching back to the 1970s, according to French regional media outlet France 3.

But Maldera appeared to opt for a quieter life after his release from prison in the early 2000s, with AFP news agency reporting the authorities did not hear of him again until his shooting this week.

It is not clear if Maldera was still involved in criminal activity at the time of his death.

His brother Robert disappeared in 2015 at the age of 55.

He went missing after attending a meeting on the outskirts of Grenoble. His car was discovered two months later in a parking lot nearby.

A source who had investigated the Maldera brothers told France 3 that Jean-Pierre had been the brain behind their schemes, while Robert had been the brawn.

Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent figure during the Gaza war protests at Columbia University in the spring of 2024, has drawn global attention after the Trump administration arrested and moved to deport him.

The case has raised questions about free speech on college campuses and the legal process that would allow for the deportation of a US permanent resident.

Mr Khalil will remain in detention in Louisiana following a court hearing on Wednesday, where lawyers argued over whether he should be moved back to New York.

Born in Syria, the Columbia graduate’s arrest by immigration agents was linked to President Donald Trump’s promise to crack down on student demonstrators he accuses of “un-American activity”.

Trump has repeatedly alleged that pro-Palestinian activists, including Mr Khalil, support Hamas, a group designated a terrorist organisation by the US. The president argues these protesters should be deported and called Mr Khalil’s arrest “the first of many to come”.

The 30-year-old’s lawyers say he was exercising free speech rights to demonstrate in support of Palestinians in Gaza and against US support for Israel. They accused the government of “open repression of student activism and political speech”.

Born in Syria to Palestinian refugees, Mr Khalil earned a degree in computer science from the Lebanese American University before working with the Syrian-American non-profit Jusoor.

More recently, he managed the Syria Chevening Programme for the British Embassy in Beirut, offering scholarships for study in the UK, according to his biography on the Society for International Development website.

The UK Foreign Office said Mr Khalil stopped work there more than two years ago.

Mr Khalil moved to the US in 2022, where he earned a master’s degree at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He has since married an American woman, who is eight months pregnant, and initially faced arrest threats herself, according to his lawyer.

Mr Khalil’s role in Columbia’s 2024 protests placed him in the public eye. On the front lines of negotiations, he played a role in mediating between university officials and the activists and students who attended the protests.

Activists supporting Israel have accused Mr Khalil of being a leader of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (Cuad), a student group that demanded, among other things, the university to divest from its financial ties to Israel and a ceasefire in Gaza.

Mr Khalil has denied that he led the group, telling the Associated Press (AP) that he only served as a spokesperson for protesters and as a mediator with the university.

After Mr Khalil’s arrest the Department of Homeland Security accused him of “leading activities aligned to Hamas” but did not provide further details.

On Tuesday, the White House alleged that he had organised protests where pro-Hamas propaganda was distributed. His lawyers responded that there was no evidence that he had provided support of any kind to US-designated terror groups.

“They’re trying to make an example of him to chill others from making similar speech,” Samah Sisay told the AP.

Some Jewish students at Columbia have said the protests veered into antisemitism and made them feel unsafe on campus.

The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association said Mr Khalil had “spent over a year abusing the privileges this country and Columbia gave him”.

The Trump administration recently cut $400m in funding to the university over what it said was “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students”.

Students affiliated with Cuad and the protests have rejected these characterisations, and many Jewish students and groups participated in the campus rallies.

Columbia was just one college campus that played host to mass student protests over the war in Gaza. And activists say they fear the Trump administration will continue to target protesters who are not US citizens.

Legal experts say green card holders can be deported on national security grounds, but add that the case against Mr Khalil is unprecedented.

“Targeting individual protesters just for protesting… is highly unusual and something that we haven’t seen before, even under the first Trump administration,” said Jacob Hamburger, a visiting assistant professor at Cornell Law School.

Amid the protests early last year, Mr Khalil was briefly suspended from the university, after police swarmed the campus following the occupation of a building.

At the time, he told the BBC that while he was acting as a key protest negotiator with Columbia officials, he had not participated directly in the student encampment because he was worried it could affect his student visa.

It is unclear when he obtained his green card, which provides permanent residency.

“[They said] that after reviewing the evidence, they don’t have any evidence to suspend (me),” he said in an interview in early May. “It shows how random the suspension was … they did that randomly, and without due process.”

At the time he said he would continue protesting, but more recently, Mr Khalil’s wife said her husband had grown worried about deportation, after facing online attacks that “were simply not based in reality”. She said he sent Columbia University an email asking for urgent legal help on 7 March, the day before immigration agents arrested him.

Mr Khalil’s arrest has sparked demonstrations in New York City, where Columbia is located. On Monday, hundreds of people gathered at a Manhattan protest, including students and professors from Columbia University.

Donna Lieberman, president of New York Civil Liberties Union, called the attempted deportation of Mr Khalil “targeted retaliation and an extreme attack on the First Amendment”. New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was “extremely concerned”.

The American Civil Liberties Union called the arrest “unprecedented” and “obviously intended to intimidate and chill speech on one side of a public debate”

“The federal government is claiming the authority to deport people with deep ties to the US and revoke their green cards for advocating positions that the government opposes,” it said.

The White House has continued to defend its move.

“This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organisations that have killed Americans,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary.

Deena Ghazarian had only been in business for a year when the trade policies of President Donald Trump’s first term of office sent her company into a tailspin.

It was 2019 and her California-based firm, Austere, had just agreed to supply several big US retailers with its high-end audio and video accessories that are largely manufactured in China.

Then Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on China, and overnight Deena found herself paying a 25% surcharge on every cable and component she imported – up from zero previously.

She was forced to absorb the costs and for a while thought she would go bust.

“I literally thought I am going to start and end a business in less than a year,” she says. “I had spent all this time, money and effort, and to have something like this blindside you was shocking.”

The firm pulled through, but like numerous other US businesses it now finds itself in a strikingly similar situation.

Since returning to office in January, Mr Trump has raised tariffs on all goods imported from China by 20%, and put taxes of 25% on Canadian and Mexican products, only to delay some of them until April.

The president says he wants to force these countries to do more to stop flows of illegal drugs and migrants into America, to bring more manufacturing back to the US, and to address what he sees as unfair trade imbalances.

But the duties are much broader in scope than last time, when they were phased in gradually and many products were granted exemptions.

Goods like smartphones, desktop computers and tablets are now incurring tariffs for the first time, while taxes on others have climbed higher.

“US importers have to pay these taxes not the exporters,” says Ed Brzytwa, vice president of international trade at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), a North American trade body that represents more than 1,200 tech firms.

“It’s American businesses and consumers who will suffer.”

Businesses like Ms Ghazarian’s are particularly exposed. China is still the number one supplier of electronic products to the US, with imports totalling $146bn (£112bn) in 2023, according to official data.

Meanwhile, 87% of US video game console imports came from China that year, 78% of smartphones, 79% of laptops and tablets, and two-thirds of monitors, says the CTA.

While many American companies like Austere have diversified their supply chains away from China since Mr Trump’s first term, countries such as Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam still do not offer the same manufacturing capabilities and expertise.

At the same time, the US president is now targeting Mexico – another major electronics supplier. And while domestic manufacturing in the US has increased, partly due to tariffs, it is still limited by higher costs and stricter regulations.

“Yes, Apple now makes some iPhones in India and [the Taiwanese chipmaker] TSMC has been diversifying to Arizona,” says Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington DC.

“But China is still a massive part of the supply chain. Relationships with new suppliers take time to develop, they are costly to develop.”

Research suggests that companies pass on a large proportion of the costs of tariffs by putting up prices. Earlier this month Corie Barry, boss of US electronics retailer Best Buy, said that the “the vast majority” of the new tariffs will “probably be passed on to the consumer” because vendors in the industry have such small margins.

In February, Taiwanese firm Acer said the price of its laptops would likely rise by 10% based on the 10% duties in place on China at the time, while US group HP has warned its profits would be lower because of the tariffs.

Ms Ghazarian says she may have to raise her prices this year, but worries it could backfire. “There is a price point where the customer is satisfied with the value of goods provided.

“The moment I shift above that I start to lose customers. High inflation has squeezed Americans.”

During Mr Trump’s first term, companies such as Apple successfully secured exemptions for products, and we may yet see carve-outs.

Insiders have also suggested Mr Trump views tariffs as a negotiating tactic and could ease them if he wins concessions, as he did when China agreed to buy more American goods in a deal reached in 2020.

Fears of a US economic slowdown could also make him change course.

For the time being, though, tensions look likely to escalate. China, Mexico and Canada have vowed to retaliate against any US duties imposed on them, and this week Mr Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium only to row back at the last minute.

He plans to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on the rest of the world soon, and threatened tariff increases of up to 60% on Chinese goods while on the campaign trail.

There is a risk this could drive up the price of tech goods around the world if China is forced to relocate manufacturing to countries where labour costs are higher. Moreover, countries may hit back with tariffs on imported US technology.

Ms Ghazarian says she is worried but at least she’s prepared this time. Like many other US business-owners she bulk-ordered extra inventory before Mr Trump took office, and is storing it in her east coast warehouse.

She hopes that will get the company through the next year until it can “pivot” again.

“That might mean finding a more cost-effective way to produce the product or doing something completely different. It’s frustrating I have to focus on survival rather than growing my business.”

A long convoy of armoured personnel tanks rolling through a Harare neighbourhood sparked concerns – for a brief moment – that a military coup was afoot in Zimbabwe.

“What’s going on in Zimbabwe?” one person posted on social media. Another said: “The last time this happened there was a coup.”

Government spokesman Nick Mangwana was quick to allay the public’s fears, explaining the tanks were in the capital that mid-February morning as part of a scheduled exercise to test equipment and were “nothing to be concerned about”.

Yet the chatter and speculation continued, revealing much about the state of the country.

Ahead of the routine military drill, President Emmerson Mnangagwa had, for the first time since becoming president in 2017, faced harsh criticism about his leadership from within his Zanu-PF party with calls for him to step down.

The accusations evoked memories of the lead-up to the coup that toppled his predecessor, long-time leader Robert Mugabe.

He had come to power in 1980 as the revolutionary hero who ended decades of white-minority rule. But his demise was heralded when veterans of the 1970s war of independence withdrew their support for him.

It was a war veteran and senior Zanu-PF member named Blessed Geza, also known as “Bombshell”, who launched a verbal offensive against Mnangagwa.

He became angered when some within the party began pushing to change the country’s laws to allow for the president to seek a third term.

In a series of often expletive-laden press conferences, gritty-voiced and with a furrowed forehead, he repeatedly called on the 82-year-old president to go or face being removed.

“I must apologise for helping him come into office,” said Geza in one press conference aired on social media about the president, who goes by the nickname “The Crocodile”.

“As soon as he [Mnangagwa] had the taste of power, he escalated corruption, forgot the people and only remembered his family,” said the outspoken war veteran, who was then a member of Zanu-PF’s powerful central committee.

“Mnangagwa has also surrendered state power to his wife and children. We sadly see history repeating itself. We can’t allow that to happen.”

Zanu-PF was outraged by his “disloyal” remarks – later described as “amounting to treason” – forcing Bombshell into hiding from where, through his representatives, he continues to make taunts via social media, hinting at protests.

He is wanted by the police on four charges, including vehicle theft, undermining the authority of the president and inciting public violence.

Blessed Mhlanga, the journalist who first interviewed Bombshell back in November, has also been arrested on charges of transmitting a message that incites violence.

Trouble began brewing over Mnangagwa’s ambitions to stay in office during Zanu-PF rallies last year. The president is currently serving his second and final term, which expires in 2028.

The slogan “2030 he will still be the leader” began to be uttered by his supporters despite Zimbabwe’s constitution limiting presidential terms to two five-year terms.

They argued that he would need to remain in office to complete his “Agenda 2030” development programme as he was doing such great work.

A motion was then adopted unanimously at Zanu-PF’s conference in December that did not explicitly speak of a third term but sought to extend Mnangagwa’s existing term until 2030.

Despite a recent assurance from Mnangagwa that he did intend to step down in three years, the influential Roman Catholic bishops have become involved.

In a pastoral letter last week, Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops Conference warned that the 2030 debate was a distraction from the things that truly mattered – business closures, high unemployment, rampant corruption and economic policies that favour the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Zimbabweans.

Presidential spokesman George Charamba expressed his disappointment about the clerics’ pronouncement, telling the state-run Herald newspaper the matter was now “dead and buried”.

Nonetheless, Bombshell’s message seems to have landed. It has resulted in a purge in Zanu-PF, with the expulsion of Geza and some of his allies.

Yet political analyst Takura Zhangazha says Geza’s outburst is unlikely to galvanise crowds to his cause.

These days people are less interested in such political spectacles, he says, unlike at the time of Mugabe’s downfall when Zimbabweans, including opposition party supporters, turned out en masse to support the coup – thanking the military and the war veterans.

“Even that attempt by Geza to talk about corruption and the plight of the workers – it’s not going to get people riled up, organising, mobilising. They don’t have that capacity or interest any more,” he tells the BBC.

“I can promise you there’s no repeat of 2017 before 2028,” he said, adding that Zimbabweans feel they were used in the ousting of Mugabe and would not be brought out on the streets again for Zanu-PF’s internal battles.

This is also because there are splits across the political landscape, including a weak opposition.

Even the war veterans do not represent a united front, Mr Zhangazha says.

Geza has previously voiced support in the succession debate for Vice-President Constantine Chiwenga, the 68-year-old former army chief, but other war veterans are known to back the 2030 agenda.

Political analyst Alexander Rusero says it is important to understand the war veterans’ influential role in both Zimbabwe and Zanu-PF.

“They see themselves as caretakers, so you can’t wish away their sentiments,” he tells the BBC.

However, he believes that the current grievances aired by the likes of Bombshell are prompted more by self-regard than public interest.

“They feel as if they are excluded from the cake that they should otherwise be enjoying,” he tells the BBC.

Mr Zhangazha agrees that those who show loyalty within the governing party are likely to benefit from things like tenders, government contracts, access to housing, land and agricultural inputs such as fertiliser and seeds.

For Jameson Timba, the leader of a faction of the main opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), it all sums up the state of politics in Zimbabwe.

“You have a country where the economic situation is deteriorating. People can hardly afford more than one meal a day,” he told the BBC.

“We have major supermarket chains which are literally closing down,” he said, referencing the economic woes facing OK Zimbabwe, one of the country’s biggest retailers that has been forced to close several big branches with empty shelves in others.

Mr Zhangazha noted the forecast for the fragile economy looks even more grim thanks to the fallout from the recent suspension of USAID.

Timba is still recovering from a five-month stint in jail, spending most of his incarceration sitting on a concrete floor, sharing a cell and toilet with 80 people.

He was arrested in June, along with more than 70 others, for hosting an “unlawful meeting” at his private residence when he held a barbeque to mark the International Day of the African Child.

His treatment – and those of his fellow detainees – reflected how opposition politics was being criminalised, he told the BBC.

“The country is facing challenges. Any leader or government worth his salt would actually call for an early election, to check and determine whether they still have the mandate of the people,” he said.

“To do the opposite represents a joke essentially [when] you’re talking about extending a term of office.”

However, there is little chance of an early vote.

For now, Bombshell remains in hiding and the elections are years away – but the succession debate will keep cooking.

• Farce turning to tragedy for Zimbabwe’s opposition
• The man determined to wrestle Zimbabwe’s ‘crocodile’
• I cannot forgive Mugabe’s soldiers – massacre survivor
• Is Zimbabwe zigzagging into further currency chaos?
• Digging riverbeds in Zimbabwe in desperate search for water

Greenland’s centre-right opposition has won a surprise general election victory – in a vote dominated by independence and US President Donald Trump’s pledge to take over the semi-autonomous territory.

The Democratic party, which favours a gradual approach to independence from Denmark – achieved around 30% of the vote, near-complete results show.

“Greenland needs us to stand together in a time of great interest from outside,” party leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen told local media. “There is a need for unity, so we will enter into negotiations with everyone.”

His party will now have to negotiate with other parties in order to form a coalition.

Greenland – the world’s biggest island, between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans – has been controlled by Denmark, nearly 3,000km (1,860 miles) away, for about 300 years.

Greenland governs its own domestic affairs, but decisions on foreign and defence policy are made in Copenhagen.

Five of the six main parties in the election favour independence from Copenhagen, but disagree over the pace with which to reach it.

• Greenland’s election: Why does it matter and how does it work?
• Greenland’s vote pivotal for Arctic territory’s future
• Why does Trump want Greenland?

The Democratic party, whose vote was up by more than 20% on 2021, is considered a moderate party on independence.

Another opposition party, Naleraq, which is looking to immediately kick off the independence process and forge closer ties with the US, is on course for second place with almost a quarter of the vote.

Support for Naleraq was boosted ahead of the vote by the decision of one of Greenland’s most popular young politicians, Aki-Matilda Hoegh-Dam, to switch from one of the ruling parties. She came second only to Democrats leader Jens Frederik Nielsen in the popular vote.

“It’s the second biggest party, so you can’t avoid them,” Nielsen told local reporters. “But we don’t want to rule out the other parties beforehand.”

The two current governing parties, Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) and Siumut, are heading for third and fourth place – marking an upset for Prime Minister Mute B Egede.

More than 40,000 Greenlanders out of a population of 57,000 were eligible to cast their votes to elect 31 MPs, as well as the local government. Six parties were on the ballot.

The voting took place at 72 polling stations scattered across the vast island.

“The Democrats need a supporting partner to be able to have a majority,” says Maria Ackren from the University of Greenland. “It would say it can be either Naleraq or Inuit Ataqatigiit. It’s up to the Democrats to try to figure out what they want.”

Since 2009 Greenland has had the right to call an independence referendum.

Although Naleraq is pushing for a vote within a few years, Jens-Frederik Nielsen’s party favours a gradual approach towards independence, focusing first on making self-government a success.

Prof Ackren believes the Democrats won, partly because Greenlanders wanted a change of government, but also because they were unhappy with new fisheries laws and other domestic issues.

Independence is seen as the end goal for most Greenlanders, but not before reforms have been made to the economy, health and other sectors, she says.

Greenland’s strategic location and untapped mineral resources have caught President Trump’s eye in particular. He first floated the idea of buying the island during his first term in 2019.

Since taking office again in January, Trump has reiterated his intention to acquire the territory.

“We need Greenland for national security. One way or the other we’re gonna get it,” he said during his address to the US Congress last week.

Greenland and Denmark’s leaders have repeatedly rebuffed his demands.

The leader of the Democrats said Greenland needed to adopt a calm course with the US. He told public broadcaster KNR that while big developments were happening globally, they should stand together and speak with one voice.

Ineos Automotive, the vehicle maker owned by multi-billionaire businessman and Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has recalled more than 7,000 of its sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in the US.

The recall centres on latches that may not engage properly, which could lead to the doors on Grenadier SUVs opening while being driven “increasing the risk of injury to passengers inside the vehicle.”

To fix the problem, Ineos says it will replace all door button assemblies on the affected vehicles, free of charge.

The recall is the latest issue faced by the car company, which last year had to temporarily pause manufacturing after one of its parts suppliers became insolvent.

The recall affects Ineos’ Grenadier SUVs produced between 6 July 2023 and 19 April 2024.

The door button mechanism on affected vehicles may have been assembled without enough grease in them, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) filing.

“This may allow the exterior door buttons to remain in the depressed position and prevent the door from fully latching,” the document said.

Launched in 2022, the Grenadier was the first vehicle produced by Ineos Automotive. It is inspired by the iconic Land Rover Defender.

Sir Jim’s decision to start the car company was motivated by his disappointment over Jaguar Land Rover’s decision to stop making the Defender.

In 2020, the entrepreneur, who had campaigned for Leave in the run-up to the 2016 Brexit referendum, announced that the vehicle would be assembled in France, putting an end to hopes that it would be made at a plant in Wales.

According to the company, there are currently about 20,000 Grenadiers on the road in 50 countries around the world.

Ineos Automotive lost more than 1.4 billion euros (£1.1bn, $1.5bn) before tax in 2023, according to a filing with the UK registry Companies House.

Sir Jim, who is one of the UK’s richest people, owns a 27.7% stake in Manchester United.

The Prince of Wales will make his first visit to Estonia at the end of next week to meet British troops providing a deterrent to Russian aggression in the region.

Prince William will travel in his role as colonel-in-chief of the Mercian Regiment to learn more about how British troops are bolstering Nato’s eastern flank, Kensington Palace said.

He will also carry out engagements in Estonia’s capital city Tallinn to see how the country, a Nato member, has responded to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and how it is innovating in renewable energy and technology.

News of the visit comes at a pivotal time for the war in Ukraine as the US prepares to present a proposed 30-day ceasefire to Russia.

British forces are deployed to Estonia and Poland under Operation Cabrit, the UK’s contribution to Nato’s efforts to counter Russian aggression in the Baltic states.

The official visit to Estonia has been planned for several months but it now feels especially timely.

Royal sources see the trip as part of the “evolution of Prince William as a global statesman” and describe it as a serious trip for him where “he is showing his support for the leadership in the UK and the troops we have based at the fringes of Russia”.

Those working with the prince say he is increasingly comfortable in this world of soft diplomacy and believe he has something of value to add.

They cite the role he played when he met US President Donald Trump in Paris in December, and when he represented the UK alongside other global leaders during the commemorations to mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day last June.

In Estonia, Prince William will be there professionally as a future commander in chief of the Armed Forces and personally as a former soldier.

As ever, it is a delicate, diplomatic line to tread.

While in Estonia, Prince William will meet Ukrainian families displaced by the war.

After his father King Charles met Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky at Sandringham just over a week ago, it is further public support from the royal family for those dealing with the conflict and experiencing its consequences.

King Charles met Zelensky after the Ukrainian president attended a summit of European leaders in London.

Estonia shares a border with Russia and has been a key supporter of Ukraine during the war.

Last month, the country and two other Baltic states – Latvia and Lithuania – unplugged from Russia’s electricity grid and joined the European Union’s network.

During his election campaign last year, Donald Trump promised Americans he would usher in a new era of prosperity.

Now two months into his presidency, he’s painting a slightly different picture.

He has warned that it will be hard to bring down prices and the public should be prepared for a “little disturbance” before he can bring back wealth to the US.

Meanwhile, even as the latest figures indicate inflation is easing, analysts say the odds of a downturn are increasing, pointing to his policies.

So is Trump about to trigger a recession in the world’s largest economy?

In the US, a recession is defined as a prolonged and widespread decline in economic activity typically characterised by a jump in unemployment and fall in incomes.

A chorus of economic analysts have warned in recent days that the risks of such a scenario are rising.

A JP Morgan report put the chance of recession at 40%, up from 30% at the start of the year, warning that US policy was “tilting away from growth”, while Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, upped the odds from 15% to 35%, citing tariffs.

The forecasts came as the S&P 500, which tracks 500 of the biggest companies in the US sank sharply. It has now fallen to its lowest level since September in a sign of fears about the future.

The market turmoil is being driven partly by concerns about new taxes on imports, called tariffs, which Trump has introduced since he took office.

He has hit products from America’s three biggest trade partners with the new duties, and threatened them more widely in moves that analysts believe will increase prices and curb growth.

The latest official inflation figures in the US showed the rate of price increases cooling in February, however.

Prices were up 2.8% over the 12 months to February, down from 3% in January, the Labor Department said.

Still, Trump and his economic advisers have been warning the public to be prepared for some economic pain, while appearing to dismiss the market concerns – a marked change from his first term, when he frequently cited the stock market as a measure of his own success.

“There will always be changes and adjustments,” he said last week, in response to pleas from businesses for more certainty.

The posture has increased investor worries about his plans.

Goldman Sachs last week raised its recession bets from 15% to 20%, saying it saw policy changes as “the key risk” to the economy. But it noted that the White House still had “the option to pull back if the downside risks begin to look more serious”.

“If the White House remained committed to its policies even in the face of much worse data, recession risk would rise further,” the firm’s analysts warned.

For many firms, the biggest question mark is tariffs, which raise costs for US businesses by putting taxes on imports. As Trump unveils tariff plans, many companies are now facing lower profit margins, while holding off on investments and hiring as they try to figure out what the future will look like.

Investors are also worried about big cuts to the government workforce and government spending.

Brian Gardner, chief of Washington policy strategy at the investment bank Stifel, said businesses and investors had thought Trump intended tariffs as a negotiating tool.

“But what the president and his cabinet are signalling is actually a bigger deal. It’s a restructuring of the American economy,” he said. “And that’s what’s been driving markets in the last couple of weeks.”

The US economy was already undergoing a slowdown, engineered in part by the central bank, which has kept interest rates higher to try to cool activity and stabilise prices.

• What are tariffs and why is Trump using them?
• Six things that could get more expensive

In recent weeks, some data suggests a more rapid weakening.

Retail sales fell in February, confidence – which had popped after Trump’s election on several surveys of consumers and businesses – has fallen, and companies including major airlines, retailers such as Walmart and Target, and manufacturers are warning of a pullback.

Some analysts are worried a drop in the stock market could trigger a further clampdown in spending, especially among higher income households.

That could deliver a major hit to the US economy, which is driven by consumer spending and has grown increasingly dependent on those richer households, as lower income families face pressure from inflation.

The head of the US central bank, Jerome Powell, offered assurances in a speech last week, noting that sentiment had not been a good indicator of behaviour in recent years.

“Despite elevated levels of uncertainty, the US economy continues to be in a good place,” he said.

But the US economy is currently deeply linked to the rest of the world, warned Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

“The fact that tariffs could disrupt that at the same time that there were signs that the US economy was weakening anyway … is really fuelling recession fears,” she says.

The unease in the stock market isn’t all about Trump.

Investors were already jittery about the possibility of a correction, after big gains over the last two years, driven by the sharp run-up in tech stocks fuelled by investor optimism about artificial intelligence (AI).

Chipmaker Nvidia, for example, saw its share price jump from less than $15 at the start of 2023 to nearly $150 in November of last year.

That type of rise had stirred debate about an “AI bubble” – with investors on high alert for signs of it bursting, which would have a big impact on the stock market, regardless of the dynamics in the wider economy.

Now, with views of the US economy darkening, optimism about AI is getting even harder to sustain.

Tech analyst Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management wrote on social media this week that his optimism had “taken a step back” as the chance of a recession increased “measurably” over the past month.

“The bottom line is that if we enter a recession, it will be extremely difficult for the AI trade to continue,” he said.

Follow the twists and turns of Trump’s second presidential term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher’s weekly US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

A fire on an oil tanker involved in a collision in the North Sea has been extinguished.

US-registered tanker Stena Immaculate and Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong collided off the East Yorkshire coast on Monday.

Erik Hanel, chief executive of Swedish firm Stena Bulk, which co-owns the tanker, said the fire had been “very strong for a while”, adding it was still too early to understand the full impact of the collision.

Solong’s owners, the German firm Ernst Russ, said the vessel continued to emit smoke with “occasional reports of flames”.

The Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of aviation fuel spread among 18 containers of different sizes to be used by the US military.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Hanel said: “We have not got a team on board yet.

“It looks serious but how much structural damage there is we can’t be sure based on the pictures.”

He said the ship was currently anchored at sea and it was hoped a decision on what to do with it could be made over the next 24-48 hours.

“It will be easier to make those kinds of decisions once they can get a team on board to assess the damage,” he added.

Officials said that while there were no visible signs of fire on the Stena Immaculate, there were still small pockets of fire on the top deck of the Solong. Firefighting vessels were continuing to provide support.

Chief coastguard Paddy O’Callaghan said the Solong had now been towed “to a safe location”, while the Stena Immaculate remained anchored in its original position.

Three aerial surveillance flights had taken place on Wednesday and found no indication of pollution on the surface of the water attributable to either of the vessels, he added.

• BBC travels out to ‘blistered and burnt’ oil tanker

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said it was leading the safety investigation into the incident, with Portugal and the US acting as “substantially interested states”.

A spokesperson for MAIB said the investigation was focused at present on gathering witness accounts and obtaining digital data.

A detailed inspection of both vessels, along with the retrieval of data recorders, would be carried out when it was safe to do.

Following the collision, the Russian national captain of the Solong was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter following reports of a missing crew member.

Ernst Russ said it was working on plans to recover the vessel and was assisting the authorities with their investigations.

The company said its thoughts remained with the family of the missing crew member.

Humberside Police said it had begun a criminal investigation into the cause of the collision and was working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

“Detectives are continuing to conduct extensive lines of enquiry alongside partners in connection with the collision,” the force said.

Both ships caught fire after the collision, triggering a major response from emergency services.

Virginia McVea, chief executive of Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said: “There have been no further reports of pollution to the sea from either vessel beyond what was observed during the initial incident.”

HM Coastguard said 36 people had been rescued and taken safely to shore.

Grimsby-based Windcat, which provides support to offshore wind farms, assisted in the rescue operation.

The company said it had two ships in the area at the time.

“Both vessels were called to assist in the rescue operation,” a spokesperson said.

“They immediately responded and they brought around 17 people involved to safety ashore.”

Ms McVea said the agency was working with salvage companies hired by the two ship owners “to protect the public and the environment to the best of our ability, during this ongoing incident response”.

Whitehall sources have told the BBC there were Russians and Filipinos among the crew of the Solong.

It is quite common for the global shipping industry to use crews from these two countries.

The BBC understands all of the crew on board the Stena Immaculate are Americans who are currently in Grimsby and will be repatriated in due course.

Its co-owners, Florida-based Crowley, said it had been at anchor waiting for a berth to become available at the Port of Killingholme on the Humber Estuary.

The firm added the crash had caused “multiple explosions” on board and an unknown quantity of jet fuel to be released.

Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Soundslatest episode of Look North here.

Spotify paid the music industry $10bn (£7.7bn) in 2024, which the streaming service said was the highest annual payment from any single retailer in history.

But the figures come as a heated debate continues about how much money artists and songwriters receive in royalties.

Earlier this year, several Grammy-nominated songwriters boycotted an awards event hosted by Spotify in a row about their streaming earnings.

As the new figures were published, a spokesperson for Spotify said the responsibility for distributing the money it pays lay with record labels and publishers.

The company said it pays royalties to rights holders, adding that it does not have “visibility” on where the money ultimately goes because earnings are based on artists’ individual contracts with their labels.

A spokesperson said: “Spotify does not pay artists or songwriters directly. We pay rights-holders, these are typically record labels, music publishers, collection societies.

“These rights-holders then pay artists and songwriters based on their individual agreements.”

The amount of money earned by artists will vary, but a committee of MPs heard in 2021 that the performer ultimately earns about 16% of a stream’s overall value.

That would mean an artist whose music generated £100,000 on Spotify might only receive £16,000 in royalty payments, before tax.

However, Spotify is not the only streaming service to generate revenue for artists, and many pop stars make more money from other income streams such as live tours.

Spotify said more than two-thirds of all music revenue goes “straight to the recording and publishing rights-holders”, and added that, like other streamers, Spotify does not pay on a per-stream basis.

The annual figures were published in Spotify’s Loud and Clear report – part of the company’s aim to provide transparency on how it pays the music industry.

The amount Spotify paid this year was an increase on the more than $9bn (£7bn) it handed over in 2023.

The report highlighted that the number of artists generating annual royalties between $1,000 (£770) and $10m had tripled since 2017.

Taylor Swift was named Spotify’s top artist globally with more than 26 billion streams, in the year she released her double-length album The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.

Swift herself was part of the debate about streaming royalties in 2014, when she removed her music from Spotify as part of a boycott, eventually re-joining the platform in 2017.

More recent artist boycotts have generally been prompted by other factors, such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music over the streamer’s employment of podcast host Joe Rogan. Both artists returned to the platform last year.

But dissatisfaction over streaming royalties continues.

A large-scale survey of musicians in Europe carried out last year found that about 70% were unhappy with the amount they were paid in streaming revenue.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will pay $3.5bn (£2.7bn) to buy the gaming division of developer Niantic, whose titles include the hit mobile game Pokémon Go.

The game involves players walking around in the real world to hunt the collectable creatures, which appear on their phone screens using augmented reality.

Despite launching almost a decade ago, Pokémon Go is still amongst the highest-grossing mobile games in the world, with 30 million monthly players.

The deal marks the latest step by Saudi Arabia to develop its gaming industry, which it has spent billions of pounds on in recent years.

Niantic’s other games, such as Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom, are also included in the acquisition, along with the people employed to make them.

They will become part of Scopely Inc – which itself was bought by PIF subsidiary Savvy Games Group for $4.9bn in 2023.

Scopely is one of the biggest names in mobile gaming, with its most successful title, Monopoly Go, being downloaded more than 50 million times and generating more than $3bn in revenue.

Pokémon itself is jointly owned by Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures, which licensed the brand to Niantic so it could develop the game.

Ed Wu, who leads the Pokémon Go team at Niantic, said in a blog post he believed the move was “a positive step” for the game’s future.

“Pokémon Go is more than just a game to me, it’s my life’s work,” he said.

“I won’t say that Pokémon Go will remain the same, because it has always been a work in progress.

“But how we create and evolve it will remain unchanged, and I hope that we can make the experience even better.”

Saudi Arabia is becoming an increasingly powerful player in gaming.

Its PIF has stakes in some of the biggest publishers in the industry, such as Nintendo, Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive.

It has also made waves in the eSports industry, with Saudi Arabia hosting major tournaments including last year’s eSports World Cup, which had a prize pool of over $60m.

Riyadh will also host 2027’s planned Olympic eSports Games.

Saudi Arabia’s PIF has hundreds of billions in assets due to its oil wealth, which it has been investing heavily in sports such as golf, boxing and football, including a purchase of Newcastle United in a £300m deal in 2021.

It is controlled by the country’s prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose government has been accused of human rights violations.

A 2019 UN report stated that “the state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible” for the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist who was critical of the country’s government.

Saudi Arabia has always denied this.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to impose more tariffs after his latest move to introduce import taxes on steel and aluminium entering the US prompted retaliation from the European Union (EU) and Canada.

Trump said “of course” he would respond to the countermeasures, repeating his warning to reveal “reciprocal” tariffs next month on countries around the world.

“Whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them,” he said.

The threat marked a further escalation of a trade war which has rattled financial markets amid concerns over the impact on the economies and consumers in many countries around the world, including the US.

On Wednesday, Trump moved forward with a plan to widen US tariffs on steel and aluminium, imposing a blanket duty of 25% and ending exemptions that the US had previously granted for shipments from some countries.

That followed an order earlier this month that raised levies on Chinese imports into the US to at least 20%.

Trump has also threatened tariffs – which are taxes applied to goods as they enter a country – on a range of more specific items, including copper, lumber and cars.

Leaders in Canada and Europe called the new metals taxes unjustified and struck back with their own tariffs on a range of US products.

Other countries that are key US suppliers of metals, including the UK, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, held off on any immediate retaliation.

“Like everybody else, I’m disappointed to see global tariffs in relation to steel and aluminium but we will take a pragmatic approach,” said UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

“We are…negotiating a deal which covers and includes tariffs if we succeed. But we will keep all options on the table.”

Canada said from Thursday it would start charging a 25% tax on nearly C$30bn ($20bn; £16bn) worth of US products, including steel, computers and sports equipment.

Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney said he was ready to negotiate a renewed trade deal with Trump, as long as there is “respect for Canadian sovereignty”.

The EU said it would raise its levies on up to €26bn ($28bn; £22bn) worth of US goods, including boats, bourbon and motorbikes, from 1 April.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen said the response was intended to be “strong but proportionate” and added that the EU stood “ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue”.

“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and worse for consumers,” she said, warning the economic disruption put jobs at stake and would send prices higher.

“Nobody needs that – on both sides, neither in the European Union nor in the United States.”

Trump had said he wants to boost US steel and aluminium production in the longer run, but critics say in the immediate term the taxes on imports of the metals will raise prices for US consumers and dent economic growth.

Major packaged food makers including Quaker Oats and Folgers coffee asked Trump for targeted exemptions from tariffs on imports such as cocoa and fruit, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

PepsiCo, Conagra and J M Smucker, also requested the president exempt ingredients not available from US sources in the letter, which was sent by the trade group the Consumer Brands Association.

Coffee, oats, cocoa, spices, tropical fruit and tin mill steel, used for some food and household goods, are among the imports listed as unavailable domestically, Reuters reported.

The import taxes are also expected to reduce demand for steel and aluminium that is not made in the US – a blow to makers of the metals elsewhere.

The EU estimated that the latest US tariffs affect about 5% of its total exports to the US, while the US is the destination for roughly 90% of Canada’s steel and aluminium exports.

Shares in the US were mixed on Wednesday, after two days of sharp decline. The Dow closed down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 ended nearly 0.5% higher and the Nasdaq jumped 1.2%.

In an appearance at the White House with the Irish prime minister, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Trump said he did not plan to back down from his trade fight, saying he was “not happy” with EU trade policies.

He cited concerns about legal penalties it has imposed on Apple and rules he claimed put US farm products and cars at a disadvantage.

“They’re doing what they should be doing perhaps for the European Union but it does create ill will,” he said.

Repeating his threat to hit European cars with tariffs, he added later: “We’re going to win that financial battle.”

With Donald Trump’s tit-for-tat tariffs on India looming next month, millions of Americans may have to brace for steeper medical bills.

Last week, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal made an unscheduled trip to the US for discussions with officials, hoping to strike a trade deal.

It followed Trump’s announcement that he would impose tariffs – which are government taxes on foreign imports – on India by 2 April, in retaliation to India’s tariffs on American goods.

Goyal wants to stave off tax increases on India’s critical export industries like medicinal drugs.

Nearly half of all medicines taken in the US come from India alone. Generic drugs – which are cheaper versions of brand-name medications – imported from countries like India make up nine out of 10 prescriptions in the US.

This saves Washington billions in healthcare costs. In 2022 alone, the savings from Indian generics amounted to a staggering $219bn (£169bn), according to a study by consulting firm IQVIA.

Without a trade deal, Trump’s tariffs could make some Indian generics unviable, forcing companies to exit part of the market and exacerbating existing drug shortages, experts say.

Tariffs could “worsen the demand-supply imbalances” and the uninsured and poor will be left counting the costs, says Dr Melissa Barber, a drug costing expert from Yale University.

The effects could be felt across people suffering from a range of health conditions.

Over 60% of prescriptions for hypertension and mental health ailments in the US were filled with Indian-made drugs, according to the IQVIA study funded by the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).

Sertraline, the most prescribed antidepressant in the US, is a prominent example of how dependent Americans are on Indian supplies for essential drugs.

Many of them cost half as much as for those from non-Indian companies.

“We are worried about this,” says Peter Maybarduk, a lawyer at Public Citizens, a consumer advocacy group fighting for access to medicines. One in four American patients already fail to take medicines due to their costs, he adds.

Trump is already reportedly facing pressure from US hospitals and generic drugmakers because of his tariffs on Chinese imports.

The raw materials for 87% of the drugs sold in the US are located outside the country and primarily concentrated in China which fulfils around 40% of global supply.

With tariffs on Chinese imports rising 20% since Trump took office, the cost of raw materials for drugs have already gone up.

Trump wants companies to shift manufacturing to the US to avoid his tariffs.

Big pharma giants like Pfizer and Eli Lily, that sell brand name and patented drugs, have said they are committing to move some manufacturing there.

But the economics for low-value drugs do not add up.

Dilip Shanghvi, chairman of India’s largest drugmaker Sun Pharma, told an industry gathering last week that his company sells pills for between $1 and $5 per bottle in the US and tariffs “do not justify relocating our manufacturing to the US”.

“Manufacturing in India is at least three to four times cheaper than in the US,” says Sudarshan Jain of the IPA.

Any quick relocation will be next to impossible. Building a new manufacturing facility can cost up to $2bn and take five to 10 years before it is operational, according to lobby group PhRMA.

For local pharma players in India, the tariff blow could be brutal too.

The pharmaceutical sector is India’s largest industrial export according to GTRI, a trade research agency.

India exports some $12.7bn worth of drugs to the US annually, paying virtually no tax. US drugs coming into India, however, pay 10.91% in duties.

This leaves a “trade differential” of 10.9%. Any reciprocal tariffs by the US would increase the costs for both generic medicines and specialty drugs, according to GTRI.

It flags up pharmaceuticals as one of the sectors that is most vulnerable to price increases in the US market.

Indian firms which largely sell generic drugs already work on thin margins and won’t be able to afford a steep tax outgo.

They sell at much lower prices compared to competing peers, and have steadily gained dominance across cardiovascular, mental health, dermatology and women’s health drugs in the world’s largest pharma market.

“We can offset single-digit tariff hikes with cost cuts, but anything higher will have to be passed down to consumers,” the finance head of a top Indian drugmaker who didn’t want to be identified, told the BBC.

North America is their biggest revenue source, contributing a third of the earnings and profitability of most companies.

“It is the fastest growing market and most crucial. Even if we increase exposure to other markets, it will not adjust for any loss in the US market,” the finance head said.

Umang Vohra, CEO of India’s third-largest drug firm Cipla, said at a public gathering recently that tariffs should not ultimately dictate what businesses do, “because there is a risk that four years later, those tariffs may go away”.

But four years is a long time, and could make or break the fortunes of several companies.

To avoid any of this, “India should just drop its tariffs on pharma goods”, Ajay Bagga, a veteran market expert told the BBC. “US drug exports into India are barely half a billion dollars, so the impact will be negligible.”

The IPA, which consists of India’s largest drug makers, has also recommended zero duty on US drug exports so that India isn’t negatively impacted by reciprocal levies.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government recently added 36 life-saving drugs to the list of medicines fully exempted from a basic customs duty in the budget, and President Trump dropped a hint last week that India could be yielding to his pressure.

India has agreed to cut tariffs “way down”, he said, because “somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done”.

Delhi has not responded yet, but pharma players in both countries are nervously waiting to see the specifics of a trade deal that could have a bearing on lives and livelihoods.

“In the short term, there may be some pain through new tariffs, but I think they’ll make significant progress by the fall of this year for a first tranche [trade] agreement,” Mark Linscott, former assistant US trade representative, told the BBC, adding that neither country could afford a breakdown in pharma supply chains.

A plane carrying former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has arrived in the Netherlands where he is to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his deadly “war on drugs”.

Duterte was arrested at Manila airport on Tuesday and within hours was on a chartered jet which flew via Dubai to The Hague, where the ICC sits.

The 79-year-old could become the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.

Duterte, who contested his extradition, led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022 and presided over a violent “war on drugs” that saw thousands of small-time drug dealers, users and others killed without trial.

The Gulfstream G550 landed in Dubai for a stopover early on Wednesday and its expected departure was delayed for several hours while Duterte received medical checks, Reuters news agency reports.

Once the plane had landed in Rotterdam, the ICC confirmed that Duterte was in its custody to face charges “of murder as a crime against humanity”.

“A hearing will be scheduled in due course for Mr Duterte’s initial appearance before the Court.”

Meanwhile the former leaders’ supporters gathered outside The Hague Penitentiary Institution protesting his arrest. Many of them waved the Philippine flag, while others mimicked Duterte’s signature fist-pumping gesture.

“We stand with Duterte,” read a banner held up by supporters.

Duterte’s main political rival, current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, was instrumental in handing him over. Minutes after Duterte left Philippines airspace, Marcos gave a televised address saying the country was fulfilling its legal obligation.

“This is what the international community expects of us,” Marcos said.

The Duterte and Marcos families are the Philippines’ most powerful political dynasties. They joined forces to sweep the country’s last national election in 2022, but have fallen out in recent months as they pursued separate agendas.

Duterte being handed to the ICC is the latest twist in a political feud that has unfolded spectacularly in the public view.

The Duterte and Marcos families formed a formidable alliance in the 2022 elections. Against the elder Duterte’s wishes, his daughter Sara ran as Marcos Jr’s vice-president instead of seeking her father’s post.

Marcos initially refused to co-operate with the ICC investigation, but as his relationship with the Duterte family deteriorated, he changed his stance.

Vice-President Duterte said her father’s arrest amounted to “kidnapping”, claiming it violated Philippine sovereignty. She left Manila for the Netherlands on Wednesday, according to her office.

Rodrigo Duterte previously insisted that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, since he pulled the country out of the tribunal in 2019, three years after it took note of the drug war’s rising death toll.

But according to the Rome Statute that is the basis for the ICC, the court maintains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed before a nation leaves the tribunal.

The ICC investigation covers 2011-2019, which includes the period when Duterte was mayor of Davao, a sprawling metropolis in the country’s south, where his family has held power for decades.

Complaints filed against Duterte at the ICC allege that he kept a “death squad” of bounty hunters to go after drug suspects in Davao, and later replicated this model on a national scale when he was elected president.

Human Rights Watch called Duterte’s arrest a “critical step for accountability in the Philippines”.

Duterte built a reputation for Davao as one of the Philippines’ safest cities, and cultivated the image of a tough-talking, anti-establishment man of the masses to pull off a dark horse win in the 2016 presidential elections.

Polls show he is the most popular Philippines president since the restoration of democracy in 1986.

His supporters have threatened to hold large rallies to protest against his arrest. They had asked the Supreme Court to issue a restraining order against the ICC warrant – but the court did not act before the former president was flown out on Tuesday.

On social media, where the Dutertes maintain a strong following, the reaction was mixed.

Many praised the ICC for delivering justice for those who died in the drug war, while others defended Duterte’s legacy, with some calling for widespread rallies.

“Justice served,” read a top-liked comment on TikTok.

“Philippines was safe during Duterte’s time,” another TikTok user wrote, saying the former leader built bridges, roads and other infrastructure. “He was the best president.”

The fentanyl dealer from Los Angeles stands to the side watching carefully as a Mexican drugs cartel operative prepares his latest shipment. The synthetic opioid drug is wrapped in foil, sealed in plastic, then dropped with an oily splash into the petrol tank of the trafficker’s nondescript car.

Jay, not his real name, had crossed earlier from the US to this cartel-run safe house on the Mexican side of the border. The house looks like any other in this neighbourhood. We are told to drive in quickly and an iron gate closes firmly behind us. They don’t cook the drug here, but still they are wary of attracting attention. The men all speak in hushed voices and work quickly.

Their lethal business has become the centre of a global economic dispute. The White House has used fentanyl smuggling through US borders as a key justification for raising tariffs on other nations. US President Donald Trump has also vowed to “wage war” on the drug cartels.

The BBC gained rare access to a cartel’s operation along the border and travelled to the US to meet their ultimate customers, to see if the international row was doing anything to halt the illegal flow of narcotics.

The men we meet at the safe house are foot-soldiers of a well-known cartel. Two of them loading the car admit to fleeting moments of remorse. But when I ask the man packing the drugs into the fuel tank if he feels guilty about the deaths the pills cause, he sniggers. “We have family too, of course we feel guilty. But if I stop, it’s going to continue. It’s not my problem,” he tells me with a shrug.

The men keep their faces covered while they remove the back seat of the car to gain access to the tank, taking care not to spill petrol. The smell inside the car could alert customs officers on the other side of the border that the fuel tank has been tampered with.

The light green pills, 5,000 in total and marked with an M, are packed tightly – a fraction of what Jay says he sells every week in LA and across the American northwest.

“I try to get 100,000 pills a week, every week,” the softly spoken dealer tells me. “I don’t send them in one vehicle. I try to spread it in different cars. That way I minimise my risk of losing all my pills.”

A 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico was introduced in response to what President Donald Trump said was the unacceptable flow of illegal drugs and illegal immigrants into the US. Some of those tariffs have since been delayed until 2 April.

Defeating the fentanyl trade is one of President Trump’s top policy goals, but Jay doesn’t rate his chances.

“Last time he was in office, he tried to do the same thing, and it never happened. There’s always going to be a demand. And where’s the biggest demand? United States, lucky for us. We’re here in the border,” says Jay with a smile.

There is so much of the drug flowing into the US, most of it coming from Mexico, that according to Jay the price he sells it for in LA has fallen from about $5 or $6 per pill a year ago, to $1.50 now (£1.16).

Mexican police say cartels switched in a big way to fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, because unlike other opiates – which are made from the opium poppy – it is completely synthetic and much easier to make and transport.

Fentanyl’s strength and addictiveness has left a deep scar on American society: drug overdoses kill more people in the US than guns or car crashes. Fatalities have started to decline, perhaps in part to the greater availability of Naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of overdoses of opioids. But the latest figures are still stark: 87,000 overdose deaths (mostly from opioids) from October 2023 to September 2024, down from 114,000 the year before.

In an attempt to stave off punitive tariffs from the White House, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has pledged to send 10,000 National Guard troops to the border. The government has made more than 900 arrests since October in Sinaloa, a major drug trafficking hub. Back in December, Mexico announced its biggest ever fentanyl seizure in the state: more than a tonne of pills. In fact, the country has seized more fentanyl in the past five months than it did in the previous year.

Mexico has also made it harder to import a key ingredient of fentanyl from China, prompting cartels to reduce the strength of each pill – and, in the process, making them less deadly.

And at the end of February, 29 senior drug cartel figures were handed over to the United States, including members of five of the six Mexican crime syndicates that President Trump’s administration recently designated as terrorist organisations.

President Sheinbaum also said she had agreed to the CIA increasing surveillance drone operations over Mexican territory in search of fentanyl drugs labs, after the media revealed the covert missions.

Jay acknowledges the dangers of his trade to himself and his customers, but is untroubled.

“They always try to blame us, that we are the ones that are poisoning American citizens. But they’re the biggest users.

He coolly insulates himself from responsibility and guilt for the deaths his drugs cause. He claims not to know anyone who has died using his product. “I only deal with other suppliers,” he tells me.

The cartels mostly use American citizens to courier their drugs across the border, as they are less likely to be stopped by US Customs and Border Protection. The driver, who goes by the name Charlie, has a US passport. He, too, is mostly indifferent to the suffering the fentanyl epidemic has caused.

“I need the money,” he says. When I ask him how many times he has made the drugs run, he replies: “Too many.” (I later learn that the 5,000 pills in the fuel tank made it across the border without incident.)

President Sheinbaum has also recently emphasised the demand side of the crisis, saying the US fentanyl crisis began with the legal but “irresponsible approval” of painkillers, such as OxyContin, starting in the late 1990s. “The US government should take responsibility for the opioid-consumption crisis that has caused so many deaths,” she said at a daily news conference.

On the other side of the border is Derek Maltz, who has spent a lifetime in US drug enforcement. He has been made the interim leader of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and spoke to me just before his appointment.

“The Mexican cartels need to know that we’re coming down there,” he tells me. “We’re going to have aggressive operations to go after you and your business because you are killing our American kids at record levels and it’s not going to be tolerated.”

Mr Maltz agrees, though, that targeting the cartels alone will not solve the opioid crisis. “The cartels are very bad guys,” he tells me. “They’re transnational criminals. They’re narco-terrorists. However, there is a bad demand problem in America, we have to address why our population is turning to drugs for help.”

In Philadelphia’s Kensington neighbourhood – dubbed the largest open-air drugs market on the US east coast – Rosalind Pichardo of Operation Save Our City is on to her second Bible. She records in the book’s back pages the number of times she has reversed an opioid overdose using the quick-acting drug Naloxone.

For the past six years, the figure totals 2,931. She flicks through the pages and that number written in red comes alive with the memories of the individuals she saved, and the ones she lost.

She begins to list: “Male in his 60s… male 30s… female in her 30s, very thin, no hair.” Beside each name in this roll-call of fentanyl victims, is the number of doses of Naloxone – sold under the name Narcan – she used to attempt to revive people.

Ms Pichardo, who runs a drop-in centre called Sunshine House, operates what she calls a “no-judgement zone”. She bristles at the terms like “addict”, “junkie” or “zombie”, which have been used to describe the people of her neighbourhood. Instead, she calls everyone “sunshine”.

Some she doesn’t remember; others she will never forget.

“Look at this one, seven years old, two Narcans,” she points out. Ms Pichardo had been called to a neighbour’s house where a woman was holding in her arms a child who had turned blue. Ms Pichardo went inside and the girl was placed on the floor, but as she entered the child’s father ran upstairs carrying a bag. “I’m thinking if that was my child, I’d be running to help the child,” she recalls.

At first, she thought it might be epilepsy, but she spotted drug scales and plastic baggies on a nearby table. The kid’s dad was a drug dealer; the seven-year-old had been poisoned by his stash and overdosed. “I was livid,” she says.

Those two doses of Narcan were enough to save the child’s life.

On another page, a woman, six months pregnant, two doses of Narcan. She also survived.

In Kensington, drugs are cheap and plentiful, and people shoot up in the open. As she walks the neighbourhood, Ms Pichardo finds people passed out on the pavement, a woman in a stupor with her trousers down, a man lying prone next to a metro turnstile, another man in a wheelchair, his eyes closed and money in his hands.

He, like a growing number of opioid users, has had a limb amputated. A new drug on the street, the animal tranquilliser Xylazine, is being mixed with fentanyl. It leads to open wounds which become infected. The air is rank in places.

John White is 56 years old, and for 40 of those years he has struggled with addiction. At Sunshine House, Ms Pichardo serves him a bowl of homemade soup.

“I’ve been in this city all my life,” he says. “The fentanyl and opioid epidemic is the worst I’ve ever seen. Fentanyl will get you so hooked that you have to get more. So they put it in everything.”

Mr White had a fentanyl overdose after smoking a joint laced with the drug: it is being added to all kinds of illicit drugs, including heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

Ms Pichardo holds out little hope that even if the fentanyl trade is cut off from Mexico that it will improve people’s lives in Kensington.

“The problem that we have with the war on drugs is – it didn’t work then [and] I don’t believe it’s going to work now,” she explains.

When the supply of one drug is cut off, another replaces it, she says. “Once there was heroin, now there’s no more. Now there’s fentanyl. When there’s no fentanyl, now it’s going to be Xylazine. So it’s like they’ll find a way to keep people addicted so that people can make money off of people, off the suffering of people,” says Ms Pichardo.

Directly across from Sunshine House, a young woman is found collapsed on the pavement, her body splayed across the concrete: she’s unresponsive. Ms Pichardo is quickly on the scene, her medical kit by her side, yet again administering Naloxone. The woman is eventually revived – she will survive.

Roz Pichardo returns to Sunshine House, another life saved and another digit to be added to the back pages of her tattered Bible.

Pakistan’s army says it has freed more than 300 hostages from a passenger train seized by militants in Balochistan province on Tuesday.

The military spokesperson said 33 militants were killed during the operation.

Twenty-one civilian hostages and four military personnel were killed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) before the operation began, the military spokesperson said. These numbers have not been verified by the BBC.

The military continues its search operation in the area to rule out any remaining threats.

There were approximately 440 passengers on board the train when it was attacked, according to the army’s spokesperson.

Security officials have been quoted as saying some of the militants may have left the train, taking an unknown number of passengers with them into the surrounding mountainous area.

The military is working to find the passengers who escaped and fled into the surrounding area during the attack, the spokesperson said. It is not clear how many passengers are unaccounted for.

The Pakistani authorities – as well as several Western countries, including the UK and US – have designated the BLA as a terrorist organisation.

The BLA is one of the rebel groups demanding either greater autonomy or independence for Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province.

They accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s rich mineral resources while also neglecting it. In the past, they have attacked military camps, railway stations and trains – but this is the first time they have hijacked a train.

At least 100 of those on the train were members of the security forces, officials have said.

The militants had threatened to kill hostages if authorities did not release Baloch political prisoners within 48 hours, according to local reports.

During the attack, the militants blew up a section of the tracks and opened fire on the train near a mountain tunnel.

Eyewitnesses described the “doomsday scenes” on board the train as the attack unfolded, with passenger Ishaq Noor telling the BBC: “We held our breath throughout the firing, not knowing what would happen next.”

Officials had difficulty communicating with passengers at the time of the attack, because the remote area has no internet or mobile coverage.

Some passengers who managed to disembark from the train late on Tuesday evening walked for nearly four hours to reach the next railway station.

Among them was Muhammad Ashraf, who had been travelling from Quetta to Lahore to visit his family.

“We reached the station with great difficulty, because we were tired and there were children and women with us,” he told the BBC.

Helicopters and hundreds of troops were deployed to rescue the hostages. More than 100 passengers had been freed by Wednesday morning.

The hijacking lasted more than 30 hours. Information relating to the attack and subsequent rescue operation has been tightly controlled throughout.

A spokesperson for the military said anyone involved in the attack would be brought to justice.

Deena Ghazarian had only been in business for a year when the trade policies of President Donald Trump’s first term of office sent her company into a tailspin.

It was 2019 and her California-based firm, Austere, had just agreed to supply several big US retailers with its high-end audio and video accessories that are largely manufactured in China.

Then Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on China, and overnight Deena found herself paying a 25% surcharge on every cable and component she imported – up from zero previously.

She was forced to absorb the costs and for a while thought she would go bust.

“I literally thought I am going to start and end a business in less than a year,” she says. “I had spent all this time, money and effort, and to have something like this blindside you was shocking.”

The firm pulled through, but like numerous other US businesses it now finds itself in a strikingly similar situation.

Since returning to office in January, Mr Trump has raised tariffs on all goods imported from China by 20%, and put taxes of 25% on Canadian and Mexican products, only to delay some of them until April.

The president says he wants to force these countries to do more to stop flows of illegal drugs and migrants into America, to bring more manufacturing back to the US, and to address what he sees as unfair trade imbalances.

But the duties are much broader in scope than last time, when they were phased in gradually and many products were granted exemptions.

Goods like smartphones, desktop computers and tablets are now incurring tariffs for the first time, while taxes on others have climbed higher.

“US importers have to pay these taxes not the exporters,” says Ed Brzytwa, vice president of international trade at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), a North American trade body that represents more than 1,200 tech firms.

“It’s American businesses and consumers who will suffer.”

Businesses like Ms Ghazarian’s are particularly exposed. China is still the number one supplier of electronic products to the US, with imports totalling $146bn (£112bn) in 2023, according to official data.

Meanwhile, 87% of US video game console imports came from China that year, 78% of smartphones, 79% of laptops and tablets, and two-thirds of monitors, says the CTA.

While many American companies like Austere have diversified their supply chains away from China since Mr Trump’s first term, countries such as Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam still do not offer the same manufacturing capabilities and expertise.

At the same time, the US president is now targeting Mexico – another major electronics supplier. And while domestic manufacturing in the US has increased, partly due to tariffs, it is still limited by higher costs and stricter regulations.

“Yes, Apple now makes some iPhones in India and [the Taiwanese chipmaker] TSMC has been diversifying to Arizona,” says Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington DC.

“But China is still a massive part of the supply chain. Relationships with new suppliers take time to develop, they are costly to develop.”

Research suggests that companies pass on a large proportion of the costs of tariffs by putting up prices. Earlier this month Corie Barry, boss of US electronics retailer Best Buy, said that the “the vast majority” of the new tariffs will “probably be passed on to the consumer” because vendors in the industry have such small margins.

In February, Taiwanese firm Acer said the price of its laptops would likely rise by 10% based on the 10% duties in place on China at the time, while US group HP has warned its profits would be lower because of the tariffs.

Ms Ghazarian says she may have to raise her prices this year, but worries it could backfire. “There is a price point where the customer is satisfied with the value of goods provided.

“The moment I shift above that I start to lose customers. High inflation has squeezed Americans.”

During Mr Trump’s first term, companies such as Apple successfully secured exemptions for products, and we may yet see carve-outs.

Insiders have also suggested Mr Trump views tariffs as a negotiating tactic and could ease them if he wins concessions, as he did when China agreed to buy more American goods in a deal reached in 2020.

Fears of a US economic slowdown could also make him change course.

For the time being, though, tensions look likely to escalate. China, Mexico and Canada have vowed to retaliate against any US duties imposed on them, and this week Mr Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium only to row back at the last minute.

He plans to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on the rest of the world soon, and threatened tariff increases of up to 60% on Chinese goods while on the campaign trail.

There is a risk this could drive up the price of tech goods around the world if China is forced to relocate manufacturing to countries where labour costs are higher. Moreover, countries may hit back with tariffs on imported US technology.

Ms Ghazarian says she is worried but at least she’s prepared this time. Like many other US business-owners she bulk-ordered extra inventory before Mr Trump took office, and is storing it in her east coast warehouse.

She hopes that will get the company through the next year until it can “pivot” again.

“That might mean finding a more cost-effective way to produce the product or doing something completely different. It’s frustrating I have to focus on survival rather than growing my business.”

Ineos Automotive, the vehicle maker owned by multi-billionaire businessman and Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has recalled more than 7,000 of its sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in the US.

The recall centres on latches that may not engage properly, which could lead to the doors on Grenadier SUVs opening while being driven “increasing the risk of injury to passengers inside the vehicle.”

To fix the problem, Ineos says it will replace all door button assemblies on the affected vehicles, free of charge.

The recall is the latest issue faced by the car company, which last year had to temporarily pause manufacturing after one of its parts suppliers became insolvent.

The recall affects Ineos’ Grenadier SUVs produced between 6 July 2023 and 19 April 2024.

The door button mechanism on affected vehicles may have been assembled without enough grease in them, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) filing.

“This may allow the exterior door buttons to remain in the depressed position and prevent the door from fully latching,” the document said.

Launched in 2022, the Grenadier was the first vehicle produced by Ineos Automotive. It is inspired by the iconic Land Rover Defender.

Sir Jim’s decision to start the car company was motivated by his disappointment over Jaguar Land Rover’s decision to stop making the Defender.

In 2020, the entrepreneur, who had campaigned for Leave in the run-up to the 2016 Brexit referendum, announced that the vehicle would be assembled in France, putting an end to hopes that it would be made at a plant in Wales.

According to the company, there are currently about 20,000 Grenadiers on the road in 50 countries around the world.

Ineos Automotive lost more than 1.4 billion euros (£1.1bn, $1.5bn) before tax in 2023, according to a filing with the UK registry Companies House.

Sir Jim, who is one of the UK’s richest people, owns a 27.7% stake in Manchester United.

Just short of his 80th birthday, Rodrigo Duterte, a man who once vowed to purge his country through a bloody anti-drugs and crime campaign, found himself outmanoeuvred and in custody.

The former president was met by Philippines police as he arrived in Manila on a flight from Hong Kong, where he had been rallying support for his candidates for the upcoming mid-term election among the large Filipino diaspora there.

The much-talked-about warrant for his arrest from the International Criminal Court (ICC) was, it turned out, already in the hands of the Philippines government, which moved swiftly to execute it.

A frail-looking Mr Duterte, walking with a stick, was moved to an air force base within the airport perimeter. A chartered jet was quickly prepared to take him to the ICC in The Hague.

How had this happened? How had a man so powerful and popular, often called “the Trump of Asia”, been brought so low?

In vain, his lawyers and family members protested that the arrest had no legal basis and complained that Duterte’s frail health was being neglected.

While in office, Mr Duterte formed an alliance with the Marcos family – the children of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos who had long been working on a political comeback. Mr Duterte could not run again in the 2022 election, but his daughter Sara, mayor of southern city of Davao, was also popular and a strong contender to replace him.

However, Ferdinand Marcos’s son Bongbong, who had been in politics all his life, was also well placed to win and very well-funded.

The two families struck a deal. They would work together to get Bongbong into the presidency and Sara into the vice-presidency, on the assumption that come the next election in 2028, her turn would come and she would have the formidable Marcos machine behind her.

It worked. Both won their positions by a wide margin. Mr Duterte expected that his alliance would protect him from any blowback over his controversial presidency once he was out of power.

The most serious threat hanging over him was an investigation by the ICC into his culpability for thousands of extrajudicial killings carried out during anti-drugs campaigns he ordered – after he became president in 2016, but also during his tenure as mayor of the southern city of Davao from 2011.

Mr Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the jurisdiction of the ICC in 2019, but its prosecutors argued they still had a mandate to look into alleged crimes against humanity committed before that, and launched a formal investigation in 2021. However, President Marcos initially stated that his government would not co-operate with the ICC.

That position only changed after the dramatic breakdown of the Duterte-Marcos alliance. Strains in their relationship were evident from the earliest days of the administration, when Sara Duterte’s request to be given control of the powerful defence ministry was turned down and she was given the education ministry instead.

President Marcos also distanced himself from his predecessor’s mercurial policies, mending fences with the US, standing up to China in contested seas, and stopping the blood-curdling threats of retribution against drug dealers.

In the end, these were two ambitious, power-hungry clans aiming to dominate Filipino politics, and there was not enough power for them to share. Relations reached a nadir last year when Sara Duterte announced that she had hired an assassin to kill President Marcos, should anything happen to her.

Late last year, the lower house of Congress, which is controlled by Marcos loyalists, filed a petition to impeach Ms Duterte. That trial is due to take place in the Senate later this year.

If she is impeached, under the constitution, she would be barred from holding high political office, killing her long-standing presidential ambitions and weakening the political power of the Dutertes even further.

President Marcos now appears to have moved deftly to neutralise his main political rival. But his strategy is not risk-free. The Dutertes remain popular in much of the country, and may be able to mobilise protests against the former president’s prosecution.

Sara Duterte has issued a statement accusing the government of surrendering her father to “foreign powers” and of violating Filipino sovereignty.

An early test of the support enjoyed by both clans will be the mid-term elections in May.

In his comments to journalists after the plane carrying his predecessor had taken off from Manila, President Marcos insisted he was meeting the country’s commitments to Interpol, which had delivered the ICC warrant. But he was coy about the fact that it was an ICC warrant he was executing, given that many Filipinos will question what the ICC’s remit is in a country which has already left its jurisdiction.

It is not risk-free for the ICC either. The court is an embattled institution these days, with the Trump administration threatening to arrest its top officials should they travel to the US, and few countries willing to extradite those it has indicted. Getting former President Duterte to The Hague might therefore look like a welcome high-profile success.

But there was a warning, from China – admittedly not a signatory to the ICC and currently at loggerheads with the Philippines – not to politicise ICC cases. This was a thinly-veiled reference to the fact that this case, which is supposed to be about accountability for serious international crimes, has ended up playing a decisive part in a domestic feud in the Philippines between two rival political forces.

US officials are headed to Russia to discuss a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, according to President Donald Trump.

The news comes after Ukrainian officials agreed to a 30-day ceasefire following a highly anticipated meeting with American officials in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the “ball is truly in their [Russia’s] court” and that the US believes the only way to end the fighting is through peace negotiations.

The American visit comes as the Kremlin claimed President Putin had visited Russia’s Kursk region – parts of which have been under Ukraine’s control since an incursion last year.

Following the meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky said it was now up to the US to convince Russia to agree to the “positive” proposal.

The Kremlin has said it was studying the ceasefire deal, and that a phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is possible.

Speaking alongside Ireland’s Taoiseach – or Prime Minister – Micheál Martin in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said he had received “positive messages” about the possibility of a ceasefire.

“But a positive message means nothing,” he said. “This is a very serious situation.”

Trump did not specify which officials were travelling to Moscow.

However, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House that National Security Secretary Mike Waltz had spoken to his Russian counterpart.

• UK helped Ukraine and US reach ceasefire deal – government sources
• US set to present 30-day ceasefire offer to Russia

Earlier this week, a source familiar told the BBC that Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff would head to Moscow for negotiations following the talks in Jeddah.

The White House confirmed the plans on Wednesday.

“We urge the Russians to sign on to this plan. This is the closest we have been to peace in this war,” Leavitt said.

The Kremlin has said it is studying the proposed ceasefire and further details, which spokesman Dmitry Peskov said will come “via various channels” over the course of the next several days.

In the Oval Office, Trump said that he believes a ceasefire would make sense for Russia, adding – without further details – that there is a “lot of downside to Russia” as well.

“We have a very complex situation solved on one side. Pretty much solved. We’ve also discussed land and other things that go with it,” Trump added. “We know the areas of land we’re talking about, whether it’s pull back or not pull back.”

To pressure Russia, Trump said that he “can do things financially”.

“That would be very bad for Russia,” he said. “I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace.”

The meeting in Jeddah was the first between US and Ukrainian officials since a 28 February meeting between Zelensky, Trump and Vice-President JD Vance descended into a shouting match and, ultimately, a pause in US military assistance and intelligence sharing.

The pause was lifted following the meeting in Jeddah, and Trump said that he believes that the “difficult” Ukrainian side and Zelensky now want peace.

Even as negotiations over a potential ceasefire are ongoing, fighting has raged in Ukraine.

Russian drones and missiles reportedly struck targets in Kryvyy Rih – Zelensky’s hometown – overnight, as well as in the port city of Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv.

Clashes also continued in Russia’s Kursk region, where Peskov said Russian troops were “successfully advancing” and recapturing areas held by Ukrainian forces.

And later on Wednesday, the Kremlin said President Putin had visited a command post in the region. He was shown in footage released by the Kremlin walking alongside his military chief Valery Gerasimov, with both men wearing combat gear.

It marked the Russian president’s first visit to the region since Ukraine’s incursion across the border in August last year.

Russian media report that President Putin ordered the military to “fully liberate” the region during the visit. He is yet to comment on the ceasefire proposal agreed by Ukraine and the US on Tuesday.

The head of Ukraine’s military, Oleksandr Syrsky, also indicated on Wednesday that some of its troops were withdrawing from Kursk. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, he said: “In the most difficult situation, my priority has been and remains saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.”

Canada’s Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney has said he is ready to negotiate a renewed trade deal with President Donald Trump, as long as there is “respect for Canadian sovereignty”.

Carney made these comments during a visit to a steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario, as Canada unveiled C$29.8 billion ($20.7 billion) in reciprocal tariffs on US imports.

It comes after Trump slapped 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium coming into the country.

Since President Trump took office in January, the two countries have been involved in an escalating trade war, with the US president repeatedly threatening to annex its neighbour.

Carney on Wednesday condemned the latest round of US tariffs as “unjustified”.

“We’re all going to be better off when the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed, relaunched,” he said.

Canada, which is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminium to the US, is heavily exposed to the tariffs.

Trump has justified the tariffs, claiming they are necessary for US national security and to boost demand for domestic producers, which he argues has been “depressed” by foreign competition.

• What are tariffs and why is Trump using them?
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The US president implemented a blanket 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, citing concerns over drugs and migrants crossing the US border.

The tariffs on steel and aluminium, effective Wednesday, mark the end of exemptions previously granted to several countries, including Canada.

In retaliation, Canada announced tariffs on US goods, including steel and aluminium, with additional measures set to take effect at 00:01 EST (04:01 GMT) on Thursday.

The new tariffs cover a range of products, including C$12.6 billion on steel, $3 billion on aluminium, as well as tools, computer equipment, water heaters, sports equipment, and cast-iron products.

Experts say the growing trade dispute threatens economic stability for both countries.

On Wednesday, Canada’s central bank cut interest rates to 2.75% from 3% to prepare the country’s economy for disruption.

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc told a news conference that the country was still seeking to de-escalate.

“If you’re racing to the basement, there’s no real prize for the first person to get to the basement,” Leblanc said.

On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, along with federal representatives, will meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Lutnick told Fox Business Network that at the meeting he plans to try to “level set” things between the two nations.

Mark Carney, who was elected leader of the governing Liberal Party on Sunday, is set to be sworn in as prime minister, replacing Justin Trudeau. He has promised to win the trade war against Trump, following his landslide victory.