The Week 1526

What happened Trump’s new trade war President Trump fired the first salvo in a trade war on Tuesday by imposing a blanket 10% tariff on all goods imported from China. Beijing responded by announcing tariffs on a range of US products, including coal, liquefied natural gas and farm equipment. Trump had threatened to impose a 25% border tax on imports from two of America’s other top trade partners, Mexico and Canada, at the same time; he complained that they, like China, hadn’t done enough to stop the flow of the illicit drug fentanyl into the US. But he paused that move for 30 days after the two countries pledged to reinforce their respective borders with the US, to help curb irregular migration and drug smuggling. The last-minute agreement relieved pressure…

What happened Keir Starmer launched a charm offensive in Brussels this week as he sought to “reset” Britain’s relations with the EU. On Monday, he became the first British PM since Brexit to address the European Council of EU leaders, whom he urged to re-engage with the UK. He also said Britain wouldn’t choose between the US and the EU, which Washington is threatening with tariffs. “Both of these relationships are very important to us,” he insisted. The Government is seeking a revised Brexit deal to ease checks on food exports to the EU, and to promote cooperation in areas such as defence and energy. Nick Thomas-Symonds, Britain’s lead negotiator, said this week that he’ll be guided by “ruthless pragmatism” during the scheduled talks. Sticking points are expected to include…

People from all over the country travelled to the Isle of Skye last week, to rescue a young humpback whale that had got tangled in some rope. The whale was spotted in a salmon farm by a member of the public, who raised the alarm with British Divers Marine Life Rescue. It gathered a team from across the UK, who worked with locals and the emergency services to cut the rope away in a set sequence using knives attached to poles, until the whale was able to swim away. A 21-year-old from Cambridge is believed to have become the first woman and youngest person to have rowed solo from mainland Europe to South America. Zara Lachlan, who is due to join the Army in September, set off from Lagos on…

Controversy of the week “I can scarcely believe I’m writing this,” said George Monbiot in The Guardian, “but on green issues, this government is worse than the Tories.” Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves officially gave her backing to a long-contested third runway at Heathrow. The project is an act of “environmental vandalism” that will produce millions of tons of extra carbon emissions. But growth, the Chancellor insists, “trumps other things”. Labour’s net zero strategy is now utterly incoherent, said Helen Coffey in The Independent. “At a time when every other industry has been forced to slash emissions”, Reeves wants to expand one of our heaviest polluters. Aviation “is fiendishly difficult” to decarbonise, and Reeves’s “cunning plan” – to replace traditional kerosene with sustainable aviation fuels, or SAFs, made from recycled…

Only 44% of parents of children in reception at primary school (aged four or five) believe that children should know how to use a book – by turning its pages, not swiping them – before starting school, the charity Kindred² has found. 24% do not think it’s essential for children to be toilet trained before they start school. 90% believe their own child was ready to start school – though a survey of teachers indicates that one in three pupils were not deemed ready. More than 10% of 16- to 24-year-olds in the UK identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual in 2023, up from 4.4% in 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics. The growth is mainly due to more people identifying as bisexual, the ONS says.…

Overtourism, after 260 buses carrying 10,000 day-trippers suddenly descended on an Italian ski resort, overwhelming the town of Roccaraso, in the Abruzzo mountains. The visitors had been lured by clips on TikTok, and cheap package deals. Beyoncé, who won her first album of the year Grammy for her country-inspired album. Last year, the Country Music Association Awards failed to give Cowboy Carter a single nomination. Supersonic flight, with news that a Denver-based startup is designing a passenger plane capable of flying at Mach 1.7 – faster than the speed of sound. The plane has been dubbed “Son of Concorde”, and several major airlines have already put in orders.…