Threat of third covid wave looming, but we have to give some relaxations now: Karnataka CM

Washington: In a move that stunned markets and political observers alike, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on his sweeping tariff regime—granting relief to all countries except China. Just a day earlier, such a reversal had seemed unimaginable.

Trump said the pause was prompted by the cooperative stance of over 75 nations, which had refrained from retaliating against his earlier tariffs. These countries, he claimed, chose negotiation over confrontation. During the pause, a reduced reciprocal tariff of 10% will be in place.

However, Trump made it clear that China would face no such leniency. Citing Beijing's alleged trade abuses and “lack of respect” for global markets, he announced an immediate hike in tariffs on Chinese imports to 125%, up from the earlier 104%.

“At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the US and other countries is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Despite repeatedly resisting pressure from within his own party and business circles to halt the tariff spree, Trump’s sudden pivot was reportedly triggered by alarm bells inside the US Treasury Department. According to CNN, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent raised red flags about a dramatic selloff in the bond market, which, if left unchecked, could spiral into a financial crisis.

Speaking to the media after the announcement, Trump seemed to suggest that the decision came from instinct rather than strategy.

“We didn’t have access to lawyers… We wrote it up from our hearts. You have to be flexible,” he said.

The markets responded instantly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged over 2,500 points, while the Nasdaq jumped 12.2%, its best day in 24 years. The S&P 500 rose 6%, oil prices climbed more than 4%, and the dollar strengthened.

Impact on India

India, which had been hit with a 26% customized reciprocal tariff, saw its markets rattled in recent weeks. The pause offers a much-needed breather, as New Delhi works to finalize a multi-sectoral trade deal with Washington.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that talks are underway. “We hope to address these issues and conclude this agreement expeditiously,” he said, underlining the strong economic ties between the two nations.

Israel has announced the launch of a new ground onslaught in Gaza City, with rescuers saying military aggression has killed at least 30 people across the Palestinian territory since dawn.

In Gaza City, the Israeli military said ground troops had begun pushing into the Shejaiya neighborhood to expand the so-called "security zone" there, claiming that civilians had been allowed to evacuate the area. 

Initial reports, however, said a Palestinian woman and her daughter were just killed in an Israeli artillery shelling on displaced people in Shejaiya.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli military aggression had killed at least 30 people in the Palestinian territory since dawn, adding that the toll was "not final".

A single Israeli strike on Khan Yunis killed at least 25 people, a medical source at the southern city's Nasser Hospital said. 

"The situation is very dangerous, and there is death coming at us from every direction," Elena Halas told AFP reportedly via text message, adding that she and her family were trapped in her sister's house in Shejaiya.

Israel has pushed since the collapse of a short-lived truce in the war to seize territory in Gaza. Simultaneously, it has escalated attacks on Lebanon and Syria, with a strike in the south Lebanese city of Sidon killing a Hamas commander along with his son on Friday. 

Minister of military affairs Israel Katz had said on Wednesday that Israel would bolster its military presence inside the Gaza Strip to "seize large areas that will be incorporated into Israeli security zones", without specifying how much territory.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was dividing Gaza and "seizing territory" to force Hamas to free the remaining captives seized in the October 2023 operation inside southern settlements. 

Netanyahu has said his regime is working closely with the US to implement President Donald Trump's plan to displace Gazans.

Latest air raids have targeted Gaza City, as well as Beit Lahia, Rafah, and Khan Yunis, killing dozens of people and injuring several others.

On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of fleeing Gazans sought shelter in one of the biggest mass displacements of the war, as Israeli forces advanced into the ruins of the city of Rafah. 

A day after declaring their intention to capture large swathes of the crowded territory, Israeli forces pushed into the city on Gaza's southern edge which had served as a last refuge for people fleeing other areas for much of the war.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Thursday that 112 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes, with at least 70 of those deaths taking place in Gaza City, in the north of the strip. 

Gaza's civil defense agency said women and children were among the dead, while six people were still unaccounted for in the strike on Dar al-Arqam School in the al-Tuffah neighborhood, northeast of Gaza City, including a pregnant woman who was expecting twins. 

Beit Hanoun Mayor Mohammad Nazek Al-Kafarna was one of the victims of the Israeli strike that hit the school on Thursday.

The Health Ministry said on Thursday that 1,163 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel resumed intense bombing on March 18, bringing the overall death toll since the war began to 50,523.

The usurping entity accepted longstanding negotiation terms by the Hamas resistance group under a Gaza ceasefire, which began on January 19.

On March 18, however, Israel unilaterally broke the truce and resumed its relentless bombing of Gaza.

Mangaluru: A seemingly harmless YouTube advertisement has cost a Mangaluru man his life savings, after he fell victim to an elaborate investment scam and lost a staggering ₹55 lakh.

According to the police complaint, the victim was lured in by a man named Shardul Jani, who claimed that a trading app called Abans Pro would deliver high returns. On February 11, the man made an initial investment of ₹15,000. A trading account was created for him, which soon began displaying encouraging profits.

Buoyed by these promising numbers and under constant persuasion from the accused, the man was convinced to invest more. Reassured that the money could be withdrawn at any time, he not only continued investing himself but also involved his relatives, who collectively transferred ₹39 lakh into his account for further investments.

Between February 11 and March 27, the victim transferred a total of ₹55 lakh to multiple bank accounts provided by the accused. But when he finally attempted to withdraw the funds, nothing came back. The profits were a mirage—his money had vanished.

Realising he had been conned, the man approached the Bajpe police, who have registered a case and begun an investigation into the fraudulent scheme.