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Exclusive: civil servants beef up security rules for sensitive negotiating papers over fears posed by hostile US trade policy
UK officials are tightening security when handling sensitive trade documents to prevent them from falling into US hands amid Donald Trump’s tariff war, the Guardian can reveal.
In an indication of the strains on the “special relationship”, British civil servants have changed document-handling guidance, adding higher classifications to some trade negotiation documents in order to better shield them from American eyes, sources told the Guardian.

The Eurosceptic model of a globalised Britain detached from its local continent has aged very badly in the era of Trump’s trade wars
Even when the transatlantic alliance was more functional than it is now, there was not a united view of China. There has always been common wariness of Beijing as a commercial rival and potential security threat. But for hawks in Washington the idea of an alternative superpower closing in on economic and technological parity feels existential. More dovish Europeans have been readier to leaven caution with engagement.
Britain has veered between the two poles. In 2015, David Cameron promised a “” of open trade with China. In 2020, under pressure from the US, Boris Johnson banned Huawei, a Chinese telecoms company, from UK 5G infrastructure.
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BBC Verify's Jake Horton looks into the truth behind the claims, and what we know about how luxury goods are made.

Beijing’s game plan to best Trump in the tariff wars•
In all the confusion of Donald Trump’s trade policies, two things have become clearer. First, that China is the White House’s main tariff target and, second, that Beijing has a strategy that may result in its economy coming out in better shape than America’s.
As explains for our big story, the Chinese government looks to have game-played how to “fight to the end” against Trump’s economic animus. Beijing’s signal to the rest of the world that it is committed to multilateral trade and remains a stable partner has been met with a guarded welcome in Europe.

Xiaofeng Wang was fired by Indiana University on the same day as an FBI raid – but he hasn’t been charged with a crime
When descended recently on two homes owned by Xiaofeng Wang, a Chinese national and cybersecurity professor at Indiana University, many in the idyllic college town of Bloomington were shocked.
In December, Wang had been questioned by his employers about allegedly receiving undisclosed funding from China on a project that also received US federal research grants. On the same day of the home raids, Wang was fired from his longstanding post at Indiana University over email – a move that goes against the university’s own policy.

Chancellor says wages are growing faster than prices but acknowledges many are still struggling with the cost of living
A government minister has reiterated the call for the Unite union to accept a deal and end the bin strike in Birmingham.
Speaking on GB News this morning, Lillian Greenwood, parliamentary under-secretary of state for the future of roads, said residents were facing “a completely unacceptable situation”

World Trade Organization says trade between US and China is expected to plunge by 81% in ‘decoupling’
Donald Trump’s tariffs will send international trade into reverse this year, depressing global economic growth, the World Trade Organization has warned.
In its latest snapshot of the global trading system, the Geneva-based institution says it had previously expected goods trade to expand by a healthy 2.7% this year. As a result of Washington’s trade policy, it is now forecasting a 0.2% decline.

DeepSeek, White house and the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

DeepSeek, White house and the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Tariffs put the U.S. at a short-term disadvantage and will harm competition for North American automakers once Chinese automakers arrive, Lawler said.

Ju Wenjun has once again proven herself the undisputed queen of the chessboard.
On Wednesday in Chongqing, the 34-year-old Chinese grandmaster clinched the 2025 Fide Women’s World Championship, defeating compatriot and longtime rival Tan Zhongyi by a commanding score of 6½–2½. With the victory, Ju becomes only the fourth woman in history to win the title five times, joining a storied class that includes Vera Menchik, Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze.

Embassy criticises ‘slandering’ of Chinese government and defends Jingye over furnaces dispute
China has accused UK politicians of “arrogance, ignorance and a twisted mindset” as it defended British Steel’s owner, Jingye, after a barrage of criticism over the narrowly averted shutdown of its blast furnaces.
Beijing’s embassy to the UK accused unspecified British public figures of slandering China’s government and businesses, in published on Wednesday on its website.