On the day China’s retaliatory tariffs on the US were due to take effect, the world has been blind sided by Donald Trump’s latest bombshell – a blanket 25% tariff on steel and aluminium exports to the US.

There are no exceptions. This is an across-the-board levy. Canada, Mexico, and Brazil will be hit hard as major steel exporting countries.

In Asia the news will rattle South Korea, Vietnam, Australia, and Japan who are significant steel exporters to the US.

Trump tariffs – US trade war latest

Australia has already said it will try to negotiate an exemption, and it won’t be alone.

Talking directly to the US and presenting a case that these tariffs are not in the US national interest is the only way to get Trump to back down.

Each country will have to find a way to stand up to the US and fight its corner.

Until now, the Trump tariffs have targeted specific countries, with 10% on China and an initial 25% for Canada and Mexico.

China has retaliated with 10-15% tariffs on crude oil, liquified natural gas, coal, farm machinery and pick-up trucks.

However, it’s also chosen other levers to pull, restricting access to 25 critical minerals and sanctioning several US companies.

President Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping are due to speak on the phone. Trump has said he’s in no rush to have the call. It’s not known when it will happen.

What could China offer Mr Trump in return? He may want their help to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine. It’s unclear whether President Xi would be prepared to do that.

While the West is bogged down and distracted by a war in Ukraine and a global trade war, China can focus on its national priorities without interference.

There is also another opportunity for China here. It wants to present itself as a stable and reliable trading partner to “Global South” countries.

Read more:
Trump cheered; Swift booed at Super Bowl
World noticing Trump everyday
Super Bowl dancer detained

These are developing countries that have been hedging their foreign policy by having a strong relationship with both Washington and Beijing.

If Mr Trump’s predilection for protectionism and isolationism sees the US turn inward, who will be ready to step into the void?

China.

Parents of two of the victims of the Southport murders have paid tribute to their daughters, describing them as “pure light” and “so brave”.

Warning: Some readers may find details in this article distressing

Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the parents of Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, described how they wanted their daughters to be remembered.

Along with Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, they were murdered by Axel Rudakubana while attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July last year.

The attack shocked the nation and led to riots across the country in light of misinformation about the killer’s identity.

Rudakubana, 18, was jailed last month for a minimum of 52 years after admitting three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder.

Recently, a rapid review into his contact with anti-terror scheme Prevent found his case should have been kept open.

‘So mighty and so strong’

While a clip of Bebe playing outside was shown, her parents, who weren’t pictured during the interview for legal reasons, told the show: “She was so mighty but so strong but so kind at the same time.”

They described visiting her in the hospital after the attack, reading to her and lying next to her to say their “final goodbye”.

“I feel like a lioness and I’ve got to protect my child. We’ve got to make sure she isn’t defined by this. She was pure light. She was pure joy,” Bebe’s mother said.

‘We’ll never feel true happiness again‘

Jenni and David Stancombe, the parents of Elsie, described their daughter as fearless and brave.

In the aftermath of the attack, Taylor Swift asked to meet the families at one of her shows at Wembley Stadium, Elsie’s mother told the show.

She added it would have been a “dream come true” for the youngster if she’d known the pop star had known she existed.

They added they had since started a charity called Elsie’s Story.

“We’ll never feel true happiness again… ever, but we might just feel a little bit of something if we make another child smile, for Elsie,” Ms Stancombe said.

She added the “massive” sentence Rudakubana received didn’t make them feel any better, because even if he spent the rest of his life in prison, it wouldn’t bring their daughter back.

Southport will never forget

Greg Milam

Chief North of England correspondent

@GregMilamSky

It is impossible for anyone who has not suffered the loss of a child to imagine how the parents of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King and Alice da Silva Aguiar must feel.

But to hear Elsie and Bebe’s parents, speaking in their first television interviews, is to begin to understand a sense of their pain.

They have chosen to speak so that a world that knows so much about their daughters’ deaths instead hears about their lives: the fun, the joy, the hopes and the dreams.

Their words will mean most of all to the people of Southport.

In the near 200 days since 29 July, the community has formed an emotional protective shield around Elsie, Bebe and Alice’s families. People wonder how any family could cope.

To hear the families’ appreciation for that love and support from the community, especially after the dark days of recent weeks, will mean a huge amount. People want to celebrate the light of those young lives, reclaiming them from the horrors of last summer.

As everyone in Southport tells you, the town will never forget.

The parents of the two girls previously spoke to The Sunday Times and described the moment they were told “something awful had happened” to their children.

In the days following the stabbings, a number of false claims circulated on social media about the attack – including a false name and incorrect claims that the attacker was a recently arrived asylum seeker – with some of that misinformation believed to have fuelled rioting in various parts of England.

‘Highly likely’ killer will never be released

Rudakubana was 17 years old when he walked into the dance studio, indiscriminately stabbing his victims with a 20cm blade he had bought on Amazon.

As well as the murders of the three girls, he also admitted trying to murder eight other children, as well as instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.

He was given 13 life sentences, with the judge, Mr Justice Goose, saying the killings had caused “shock and revulsion” around the nation and that it was “highly likely” he would never be released.

Read more:
The 14 minutes of terror that left three children dead
Family of Rudakubana ‘moved to secret location’

The incident was not labelled a terror attack, although officers later found a plastic box containing the toxin ricin under his bed in the village of Banks, Lancashire, along with other weapons including a machete and arrows.

His devices revealed an obsession with violence, war and genocide, and he was found to be in possession of an al Qaeda training manual.

It fell outside the definition of terrorism because police couldn’t identify the killer’s motive.

Snow has hit parts of the country – with the spell of cold weather set to continue as an area of high pressure over Scandinavia brings freezing winds to the UK.

Temperatures dipped as low as -6C on Sunday night, with snowfall seen across Northumberland and County Durham.

Chilly and wet conditions will linger over most of Britain during the coming week, the Met Office said.

Temperatures may be slightly warmer with highs of 6C – but forecasters said it will feel close to freezing in the easterly winds.

Rain, drizzle and some sleet will continue to fall today and tomorrow, while snow is forecast in hilly areas.

Get the weather forecast where you are

Slightly drier weather is expected by the middle of this week, but temperatures will still be around two degrees lower than the February average.

Weather fronts will push in from the southwest later in the week, bringing a risk of patchy rain, but that is likely to be contained to western parts of Cornwall and Ireland.

The Met Office said the bitterly cold weather is due to a “Scandinavian high”.

“[It] is continuing to feed in this easterly wind across the UK. Because that is coming in from the North Sea, it’s filtering in a lot of moisture and we are seeing a lot of cloud kick off this new week,” Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said.

“It will also be bringing some outbreaks of rain and drizzle, [which] will be falling as snow over hills… the Pennines today could see several centimetres building up.

“Parts of the west, particularly northwestern Scotland, will see some sunshine around and it will be more of a pleasant day here.

“But temperatures for most of us are going to be struggling around 5C to 6C – once we add to the strength of that easterly wind, it’s going to feel even colder than that – closer to freezing for the vast majority of us,” he said.

‘Grey, dull, gloomy’

“It really will be quite bitter out there, particularly in the exposed eastern coastal districts,” Mr Vautrey said.

“This is going to continue into [Monday] night. Those showers and outbreaks of rain [will continue] to spread their way in from the North Sea.

“Temperatures could drop off a touch more and there will be some patchy frost around during the night and into the start of Tuesday. Maybe still some localised icy stretches where surfaces are left untreated.

“We could potentially see longer spells of rain moving into southeastern England on Tuesday. It’s going to be another grey, dull, gloomy, day. A lot of clouds on the scene.

“Temperatures still rather struggling… 5C or 6C. The winds should ease off a little bit for parts of Wales, and central and southern England but it really is still going to have quite a keen breeze across Scotland into parts of northern England and Northern Ireland as well – so another very cold day to come.”

Read more:
Super Bowl dancer detained after flag stunt
Kanye West leaves X after ‘antisemitic rampage’
PC sacked over tragedy chanting at Liverpool game

A yellow cold health alert has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for the southeast of England and parts of northern England and remains in place until 9am on Tuesday.

Around 1,500 without power after Eowyn

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people remain cut off from electricity more than two weeks after Storm Eowyn’s record-breaking winds hit Ireland.

Power has been restored to 766,500 homes, farms, schools and businesses but some 1,500 remain without supply.

Amid the reconnection efforts, scam text messages are purporting to come from ESB Networks.

The National Cyber Security Centre warned members of the public to exercise caution when receiving messages from unknown numbers, and said government departments, agencies and banks will never text asking unexpectedly for bank details.

Uisce Eireann said it is also working to return service to the “final few” customers without water.

Elsewhere, emergency response hubs are assisting people with basic needs such as water, hot food, phone charging, broadband access and shower facilities.

The hubs are also operating study rooms for exam-year students.