Donald Trump extended by 75 days a deadline for the Chinese owners of TikTok to sell its American operations. The video-sharing app had faced shutdown as soon as Saturday. Mr Trump said he hoped to work in good faith with Chinese leaders, “who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs”. Earlier China promised further levies of 34% on American imports to match those imposed on Chinese goods by Mr Trump on Wednesday.
Markets suffered more losses in response to China’s announcement. The S&P 500 fell almost 2.5% on opening; the NASDAQ dropped by some 3%. American markets had suffered their steepest declines since March 2020 on Thursday. The rout continued despite a glimmer of optimism from the latest American jobs data: the economy added 228,000 jobs in March, more than expected.
Russia said there were no plans for Vladimir Putin to speak to Mr Trump again “for now”. The Kremlin’s comments came after Kirill Dmitriev, Mr Putin’s economic envoy, met American officials in Washington. NBC News reported that Mr Trump’s team told the president not to hold discussions with his Russian counterpart again until he agrees to a full ceasefire in Ukraine.
The UN accused Myanmar’s junta of blocking humanitarian assistance from reaching parts of the country that it thinks support rebel groups. Aid is needed across Myanmar following last week’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake, which killed at least 3,145 people. The UN is examining whether the junta continued launching strikes against insurgents after it called a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday.
The Israel Defence Forces said it had ramped up ground operations in northern Gaza “to expand the security zone”. It claimed to have “eliminated numerous terrorists” and evacuated civilians. Israel’s defence minister had previously said the IDF planned to “seize large areas” of the enclave. Military leaders also confirmed that a Hamas commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon.
BP said that its chair, Helge Lund, would step down as the British oil major reverses a pivot towards green energy and fends off interest from activist investors. Mr Lund, who became chair in 2019, oversaw the firm’s turn towards low-carbon energy, a strategy that it later ditched owing to disappointing returns. In February the chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, set out plans for a “fundamental reset”.
Nintendo halted pre-orders on its long-awaited Switch 2 console in America while it assessed “the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions”. The Japanese company said the console would still go on sale as planned in June. Nintendo unveiled the Switch 2, and its $449.99 price tag, hours before Mr Trump announced tariffs on Wednesday.
Word of the week: Mütterrente (“mothers’ pension”), a German benefit to compensate parents for years spent raising children rather than working. Read the full story.
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