In a week that will be, according to President Trump, “remembered forever,” for what happened on Wednesday, T Day, the Day of the Tariffs, “Liberation Day” he called it - the term he also used to describe his election victory and his inauguration.
But there’s no denying the magnitude of it since it is already causing international panic and a slump in the global stock markets. Any company making products outside of the US will now have to pay increased costs to import. From Athens to Zurich - notably though, it doesn’t include Russia. Western analysts say the maths behind the tariffs all seem a bit totted up on the “back of a fag packet”. President Trump claims its about fairness for Uncle Sam, and warned others not to strike back
It’s been a surprising week in French politics. A criminal court in Paris has ruled Marine le Pen ineligible to run for public office for the next five years, effective immediately, after being found guilty of embezzling 4 million euros of EU Parliamentary funds. The right wing opposition leader was, until now, front runner in 2027’s Presidential elections. “Unbelievable” she uttered, as she stormed out of court before the judge had even finished reading the sentence. Her political dreams upended, and now forced to wear an electronic tag for the next two years, her anger was visible on Monday night Prime Time TV.
It’s been a week that’s seen Hungary roll out the red carpet for a leader wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu chanced his first European trip since being indicted in November, in the knowledge that his Hungarian counterpart Victor Orban was withdrawing from the ICC - and so - wouldn’t be obliged to arrest him on arrival.
And it’s been a week that’s seen a crisis on top of a crisis in Myanmar - a nation is suffering from the effects of the biggest earthquake in a century, and a military regime is using the aftermath of the natural disaster for military advantage, bombing rebel-held areas, according to the UN, as well as reportedly blocking the flow of humanitarian aid, and firing on a Chinese Red Cross convoy that was trying to help victims of the earthquake. The overall death toll has now reached more than three thousand.
Produced by Ilayda Habib, Aurore Laborie and Alessandro Xenos.
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Paul MOREIRA Journalist & Documentary Filmmaker
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Anne BAGAMERY Independent journalist
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Steven ERLANGER Chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe, The New York Times
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Eric RANDOLPH Culture Editor, Agence France Presse
English (US) · 