Support independent journalism

First Thing: the US morning briefing

First Thing: Deep confusion as Trump signals new tariffs on smartphones and computers

President says he will lay out new levies on Monday and relief on electronics will be short-lived. Plus, the rise of end times fascism and how to defeat it
Donald Trump
‘NOBODY is getting “off the hook”,’ Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters

Nicola Slawson

Good morning.

Donald Trump’s tariff war has plunged deeper into chaos after a cabinet official floated a plan for new levies on semiconductors – a crucial component in electronic goods – just days after the Trump administration exempted computers and smartphones from tariffs.

Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, told NBC the tariff exemption on several electronic devices was temporary, and that new duties would come in “a month or two”. Semiconductors would be targeted, he said.

The president said he would lay out the new tariffs on Monday and that any relief for the electronics industry would be short-lived. “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding: “Especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!”

EU foreign ministers meet after deadly Palm Sunday attack by Russians on Ukraine

Civilian cars lie burned out at the site of a Russian ballistic missile strike
Volodymyr Zelenskyy decried the attack on the ‘ordinary city street’ while people were going to church for Palm Sunday. Photograph: Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images

EU foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg this morning to discuss the key challenges facing the bloc in foreign affairs, with Ukraine top of the pile.

Reeling from the shock of Russia’s attack on Palm Sunday on Sumy, in north-eastern Ukraine, which killed at least 34 and injured more than 100, the ministers will discuss what more they can do to help Kyiv deter Russian aggression.

There were strong political reactions already on Sunday. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, blamed Moscow for “blatant disregard for human lives, international law, and the diplomatic efforts of president Trump”.

Speaking to reporters last night, Trump said the attack on Sumy was “terrible” but added he was “told it was a mistake”. He then blamed Joe Biden for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, adding: “This is not my war.”

  • What has the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said? He issued a dramatic plea to Trump telling him: “Before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead.”

High levels of toxic chemicals found in paper receipts used by US retailers
A shopping till receipt
Holding receipts for 10 seconds absorbs enough bisphenol S to break California’s safety rule, research finds. Photograph: Brian Jackson/Alamy

Paper receipts from major retailers in the US are so laden with bisphenol S that holding one for 10 seconds can cause the skin to absorb enough of the highly toxic chemical to violate California’s safety threshold, research has found.

The findings are being used as evidence in legal action aimed at pressuring retailers to stop using receipt paper treated with bisphenol S, or BPS, which is linked to cancer and reproductive problems.

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) non-profit has sent violation notices to about 50 major retailers alerting them to the exceedance of California’s Proposition 65 limits for BPS.

  • Which companies have received notices? Among the companies to which notices were sent for the allegedly illegal levels of BPS in their receipts are Burger King, Chanel, Dollar General, AMC Theaters, GameStop, Subway, Foot Locker and Ace Hardware.

In other news …
Aimee Lou Wood in the White Lotus
Aimee Lou Wood said she was ‘not thin-skinned’ and understood that SNL was about ‘caricature’. Photograph: HBO

  • Aimee Lou Wood has described a sketch on the US comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) which mocked her appearance as “mean and unfunny”. In the skit, the SNL cast member Sarah Sherman impersonated her, appearing in exaggerated prosthetic teeth.

  • The Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, one of the pivotal figures who ignited a global boom in Latin American literature, has died aged 89. The author of The Time of the Hero and Conversation in the Cathedral died peacefully at home, his family said.

  • In an election seen as a referendum on his “war on drugs”, Ecuador’s rightwing president, Daniel Noboa, won yesterday’s presidential runoff, defeating the leftist candidate Luisa González.

  • A house explosion in Austin, Texas, destroyed the residence and damaged 24 nearby properties, injuring six people – including two firefighters. One of those injured was in a critical condition and the other in a serious condition.

  • Police say a person is in custody after a suspected arson fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion. Josh Shapiro and his family were evacuated after someone set fire to the building.

Don’t miss this: The rise of end times fascism
Illustration of a man’s fist striking Earth like a meteor, scattering debris
The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Illustration: Sophy Hollington/The Guardian

Our opponents know full well that we are entering an age of emergency, but have responded by embracing lethal yet self-serving delusions, write Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor. Having bought into various apartheid fantasies of bunkered safety, they are choosing to let the Earth burn. Our task is to build a wide and deep movement, as spiritual as it is political, strong enough to stop these unhinged traitors. A movement rooted in a steadfast commitment to one another, across our many differences and divides, and to this miraculous, singular planet.

… Or this: ‘Invasion’ barges, subsea cable cutters and surprise naval drills – how China is testing Trump

A satellite image from 25 March shows three Chinese barges connected via extendable bridges in waters off China’s Guangdong province, part of a potential future invasion force against Taiwan.
A satellite image from 25 March shows three Chinese barges connected via extendable bridges in waters off China’s Guangdong province, part of a potential future invasion force against Taiwan. Photograph: Planet Labs PBC/AFP/Getty Images

In the space of just five weeks, China has held live-fire drills on the doorsteps of Australia, Taiwan and Vietnam, writes Angela Dewan. It tested new landing barges on ships that could facilitate an amphibious assault on Taiwan. And it unveiled deep-sea cable cutters with the ability to switch off another country’s internet access – a tool no other nation admits to having. China has been flexing its maritime muscle in the Indo-Pacific to send a message of supremacy to its regional neighbours, experts say. But it’s also testing the thinking of a bigger rival farther afield: Donald Trump.

Last Thing: ‘Tornado tortoise’ reunited with its family a month after deadly US storms
Tiffany Emanuel holds her pet tortoise, Myrtle, in Kokomo, Mississippi.
Tiffany Emanuel holds her pet tortoise, Myrtle, in Kokomo, Mississippi. Photograph: AP Photo/Sophie Bates

A pet tortoise displaced from its human family’s home during a deadly outbreak of tornadoes in Mississippi in March was recently reunited with its people. The reunion – which went viral on corners of the internet dedicated to uplifting news stories – occurred after the Central Mississippi Turtle Rescue organization asked its social media followers on 6 April for help in finding the tortoise’s owners, after the animal was brought to the group to be treated for injuries.

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com