Reuters Daily Briefing.

"Trade wars erupt, Trump pauses all US military aid to Ukraine."

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Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. The Trump administration had a busy night, launching new trade conflicts with the top three US trading partners and pausing all US military aid to Ukraine. In Europe, Elon Musk's support for the far right appears to be hurting Tesla sales, and the EU proposes joint borrowing as part of defense plan. Plus, Rika Woo juggles life as a Cantonese opera and J-Pop artiste.

Today's Top News   Tariffs US President Donald Trump's new 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%, launching new trade conflicts with the top three US trading partners. China didn't take long to hit back, announcing 10%-15% retaliatory levies on US agriculture exports and a ban on imports of genetic sequencers from US medical equipment maker Illumina. Follow our live updates. Russia and Ukraine at war Trump has paused military aid to Ukraine following his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week. White House Correspondent Andrea Shalal tells the daily Reuters World News podcast the announcement raises more questions than it answers - including on whether intelligence sharing will continue. Listen now for more. The US is drawing up a plan to potentially give Russia sanctions relief as President Trump seeks to restore ties with Moscow and stop the war in Ukraine, a US official and another person familiar with the matter told Reuters. In other news With less than two weeks to go before a March 14 deadline, Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress appear to be nowhere close to a deal to avert a government shutdown that would throw Washington into deeper turmoil. Arab leaders meet in Cairo with Egypt to present a plan for Gaza that would sideline Hamas and create interim bodies run by Arab, Muslim and Western states in contrast to Trump's idea of a "Middle East Riviera". The European Commission proposed new joint European Union borrowing of 150 billion euros to lend to EU governments for defense as part of an overall 800 billion financing effort to boost Europe's defense capabilities. Rates of obesity and overweight are spiralling due to a "monumental societal failure" to tackle the problem, with more than half of adults and almost a third of children and young people set to be affected by 2050, according to a new study.

Business & Markets   Investors say it's time to take Trump seriously as markets recoil. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Markets no longer think Donald Trump is full of bluster and are moving quickly to anticipate a slowdown in US and global growth as he raises a wall of tariffs around the world's biggest economy and trading partners start to respond in kind. Bitcoin backpedaled after an early rise following Trump's weekend proposal for a national strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies. Optimism on digital currency after Trump's post on Truth Social turned to caution as market participants awaited more details. A new task force in the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives begins its examination of the Federal Reserve's policy tools, rules and track record, and members of the panel indicated it will be an effort to reassess the central bank's role and goals. China plans to issue guidance to encourage the use of open-source RISC-V chips nationwide for the first time, two sources briefed on the matter said, as Beijing accelerates efforts to curb the country's dependence on Western-owned technology. Looking for more on finance and markets? Subscribe to our enhanced daily markets newsletters: Morning Bid US by Mike Dolan and Trading Day by Jamie McGeever. Mike and Jamie provide fresh insights and in-depth analysis to help you make sense of the key trends shaping markets.

Musk rallies the far right in Europe. Tesla is paying the price    Musk speaks on screen during a central election campaign event of the AfD in Germany, January 25, 2025. REUTERS/Karina Hessland Tech billionaire Elon Musk's support and promotion of Germany’s far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party played little part in the party’s stunning second-place result in the February 23 election, according to a Reuters review of his posts and polling data as well as interviews with political analysts. However, his activism appears to be hurting Tesla, whose sales are struggling in Europe after a 10.8% drop in 2024, a period when the market was down only 1.3%. Read more

And Finally... Rika Woo before a performance at the Sunbeam Theatre, in Hong Kong, China. October 30, 2024. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu Our Wider Image photo essay follows a 31-year-old local entertainer in Hong Kong. Rika Woo is trying to appeal to audiences - old and young - as a cross cultural artiste in both the centuries-old art form of Cantonese opera and the modern music phenomenon of J-pop. View photo essay

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