The Latest: China vows countermeasures over Trump tariffs as trade war threatens to intensify

China says it will “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

The Commerce Ministry said Tuesday the U.S.‘s imposition of “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” on China is “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.”

Trump’s threat Monday of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war. Stock markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens.

World shares and U.S. futures advanced Tuesday, led by gains in Tokyo where the Nikkei 225 shot up just over 6% as markets calmed somewhat after the shocks from President Donald Trump ’s tariff hikes.

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As China and the US spar, countries brainstorm over how to cope with the trade war

BANGKOK (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump and China sparred over tariff hikes and other retaliatory moves on Tuesday, as governments elsewhere were brainstorming strategies to cope with the trade war between the global economic giants.

China said it will “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports in retaliation for Beijing's backlash against the 34% tariffs he ordered on his April 2 “Liberation Day.”

“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement read on state-run broadcaster CCTV.

When asked about the possibility of talks between Washington and Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said “I think what the US has done doesn’t reflect a willingness for sincere dialogue. If the US really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit.”

Meanwhile, Chinese state-run companies were told to help support the country's financial markets after they were hit by massive saves of selling on Monday.

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Middle East latest: Israeli strikes kill 25 people in Gaza as Supreme Court hears Shin Bet cases

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 25 people, including eight children and five women, according to Palestinian medics.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Supreme Court is hearing a group of eight cases challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial move to dismiss the head of the country’s internal security agency.

Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March and has cut off all food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime — while issuing new displacement orders that have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee Israeli bombardments and ground operations.

Israel's war in Gaza, now in its 18th month, has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, and taking 251 others hostage. The group still holds 59 captives — 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

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Trump's DHS revokes legal status for migrants who entered the US on Biden-era CBP One app

MCALLEN, Texas (AP) — Migrants who were temporarily allowed to live in the United States by using a Biden-era online appointment app have been told to leave the country “immediately,” officials said Monday. It was unclear how many beneficiaries would be affected.

More than 900,000 people were allowed in the country using the CBP One app since January 2023. They were generally allowed to remain in the United States for two years with authorization to work under a presidential authority called parole.

“Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security,” the Department of Homeland Security media affairs unit said in response to questions.

Authorities confirmed termination notices were sent to CBP One beneficiaries but did not say how many. They were urged to voluntary self-deport using the same app they entered on, which has been renamed CBP Home.

“It’s time for you to abandon the United States," the Department of Homeland Security wrote to a Honduran family that entered the U.S. at the end of last year. The Associated Press reviewed the email received Sunday.

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Supreme Court allows Trump to deport Venezuelans under wartime law, but only after judges' review

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to use an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants, but said they must get a court hearing before they are taken from the United States.

In a bitterly divided decision, the court said the administration must give Venezuelans who it claims are gang members “reasonable time” to go to court.

But the conservative majority said the legal challenges must take place in Texas, instead of a Washington courtroom.

The court’s action appears to bar the administration from immediately resuming the flights that last month carried hundreds of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The flights came soon after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to justify the deportations under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.

The majority said nothing about those flights, which took off without providing the hearing the justices now say is necessary.

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What to know about tensions between Iran and the US before their talks this weekend

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and the United States will hold talks in the sultanate of Oman on Saturday in an attempt to jump-start negotiations over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Even before the talks, however, there was a dispute over just how the negotiations would go. President Donald Trump insists they'll be direct negotiations. However, Iran's foreign minister said they'll be indirect talks through a mediator.

The difference may seem small, but it matters. Indirect talks have made no progress since Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.

Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign targeting the country. He has again suggested military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached by writing a letter to Iran's 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei has warned Iran would respond to any attack with an attack of its own.

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South Korea says its military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the border

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the rivals' tense border on Tuesday, South Korean officials said.

South Korea’s military said in a statement that about 10 North Korean soldiers returned to the North after South Korea made warning broadcasts and fired warning shots. It said the North Korean soldiers violated the military demarcation line at the eastern section of the border at 5 p.m.

South Korea's military said it is closely monitoring North Korean activities.

Bloodshed and violent confrontations have occasionally occurred at the Koreas’ heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone. But when North Korean troops briefly violated the border in June last year and prompted South Korea to fire warning shots, it didn't escalate into a major source of tensions. South Korean officials assessed that the soldiers didn't deliberately commit the border intrusion and the site was a wooded area and military demarcation line signs there weren’t clearly visible. South Korea said the North Koreans were carrying construction tools.

The motive for Tuesday's border crossing by North Korean soldiers wasn't immediately clear.

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Kentucky watches for surging rivers to recede so widespread cleanup can begin

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — After days of unrelenting downpours swelled rivers to near record levels across Kentucky, residents closely monitored waterways for signs they had crested, but freezing temperatures forecast for Tuesday could complicate any cleanup efforts.

Freeze warnings were in effect until early Tuesday for western Kentucky, along with parts of Illinois, Indiana and Missouri, with temperatures potentially dropping as low as 28 degrees (minus 2.2 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.

“This is going to be a dangerous night where temperatures fall, where it gets potentially below freezing, so if you’re somewhere that’s very wet, if you’re trying to ride this out in a home that’s had water, tonight could raise concerns of hypothermia,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said during a news conference Monday, urging residents to find a safe place to stay.

Inundated rivers are the latest threat from persistent storms that have killed at least 23 people since last week as they doused the region with heavy rain and spawned destructive tornadoes. At least 157 tornadoes struck within seven days beginning March 30, according to a preliminary report from the weather service.

Though the storms have finally moved on, the flood danger remains high in several other states, including parts of Tennessee, Arkansas and Indiana.

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Prince Harry appeals the loss of his UK security detail

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry wants his British security detail restored and is taking his case to an appeals court.

Harry, whose titles include the Duke of Sussex, lost his government-funded protection in February 2020 after he stepped down from his role as a working member of the royal family and moved to the U.S.

The prince's surprise arrival Tuesday at the Court of Appeal in London to challenge a lower court ruling that upheld the decision was an indication of the case's importance to him. He waved to photographers as he entered the courthouse.

Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, has bucked royal family convention by taking the government and tabloid press to court, where he has a mixed record.

But Harry rarely shows up to court, making only a few appearances in the past two years. That included the trial of one of his phone hacking cases against the British tabloids when he was the first senior member of the royal family to enter the witness box in more than a century.

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Walter Clayton Jr.'s defensive stop gives Florida its 3rd national title with 65-63 win over Houston

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. came up with the perfect going-away present for that spirit-crushing Houston defense that bullied, battered and bedeviled him all night.

It was a defensive gem of his own. Right before the buzzer. For the win and the national title.

The Gators and Clayton somehow overcame Houston’s lockdown intensity, along with a 12-point deficit Monday night to will out a 65-63 victory in an NCAA title-game thriller decided when the Florida senior's own D stopped the Cougars from even taking a game-winning shot at the buzzer.

Clayton finished with 11 points, all in the second half. What he’ll be remembered for most was getting Houston’s Emanuel Sharp to stop in the middle of his motion as he tried to go up for the game-winning 3 in the final seconds.

“Just go 100 percent,” Clayton said when asked what he was trying to do at the finish. “We were just trying to get a stop, and we happened to get it. I’m happy we got it done.”