Trump limits tariffs on most nations for 90 days, raises taxes on Chinese imports

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a global market meltdown, President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly backed off his tariffs on most nations for 90 days even as he further jacked up the tax rate on Chinese imports to 125%.

It was seemingly an attempt to narrow what had been an unprecedented trade war between the U.S. and most of the world to a showdown between the U.S. and China. The S&P 500 stock index jumped 9.5% after the announcement, but the drama over Trump’s tariffs is far from over as the administration prepares to engage in country-by-country negotiations. In the meantime, countries subject to the pause will now be tariffed at 10%.

The president hit pause in the face of intense pressure created by volatile financial markets that had been pushing Trump to reconsider his tariffs, even as some administration officials insisted the his reversal had always been the plan.

As stocks and bonds sold off, voters were watching their retirement savings dwindle and businesses warned of worse than expected sales and rising prices, all a possible gut punch to a country that sent Trump back to the White House last year on the promise of combatting inflation.

The global economy appeared to be in open rebellion against Trump’s tariffs as they took effect early Wednesday, a signal that the U.S. president was not immune from market pressures. By early afternoon, Trump posted on Truth Social that because more than 75 countries had reached out to the U.S. government for trade talks and had not retaliated in meaningful ways, “I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately.”

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Asia shares jump after US stocks soared to historic gains when Trump paused most of his tariffs

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares surged in Thursday trading, with Japan’s benchmark jumping more than 2,000 points almost immediately after the Tokyo exchange opened, as investors welcomed President Donald Trump ’s decision to back off on most of his tariffs.

Analysts had expected the regional comeback given that U.S. stocks had one of their best days in history Wednesday on a euphoric Wall Street, where investor hopes had run high that Trump would tone down the tariffs.

On Thursday, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 8.3% in morning trading to 34,353.17, zooming upward as soon as trading began. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 soared 4.7% to 7,722.90. South Korea’s Kospi gained 5.5% to 2,419.37. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 3.7% to 21,003.84. The Shanghai Composite edged up 1.5% to 3,232.86.

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, called the reaction “from fear to euphoria.”

“It’s now a manageable risk, especially as global recession tail bets get unwound, and most of Asia’s exporters breathe a massive sigh of relief,” he said, referring to the tariffs on China, which Trump has kept.

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Officials scramble to identify victims of Dominican club roof collapse that killed at least 184

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The number of victims who died after a roof collapsed at an iconic nightclub surged to 184 late Wednesday as dozens of people lingered outside the Dominican Republic’s forensic institute for news of their loved ones still missing more than a day after disaster struck.

Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Center of Emergency Operations, said crews at the scene were still looking for victims and potential survivors, although no one has been found alive since Tuesday afternoon.

“We’re not going to abandon anyone. Our work will continue,” he said.

Several blocks away from the rubble, people searching for friends and family donned face masks and began complaining about a bad odor as they pleaded with officials to give them information about their loved ones.

Earlier in the day, National Institute of Forensic Pathology officials read the names of 54 victims they had identified so far.

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Appeals court clears the way for the Trump administration to fire thousands of probationary workers

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court cleared the way Wednesday for President Donald Trump’s administration to fire thousands of probationary workers, halting a judge’s order requiring them to be reinstated in a legal win for Trump’s effort to downsize the federal workforce.

The decision comes a day after the Supreme Court also sided with the Trump administration in another lawsuit filed over mass firings.

A split panel for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the terminations of federal workers should probably be appealed through a separate employment process rather than fought out in federal court. Two judges appointed by Republican presidents sided with the administration, while a third Democratic appointed judge dissented.

The decision comes in a lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen states, who said the mass firings will cause irreparable burdens and expenses to support recently unemployed workers. They said at least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since Trump took office.

The states could still seek further review as the lawsuit continues to play out.

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Trump targets ‘Anonymous’ author and former top cybersecurity official in escalation of retribution

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to punish his critics on Wednesday by signing a pair of memoranda directing the Justice Department to investigate two officials from his first administration and stripping them of any security clearances they may have.

Trump’s targeting of Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security official in Trump’s first term, and Chris Krebs, a former top cybersecurity official, came as the president has sought to use the powers of the presidency to retaliate against his adversaries, including law firms.

Trump also on Wednesday retaliated against another law firm, Susman Godfrey, as he seeks to punish firms that have links to prosecutors who have investigated him or employed attorneys he sees as opponents.

Although Trump has ordered security clearances to be stripped from a number of his opponents, including former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, the president’s order Wednesday directing the Justice Department to broadly investigate the actions of Taylor and Krebs marks an escalation of Trump’s campaign of retribution since he returned to power.

Taylor, who left the Trump administration in 2019, was later revealed to be the author of an anonymous New York Times op-ed in 2018 that was sharply critical of Trump. The person writing the essay described themselves as part of a secret “resistance” to counter Trump’s “misguided impulses,” and its publication touched off a leak investigation in Trump’s first White House.

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Trump: Israel would be ‘leader’ of Iran strike if Tehran doesn’t give up nuclear weapons program

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel would be the “leader” of a potential military strike against Iran if Tehran doesn’t give up its nuclear weapons program.

Trump made the comments ahead of this weekend’s scheduled talks involving U.S. and Iranian officials in the Middle East sultanate of Oman. Trump earlier this week said the talks would be “direct” while Iran has described the engagement as “indirect” talks with the U.S.

“If it requires military, we’re going to have military,” Trump said. “Israel will obviously be very much involved in that. They’ll be the leader of that. But nobody leads us, but we do what we want to do.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week said he supports Trump’s diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement with Iran. He added that Israel and the U.S. share the same goal of ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu, however, led efforts to persuade Trump to pull out of a U.S.-brokered deal with Iran in 2018.

The Israeli leader, known for his hawkish views on Iran and past calls for military pressure, said he would welcome a diplomatic agreement along the lines of Libya’s deal with the international community in 2003. But that deal saw Libya’s late dictator Moammar Gadhafi give up all of his clandestine nuclear program. Iran has insisted its program, acknowledged to the International Atomic Energy Agency, should continue.

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Israeli strike on Gaza apartment building kills at least 23, officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli aircraft struck a residential block in war-ravaged northern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people, health officials said, as the renewed fighting in the devastated Palestinian enclave showed no signs of slowing.

The Al-Ahly hospital said at least 23 people were killed in the strike, including eight women and eight children. The territory’s Health Ministry confirmed the figures.

The strike hit a four-story building in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, and rescue teams were searching for victims under the rubble, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service. The civil defense, a rescue group that operates under the Hamas-run government, said other neighboring buildings were damaged in the strike.

The Israeli military said it struck a senior Hamas militant who it said was behind attacks emanating from Shijaiyah, but it didn’t name him or provide further details. Israel blames the deaths of Palestinian civilians on the militant group, because it embeds itself in dense urban areas.

As it ratchets up pressure on Hamas to agree to free hostages, Israel has issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of Gaza, including Shijaiyah. It imposed a blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle. It has pledged to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor through it.

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Pope Francis meets privately with King Charles and Queen Camilla during his Vatican convalescence

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis met privately with King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Wednesday at the Vatican during the royal couple’s four-day state visit to Italy and on the occasion of their 20th wedding anniversary, the Vatican announced.

It was the first known meeting since the pope’s return to the Vatican after five weeks in the hospital for life-threatening double pneumonia. Francis had planned to have an audience with Charles, but the official state visit to the Vatican was postponed due to the pope’s health.

The pope issued a new invitation for a private audience, but it was subject to his health and only confirmed Wednesday morning. The mid-afternoon visit lasted about 20 minutes and included a private exchange of gifts. Discussions continue about a future visit by the monarch to the Vatican.

The Vatican statement said the pope wished Charles and Camilla a happy anniversary, and the king and queen in return wished the pope a speedy recovery. Buckingham Palace said “their majesties were delighted the pope was well enough to host them, and to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person.”

The royal couple previously saw Francis during an April 2017 visit to the Vatican. King Charles, then Prince of Wales, also met Pope Francis during the 2019 canonization of St. John Henry Newman.

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Author, wife of Weezer bassist arrested after being shot by police who say she pointed a gun at them

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jillian Lauren, author and wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, was shot and injured by Los Angeles police and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after pointing a gun at officers from her front yard, authorities said Wednesday.

The 51-year-old Lauren, identified by police as Jillian Shriner and listed as Jillian Lauren Shriner in jail records, had injuries that were not life threatening after the shooting in the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock on Thursday, the LAPD said in a statement.

Her representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment and there is no indication Scott Shriner was involved in the incident. Weezer is scheduled to play the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Saturday.

Police said they were assisting California Highway Patrol officers in their search for three suspects from a misdemeanor hit-and-run. Lauren was not among the suspects. But while pursuing one of them who had reportedly been running through a backyard, police came upon Lauren in the front yard of her neighboring residence, holding a handgun.

They ordered her several times to drop the gun, but she refused, and pointed it at them, police allege. They did not say whether she fired the gun, but said she was hit by police gunfire and fled into her home, where they took her into custody then took her to a hospital.

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The Masters: When it starts, how to watch, betting odds for golf’s first major of 2025

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The Masters begins Thursday at Augusta National, where defending champion Scottie Scheffler will try to win his third green jacket, Rory McIlroy will try again to win his first and the biggest names in golf will come together amid the Georgia pines for the year’s first major championship.

There are 95 players in the field, the largest in a decade, even without five-time champion Tiger Woods, who had surgery in March to repair a torn Achilles tendon. Last year, Woods set a record by making the cut for the 24th time in a row.

There is still a schism in the game, and just 12 from the breakaway LIV Golf league will be teeing up among the pink dogwoods and blooming azaleas. That includes Jon Rahm, the winner two years ago, and U.S. Open champion Bryson Dechambeau.

Here is a look at what you need to know leading up to the Masters.

The first round begins at about 7:25 a.m. EDT Thursday, when honorary starters Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson tee off on Tea Olive, the first hole at Augusta National. Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod were the first honorary starters in 1963, but it was not until Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen took over in 1981 that it became a treasured tradition.