China hits back

Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

China hits back with targeted tariffs after the US imposes new levies, Trump tariff drama carries high stakes for US automakers, and Netanyahu heads to Washington for pivotal talks.

Plus, Argentina breeds gene-edited polo super ponies.

Today's Top News

Additional 10% tariff comes into effect on all China exports to US. REUTERS/Martin Pollard/File Photo

United States

China imposed tariffs on some US imports in a swift response to new US duties on Chinese goods, raising the stakes in a showdown between the world's top two economies even as President Donald Trump offered reprieves to Mexico and Canada. Follow our live updates.
Trump's overhaul of US foreign assistance has led to chaos in the aid and development field, leaving hundreds of contractors in a severe financial crunch with some already having to lay off staff and others facing millions of dollars in unpaid invoices.
When Benjamin Netanyahu meets Trump, the Israeli prime minister is expected to try to turn the page on sometimes tense relations with the Biden White House. Washington Correspondent Matt Spetalnick is on the Reuters World News podcast to discuss the upcoming meeting.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation as the top US health official may hinge on Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor with a history of bucking political pressure who has expressed wariness over Kennedy's anti-vaccine views.

In other news

After Russia's 2022 invasion, Ukraine's normally febrile political life was becalmed under martial law. But there have been growing signs of activity picking up, as the US has set its sights on finishing the war with Russia quickly.
Syria's transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are expected to discuss a joint defense pact in Ankara, including establishing Turkish airbases in central Syria and training for Syria's new army, four sources familiar with the matter said.
A top South Korean military commander said he trusted President Yoon Suk Yeol to be making a legitimate decision when he declared martial law, but declined to say if the impeached leader gave orders to "drag" lawmakers out of parliament.
Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK party overtook Britain's governing Labour Party to become the country's most popular political party in a new poll, reflecting public discontent in Prime Minister Keir Starmer less than seven months into his term.

Business & Markets

New trucks crowd a parking lot at the GM assembly plant in Canada. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo

Trump is keeping some of the world's biggest automakers guessing whether he will follow through on threats to slap their vehicles and supply chains with import taxes that could cause hefty vehicle-price spikes for US consumers.
Diageo estimates its operating profit could be dented by roughly $200 million if US tariffs on Mexico and Canada are implemented in March, its finance chief Nik Jhangiani said, adding it had strategies to offset the impact.
Artificial intelligence bulls in Europe are dusting off a 160-year-old economic theory to explain why the boom in the sector's stocks may have further to run, despite the emergence of China's cheap AI model DeepSeek.
Novo Nordisk is under pressure from investors for more information about its next-generation obesity drug candidate CagriSema amid a lack of clarity over trial results that hammered its shares in December.
India's central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years in Governor Sanjay Malhotra's first monetary policy review on Friday, aiming to boost economic growth which is seen falling to a four-year low.
Tycoons like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg bent the knee to Donald Trump. They're not the first to bow to the Oval Office. In this episode of The Big View podcast, former White House aide Tevi Troy explores the shifting balance of power between corporate and political leaders.

A Gaza family's journey home to the ruins

Ismael Mohammed and his family return to their destroyed house amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

The Mohammed family sat up talking late into the night before their journey back north to the ruins of their Gaza home, a trudge across a desolate landscape that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians embarked on last week after a ceasefire.

Crowding around the fire and cooking pot on the sand by their tent in a sprawling camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah in the southern half of the Gaza Strip, they talked of their excitement at going home, plans for the tough days ahead and the fear and hardship they had lived through over 15 months of war.

Read our photo essay

And Finally...

Genetically modified polo horses stand in San Antonio de Areco, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. REUTERS/Matias Baglietto

Argentina's award-winning mare Polo Pureza will have her genes, or at least most of them, live on in five genetically edited horses designed to outrun the polo legend herself.

Scientists at Argentine biotech firm Kheiron have produced the world's first genetically edited horses using a technique called CRISPR-Cas9. The horses were born last October and November.

Read more

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