Author: Reporter

Countries and industries were scrambling on April 4 to respond to unprecedented and unilateral tariff hikes by Donald Trump that upended global trade and world markets. China responded with force to the 34% tariffs imposed by the U.S. on imports from China by announcing it will impose a 34% tariff on imports of all U.S. products beginning April 10. Taiwan’s president promised to provide support to industries most vulnerable to the 32% tariffs Trump ordered in his “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs announcement. Vietnam said its deputy prime minister would visit the U.S. for talks on trade. Some, like the...

South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on April 4, ending his tumultuous presidency four months after he threw South Korean politics into turmoil with an ill-fated declaration of martial law and setting up an election to replace him. The unanimous verdict capped a dramatic fall for Yoon, a former star prosecutor who went from political novice to president in just a year. In a nationally televised verdict, the court’s acting chief Moon Hyung-bae said the eight-member bench upheld Yoon’s impeachment because his martial law decree seriously violated the constitution and other laws. “The...

At a former American air base in southern Vietnam, work abruptly stopped in February on efforts to clean up tons of soil contaminated with deadly dioxin from the military’s Agent Orange defoliant. The Trump administration’s broad cuts to USAID also halted efforts to clear unexploded American munitions and landmines, a rehabilitation program for war victims, and work on a museum exhibit detailing U.S. efforts to remediate the damage of the Vietnam War. In addition to exposing thousands of people to health hazards, the cuts risk jeopardizing hard-won diplomatic gains with Vietnam, which is strategically increasingly important as the U.S....

Wisconsin voted on April 1 for Jill Underly to remain as the state’s top education official during Donald Trump’s second term, choosing the Democratic-backed incumbent over a Republican-supported critic. Wisconsin voters also decided to enshrine the state’s voter ID law in the state constitution. Both contests had sharp partisan divisions, though they have drawn far less spending and national attention than the race for control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Here is a look at the two races: UNION-BACKED INCUMBENT DEFEATS GOP-BACKED VOUCHER ADVOCATE Underly, the Democratic-backed state education chief, defeated her Republican-aligned opponent, Brittany Kinser. Unofficial results showed...