President Donald Trump launched a trade war against America's three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into a tailspin as the US faced the threat of rekindled inflation and paralyzing uncertainty for business. Just after midnight on Tuesday (Mar. 4), Trump imposed 25% taxes, or tariffs, on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. Trump also doubled the tariff he slapped last month on Chinese products to 20%.

Beijing retaliated with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of US farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen. Trump cited the trade deficits the US has with both countries, but also said, "they've allowed fentanyl to come into our country at levels never seen before, killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens." He also acknowledged there could be "a little disturbance" from the tariffs.

The Chinese government unveiled an annual economic growth target of "around 5%", despite the possible negative impact of a looming trade war with the United States, and pledged to address what it called "sluggish" consumer spending at home. The target was announced at the opening session of the annual meeting of China's legislature. It's the same as for the last two years but will likely be more difficult to achieve because of the new, higher US tariffs on Chinese products and other economic headwinds. The use of "around" gives the government some room if growth falls short.

The target signals the government's intention to try to stabilise growth in challenging economic times but hold back on more dramatic action that some economists say is needed to supercharge it. The government also said in a draft budget released Wednesday (Mar. 5) that defense spending would rise 7.2% this year to 1.78 trillion yuan ($245 billion), second only to the United States.

Authorities investigating the deaths of at least 60 people in northwestern Congo suspect the water source in one of the areas may have been contaminated, the World Health Organization said Friday. But the agency said it's too early for any definitive conclusion. Doctors are investigating more than 1,000 illnesses that emerged since late January in five villages in Congo's Equateur province, where high rates of malaria have complicated efforts to diagnose the cases and where officials have said they've been unable so far to confirm the main cause.

WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said during an online briefing Friday that for one of the villages there is "a very strong level of suspicion of a poisoning event related to the poisoning of a water source." Ryan did not clarify whether he was referring to contamination by accident, negligence or deliberate action. He also did not identify the village where the poisoning was suspected.

Mehdi Yarrahi, a well-known Iranian protest singer who spoke out against the country's strict dress code for women, was given 74 lashes as part of an agreement to end a criminal case against him. Yarrahi was initially convicted in January 2024 of acting unlawfully by releasing a protest song in September 2023 entitled Your Headscarf (Roo Sarito) on the first anniversary of the "Women, Life, Freedom" uprising.

He had also composed songs during the uprising, and has more than 1 million followers on Instagram. Yarrahi's one-year prison sentence was later converted to electronic ankle monitoring, which ended in December, leading to his release. However, the return of his 15bn toman bail, paid by a third party, was dependent on his flogging, which was carried out this week. The news of the lashes was shared on social media by Zahra Minouei, the singer's lawyer.