Headline

Global Markets Plunge As US Tariffs Loom, Gold Hits Record High

Published

6 months ago

March 31, 2025

Tokyo led another plunge across Asian markets on Monday while gold hit a record high as investors steel themselves for a wave of US tariffs this week that has fuelled recession fears.

Equities across the planet have been hammered in recent weeks ahead of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” on Wednesday, when his administration will unveil a series of levies against friend and foe alike, citing what he says are unfair trading practices.

His announcement last week that he would also impose 25 percent duties on imports of all vehicles and parts ramped up the fear factor on trading floors, hammering car giants including Japan’s Toyota, the world’s biggest.

Governments around the world have pushed back against Trump’s tariffs, and could announce more countermeasures, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Trump on Friday that he will implement retaliatory tariffs to protect his country’s workers and economy.

Adding to the dour mood was data showing the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation rose more than expected last month over worries Trump’s tariffs will fan price rises and further dent hopes for interest rate cuts.

Markets fell across the board on Monday, with firms in all sectors feeling the pain.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index plunged more than four percent, extending last week’s slide, as automakers Toyota, Nissan and Mazda shed between three and four percent, while tech investment titan SoftBank tanked more than five percent.

The index’s drop put it in a correction, having fallen more than 10 percent from its peak in December.

Zensho Holdings, which owns several Japanese restaurant franchises, plunged 3.9 percent after its beef bowl chain Sukiya said it would temporarily shut nearly all of its roughly 2,000 branches after a rat was found in a miso soup and a bug in another meal.

Seoul was also sharply lower.

“Within the Asia-Pacific region, the car levies will hit Japan and South Korea the hardest. About six percent of Japan’s total exports are cars shipped to the US. In South Korea’s case, it’s four percent,” Moody’s Analytics economists wrote.

“Such a sizeable tariff hike will undermine confidence, hit production and reduce orders. Given the long and complex supply chains in car manufacturing, the impact will ripple through these countries’ economies.

“Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest the action could shave 0.2 to 0.5 percentage points from growth in each.”

There were also losses in Sydney, Shanghai, Wellington, Taipei and Manila.

Hong Kong suffered another big selloff, with conglomerate CK Hutchison shedding 3.2 percent following reports billionaire Li Ka-shing might delay signing a multi-billion-dollar deal to offload its ports operations, including those in the Panama Canal.

The firm has come under pressure from China since it agreed to offload the business to a US-led consortium after pressure from Trump. Beijing confirmed on Friday antitrust regulators will review the deal, likely preventing the parties from signing it as planned on Wednesday.

Bangkok dropped more than one percent as trade got back under way after being suspended on Friday following the deadly quake that hit the Thai capital. The stock market was already under pressure, having dived more than 15 percent since the turn of the year on worries about the Thai economy.

London, Paris and Frankfurt opened sharply lower.

Gold, a safe haven in times of uncertainty and turmoil, hit a record high of $3,127.92.

The selling followed a hefty selloff on Wall Street, where the Dow tumbled 1.7 percent, the S&P 500 lost 2.0 percent and the Nasdaq dived 2.7 percent.

US investors were jolted by figures showing the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index came in above forecasts in February.

Analysts said that while the reading was not a blowout, its timing amid a period of uncertainty added to the sense of gloom when traders had been hoping for a little reassurance.

“Markets will now be fully at the mercy of an impending deluge of tariff-related headlines, while highly reactive to any US economic data that accelerates the thematic of slower economic activity and higher expected inflation,” said Chris Weston at Pepperstone.

– Key figures –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 4.1 percent at 35,617.56 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 23,140.50

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,335.75 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,591.09

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0843 from $1.0838 on Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2964 from $1.2947

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.95 yen from 149.72 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.63 pence from 83.68 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $69.30 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $73.64 per barrel

New York – Dow: DOWN 1.7 percent at 41,583.90 (close)

AFP

Headline

Trump Threatens To Unleash ‘Hell’ On Hamas

Published

13 hours ago

October 4, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has given Hamas until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan for peace in Gaza, warning the Palestinian militant group faced “all hell” if it did not agree to the terms.

The US leader set the deadline — which would fall at 1:00 a.m. Monday in Gaza — after an official for the Islamist movement told AFP earlier on Friday that the group still needed time to study the proposal to end nearly two years of devastating war in the Palestinian territory.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

The proposal, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

That would be followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

“Hamas is still continuing consultations regarding Trump’s plan… and has informed mediators that the consultations are ongoing and need some time,” the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

On Tuesday, Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to accept his plan, which has been welcomed by world powers, including Arab and Muslim nations.

Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement Friday that the “plan has points of concern, and we will announce our position on it soon.”

As Hamas mulled Trump’s peace plan this week, a Palestinian source close to the group’s leadership told AFP on Wednesday that the Islamist movement wanted to amend some clauses, including the one on disarmament.

Hamas leaders also want “international guarantees” for a full Israeli withdrawal and that no assassination attempts would be made inside or outside Gaza, the source added.

Another source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that the group was split over Trump’s plan.

Structurally, the group’s leadership is divided between officials based in the Gaza Strip and those abroad, particularly in Qatar.

Much of Hamas’s leadership has also been wiped out in Israeli attacks throughout the war.

The source told AFP that “the first (opinion) supports unconditional approval, as the priority is a ceasefire under Trump’s guarantees, with mediators ensuring Israel implements the plan”.

“The second has serious reservations regarding key clauses… They favour conditional approval with clarifications reflecting Hamas’s and the resistance factions’ demands,” the source added.

Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said “ultimately it’s not just about convincing Hamas leadership in Doha, but also the leadership in Gaza, as well as Hamas members and fighters in Gaza.”

“Additionally, Hamas must then be able to convince other factions in Gaza,” he added.

The war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Headline

Israeli Forces Strike Gaza Despite Trump’s Ceasefire Call

Published

13 hours ago

October 4, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Saturday that Israel carried out dozens of attacks on Gaza City despite US President Donald Trump’s appeal to end bombardments after Hamas accepted a ceasefire deal.

“It was a very violent night, during which the (Israeli army) carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trump’s call to halt the bombing,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, added that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.

“The situation is very serious in Gaza City,” Bassal said, adding that his teams were not able to reach all the casualties due to the “presence of tanks and the ongoing bombardment”.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was “checking” reports of overnight bombardments on Gaza City.

Gaza City’s Baptist Hospital said in a statement that it received casualties from a strike on a home in Tuffah neighbourhood, including four dead and “several wounded”.

Nasser Hospital in south Gaza’s Khan Yunis said two children were killed and eight people were wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced Gazans.

The peace plan for Gaza, presented by Trump this week and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas said on Friday it was ready to release hostages held in Gaza under the Trump plan, but wanted negotiations on the details and a say in the future of the Palestinian territory.

AFP

Headline

Prosecutors Seek 11-year Sentence For Diddy, Citing ‘Lack Of Remorse’

Published

1 day ago

October 3, 2025

Editor

Prosecutors urged a federal judge Friday to sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs to more than a decade behind bars for his conviction on two prostitution-related counts, saying the music mogul had shown a lack of remorse.

“This is not a person who has accepted responsibility,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told the New York court at Diddy’s sentencing hearing.

“His remorse was qualified. It’s as though he thinks the law doesn’t apply to him,” Slavik said in arguing for an 11-year prison sentence for the 55-year-old hip-hop innovator. ” “His respect for the law is just lip service.”

Combs’s lawyers have asked the judge for a 14-month sentence, which would effectively be time served.

Slavik said Combs had booked speaking engagements in Miami next week in anticipation of a light sentence, which she called “the height of hubris.”

Judge Arun Subramanian for his part said federal sentencing guidelines suggested a prison term of between six and seven years although he has the latitude to impose more or less.

The judge also noted an apparent lack of remorse, saying Combs has “challenged his factual guilt full-throatedly.”

Combs was expected to address the court at the sentencing hearing after submitting a letter to the judge on Thursday pleading for mercy and saying he had “lost my way.”

Following two months of often searing testimony, jurors in July rejected the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering against Combs, sparing him the prospect of life in prison.

Combs’s mother and six of his children were in court on Friday and have submitted letters to the judge in his support.

In his plea to the judge, Combs apologised for his conduct, saying he was “scared to death” to be away from his family and vowing he “will never commit a crime again.”

“I lost my way,” he wrote. “I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess.”

Combs’s former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, asked the judge in a letter of her own to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control.”

– ‘Humbled and broken’ –

Ventura, the 39-year-old singer known as Cassie, testified for days while heavily pregnant.

She described in wrenching detail physical, emotional and sexual abuse she suffered while in a more than decade-long relationship with Combs.

Ventura and another woman, identified as Jane, said they were coerced into performing so-called “freak-offs”: sexual marathons with hired men that Combs directed and sometimes filmed.

“The entire courtroom watched actual footage of Combs kicking and beating me as I tried to run away from a freak off in 2016,” Ventura wrote.

“People watched this footage dozens of times, seeing my body thrown to the ground, my hands over my head, curled into a fetal position to shield me from the worst blows,” she said, noting she has nightmares and flashbacks “on a regular, everyday basis.”

Ventura said she and her family had left the New York area for fear of “retribution” from Combs if he is released.

The defense didn’t deny Combs’s sexual activity but insisted it was consensual.

They also didn’t deny Combs’s years of violence against both romantic partners as well as employees — but they said it didn’t meet the legal threshold for the grave charges he faced.

Jurors took their side.

The conviction on lesser if still serious counts stemmed from a federal statute that makes it illegal to transport people across state lines for prostitution.

Combs has been incarcerated in Brooklyn for more than a year.

He said his time in prison has left him “reborn.”

“I have been humbled and broken to my core,” Combs wrote.
AFP