Author: LoveWorld UK

TRUMP SAYS US PHARMA TARIFFS COMING IN NOT-TOO-DISTANT FUTURE – Companies such as Merck, J&J, Eli Lilly, and Novartis have stepped up their efforts  President Donald Trump reiterated his plans to impose levies in the “not too distant future” against pharmaceutical goods, a product category that has long been immune from tariff threats due to its public health impact. “We don’t make our own drugs anymore,” Trump said during an interaction with media at the White House, adding, “The drug companies are in Ireland, and they’re in lots of other places, like China.” Responding to a question on a timeline…

ZUCKERBERG DISPUTES US ANTITRUST CASE IN TRIAL TESTIMONY – The trial could stretch into July and see Meta selling Instagram or WhatsApp  Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand at a high-stakes trial in Washington over U.S. antitrust enforcers’ claims that the company spent billions of dollars to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp to fend off Facebook competitors. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking to force Meta to restructure or sell Instagram and WhatsApp, testing President Donald Trump’s promises to take on Big Tech while posing an existential threat to a company that, by some estimates, earns about half…

SINGAPORE DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT AHEAD OF IMMINENT ELECTION – The PAP Party is almost certain to dominate and win most seats Singapore’s parliament was dissolved ahead of a general election to be held within three months, a government gazette said. The vote will be the first electoral test for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who took over from long-time premier Lee Hsien Loong as leader of the People’s Action Party (PAP) in May 2024. The PAP is almost certain to dominate and win most seats, as it has in every vote since independence in 1965. However, its share of the popular vote…

IRAN DEMANDS END TO US SANCTIONS – Ahead of New Round of Indirect Talks The United States must correct its contradictory behavior of pressuring Iran on one hand while seeking negotiations with it on the other hand, said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman.   Regarding the indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, Baghaei noted that in the first round of negotiations, both sides expressed their respective expectations for the negotiation framework. The reason Iran is engaging in indirect talks is because the United States, while negotiating, continues to pursue a policy of pressure and threats, a stance that Iran…

TRUMP MEETS EL SALVADOR’S PRESIDENT OVER DEPORTATIONS – El Salvador’s president won’t return wrongly deported man to U.S. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said at the White House that he had no plans to return a man mistakenly deported from the United States, suggesting that doing so would be like smuggling a terrorist into the country. Bukele told reporters he did not have the power to return Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. despite a U.S. Supreme Court order saying they must facilitate the return. Bukele’s comments came shortly after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the same…

US AND UK ARE WORKING VERY HARD ON TRADE DEAL – Will come to a great agreement soon says Vance Since the date the US President started to re-balance the trading relationships with its Trading Partners and most fierce competitors, Trump and his team have been working hard to negotiate new Trade Deals. Some exemptions are still in place, such as smartphones and laptops, from the levy – including the 145% charge on imports from China. The UK is still facing a blanket 10% levy duty before Mr Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of worldwide tariff increases. The UK government has…

GOVERNMENT ‘NOT RULING OUT’ ANOTHER CHINESE PARTNER – British Steel’s new owners could stay Chinese. Industry Minister Sarah Jones suggests another Chinese partner is a possibility, despite Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds saying he “personally” wouldn’t want to involve China in the UK’s “sensitive” steel sector. It comes after ministers rushed through an emergency bill to take over British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, after talks with Chinese owners Jingye broke down, sparking a race against time to keep the furnaces running. In an interview, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that he would not “personally bring a Chinese company into our steel sector”…

BRITISH STEEL SECTOR SHUTS OUT CHINA – Emergency legislation passed to ensure control of Chinese-owned British Steel British Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds, said China is no longer welcome in Britain’s steel sector after the government had to pass emergency legislation on Saturday to ensure control of Chinese-owned British Steel. Reynolds said the refusal of China’s Jingye Group 600768.SS to accept a roughly 500 million pound government aid package last week to stop irrevocable damage to blast furnaces left the government with no alternative to intervening directly. In an interview, he said that against a backdrop of global overcapacity in much…

EXEMPTED ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS TO COME UNDER SEPARATE TARIFFS – U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview that smartphones, computers and some other electronics will come under separate tariffs, along with semiconductors that may be imposed in a month or so. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration late on Friday (April 11) granted exclusions from steep tariffs on such products, imported largely from China, providing a big break to tech firms like Apple that rely on imported products. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency notice of tariff codes on Friday…

NHS IS SET TO RECEIVE ITS OWN DEDICATED POSTAL CLASSIFICATION – The move is aimed at reducing the number of missed appointments caused by delayed letters The NHS is set to receive its own dedicated postal classification, aimed at reducing the number of missed appointments caused by delayed letters. Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced a new partnership between the NHS and Royal Mail that will introduce a barcode system exclusively for NHS correspondence. The change is expected to ensure appointment letters and other vital communications reach patients promptly, even during periods of postal disruption. In a joint letter to Ofcom,…