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US President Donald Trump warned Sunday that no country would be “getting off the hook” on tariffs, as his administration suggested exemptions seen as favoring China would be short-lived.The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a fast-moving, high-stakes game of brinkmanship since Trump launched a global tariff assault that particularly targeted Chinese imports.Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145 percent, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125 percent band on US imports.The US side had appeared to dial down the pressure slightly on Friday, listing tariff exemptions for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products for which China is a major source.Trump and some of his top aides said Sunday that the exemptions had been misconstrued and would only be temporary as his team pursued fresh tariffs against many items on the list. “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’… especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.Earlier, Beijing’s Commerce Ministry had said Friday’s move only “represents a small step” and insisted that the Trump administration should “completely cancel” the whole tariff strategy.Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Monday — as he kicked off a tour of Southeast Asia with a visit to manufacturing powerhouse Vietnam — that protectionism “will lead nowhere”.Writing in an article published in a Vietnamese newspaper, Xi urged the two countries to “resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment.”He also reiterated Beijing’s line that a “trade war and tariff war will produce no winner.”Asian stock markets rose Monday after Trump’s announcement of the tariff exemptions.- Short-lived relief? -Washington’s new exemptions will benefit US tech companies such as Nvidia and Dell as well as Apple, which makes iPhones and other premium products in China.The relief could, however, be short-lived with some of the exempted consumer electronics targeted for upcoming sector-specific tariffs on goods deemed key to US national defense networks.On Air Force One Sunday, Trump said tariffs on the semiconductors — which powers any major technology from e-vehicles and iPhones to missile systems — “will be in place in the not distant future.””Like we did with steel, like we did with automobiles, like we did with aluminum… we’ll be doing that with semiconductors, with chips and numerous other things,” he said. “We want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country,” Trump reiterated, adding that he would do the same with “drugs and pharmaceuticals.”The US president said he would announce tariffs rates for semiconductors “over the next week,” while his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said they would likely be in place “in a month or two.”The US president sent financial markets into a tailspin earlier this month by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners, only to abruptly announce a 90-day pause for most of them.China was excluded from the reprieve.The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing a deal with China, although administration officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first.Trump’s trade representative Jamieson Greer told CBS “Face the Nation” on Sunday that “we don’t have any plans” for talks between the US president and his Chinese counterpart Xi.- China looks elsewhere -China has sought to present itself as a stable alternative to an erratic Washington, courting countries spooked by the global economic storm.Besides Vietnam, Xi will also visit Malaysia and Cambodia, seeking to tighten regional trade ties and with plans to meet his three Southeast Asian counterparts.The fallout from Trump’s tariffs — and subsequent whiplash policy reversals — has sent particular shockwaves through the US economy, with investors dumping government bonds, the dollar tumbling and consumer confidence plunging.Adding to the pressure on Trump, Wall Street billionaires — including a number of his own supporters — have openly criticized the tariff strategy as damaging and counterproductive.The White House insists the aggressive policy is bearing fruit, saying dozens of countries have already opened trade negotiations to secure a deal before the 90-day pause ends.”We’re working around the clock, day and night, sharing paper, receiving offers and giving feedback to these countries,” Greer told CBS.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged US counterpart Donald Trump on Sunday to visit his country to better understand the devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion.”Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” he said in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview broadcast Sunday.With a visit to Ukraine, Trump “will understand what (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin did.””You will understand with whom you have a deal,” Zelensky added.Zelensky’s invitation follows the heated row at the White House in late February between the Ukrainian president, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance, which played out in front of press.Vance at the time accused Ukraine of hosting foreign leaders on “propaganda tours” to win support.Zelensky repeated his denial of that allegation, and told CBS that if Trump chose to visit Ukraine, “we will not prepare anything. It will not be theater.””You can go exactly where you want, in any city which (has) been under attacks.”Trump is pushing for a quick end to the more than three-year war, with the United States holding direct talks with Russia despite its unrelenting attacks on Ukraine.Washington has also held talks with Ukrainian officials on a potential truce, while European nations are discussing a military deployment to reinforce any Ukraine ceasefire.Kyiv has previously agreed to a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire but Moscow has turned it down.”Putin can’t be trusted. I told that to President Trump many times. So when you ask why the ceasefire isn’t working — this is why,” Zelensky said.”Putin never wanted an end to the war. Putin never wanted us to be independent. Putin wants to destroy us completely — our sovereignty and our people.”Zelensky spoke to CBS Friday in his hometown Kryvyi Rig, where a Russian strike earlier this month killed 18 people, including nine children.The Ukrainian leader said he had “100 percent hatred” for Putin, asking “how else can you see a person who came here and murdered our people, murdered children?”However he added that the animosity “doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to end the war as soon as possible.”As negotiations continue over ending the war, Zelensky said that a just peace would be “to not lose our sovereignty or our independence,” and pledged to eventually reclaim any territory currently held by Russia.”We, no matter what, will take back what is ours because we never lost it — the Russians took it from us.”

A Russian missile strike on Sunday on the Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least 34 people, authorities said as European and US leaders condemned one of the deadliest attacks in months. Two ballistic missiles hit the centre of the northeastern city, close to the Russian border, on Sunday morning, Ukrainian authorities said. People ran for cover amid burning cars and bodies were left strewn in the street. President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that the attack occurred on Palm Sunday, a major Christian feast.”Only completely deranged scum can do something like this,” he said in his evening address.Emergency services said the missiles killed 34 people, including two children, and wounded 117, including 15 children.The dead were seen covered in silver sheets at the scene of the strike where rescuers worked through the rubble of a building near a destroyed trolleybus. Zelensky said eight of the 68 injured in hospitals were in serious condition.”In addition to the university, the strike damaged five apartment buildings, cafes, shops, and the district court. In total, the Russian attack damaged 20 buildings,” said Zelensky.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed and shocked” by the strike, which highlighted a “devastating pattern of similar assaults on Ukrainian cities and towns in recent weeks,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg, said on X that Russia’s attack on civilian targets “crosses any line of decency”.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed condolences to the victims of the “horrifying Russian missile attack on Sumy”.”This is a tragic reminder of why President Trump and his administration are putting so much time and effort into trying to end this war and achieve durable peace,” Rubio added in a statementlater echoed by US National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes.The strike came two days after US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the war. Zelensky on Sunday urged the US president to visit his country to better understand the devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion.”Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” he said according to a transcript of an interview to be broadcast on CBS.- ‘A lot of corpses’ -The head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Telegram that Russia had used two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles on Sumy.One witness told AFP she heard two explosions.”A lot of people were very badly injured. A lot of corpses,” she said, struggling to speak.Sumy declared three days of mourning.It was the second Russian attack this month to cause a large civilian death toll. An attack on Zelensky’s home city of Kryvi Rig killed at least 18 people, including nine children.Zelensky called on the United States and Europe to give a “strong response” to Russia, adding: “Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs.”Trump has previously voiced anger at Moscow for “bombing like crazy” in Ukraine.France’s President Emmanuel Macron said the strike showed Russia’s “blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump”.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack, which Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni described as a “cowardly” act by Russia.Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz described it as “a perfidious act” and “a serious war crime, deliberate and intended”.Staging an attack on Palm Sunday outraged several leaders.It was “a barbaric attack, made even more vile as people gathered peacefully to celebrate Palm Sunday,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X.”The Russian version of a ceasefire. Bloody Palm Sunday,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.Danish leader Mette Frederiksen said the Palm Sunday missile attack on civilians “shows Russia’s true face”.Dutch premier Dick Schoof urged more air defences “so that Ukraine can defend itself against this violence”.- Relentless Russian offensive -Moscow has refused a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. Authorities in Sumy published footage of bodies in the street and people running for safety, with cars on fire and wounded civilians on the ground. Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukraine in recent weeks, stepping up its all-out invasion that has gone on for more than three years.Sumy has been under increasing pressure since Moscow pushed back many of Ukraine’s troops from its Kursk region inside Russia, across the border.  Kyiv has warned for weeks that Moscow could mount an offensive on the city.  Russia launched its invasion partially through the Sumy region and briefly occupied parts of it before being pushed back by Ukrainian forces. On Sunday, Russia said it captured another village in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. 

The wide-eyed, permanently smiling, colorful characters of cult kids musical “Yo Gabba Gabba!” gave Coachella A-listers a run for their money over the weekend, as joyous fans flocked to their celebrity-packed set in the California desert.”There’s a party in my tummy / So yummy,” shrieked fans in a sing-along intended to help the audience get its “wiggles” out.The children’s musical television series whose original run began in 2007 centers on costumed toys come-to-life, whose songs, visuals and interaction aim to teach children life skills, while also entertaining parents.The show gained notoriety for its laundry list of celebrity guests, especially from the indie music world, and spawned a franchise including a touring live show.So while at first glance its booking at Coachella — the major music festival whose headliners this year include Lady Gaga, Green Day and Post Malone — seemed odd, show creators Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz told AFP it’s actually a natural fit.”We were dads going to Coachella, and working at Coachella, and we were all hyped about Coachella — so in a lot of ways there’s a lot of DNA in the creation of the show that comes directly from live music, and a lot of the bands that have played here, and the legacy of Coachella,” Jacobs said during an interview at the artists’ trailer backstage.Hype man and Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav had a top cameo during the trippy performance Saturday afternoon: the “Flavor of Love” star beatboxed about loving bugs.Thundercat, the multi-hyphenate artist who has worked with Kendrick Lamar, arrived in a furry cat suit to perform “The Orange Cat’s Special Time Outdoors.”The set closed with a rollicking rendition of the Muppet classic “The Rainbow Connection,” a performance that included rock band Portugal the Man, its legendary songwriter Paul Williams, and the beloved pop music satirist “Weird Al” Yankovic.”We don’t consider ‘Yo Gabba Gabba!’ as like a TV show that’s dabbling in music — it’s a music show,” Scott Schultz said.And the nostalgia-conjuring Coachella performance was a full-circle moment.”The kids who were children for ‘Gabba’… have grown up, and they’re their 20-year-old selves,” Schultz said. “It’s sort of like we’re performing for them a second time.””That feels awesome,” Jacobs added, to “see our own little baby show grow up.”- ‘Kids at heart’ -Each of the creators has four kids of his own, some of whom are now grown and also work on the show.”We are kids at heart, and when we had our first children we didn’t want to just put them in front of kids’ television and leave them,” Schultz said. “We wanted to participate with them, and that felt sort of limited.”So they created their own show, drawing on their youthful backgrounds as punk rockers and their mutual love of music to invent something interactive, visual and educational.”Music is such an amazing tool, not just for teaching, but for feeling,” Jacobs said. “How do you create feeling in songs and emotion and emotional intelligence — can that accompany a song or a vibe? Absolutely, yes.”And it was definitely a vibe at Coachella: a throng of fans spanning generations played interactive games with the characters on stage and sang along to tracks like “Don’t Bite Your Friends.””We’re transporting you to a fantastical universe where we can be kids and have permission to be kids again, and it’s not so much different than ours,” Schultz said.”It just is sort of fun and more colorful and more exciting and full of music.”

US President Donald Trump warned Sunday that no country would be getting “off the hook” on tariffs despite a 90-day reprieve on some levies, while also downplaying exemptions for Chinese technology.Global markets have been on a roller coaster since Trump’s April 2 tariffs announcement, declining sharply before partially recovering with his 90-day pause on the steepest rates last week.Most nations will now face a baseline 10 percent tariff for the near-three-month period — except China, which launched a tit-for-tat escalation.The exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145 percent, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125 percent band on US imports.Trump’s administration has said it intends to negotiate trade deals, including with China, but it is not clear what terms the president would be willing to accept.He has long said that US trade deficits are the result of unfair practices that need to be corrected, though his tariffs also hit countries with which the United States has a trade surplus.”NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform Sunday.In addition to the general reprieve for other countries, Trump on Friday issued exemptions for Chinese-made semiconductors and electronics, amid warnings that US consumers faced skyrocketing prices for products such as smartphones and laptops.On Sunday, however, Trump asserted that there was “no Tariff ‘exception'” on those products, saying that they remained subject to a 20 percent rate in “a different Tariff ‘bucket.'”Earlier, Beijing’s Commerce Ministry had said Friday’s move only “represents a small step” and insisted that the Trump administration should “completely cancel” the whole tariff strategy.- Short-lived relief? -The relief could be short-lived, with some of the exempted consumer electronics targeted for upcoming sector-specific tariffs on goods deemed key to US national defense networks.Trump has said he will give “very specific” details on Monday, and his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said semiconductor tariffs would likely be in place “in a month or two.”Lutnick said pharmaceutical products would “also be outside the reciprocal tariffs,” using an administration term for tariffs aimed at bringing all US trade imbalances to zero.The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing a deal with China, although US officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first.Trump’s trade representative Jamieson Greer told CBS “Face the Nation” on Sunday that “we don’t have any plans” for talks between the US president and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.- China looks elsewhere -China has sought to present itself as a stable alternative to an erratic Washington, courting countries spooked by the global economic storm.Xi on Monday kicks off a five-day Southeast Asia tour for talks with the leaders of Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, as well as Malaysia and Cambodia.The fallout from Trump’s tariffs — and subsequent whiplash policy reversals — has sent particular shockwaves through the US economy, with investors dumping government bonds, the dollar tumbling and consumer confidence plunging.Adding to the pressure on Trump, Wall Street billionaires — including a number of his own supporters — have openly criticized the tariff strategy as damaging and counterproductive.The White House insists the aggressive policy is bearing fruit, saying dozens of countries have already opened trade negotiations to secure a deal before the 90-day pause ends.”We’re working around the clock, day and night, sharing paper, receiving offers and giving feedback to these countries,” Greer told CBS.

Coachella fans rocked out on Saturday to pop-punk headliner Green Day following a blockbuster cameo from US senator Bernie Sanders, who had the massive crowd roaring as he urged against political apathy.Also among the A-list performances on day two of the California music festival was Charli XCX, whose club-ready ode to her sensational year included cameos from Billie Eilish, Lorde and Troye Sivan.She bathed the desert in her signature “brat” lime green to close out her electric set that sent her audience into exultations, especially when she brought out Eilish to perform their lip-biter of a song “Guess.”Green Day’s career-spanning performance filled more than 90 minutes with hits — including “Brain Stew,” “Minority,” “Basket Case” and “When I Come Around” — a reminder of the grip the rockers had on popular music throughout their 1990s and 2000s heyday.The band opened with “American Idiot,” the lead single off their smash album of the same name that took direct aim at the George W. Bush administration — and whose lyrics Billie Joe Armstrong adapted to the present day.”I’m not part of the MAGA agenda,” he sang to deafening cheers, referring to President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.That was the group’s most overtly political statement of the night, though Green Day’s music is already a political statement in itself.And in case that was unclear, Armstrong prefaced the song “Holiday” with the obvious: “This is an anti-war song.”But it was Sanders who truly brought politics to the desert, making an unbilled pit stop following his tens-of-thousands-strong Los Angeles “Fighting Oligarchy” rally earlier in the day.As he was introduced at the Outdoor Stage within minutes of Charli XCX’s closing song, festival-goers rushed over to see the self-described socialist.”You can turn away and you can ignore what goes on but if you do that, you do it at your own peril. We need you to stand up, to fight for justice. To fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice,” Sanders told the rapt crowd.- Dudamel takes the desert -Brazilian DJ Alok packed his massive tent for a show demanding to “Keep Art Human” as the arts are threatened by the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence.”To create art, you need the soul,” he told AFP following the set.Gustavo Dudamel meanwhile led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a sweeping sunset show that turned the concept of genre on its head, marrying orchestral arrangements with elements from just about every musical form.Country star Maren Morris, Icelandic jazz-inspired pop singer Laufey, Argentine rap duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, LA’s own Becky G, DJ and producer Zedd — all joined Dudamel and the Phil onstage.And LL Cool J served as the rollicking performance’s exclamation point, as he, Dudamel and the orchestra melded “The Imperial March” from “Star Wars” with the superstar rapper’s “Rock the Bells.””Werk!” exclaimed one audience member as Dudamel’s kinetic movements were projected behind his orchestra.Other features on Saturday included Japanese Breakfast, The Original Misfits and rapper Travis Scott, whose late-night set left some fans exasperated after he began around 20 minutes behind schedule.On deck Sunday are headliner Post Malone, hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion, Best New Artist Grammy nominee Shaboozey and German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk.Coachella’s second weekend — which features the same lineup, save for cameo shakeups and occasional special features — will take place April 18-20.

A Russian missile strike on Sunday on the Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least 34 people, authorities said as European and US leaders condemned one of the deadliest attacks in months. Two ballistic missiles hit the centre of the northeastern city, close to the Russian border, on Sunday morning, Ukrainian authorities said. Bodies were left strewn in the street and President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that the attack occurred on Palm Sunday. “Only bastards do this,” he declared.The latest emergency service toll said the missiles killed 34 people, including two children, and wounded 117, including 15 children.  The dead were seen covered in silver sheets at the scene of the strike in the centre of the city. Rescuers worked through the rubble of a building near a destroyed trolleybus. Zelensky said 68 injured were in hospitals and eight were in serious condition.”In addition to the university, the strike damaged five apartment buildings, cafes, shops, and the district court. In total, the Russian attack damaged 20 buildings,” said Zelensky.US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg, said on X that Russia’s attack on civilian targets “crosses any line of decency”.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed condolences to the victims of the “horrifying Russian missile attack on Sumy”.”This is a tragic reminder of why President Trump and his administration are putting so much time and effort into trying to end this war and achieve durable peace,” Rubio added.The strike came two days after US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the war. The head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Telegram that Russia used two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles on Sumy.- ‘A lot of corpses’ -One woman told AFP she heard two explosions. “A lot of people were very badly injured. A lot of corpses,” she said, struggling to speak.  Sumy declared three days of mourning.It was the second Russian attack this month to cause a large civilian death toll. An attack on Zelensky’s home city of Kryvi Rig killed at least 18 people, including nine children.Trump has previously voiced anger at Moscow for “bombing like crazy” in Ukraine. Zelensky called on the United States and Europe to give a “strong response” to Russia, adding: “Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs.”France’s President Emmanuel Macron said the strike showed Russia’s “blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump”.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack, which Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni described as a “cowardly” act by Russia.The fact the bloodshed fell on Palm Sunday outraged several leaders.It was “a barbaric attack, made even more vile as people gathered peacefully to celebrate Palm Sunday,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X.”The Russian version of a ceasefire. Bloody Palm Sunday,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, while Danish leader Mette Frederiksen said the “missile attack on civilians gathered on Palm Sunday… shows Russia’s true face”.German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the killing “as many people made their way to prayer on Palm Sunday” demonstrated that “Putin underscores with blood that he seeks not peace but destruction”.Dutch premier Dick Schoof urged more air defences “so that Ukraine can defend itself against this violence”.- Relentless Russian offensive -Russia did not immediately comment on the strike. Moscow has refused a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. Authorities in Sumy published footage of bodies in the street and people running for safety, with cars on fire and wounded civilians on the ground. Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukraine in recent weeks, stepping its all-out invasion that has gone on for more than three years.Sumy has been under increasing pressure since Moscow pushed back many of Ukraine’s troops from its Kursk region inside Russia, across the border.  Kyiv for weeks has warned that Moscow could mount an offensive on Sumy.   Russia launched its invasion partially through the Sumy region and briefly occupied parts of it before being pushed back by Ukrainian forces. On Sunday, Russia said it captured another village in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. 

“A Minecraft Movie” easily held on to the top spot in North American theaters this weekend with estimated ticket sales of a solid $80.6 million, analysts said Sunday.That was roughly half the total of its huge opening last weekend. But with $281 million in domestic ticket sales to date, along with $269 million internationally, “Minecraft” has set records in its short run.The Warner Bros./Legendary PG film, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, ranks as the most successful film adaptation from a video game. The film’s huge popularity helped put the movie industry’s overall box office performance on a par with the same period last year, Hollywood Reporter said.Four new releases came in far behind.”The King of Kings,” an animation that has a young Charles Dickens narrating the story of Jesus, placed second at an estimated $19.1 million during its strategic release a week before Easter, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported.Kenneth Branagh, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman and Mark Hamill lead the voice cast for the latest production from Angel Studios, the Utah-based indy media company known for its faith-based films. Angel offered free admission to children coming with paying adults, and the family-friendly movie received a rare A+ rating from ComScore.In third place was Disney and 20th Century’s thriller “The Amateur,” at $15 million. Rami Malek plays a nerdy, self-effacing CIA analyst who turns vicious as he tracks down those behind an attack that killed his wife. Rachel Brosnahan, Laurence Fishburne and Jon Bernthal also star.Combat thriller “Warfare” from A24 placed fourth, at $8.3 million. The film, based partly on the experiences of co-director Ray Mendoza as a navy SEAL, follows a platoon of soldiers — the ensemble cast includes Joseph Quinn of “Stranger Things” fame — moving warily through unfriendly territory.And in fifth place was Universal and Blumhouse’s horror film “Drop,” at $7.5 million. It tells the story of a widowed mother (“White Lotus”‘s Meghann Fahy) who receives a creepily ominous phone call while in the middle of a first date. Rounding out the top 10 were:”The Chosen: Last Supper Part 3″ ($5.8 million)”A Working Man” ($3.1 million)”Snow White” ($2.8 million)”The Woman in the Yard” ($2.1 million)”The Friend” ($621,000)

A Russian missile strike on Sunday in the city centre of Ukraine’s city of Sumy killed at least 34 people, Kyiv said, with European and US officials condemning the attack — one of the deadliest in months. Kyiv said Moscow hit the northeastern city, close to the Russian border, with two ballistic missiles on Sunday morning and that the attack also wounded nearly 120 people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, stressing that the attack occurred on Palm Sunday, said: “Only bastards do this.”US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg, said on X that the attack by Russian forces on civilian targets “crosses any line of decency”.The strike came two days after US envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the war. The local emergency service in its latest bulletin that 34 people died, including two children, and 117 were wounded, including 15 children.  That revised upwards a previous toll of 32 dead and 99 wounded.Bodies were seen covered in silver sheets at the scene of the strike in the centre of the city, with a destroyed trolleybus. Rescuers worked through the rubble of a building. The head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Telegram that Russia used two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles on Sumy.- ‘A lot of corpses’ -One woman told AFP she heard two explosions. “A lot of people were very badly injured. A lot of corpses,” she said, struggling to speak.  It was the second Russian attack this month to cause a large civilian death toll. Trump has previously voiced anger at Moscow for “bombing like crazy” in Ukraine. Zelensky called on the United States and Europe to give a “strong response” to Russia, adding: “Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs.”French leader Emmanuel Macron said the strike showed Russia’s “blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump”.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack, which Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni described as a “cowardly” act by Russia.The fact the bloodshed fell on Palm Sunday outraged several leaders.It was “a barbaric attack, made even more vile as people gathered peacefully to celebrate Palm Sunday,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X.”The Russian version of a ceasefire. Bloody Palm Sunday,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, while Danish leader Mette Frederiksen said the “missile attack on civilians gathered on Palm Sunday… shows Russia’s true face”.German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the killing “as many people made their way to prayer on Palm Sunday” demonstrated that “Putin underscores with blood that he seeks not peace but destruction”.Dutch premier Dick Schoof urged more air defences “so that Ukraine can defend itself against this violence”.- Relentless Russian offensive -Russia did not immediately comment on the strike. Moscow has refused a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. Local authorities in Sumy published footage of bodies strewn on the street and people running for safety, with cars on fire and wounded civilians on the ground. Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukraine in recent weeks, extending the violence wrought by its all-out invasion that has gone on for more than three years.In early April, a Russian attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rig killed 18 people, including nine children. Sumy has been under increasing pressure since Moscow pushed back many of Ukraine’s troops from its Kursk region inside Russia, across the border.  Kyiv for weeks has warned that Moscow could mount an offensive on Sumy.   Russia launched its invasion partially through the Sumy region and briefly occupied parts of it before being pushed back by Ukrainian forces. On Sunday, Russia said it captured another village in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. 

Recent exemptions to sweeping US import tariffs may be short-lived, top officials warned Sunday, as China urged the Trump administration to simply abandon its aggressive trade tax policy altogether.The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a fast-moving, high-stakes game of brinkmanship since US President Donald Trump launched a global tariff assault that particularly targeted Chinese imports.Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145 percent, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125 percent band on American imports.The US side appeared to dial down the pressure slightly on Friday, listing tariff exemptions for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products for which China is a major source.But Beijing’s Commerce Ministry said the move only “represents a small step” and insisted that the Trump administration should “completely cancel” the whole tariff strategy.The new exemptions will benefit US tech companies like Nvidia and Dell as well as Apple, which makes iPhones and other premium products in China.- Short-lived relief? -The relief could, however, be short-lived with some of the exempted consumer electronics targeted for upcoming sector-specific tariffs on goods deemed key to US national defense networks.Trump has said he will give “very specific” details on Monday, and his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said semiconductor tariffs would likely be in place “in a month or two.”The US president sent financial markets into a tailspin earlier this month by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners, only to abruptly announce a 90-day pause for most of them.China was excluded from the reprieve.The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing a deal with China, although administration officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first.Trump’s trade representative Jamieson Greer told CBS “Face the Nation” on Sunday that “we don’t have any plans” for a talk between the president and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.- China looks elsewhere -China has sought to present itself as a stable alternative to an erratic Washington, courting countries spooked by the global economic storm.Xi on Monday kicks off a five-day Southeast Asia tour for talks with the leaders of Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, as well as Malaysia and Cambodia.The fallout from Trump’s tariffs — and subsequent whiplash policy reversals — has sent particular shockwaves through the US economy, with investors dumping government bonds, the dollar tumbling and consumer confidence plunging.Adding to the pressure on Trump, Wall Street billionaires — including a number of his own supporters — have openly criticized the whole tariff strategy as damaging and counterproductive.The White House insists the aggressive policy is bearing fruit, saying dozens of countries have already opened trade negotiations to secure a deal before the 90-day pause ends.”We’re working around the clock, day and night, sharing paper, receiving offers and giving feedback to these countries,” Greer told CBS.