Global trade war escalates as Beijing hits back against Donald Trump with new tariffs on US goods

• China retaliates to Trump’s ‘bullying practice’ with 34% tariffs on US imports
• IMF warns of ‘significant risk’ to global economy from Trump tariffs as markets slide
• Analysis: Trump’s ‘idiotic’ and flawed tariff calculations stun economists

New Civil Liberties Alliance, a conservative legal group, has filed what it says is the first lawsuit seeking to block Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports, saying the US president overstepped his authority. Reuters reports:

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, alleges that Trump lacked the legal authority to impose the sweeping tariffs unveiled on Wednesday as well as duties authorized on February 1 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

“By invoking emergency power to impose an across-the-board tariff on imports from China that the statute does not authorize, President Trump has misused that power, usurped Congress’s right to control tariffs, and upset the Constitution’s separation of powers,” NCLA senior litigation counsel Andrew Morris said in a statement.

Actor and comedian charged with rape, indecent assault, oral rape and two counts of sexual assault, say police

The comedian and actor Russell Brand has been charged with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault.

Brand will appear in court in London on 2 May, according to the Metropolitan police, which began investigating him in September 2023 after a range of allegations.

FoI release shows further evidence of Lord Evans of Watford’s role in apparent cash-for-access venture

New documents reveal the extent of a Labour peer’s involvement in organising the attendance of a minister at a commercial event in parliament.

Emails show how David Evans contacted officials working closely with Sharon Taylor, a housing minister in the House of Lords, who was to be the keynote speaker at an event on housing that Lord Evans of Watford was hosting in parliament.

Bafta endorsement could have escalated actor’s allegedly abusive behaviour towards women, Kath Viner said

The editor-in-chief of the Guardian, Katharine Viner, has told the high court there was a “very high public interest” in reporting allegations made against Noel Clarke after he received a special Bafta award.

In a witness statement, Viner said she believed it was conceivable that the actor’s endorsement by the British academy film awards could lead to an escalation of his allegedly abusive behaviour towards women.

Livia Tossici-Bolt given conditional discharge and ordered to pay £20,000 costs in case that drew US state department concern

An activist whose case had been cited by the US state department over “freedom of expression” concerns in the UK has been convicted of breaching a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic.

Livia Tossici-Bolt, an anti-abortion campaigner, went on trial at Poole magistrates court last month accused of breaching a public spaces protection order on two days in March 2023 near to a clinic in Bournemouth. On Friday she was found guilty of two charges of breaching the order.

Move ends bid for site near Whitehaven, Cumbria after planning permission was quashed by high court

The Whitehaven coalmine’s planning application has been withdrawn, bringing an end to a process that could have created the UK’s first deep coalmine in 30 years in Cumbria.

Planning permission for the mine was quashed in the high court last year which meant the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had to reassess the planning application. However, the company has now written to the government withdrawing its planning application.

Joanne Sharkey admitted manslaughter after secret birth while she had postnatal depression after first child

A woman who killed her newborn baby 27 years ago while she had severe postnatal depression has been handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, as a judge said the case “calls for compassion”.

Joanne Sharkey, 55, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility over the death of her days-old son, whose body was found wrapped in bin bags in woodland in 1998.

Broadcaster wants to branch out with shows covering crime, history and sport and says he has investors lined up

Piers Morgan is planning to create a YouTube empire covering true crime, history and other genres, claiming to have “significant players” already lining up to invest.

Morgan said he was looking to branch out from his Piers Morgan Uncensored YouTube channel and find a series of “mini-mes” to front other shows under the brand. He said his current show was already turning a profit since he broke away from Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in January.

Plan to add 90 turbines to Rampion will create 4,000 jobs in construction and could power 1m homes

The government has approved plans to build an offshore windfarm capable of powering about 1m British homes before the end of the decade.

The plan to extend the Rampion offshore windfarm by adding 90 turbines off the Sussex coast is expected to add about 1.2 gigawatts of clean power for British households and businesses.

Data suggest viewers seek to ‘travel via their taste bids’ in Monday ritual that has gone viral on social media

Beyond yodelling along to the opening credits or decoding hidden clues about the show’s plot, some fans of the critically acclaimed comedy drama The White Lotus have taken their obsession a step further this season.

Since the drama – this season set in Thailand – premiered on 17 February in the UK, Thai takeaway orders through Just Eat have increased by 11%, as viewers look to “[travel] via their taste buds”.