Latest news for 4 June 2025

UNITED STATES

Trump raises steel, aluminium tariffs to 50%.

US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports doubled from 25% to 50% on Wednesday (today), a day after President Trump signed the order into effect. Trump says the previous tariffs were not enough to protect the US domestic steel and aluminium industries from cheap imports. (BBC)

Comment: The announcement is bound to raise tensions at a time when the US is locked in trade negotiations with several countries, including the EU. Meanwhile, the UK, which announced a trade deal with the US last month, will be exempt from the hike, with British metal imports facing the original 25% levy.

IRAN

Supreme Leader criticises US proposal for nuclear deal.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would not abandon uranium enrichment, and called US officials demanding it do so “arrogant”. Oman delivered the latest US proposal for a new nuclear deal to Tehran on Sunday, after five rounds of talks. (Reuters)

Comment: It might sound like bad news, but we read Khamenei’s somewhat measured criticism (by Iranian Ayatollah standards anyway) as saying uranium enrichment is a red line, but Tehran still wants to negotiate. Iran needs sanctions relief to boost its struggling economy.

MONGOLIA

PM forced out over son’s behaviour.

Mongolia's Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai was “deemed to have resigned” after he lost a parliamentary confidence vote yesterday (Tuesday) following weeks of protests over his son's lavish spending. A successor will be named within 30 days. (Guardian)

Comment: Poland, the Netherlands, and now Mongolia — governments are falling apart due to internal political divisions. Are we seeing an early backlash against the ‘anti-incumbency’ elections of 2024, or is volatility just the new political norm everywhere?

UKRAINE

Nuclear plant in no condition to operate.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which once powered a fifth of Ukraine, is too damaged to restart, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned during a visit to the country this week. The facility has been under Russian occupation since early in the invasion. (Reuters)

PHILIPPINES

Air Asia grounded by government.

Manila ordered Malaysia-based Air Asia Move — the booking arm of Air Asia — to close shop for allegedly raising prices when road closures left travellers with no other options. The authorities said they will immediately file a case for “criminal economic sabotage.” (Straits Times)

GUATEMALA

Colombian officials wanted for corruption.

A Guatemala City court issued an arrest warrant for Colombia’s attorney general and a former Colombian defence minister who once led a UN anti-corruption mission there. They're accused of interfering in corruption investigations. (AP)

Comment: But that’s not all! The prosecutor bringing these charges has been sanctioned by the US and other countries for… you guessed it… interfering in corruption investigations.

SOUTH AFRICA

Zuma's corruption trial lives on.

A South African judge rejected former President Jacob Zuma's bid to kill his long-running graft case over a 1999 multi-billion-dollar arms deal. Zuma and the French company Thales face 18 charges, including corruption and money laundering — the trial is now set for December after a decade of delays. (Africa News)