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China has weathered Trump’s Tariffs but the Iran War is taking its toll7 hoursLaura BickerChina Correspondent, Foshan and GuangzhouIt is a sombre gathering on the backstreets of China’s largest manufacturing hub, where workers smoke under a tree, in front of storefronts that advertise temporary factory jobs. “No one understands our life,” says a man who refused to be identified. “We work and we work, but have no life.” Please help us,” says another – a rare and risky plea made to a foreign reporter. They seem desperate, struggling with the massive shifts that have occurred in Chinese manufacturing from cheap, mass produced goods to automated advanced technology. It was resilient, however, and reported a GDP growth of around 5 percent. But the discontent remained. The Middle East conflict has taken a new toll on factory orders, costs, and jobs. In Foshan, a southern industrial province in Guangdong in China, the best opportunity for workers is displayed in bright red letters in front of them. A few weeks of molding plastic or screwing parts of a phone together, for 18-20 yuan per hour, which is just a few pounds or dollars. Another worker from a rural area says, “I will try to find work elsewhere.” Costfoto / NurPhoto via Getty ImagesChina has been insulated from the worst of the fuel crisis by its enviable oil reserve and the leadership it has taken on renewables and electric vehicles. The war is choking a vital shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz and this is causing further pain to the sluggish Chinese economic system that heavily relies on exports. The cost of fabrics has increased by around 20%, says a trader who did not want to be identified. Workers are moving cylinders of fabric to carts that will be taken to local factories where they will be cut and sewn to clothes for world retailers such as Zara, Shein, and Temu. This is the largest fabric market in the world, located an hour from Foshan. Motorbikes are laden with vibrant textiles as trucks and vans honk through the streets to pick up or drop off Each shop owner and seller has a similar story. Their trade depends on a steady and cheap supply of oil, in the form petrochemicals. The higher oil prices have now hit them hard. One trader, over tea in the back room of a trading office, says that it means fewer orders. He says that some customers refuse to pay more, and rolls of fabrics are piling up at the warehouse. If they don’t pass on the rising cost to the customer they absorb it themselves. It’s hard for those already working on slim margins. A year ago, during the US-China trade war, Guangzhou was a city of defiance. This time there is resignation. But there are still opportunities in the uncertainty. A short drive away, manufacturers welcome buyers from around the globe in the cavernous Halls of the Canton Fair. Humanoid robotics sing and wave as international visitors take selfies. This is the China that Beijing wants the world to see. There are long queues for AI glasses that can translate foreign languages, and robotic legs that help climb mountains. The price of these everyday gadgets is increasing, according to traders. This is because they are made from plastic, which is a product that uses oil in the manufacturing process. They are made from plastic, which is oil-based. But buyers are still coming because businesses are ploughing forward to serve the market. The Chinese Passenger Car Association reports that 350,000 EVs were exported in March alone, a 30% increase from February and a 140% increase from March last year. EVs are also one of China’s biggest exports to the Middle East. But now trader Joyce Liu is finding it difficult to get shipments to customers. Some of the cars still await at Chinese ports. “She is at the fair in order to find new buyers, whether from Africa, South America or Turkey, but many of the EV stands have people from India, Bangladesh, and Turkey. In some countries, waiting lists for Chinese electric vehicles have increased as petrol and diesel prices rise. But there is also a delegation from Oman inspecting the cars in bright spotlights with an advertisement written both in English and Arabic. They have decided to make a deal with the trader and are haggling. “We are here to cooperate with Chinese companies.” Zahir Mohammed Zahir Al-Kaabi says, “It’s hard now, but Inshallah (God willing) the war will end and business will be great.” That is also what Beijing wants. Ironically, China wanted to see a declining US. Is this the America China wanted? It would prefer an America that was more predictable and easier to manage for Beijing. She adds that “a balance is needed because Beijing does not want to irritate Trump”. She believes that the May summit will temper China’s reaction to the war. Beijing wants to do everything it can to ensure that meeting. “China is calling from the sidelines for a ceasefire while pushing its Iranian friend towards the negotiation table. Trump also seems to want this. Xi has also been meeting and making phone calls with the Crown Princes of the UAE and Saudi Arabia. This is China flexing their diplomatic muscles, says William Figueroa of the University of Groningen. “It’s a way for China to show the United States and partners in the region how serious it is about its commitments. This has a global reach.” “It reminds us that China is not just the center of the global economic system. It is increasingly at a centre of global power. But this means little to workers in Foshan who are frustrated with stagnant wages. One of them shows her pass from the Canton Fair. He laughs as he puffs on his cigarette. “I cleaned the bathrooms,” he says. What is the plan? China’s ambitions are being upset by the Iran war. Will it work? China’s defiant attitude to Trump’s America ChinaIran WarChina-US RelationsChina Economy

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US It For It It’s hard to know if this is reality speaking, or the voice of an impatient man, anxious to remove Iran from his most urgent to-do list before King Charles arrives in Washington for a state visit next Monday – and Trump’s much anticipated visit to China not long afterwards.Iran dismissed the president’s suggestion that he was giving Tehran time to come up with a “unified position”, but it seems unlikely that the regime, already bruised and battered by the war, will break the ceasefire, thus inviting more punishment from the air.In the meantime, what are we to make of the Iranian delegation’s reluctance to get on a plane for the short ride to Islamabad?Iran accuses the US of a “breach of commitments” and cites what it called Washington’s “contradictory behaviour”.Donald Trump’s wildly conflicting public pronouncements – threatening apocalyptic punishment one moment and offering an olive branch the next, claiming all the while that Iran has already made significant concessions – have muddied the waters.Iran still complains that it has entered negotiations twice in the past year, only to be attacked by Israel and the United States.But Donald Trump’s Truth Social post announcing the ceasefire extension, lacking its usual bombast, spoke of an Iranian regime that is “seriously fractured, not unexpectedly”.For a man who has trumpeted the fact that he has already achieved regime change in Iran, was this an admission that Washington is struggling to know who it’s dealing with?Has “regime fracture” made the business of diplomacy with Iran – never the easiest art to master – that much more difficult?Deliberately or not, the president, through his choice of words, briefly joined a debate that has been raging among seasoned Iran watchers in recent days: who’s in charge in Iran now that so much of the old leadership is gone?Why and how is US blockading Iranian ports in Strait of Hormuz?The insider trading suspicions looming over Trump’s presidencyIran sees mass redundancies from war with US and IsraelMiddle EastIranUnited StatesIran war

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Trump family’s crypto company sued over alleged extortion 5 minutes agoArchie MitchellBusiness reporterGetty ImagesJustin Sun is suing World Liberty, a crypto venture co-founded by US president Donald Trump and son Eric Trump. Sun claims that the firm has “frozen all of his tokens” and stripped him of the right to vote on governance matters. The BBC has contacted Trump for comment. Sun, who is a supporter of Trump and his stance on cryptocurrencies, accused “certain individuals” associated with World Liberty of acting against the president’s values. He invested $45m in World Liberty, and his WLFI tokens were valued at over $1bn at times. Sun said that his support was based on the Trump family’s involvement with the project, and his long-standing interest in cryptocurrencies. He also bought $100m of Trump’s meme coins in July 2025. He also bought $100m of Trump’s meme coins in July 2025, as well.Getty ImagesBut Sun alleged that those running World Liberty, including another co-founder, Chase Herro, are using it as a “golden opportunity to leverage the Trump brand to profit through fraud”.In his complaint, filed on Tuesday in a San Francisco federal court, Sun argues that initial promises to give token-holders the option to trade the currency in future “were false and misleading”.While the tokens at large became tradeable, Sun said World Liberty has blocked him from being able to sell a single one, and is now threatening to “burn” his – deleting them entirely.WLFI has denied wrongdoing and accused Sun of “playing the victim while making baseless allegations to cover up his own misconduct”.Investors have also grown concerned about World Liberty borrowing against the value of its tokens.Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its investigation into Sun, with Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, questioning if it was tied to his investments in Trump’s crypto ventures. Sun was accused of paying influencers without disclosing payments to promote his businesses on social media.

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Fuel prices are on the rise and airlines are cutting flights and raising fares. The Gulf is the largest source of aviation fuel in Europe, accounting for around 50% of its imports. The majority of the fuel is imported through the Strait of Hormuz which Iran has closed as a result of US and Israeli attacks. The increase in jet oil prices reflects this. According to Energy Intelligence, the Al-Zour refinery, located in Kuwait, provides 10% of Europe’s imports of jet fuel. The International Energy Agency warned that Europe could run short of jet fuel within weeks, although the UK government and airlines claim that they are not experiencing a disruption. Due to the increased jet fuel prices, it will be done much more efficiently. It said that this would save “approximately 40 000 metric tons” of jet fuel. The announcement on Tuesday follows the firm’s announcement last week that it was speeding up its permanent closure of the European flight offering CityLine. Lufthansa announced that “the first 120 flights” were cut on Tuesday. Routes affected include those from Frankfurt to Poland and Norway.Europe has ‘maybe six weeks of jet fuel left’, energy boss warnsAir fares soar by nearly 25% as Iran war forces flights to re-routeCompaniesTravelFuelAir travelIran war

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EU decides on key EUR90bn Ukraine loan after pipeline deadlock ends1 hour agoPaul KirbyEurope digital editorReutersEuropean Union ambassadors are meeting in Cyprus with expectations high that a EUR90bn (PS78bn) EU loan seen as vital support for Ukraine can finally be paid out after months of deadlock.The funding was agreed last December, but Hungary’s Viktor Orban slapped a veto on the payment in February in a row over supplies of Russian oil that came to a halt through a pipeline in Ukraine.Ukraine said an oil hub on the Druzhba pipeline was damaged in Russian strikes, but Orban demanded the oil start flowing again before the loan could be paid out.The EU believes the deadlock is about to end as Ukraine says the pipeline has been repaired.Orban’s election defeat last Sunday has also cleared the air for the EU, bringing to an end his 16-year era as Hungarian prime minister. Peter Magyar has made it a priority to reset Budapest’s strained relations with Brussels. Kaja Kallas, EU’s chief of foreign policy, said that she expected positive decisions on the EUR90bn loans ahead of the meeting with ambassadors. “Ukraine needs this loan, and it’s a sign that Russia can’t outlast Ukraine. “We will no longer block the loan approval as soon as oil is delivered through the pipeline,” said Orban, acting as caretaker until early next month. In the lead-up to Hungary’s bitterly contested elections this month, Orban had accused Ukraine of imposing a “oil blockade”. He claimed that the EU worked with Kyiv to work against him. Satellite images at the time indicated substantial damage to a large oil tank in Brody, western Ukraine, in late January. Kyiv had said that repairs would take time, and added that its engineers were under Russian attack. Meanwhile, Ukraine has targeted oil facilities in Russia, including a Samara region pumping station linked to the Druzhba Pipeline this week. Zelensky was portrayed alongside Magyar on campaign posters in Hungary with the message “They are dangerous!” “Zelensky said that late on Tuesday, he had discussed the unblocking of the loan with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Antonio Costa, head the European Council who represents the 27 members states. Zelensky stated that there was no reason to block the loan any longer. “The EU asked Ukraine for the repair of the Druzhba Oil Pipeline, which was destroyed by Russia. We have repaired it. We hope that the EU will also fulfill its commitments. The Ukrainian media reported that even if the EU loan was finally agreed, it would still take several weeks for funding to arrive in Kyiv.