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Outside the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) detention centre, where former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has been taken, his supporters gathered on Wednesday night, waving national flags and shouting, “Bring him back!” as a vehicle thought to be carrying him was driven through the imposing iron gates at speed.

Shortly before he landed in the Netherlands, the 79-year-old unapologetically defended his bloody “war on drugs” for which the ICC says there are “reasonable grounds” to charge him with murder as a crime against humanity.

Small-time drug dealers, users and others were killed without trial on his watch as mayor and, later, as president.

The official toll stands at 6,000, though activists believe the real figure could run into the tens of thousands.

Duterte said he cracked down on drug dealers to rid the country of street crimes.

However, rights groups allege that the campaign was rife with police abuse, targeting young men from the urban poor.

Duterte is the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC – and the first suspect to be flown to The Hague in three years.

And his arrival comes at a pivotal moment for the International Criminal Court.

Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and deportation on Monday was the result of an unprecedented chain of events.

His supporters allege that the ICC is being used as a political tool by the country’s current president Ferdinand Marcos who has publicly fallen out with the powerful Duterte family.

The ICC is a court of last resort designed to hold the most powerful to account when domestic courts are unable or unwilling to do so. But this case is a reminder of the extent to which it depends on state co-operation in order to fulfil its mandate – it effectively has no power to arrest people without the co-operation of the countries they are in, which is most often refused.

In the case of Duterte, chances that he would ever be prosecuted by the ICC seemed unthinkable even in 2022, when his daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte, allied with Marcos to create the powerful “uniteam” that swept presidential elections.

Up until a few months ago, Marcos had dismissed the idea of co-operating with the ICC.

But the pace at which Duterte was served an arrest warrant and extradited shows that when political winds shift, those once considered untouchable can find themselves touching down in The Hague.

The whole process of his extradition – from his detention in Manila to his arrival in The Hague – has been documented on social media by his daughter Kitty and Duterte himself through his aide. His plane was the most tracked on flight radar.

“I am the one who led our law enforcement and military. I said that I will protect you and I will be responsible for all of this,” he said on a Facebook video, one of many that was shared over more than 24 hours during his journey from Manila to The Hague.

It provided rare insight into what is usually an opaque process, and the world was able to follow, sometimes in real time, every step of it right down to the meals Duterte was served on board his chartered jet.

Duterte’s arrest now sends a strong signal that even powerful individuals may be held accountable for their actions, potentially deterring future abuses.

His case has also reignited debate about the ICC’s role in relation to national sovereignty, a concern often raised by non-member states like the United States, Russia, and China.

The court depends on its 128 members to fund and be the operational arm of this judicial body.

So Duterte’s headline-making arrival, followed by his first night in custody at The Hague, offer the court a much-needed win.

After serving two high-profile arrest warrants – one for the Russian president Vladimir Putin, and another for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza – which are unlikely to be enforced, the arrival of Duterte will be put forth as proof the court is capable of bringing those accused of the gravest atrocities to face justice.

It is a litmus test for the ICC’s ability to function effectively in an increasingly polarised climate.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was recently sanctioned by Donald Trump over the arrest warrant issued for Benjamin Netanyahu.

The detention of Duterte provides him with a powerful response.

“Many say international law is not strong,” Karim Khan acknowledged. “But international law is not as weak as some may think. When we come together, when we build partnerships, the rule of law can prevail.”

The former Philippines president will now mark his 80th birthday this month in the ICC’s detention facility, located in the dunes of The Hague.

The facility, once a Nazi prison complex, provides each detainee with a private cell, access to computers, a library, and sports facilities.

If he isn’t satisfied with the meals provided, Duterte has the option to prepare his own food using a shopping list in the detention center’s kitchen. He will also have access to medical care, lawyers, and visitors.

He is expected to make his initial court appearance in the coming days, where he will confirm his identity, choose the language he wishes to follow proceedings in, and acknowledge the charges against him.

Following this public appearance, a confirmation of charges hearing will follow, during which the judges will decide whether the prosecution has presented a sufficient amount of evidence to proceed to trial.

If the charges are confirmed, it could be many months before he eventually goes on trial, and years before a final judgment.

Deena Ghazarian had only been in business for a year when the trade policies of President Donald Trump’s first term of office sent her company into a tailspin.

It was 2019 and her California-based firm, Austere, had just agreed to supply several big US retailers with its high-end audio and video accessories that are largely manufactured in China.

Then Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on China, and overnight Deena found herself paying a 25% surcharge on every cable and component she imported – up from zero previously.

She was forced to absorb the costs and for a while thought she would go bust.

“I literally thought I am going to start and end a business in less than a year,” she says. “I had spent all this time, money and effort, and to have something like this blindside you was shocking.”

The firm pulled through, but like numerous other US businesses it now finds itself in a strikingly similar situation.

Since returning to office in January, Mr Trump has raised tariffs on all goods imported from China by 20%, and put taxes of 25% on Canadian and Mexican products, only to delay some of them until April.

The president says he wants to force these countries to do more to stop flows of illegal drugs and migrants into America, to bring more manufacturing back to the US, and to address what he sees as unfair trade imbalances.

But the duties are much broader in scope than last time, when they were phased in gradually and many products were granted exemptions.

Goods like smartphones, desktop computers and tablets are now incurring tariffs for the first time, while taxes on others have climbed higher.

“US importers have to pay these taxes not the exporters,” says Ed Brzytwa, vice president of international trade at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), a North American trade body that represents more than 1,200 tech firms.

“It’s American businesses and consumers who will suffer.”

Businesses like Ms Ghazarian’s are particularly exposed. China is still the number one supplier of electronic products to the US, with imports totalling $146bn (£112bn) in 2023, according to official data.

Meanwhile, 87% of US video game console imports came from China that year, 78% of smartphones, 79% of laptops and tablets, and two-thirds of monitors, says the CTA.

While many American companies like Austere have diversified their supply chains away from China since Mr Trump’s first term, countries such as Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam still do not offer the same manufacturing capabilities and expertise.

At the same time, the US president is now targeting Mexico – another major electronics supplier. And while domestic manufacturing in the US has increased, partly due to tariffs, it is still limited by higher costs and stricter regulations.

“Yes, Apple now makes some iPhones in India and [the Taiwanese chipmaker] TSMC has been diversifying to Arizona,” says Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington DC.

“But China is still a massive part of the supply chain. Relationships with new suppliers take time to develop, they are costly to develop.”

Research suggests that companies pass on a large proportion of the costs of tariffs by putting up prices. Earlier this month Corie Barry, boss of US electronics retailer Best Buy, said that the “the vast majority” of the new tariffs will “probably be passed on to the consumer” because vendors in the industry have such small margins.

In February, Taiwanese firm Acer said the price of its laptops would likely rise by 10% based on the 10% duties in place on China at the time, while US group HP has warned its profits would be lower because of the tariffs.

Ms Ghazarian says she may have to raise her prices this year, but worries it could backfire. “There is a price point where the customer is satisfied with the value of goods provided.

“The moment I shift above that I start to lose customers. High inflation has squeezed Americans.”

During Mr Trump’s first term, companies such as Apple successfully secured exemptions for products, and we may yet see carve-outs.

Insiders have also suggested Mr Trump views tariffs as a negotiating tactic and could ease them if he wins concessions, as he did when China agreed to buy more American goods in a deal reached in 2020.

Fears of a US economic slowdown could also make him change course.

For the time being, though, tensions look likely to escalate. China, Mexico and Canada have vowed to retaliate against any US duties imposed on them, and this week Mr Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium only to row back at the last minute.

He plans to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on the rest of the world soon, and threatened tariff increases of up to 60% on Chinese goods while on the campaign trail.

There is a risk this could drive up the price of tech goods around the world if China is forced to relocate manufacturing to countries where labour costs are higher. Moreover, countries may hit back with tariffs on imported US technology.

Ms Ghazarian says she is worried but at least she’s prepared this time. Like many other US business-owners she bulk-ordered extra inventory before Mr Trump took office, and is storing it in her east coast warehouse.

She hopes that will get the company through the next year until it can “pivot” again.

“That might mean finding a more cost-effective way to produce the product or doing something completely different. It’s frustrating I have to focus on survival rather than growing my business.”

Ineos Automotive, the car maker owned by Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has recalled more than 7,000 of its sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in the US.

The firm said “in a small number of cases” Grenadier SUV doors are opening while cars are being driven “increasing the risk of injury to passengers inside the vehicle”.

“Due to insufficient application of grease, an exterior door release button may remain in the depressed position, preventing the door from closing securely”, a spokesperson told the BBC.

To fix the problem, Ineos said it will replace all door button assemblies on the affected vehicles, free of charge.

The recall affects Ineos’ Grenadier SUVs produced between 6 July 2023 and 19 April 2024.

The door button mechanism on affected vehicles may have been assembled without enough grease in them, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) filing.

“This may allow the exterior door buttons to remain in the depressed position and prevent the door from fully latching,” the document said.

A company spokesperson said: “We are undertaking a campaign to replace the door lock mechanisms on all affected vehicles as quickly as possible. Owners of all impacted vehicles are being contacted directly.”

The recall is the latest issue faced by the car company, which last year had to temporarily pause manufacturing after one of its parts suppliers became insolvent.

Launched in 2022, the Grenadier was the first vehicle produced by Ineos Automotive. It is inspired by the iconic Land Rover Defender.

Sir Jim’s decision to start the car company was motivated by his disappointment over Jaguar Land Rover’s decision to stop making the Defender.

In 2020, the entrepreneur, who had campaigned for Leave in the run-up to the 2016 Brexit referendum, announced that the vehicle would be assembled in France, putting an end to hopes that it would be made at a plant in Wales.

According to the company, there are currently about 20,000 Grenadiers on the road in 50 countries around the world.

Ineos Automotive lost more than 1.4 billion euros (£1.1bn, $1.5bn) before tax in 2023, according to a filing with the UK registry Companies House.

Sir Jim, who is one of the UK’s richest people, owns a 27.7% stake in Manchester United.

Ineos Automotive, the car maker owned by Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has recalled more than 7,000 of its sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in the US.

The firm said “in a small number of cases” Grenadier SUV doors are opening while cars are being driven “increasing the risk of injury to passengers inside the vehicle”.

“Due to insufficient application of grease, an exterior door release button may remain in the depressed position, preventing the door from closing securely”, a spokesperson told the BBC.

To fix the problem, Ineos said it will replace all door button assemblies on the affected vehicles, free of charge.

The recall affects Ineos’ Grenadier SUVs produced between 6 July 2023 and 19 April 2024.

The door button mechanism on affected vehicles may have been assembled without enough grease in them, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) filing.

“This may allow the exterior door buttons to remain in the depressed position and prevent the door from fully latching,” the document said.

A company spokesperson said: “We are undertaking a campaign to replace the door lock mechanisms on all affected vehicles as quickly as possible. Owners of all impacted vehicles are being contacted directly.”

The recall is the latest issue faced by the car company, which last year had to temporarily pause manufacturing after one of its parts suppliers became insolvent.

Launched in 2022, the Grenadier was the first vehicle produced by Ineos Automotive. It is inspired by the iconic Land Rover Defender.

Sir Jim’s decision to start the car company was motivated by his disappointment over Jaguar Land Rover’s decision to stop making the Defender.

In 2020, the entrepreneur, who had campaigned for Leave in the run-up to the 2016 Brexit referendum, announced that the vehicle would be assembled in France, putting an end to hopes that it would be made at a plant in Wales.

According to the company, there are currently about 20,000 Grenadiers on the road in 50 countries around the world.

Ineos Automotive lost more than 1.4 billion euros (£1.1bn, $1.5bn) before tax in 2023, according to a filing with the UK registry Companies House.

Sir Jim, who is one of the UK’s richest people, owns a 27.7% stake in Manchester United.

Canada’s Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney has said he is ready to negotiate a renewed trade deal with US President Donald Trump, as long as there is “respect for Canadian sovereignty”.

Carney made these comments during a visit to a steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario, as Canada unveiled C$29.8bn ($20.7bn) in reciprocal tariffs on US imports.

Trump earlier slapped 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium coming into the country.

Since Trump took office in January, the two countries have been involved in an escalating trade war, with the US president repeatedly threatening to annex its neighbour.

Carney condemned the latest round of US tariffs as “unjustified” on Wednesday.

“We’re all going to be better off when the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed, relaunched,” he said.

Canada, which is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminium to the US, is heavily exposed to the tariffs.

Trump has justified the tariffs, claiming they were necessary for US national security and to boost demand for domestic producers, which he argues has been “depressed” by foreign competition.

The US president implemented a blanket 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, citing concerns over drugs and migrants crossing the US border.

The tariffs on steel and aluminium, effective from Wednesday, mark the end of exemptions previously granted to several countries, including Canada.

In retaliation, Canada announced tariffs on US goods, including steel and aluminium, with additional measures set to take effect at 00:01 EST (04:01 GMT) on Thursday.

The new tariffs cover a range of products, including C$12.6bn on steel, $3bn on aluminium, as well as tools, computer equipment, water heaters, sports equipment, and cast-iron products.

Experts say the growing trade dispute threatens economic stability for both countries.

On Wednesday, Canada’s central bank cut interest rates to 2.75% from 3% to prepare the country’s economy for disruption.

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc told a news conference that the country was still seeking to de-escalate.

“If you’re racing to the basement, there’s no real prize for the first person to get to the basement,” he said.

On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, along with federal representatives, will meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Lutnick told Fox Business that at the meeting he plans to try to “level set” things between the two nations.

Mark Carney, who was elected leader of the governing Liberal Party on Sunday, is set to be sworn in as prime minister, replacing Justin Trudeau. He has promised to win the trade war against Trump, following his landslide victory.

With reporting from Jonathan Josephs and Lisa Lambert

With Donald Trump’s tit-for-tat tariffs on India looming next month, millions of Americans may have to brace for steeper medical bills.

Last week, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal made an unscheduled trip to the US for discussions with officials, hoping to strike a trade deal.

It followed Trump’s announcement that he would impose tariffs – which are government taxes on foreign imports – on India by 2 April, in retaliation to India’s tariffs on American goods.

Goyal wants to stave off tax increases on India’s critical export industries like medicinal drugs.

Nearly half of all medicines taken in the US come from India alone. Generic drugs – which are cheaper versions of brand-name medications – imported from countries like India make up nine out of 10 prescriptions in the US.

This saves Washington billions in healthcare costs. In 2022 alone, the savings from Indian generics amounted to a staggering $219bn (£169bn), according to a study by consulting firm IQVIA.

Without a trade deal, Trump’s tariffs could make some Indian generics unviable, forcing companies to exit part of the market and exacerbating existing drug shortages, experts say.

Tariffs could “worsen the demand-supply imbalances” and the uninsured and poor will be left counting the costs, says Dr Melissa Barber, a drug costing expert from Yale University.

The effects could be felt across people suffering from a range of health conditions.

Over 60% of prescriptions for hypertension and mental health ailments in the US were filled with Indian-made drugs, according to the IQVIA study funded by the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).

Sertraline, the most prescribed antidepressant in the US, is a prominent example of how dependent Americans are on Indian supplies for essential drugs.

Many of them cost half as much as for those from non-Indian companies.

“We are worried about this,” says Peter Maybarduk, a lawyer at Public Citizens, a consumer advocacy group fighting for access to medicines. One in four American patients already fail to take medicines due to their costs, he adds.

Trump is already reportedly facing pressure from US hospitals and generic drugmakers because of his tariffs on Chinese imports.

The raw materials for 87% of the drugs sold in the US are located outside the country and primarily concentrated in China which fulfils around 40% of global supply.

With tariffs on Chinese imports rising 20% since Trump took office, the cost of raw materials for drugs have already gone up.

Trump wants companies to shift manufacturing to the US to avoid his tariffs.

Big pharma giants like Pfizer and Eli Lily, that sell brand name and patented drugs, have said they are committing to move some manufacturing there.

But the economics for low-value drugs do not add up.

Dilip Shanghvi, chairman of India’s largest drugmaker Sun Pharma, told an industry gathering last week that his company sells pills for between $1 and $5 per bottle in the US and tariffs “do not justify relocating our manufacturing to the US”.

“Manufacturing in India is at least three to four times cheaper than in the US,” says Sudarshan Jain of the IPA.

Any quick relocation will be next to impossible. Building a new manufacturing facility can cost up to $2bn and take five to 10 years before it is operational, according to lobby group PhRMA.

For local pharma players in India, the tariff blow could be brutal too.

The pharmaceutical sector is India’s largest industrial export according to GTRI, a trade research agency.

India exports some $12.7bn worth of drugs to the US annually, paying virtually no tax. US drugs coming into India, however, pay 10.91% in duties.

This leaves a “trade differential” of 10.9%. Any reciprocal tariffs by the US would increase the costs for both generic medicines and specialty drugs, according to GTRI.

It flags up pharmaceuticals as one of the sectors that is most vulnerable to price increases in the US market.

Indian firms which largely sell generic drugs already work on thin margins and won’t be able to afford a steep tax outgo.

They sell at much lower prices compared to competing peers, and have steadily gained dominance across cardiovascular, mental health, dermatology and women’s health drugs in the world’s largest pharma market.

“We can offset single-digit tariff hikes with cost cuts, but anything higher will have to be passed down to consumers,” the finance head of a top Indian drugmaker who didn’t want to be identified, told the BBC.

North America is their biggest revenue source, contributing a third of the earnings and profitability of most companies.

“It is the fastest growing market and most crucial. Even if we increase exposure to other markets, it will not adjust for any loss in the US market,” the finance head said.

Umang Vohra, CEO of India’s third-largest drug firm Cipla, said at a public gathering recently that tariffs should not ultimately dictate what businesses do, “because there is a risk that four years later, those tariffs may go away”.

But four years is a long time, and could make or break the fortunes of several companies.

To avoid any of this, “India should just drop its tariffs on pharma goods”, Ajay Bagga, a veteran market expert told the BBC. “US drug exports into India are barely half a billion dollars, so the impact will be negligible.”

The IPA, which consists of India’s largest drug makers, has also recommended zero duty on US drug exports so that India isn’t negatively impacted by reciprocal levies.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government recently added 36 life-saving drugs to the list of medicines fully exempted from a basic customs duty in the budget, and President Trump dropped a hint last week that India could be yielding to his pressure.

India has agreed to cut tariffs “way down”, he said, because “somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done”.

Delhi has not responded yet, but pharma players in both countries are nervously waiting to see the specifics of a trade deal that could have a bearing on lives and livelihoods.

“In the short term, there may be some pain through new tariffs, but I think they’ll make significant progress by the fall of this year for a first tranche [trade] agreement,” Mark Linscott, former assistant US trade representative, told the BBC, adding that neither country could afford a breakdown in pharma supply chains.

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A long convoy of armoured personnel tanks rolling through a Harare neighbourhood sparked concerns – for a brief moment – that a military coup was afoot in Zimbabwe.

“What’s going on in Zimbabwe?” one person posted on social media. Another said: “The last time this happened there was a coup.”

Government spokesman Nick Mangwana was quick to allay the public’s fears, explaining the tanks were in the capital that mid-February morning as part of a scheduled exercise to test equipment and were “nothing to be concerned about”.

Yet the chatter and speculation continued, revealing much about the state of the country.

Ahead of the routine military drill, President Emmerson Mnangagwa had, for the first time since becoming president in 2017, faced harsh criticism about his leadership from within his Zanu-PF party with calls for him to step down.

The accusations evoked memories of the lead-up to the coup that toppled his predecessor, long-time leader Robert Mugabe.

He had come to power in 1980 as the revolutionary hero who ended decades of white-minority rule. But his demise was heralded when veterans of the 1970s war of independence withdrew their support for him.

It was a war veteran and senior Zanu-PF member named Blessed Geza, also known as “Bombshell”, who launched a verbal offensive against Mnangagwa.

He became angered when some within the party began pushing to change the country’s laws to allow for the president to seek a third term.

In a series of often expletive-laden press conferences, gritty-voiced and with a furrowed forehead, he repeatedly called on the 82-year-old president to go or face being removed.

“I must apologise for helping him come into office,” said Geza in one press conference aired on social media about the president, who goes by the nickname “The Crocodile”.

“As soon as he [Mnangagwa] had the taste of power, he escalated corruption, forgot the people and only remembered his family,” said the outspoken war veteran, who was then a member of Zanu-PF’s powerful central committee.

“Mnangagwa has also surrendered state power to his wife and children. We sadly see history repeating itself. We can’t allow that to happen.”

Zanu-PF was outraged by his “disloyal” remarks – later described as “amounting to treason” – forcing Bombshell into hiding from where, through his representatives, he continues to make taunts via social media, hinting at protests.

He is wanted by the police on four charges, including vehicle theft, undermining the authority of the president and inciting public violence.

Blessed Mhlanga, the journalist who first interviewed Bombshell back in November, has also been arrested on charges of transmitting a message that incites violence.

Trouble began brewing over Mnangagwa’s ambitions to stay in office during Zanu-PF rallies last year. The president is currently serving his second and final term, which expires in 2028.

The slogan “2030 he will still be the leader” began to be uttered by his supporters despite Zimbabwe’s constitution limiting presidential terms to two five-year terms.

They argued that he would need to remain in office to complete his “Agenda 2030” development programme as he was doing such great work.

A motion was then adopted unanimously at Zanu-PF’s conference in December that did not explicitly speak of a third term but sought to extend Mnangagwa’s existing term until 2030.

Despite a recent assurance from Mnangagwa that he did intend to step down in three years, the influential Roman Catholic bishops have become involved.

In a pastoral letter last week, Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops Conference warned that the 2030 debate was a distraction from the things that truly mattered – business closures, high unemployment, rampant corruption and economic policies that favour the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Zimbabweans.

Presidential spokesman George Charamba expressed his disappointment about the clerics’ pronouncement, telling the state-run Herald newspaper the matter was now “dead and buried”.

Nonetheless, Bombshell’s message seems to have landed. It has resulted in a purge in Zanu-PF, with the expulsion of Geza and some of his allies.

Yet political analyst Takura Zhangazha says Geza’s outburst is unlikely to galvanise crowds to his cause.

These days people are less interested in such political spectacles, he says, unlike at the time of Mugabe’s downfall when Zimbabweans, including opposition party supporters, turned out en masse to support the coup – thanking the military and the war veterans.

“Even that attempt by Geza to talk about corruption and the plight of the workers – it’s not going to get people riled up, organising, mobilising. They don’t have that capacity or interest any more,” he tells the BBC.

“I can promise you there’s no repeat of 2017 before 2028,” he said, adding that Zimbabweans feel they were used in the ousting of Mugabe and would not be brought out on the streets again for Zanu-PF’s internal battles.

This is also because there are splits across the political landscape, including a weak opposition.

Even the war veterans do not represent a united front, Mr Zhangazha says.

Geza has previously voiced support in the succession debate for Vice-President Constantine Chiwenga, the 68-year-old former army chief, but other war veterans are known to back the 2030 agenda.

Political analyst Alexander Rusero says it is important to understand the war veterans’ influential role in both Zimbabwe and Zanu-PF.

“They see themselves as caretakers, so you can’t wish away their sentiments,” he tells the BBC.

However, he believes that the current grievances aired by the likes of Bombshell are prompted more by self-regard than public interest.

“They feel as if they are excluded from the cake that they should otherwise be enjoying,” he tells the BBC.

Mr Zhangazha agrees that those who show loyalty within the governing party are likely to benefit from things like tenders, government contracts, access to housing, land and agricultural inputs such as fertiliser and seeds.

For Jameson Timba, the leader of a faction of the main opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), it all sums up the state of politics in Zimbabwe.

“You have a country where the economic situation is deteriorating. People can hardly afford more than one meal a day,” he told the BBC.

“We have major supermarket chains which are literally closing down,” he said, referencing the economic woes facing OK Zimbabwe, one of the country’s biggest retailers that has been forced to close several big branches with empty shelves in others.

Mr Zhangazha noted the forecast for the fragile economy looks even more grim thanks to the fallout from the recent suspension of USAID.

Timba is still recovering from a five-month stint in jail, spending most of his incarceration sitting on a concrete floor, sharing a cell and toilet with 80 people.

He was arrested in June, along with more than 70 others, for hosting an “unlawful meeting” at his private residence when he held a barbeque to mark the International Day of the African Child.

His treatment – and those of his fellow detainees – reflected how opposition politics was being criminalised, he told the BBC.

“The country is facing challenges. Any leader or government worth his salt would actually call for an early election, to check and determine whether they still have the mandate of the people,” he said.

“To do the opposite represents a joke essentially [when] you’re talking about extending a term of office.”

However, there is little chance of an early vote.

For now, Bombshell remains in hiding and the elections are years away – but the succession debate will keep cooking.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to impose more tariffs after his latest move to introduce import taxes on steel and aluminium entering the US prompted retaliation from the European Union (EU) and Canada.

Trump said “of course” he would respond to the countermeasures, repeating his warning to reveal “reciprocal” tariffs next month on countries around the world.

“Whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them,” he said.

The threat marked a further escalation of a trade war which has rattled financial markets amid concerns over the impact on the economies and consumers in many countries around the world, including the US.

On Wednesday, Trump moved forward with a plan to widen US tariffs on steel and aluminium, imposing a blanket duty of 25% and ending exemptions that the US had previously granted for shipments from some countries.

That followed an order earlier this month that raised levies on Chinese imports into the US to at least 20%.

Trump has also threatened tariffs – which are taxes applied to goods as they enter a country – on a range of more specific items, including copper, lumber and cars.

Leaders in Canada and Europe called the new metals taxes unjustified and struck back with their own tariffs on a range of US products.

Other countries that are key US suppliers of metals, including the UK, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, held off on any immediate retaliation.

“Like everybody else, I’m disappointed to see global tariffs in relation to steel and aluminium but we will take a pragmatic approach,” said UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

“We are…negotiating a deal which covers and includes tariffs if we succeed. But we will keep all options on the table.”

Canada said from Thursday it would start charging a 25% tax on nearly C$30bn ($20bn; £16bn) worth of US products, including steel, computers and sports equipment.

Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney said he was ready to negotiate a renewed trade deal with Trump, as long as there is “respect for Canadian sovereignty”.

The EU said it would raise its levies on up to €26bn ($28bn; £22bn) worth of US goods, including boats, bourbon and motorbikes, from 1 April.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen said the response was intended to be “strong but proportionate” and added that the EU stood “ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue”.

“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and worse for consumers,” she said, warning the economic disruption put jobs at stake and would send prices higher.

“Nobody needs that – on both sides, neither in the European Union nor in the United States.”

Trump had said he wants to boost US steel and aluminium production in the longer run, but critics say in the immediate term the taxes on imports of the metals will raise prices for US consumers and dent economic growth.

Major packaged food makers including Quaker Oats and Folgers coffee asked Trump for targeted exemptions from tariffs on imports such as cocoa and fruit, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

PepsiCo, Conagra and J M Smucker, also requested the president exempt ingredients not available from US sources in the letter, which was sent by the trade group the Consumer Brands Association.

Coffee, oats, cocoa, spices, tropical fruit and tin mill steel, used for some food and household goods, are among the imports listed as unavailable domestically, Reuters reported.

The import taxes are also expected to reduce demand for steel and aluminium that is not made in the US – a blow to makers of the metals elsewhere.

The EU estimated that the latest US tariffs affect about 5% of its total exports to the US, while the US is the destination for roughly 90% of Canada’s steel and aluminium exports.

Shares in the US were mixed on Wednesday, after two days of sharp decline. The Dow closed down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 ended nearly 0.5% higher and the Nasdaq jumped 1.2%.

In an appearance at the White House with the Irish prime minister, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Trump said he did not plan to back down from his trade fight, saying he was “not happy” with EU trade policies.

He cited concerns about legal penalties it has imposed on Apple and rules he claimed put US farm products and cars at a disadvantage.

“They’re doing what they should be doing perhaps for the European Union but it does create ill will,” he said.

Repeating his threat to hit European cars with tariffs, he added later: “We’re going to win that financial battle.”

Spotify paid the music industry $10bn (£7.7bn) in 2024, which the streaming service said was the highest annual payment from any single retailer in history.

But the figures come as a heated debate continues about how much money artists and songwriters receive in royalties.

Earlier this year, several Grammy-nominated songwriters boycotted an awards event hosted by Spotify in a row about their streaming earnings.

As the new figures were published, a spokesperson for Spotify said the responsibility for distributing the money it pays lay with record labels and publishers.

The company said it pays royalties to rights holders, adding that it does not have “visibility” on where the money ultimately goes because earnings are based on artists’ individual contracts with their labels.

A spokesperson said: “Spotify does not pay artists or songwriters directly. We pay rights-holders, these are typically record labels, music publishers, collection societies.

“These rights-holders then pay artists and songwriters based on their individual agreements.”

The amount of money earned by artists will vary, but a committee of MPs heard in 2021 that the performer ultimately earns about 16% of a stream’s overall value.

That would mean an artist whose music generated £100,000 on Spotify might only receive £16,000 in royalty payments, before tax.

However, Spotify is not the only streaming service to generate revenue for artists, and many pop stars make more money from other income streams such as live tours.

Spotify said more than two-thirds of all music revenue goes “straight to the recording and publishing rights-holders”, and added that, like other streamers, Spotify does not pay on a per-stream basis.

The annual figures were published in Spotify’s Loud and Clear report – part of the company’s aim to provide transparency on how it pays the music industry.

The amount Spotify paid this year was an increase on the more than $9bn (£7bn) it handed over in 2023.

The report highlighted that the number of artists generating annual royalties between $1,000 (£770) and $10m had tripled since 2017.

Taylor Swift was named Spotify’s top artist globally with more than 26 billion streams, in the year she released her double-length album The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.

Swift herself was part of the debate about streaming royalties in 2014, when she removed her music from Spotify as part of a boycott, eventually re-joining the platform in 2017.

More recent artist boycotts have generally been prompted by other factors, such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music over the streamer’s employment of podcast host Joe Rogan. Both artists returned to the platform last year.

But dissatisfaction over streaming royalties continues.

A large-scale survey of musicians in Europe carried out last year found that about 70% were unhappy with the amount they were paid in streaming revenue.

A fire on an oil tanker involved in a collision in the North Sea has been extinguished.

US-registered tanker Stena Immaculate and Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong collided off the East Yorkshire coast on Monday.

Erik Hanel, chief executive of Swedish firm Stena Bulk, which co-owns the tanker, said the fire had been “very strong for a while”, adding it was still too early to understand the full impact of the collision.

Solong’s owners, the German firm Ernst Russ, said the vessel continued to emit smoke with “occasional reports of flames”.

The Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of aviation fuel spread among 18 containers of different sizes to be used by the US military.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Hanel said: “We have not got a team on board yet.

“It looks serious but how much structural damage there is we can’t be sure based on the pictures.”

He said the ship was currently anchored at sea and it was hoped a decision on what to do with it could be made over the next 24-48 hours.

“It will be easier to make those kinds of decisions once they can get a team on board to assess the damage,” he added.

Officials said that while there were no visible signs of fire on the Stena Immaculate, there were still small pockets of fire on the top deck of the Solong. Firefighting vessels were continuing to provide support.

Chief coastguard Paddy O’Callaghan said the Solong had now been towed “to a safe location”, while the Stena Immaculate remained anchored in its original position.

Three aerial surveillance flights had taken place on Wednesday and found no indication of pollution on the surface of the water attributable to either of the vessels, he added.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said it was leading the safety investigation into the incident, with Portugal and the US acting as “substantially interested states”.

A spokesperson for MAIB said the investigation was focused at present on gathering witness accounts and obtaining digital data.

A detailed inspection of both vessels, along with the retrieval of data recorders, would be carried out when it was safe to do.

Following the collision, the Russian national captain of the Solong was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter following reports of a missing crew member.

Ernst Russ said it was working on plans to recover the vessel and was assisting the authorities with their investigations.

The company said its thoughts remained with the family of the missing crew member.

Humberside Police said it had begun a criminal investigation into the cause of the collision and was working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

“Detectives are continuing to conduct extensive lines of enquiry alongside partners in connection with the collision,” the force said.

Both ships caught fire after the collision, triggering a major response from emergency services.

Virginia McVea, chief executive of Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said: “There have been no further reports of pollution to the sea from either vessel beyond what was observed during the initial incident.”

HM Coastguard said 36 people had been rescued and taken safely to shore.

Grimsby-based Windcat, which provides support to offshore wind farms, assisted in the rescue operation.

The company said it had two ships in the area at the time.

“Both vessels were called to assist in the rescue operation,” a spokesperson said.

“They immediately responded and they brought around 17 people involved to safety ashore.”

Ms McVea said the agency was working with salvage companies hired by the two ship owners “to protect the public and the environment to the best of our ability, during this ongoing incident response”.

Whitehall sources have told the BBC there were Russians and Filipinos among the crew of the Solong.

It is quite common for the global shipping industry to use crews from these two countries.

The BBC understands all of the crew on board the Stena Immaculate are Americans who are currently in Grimsby and will be repatriated in due course.

Its co-owners, Florida-based Crowley, said it had been at anchor waiting for a berth to become available at the Port of Killingholme on the Humber Estuary.

The firm added the crash had caused “multiple explosions” on board and an unknown quantity of jet fuel to be released.

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

US President Donald Trump has raised a “massive” trade imbalance with Ireland and accused the European Union of treating the US “very badly”.

He made the comments during a bilateral meeting with Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin as part of the Irish government’s traditional St Patrick’s Day engagements.

Earlier on Wednesday, the European Union announced it will impose counter tariffs on €26bn ($28bn) worth of US goods from next month.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said: “There’s a massive deficit that we have with Ireland… we want to sort of even that out as nicely as we can, and we’ll work together.”

Martin told President Trump that foreign investment is a two-way street, adding that Ireland is “investing a lot more in America now”.

The EU’s move is in retaliation to President Trump’s 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, which came into effect overnight.

Trump said it had caused “ill will”.

“The European Union’s been very tough, and it’s our turn too. We get a turn at that also,” he said.

“I’m not knocking it, they are doing what they are doing for the EU, but it does create ill will and you know we are going to do reciprocal tariffs,” he added.

Official figures from Ireland’s statistics agency suggest the country had a goods-trade surplus with the US of just over €50bn (£41.6bn) in 2024.

Ireland’s goods exports to the US were €72.6bn (£60.4bn) in 2024 while its imports from the US were €22.5bn (£18.7bn).

Trump said that the EU was “set up in order to take advantage of the United States”.

When asked if Ireland was also taking advantage of the US, Trump said: “Of course.”

“I have great respect for Ireland, for what they did and they should have done just what they did. But the United States shouldn’t have let that happen. We had stupid leaders, we had leaders who didn’t have a clue.”

He added: “All of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of five million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasps.

“The Irish are smart, smart people and you took our pharmaceutical companies – and other companies – but you know, through taxation, proper taxation, they made it very, very good for companies to move up there,” he added.

Trump also said that if he drained Ireland of all the US companies “maybe I’d lose the Irish vote”.

“We don’t want to do anything to hurt Ireland, but we do want fairness and [Martin] understands that,” he added.

However, Martin said the pharmaceutical companies “are doing very well in Ireland”, and that there was room to discuss a deal.

“I think there’s room for those companies to grow in America and many of them, by the way, have already announced fairly significant manufacturing investments now [in the US],” the taoiseach added.

Martin said Ireland had served the US companies well with a strong, educated workforce and access to the EU single market.

The president said Ireland’s housing crisis was caused by the country “doing so well”.

Housing availability and cost is a major political and social issue in Ireland, with reports stating thousands of new homes every year are needed to keep up with demand.

“You know why they have a housing crisis? Because they’re doing so well, they can’t produce houses fast enough,” Trump said.

Martin added it was a “good answer”.

However the remark has drawn criticism from opposition parties, with Sinn Féin stating that joking about the housing crisis is “never a good answer”.

Trump also praised Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy and MMA fighter Conor McGregor during the visit.

He called McIlroy “talented”, adding he had played a round with him three weeks ago.

The president also complimented McGregor’s tattoos: “He’s got the best tattoos I’ve ever seen”.

Earlier, the US president said he was unaware that some political parties were boycotting St Patrick’s Day celebrations at the White House.

Sinn Féin, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Alliance all ruled out attending events in Washington over the Trump administration’s stance on Gaza.

When asked about the boycotts, Trump replied: “I haven’t heard that, I really haven’t heard that.”

After the bilateral meeting, both Trump and Martin travelled to Capitol Hill to attend the Friends of Ireland luncheon hosted by the US House speaker, Mike Johnson.

Asked for his reaction to Trump being unaware some parties had decided to boycott events, Martin said: “I’m not going to comment on that.

“I note that there was a strong presence in Northern Ireland at the lunch. I saw Hilary Benn there, the Northern Secretary of State.

Speaking at the event, Trump said the “Irish spirit is truly alive and thriving in America”.

The president met Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Northern Ireland Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots and Communities Minister Gordon Lyons.

Speaking to BBC Newsline after the meeting, Little-Pengelly said she had a good conversation with the president about the US and NI’s “long-standing relationship” and his keenness to work together.

However, she added, Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill “should have been here”.

“I’m sure Michelle O’Neill would say she doesn’t think that I should have been here but of course it’s a joint office and I’m here representing the Northern Ireland government,” she said.

“I believe that it’s incredibly important to show up, turn up and speak up and that’s the key thing that I will always do.”

Prior to the meeting, Martin attended a breakfast hosted by Vice-President JD Vance.

Speaking at the breakfast he said that the US “has been a steadfast friend of Ireland for centuries”.

He said the peace process was a “signature achievement of US foreign policy”, adding that Ireland is “ready to play our part in supporting work to end conflict and to secure peace in the Ukraine or in the Middle East or wherever”.

Martin welcomed the “progress that has clearly been made” as a result of the Trump administration’s “unrelenting focus and effort” to secure peace.

Vance described the US-Ireland relationship as “one of the great alliances and great friendships between nations”.

He added that Ireland is a country with “incredible community… beautiful landscape and also a lot of interesting technological growth”.

“One of the more robust areas for us to work on with our Irish friends in the years to come is going to be technology and particularly artificial intelligence,” he said.

The taoiseach was the first EU leader to return to the Oval Office since the president’s bust-up with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The bilateral meeting came amid heightened concern over the future of Ireland’s economy, which is heavily reliant on US multinationals.

Trump sees this as a trade imbalance and is keen to entice those companies back to the US.

However, Martin said he would use his visit to the Oval Office to highlight an “increasingly two-way” trade and investment relationship.

Speaking ahead of Martin’s visit to the Oval Office, Democrat member of the House of Representatives Brendan Boyle told BBC News NI’s The View that “what the Trump administration is doing with respect to tariffs makes no economic sense, and it makes no sense in terms of our national security”.

Boyle said that imposing tariffs on Canada suggests that no country is “safe fully from this sort of madness”, including Ireland.

He added that Martin should “remind President Trump that Ireland, despite its small size, is one of the largest investors in the United States and one of the largest job creators in the United States”.

“On the one hand, [Trump] likes to say, you know, we’re the best, he’s the best, He’s the greatest. Everything is a superlative.

“But then in the next breath, he says, we’re suckers, we’re losers, we’re being taken advantage of by every other country.”

US President Donald Trump has raised a “massive” trade imbalance with Ireland and accused the European Union of treating the US “very badly”.

He made the comments during a bilateral meeting with Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin as part of the Irish government’s traditional St Patrick’s Day engagements.

Earlier on Wednesday, the European Union announced it will impose counter tariffs on €26bn ($28bn) worth of US goods from next month.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said: “There’s a massive deficit that we have with Ireland… we want to sort of even that out as nicely as we can, and we’ll work together.”

Martin told President Trump that foreign investment is a two-way street, adding that Ireland is “investing a lot more in America now”.

The EU’s move is in retaliation to President Trump’s 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, which came into effect overnight.

Trump said it had caused “ill will”.

“The European Union’s been very tough, and it’s our turn too. We get a turn at that also,” he said.

“I’m not knocking it, they are doing what they are doing for the EU, but it does create ill will and you know we are going to do reciprocal tariffs,” he added.

Official figures from Ireland’s statistics agency suggest the country had a goods-trade surplus with the US of just over €50bn (£41.6bn) in 2024.

Ireland’s goods exports to the US were €72.6bn (£60.4bn) in 2024 while its imports from the US were €22.5bn (£18.7bn).

Trump said that the EU was “set up in order to take advantage of the United States”.

When asked if Ireland was also taking advantage of the US, Trump said: “Of course.”

“I have great respect for Ireland, for what they did and they should have done just what they did. But the United States shouldn’t have let that happen. We had stupid leaders, we had leaders who didn’t have a clue.”

He added: “All of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of five million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasps.

“The Irish are smart, smart people and you took our pharmaceutical companies – and other companies – but you know, through taxation, proper taxation, they made it very, very good for companies to move up there,” he added.

Trump also said that if he drained Ireland of all the US companies “maybe I’d lose the Irish vote”.

“We don’t want to do anything to hurt Ireland, but we do want fairness and [Martin] understands that,” he added.

However, Martin said the pharmaceutical companies “are doing very well in Ireland”, and that there was room to discuss a deal.

“I think there’s room for those companies to grow in America and many of them, by the way, have already announced fairly significant manufacturing investments now [in the US],” the taoiseach added.

Martin said Ireland had served the US companies well with a strong, educated workforce and access to the EU single market.

The president said Ireland’s housing crisis was caused by the country “doing so well”.

Housing availability and cost is a major political and social issue in Ireland, with reports stating thousands of new homes every year are needed to keep up with demand.

“You know why they have a housing crisis? Because they’re doing so well, they can’t produce houses fast enough,” Trump said.

Martin added it was a “good answer”.

However the remark has drawn criticism from opposition parties, with Sinn Féin stating that joking about the housing crisis is “never a good answer”.

Trump also praised Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy and MMA fighter Conor McGregor during the visit.

He called McIlroy “talented”, adding he had played a round with him three weeks ago.

The president also complimented McGregor’s tattoos: “He’s got the best tattoos I’ve ever seen”.

Earlier, the US president said he was unaware that some political parties were boycotting St Patrick’s Day celebrations at the White House.

Sinn Féin, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Alliance all ruled out attending events in Washington over the Trump administration’s stance on Gaza.

When asked about the boycotts, Trump replied: “I haven’t heard that, I really haven’t heard that.”

After the bilateral meeting, both Trump and Martin travelled to Capitol Hill to attend the Friends of Ireland luncheon hosted by the US House speaker, Mike Johnson.

Asked for his reaction to Trump being unaware some parties had decided to boycott events, Martin said: “I’m not going to comment on that.

“I note that there was a strong presence in Northern Ireland at the lunch. I saw Hilary Benn there, the Northern Secretary of State.

Speaking at the event, Trump said the “Irish spirit is truly alive and thriving in America”.

The president met Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Northern Ireland Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots and Communities Minister Gordon Lyons.

Speaking to BBC Newsline after the meeting, Little-Pengelly said she had a good conversation with the president about the US and NI’s “long-standing relationship” and his keenness to work together.

However, she added, Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill “should have been here”.

“I’m sure Michelle O’Neill would say she doesn’t think that I should have been here but of course it’s a joint office and I’m here representing the Northern Ireland government,” she said.

“I believe that it’s incredibly important to show up, turn up and speak up and that’s the key thing that I will always do.”

Prior to the meeting, Martin attended a breakfast hosted by Vice-President JD Vance.

Speaking at the breakfast he said that the US “has been a steadfast friend of Ireland for centuries”.

He said the peace process was a “signature achievement of US foreign policy”, adding that Ireland is “ready to play our part in supporting work to end conflict and to secure peace in the Ukraine or in the Middle East or wherever”.

Martin welcomed the “progress that has clearly been made” as a result of the Trump administration’s “unrelenting focus and effort” to secure peace.

Vance described the US-Ireland relationship as “one of the great alliances and great friendships between nations”.

He added that Ireland is a country with “incredible community… beautiful landscape and also a lot of interesting technological growth”.

“One of the more robust areas for us to work on with our Irish friends in the years to come is going to be technology and particularly artificial intelligence,” he said.

The taoiseach was the first EU leader to return to the Oval Office since the president’s bust-up with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The bilateral meeting came amid heightened concern over the future of Ireland’s economy, which is heavily reliant on US multinationals.

Trump sees this as a trade imbalance and is keen to entice those companies back to the US.

However, Martin said he would use his visit to the Oval Office to highlight an “increasingly two-way” trade and investment relationship.

Speaking ahead of Martin’s visit to the Oval Office, Democrat member of the House of Representatives Brendan Boyle told BBC News NI’s The View that “what the Trump administration is doing with respect to tariffs makes no economic sense, and it makes no sense in terms of our national security”.

Boyle said that imposing tariffs on Canada suggests that no country is “safe fully from this sort of madness”, including Ireland.

He added that Martin should “remind President Trump that Ireland, despite its small size, is one of the largest investors in the United States and one of the largest job creators in the United States”.

“On the one hand, [Trump] likes to say, you know, we’re the best, he’s the best, He’s the greatest. Everything is a superlative.

“But then in the next breath, he says, we’re suckers, we’re losers, we’re being taken advantage of by every other country.”

The US is set to introduce a 30-day ceasefire proposal negotiated with Ukraine to Russia in the coming days.

Trump administration officials are seeing it as a major breakthrough towards the foreign policy goals of a president who campaigned to end the war.

So does it make a ceasefire plausible? And if so, can it end the war after Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago in a just and sustainable way, and on terms that keep the region and the world safe?

Statement: “Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation. The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace.”

Analysis: The key word here is “immediate,” which doesn’t leave any doubt: Trump wants the guns to fall silent now. His sense of urgency, however, has often led to concerns in Europe.

Many fear that rushing the desired outcome without first working out the terms takes the military pressure off Moscow as the invading power and could lead to a truce being exploited.

They argue it empowers the occupying force.

The fear is of ultimately leading Ukraine into an effective surrender. The theory is that Russia – the bigger, more populous and militarily more self-sufficient power – could use a truce without first establishing concessions to consolidate its forces, string out a negotiation process and wait to see what happens politically for Trump during his term while it holds on to everything it seized; and even then try to take more ground, building on its current occupation and potentially using a fracture in the Western alliance to threaten more of Europe.

The process of negotiating terms before a ceasefire in conflicts can be important to ensure the sides convert current military threats into meaningful strategic gains.

Zelensky has previously tried to persuade the Americans that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted, evidenced by the fact he broke the European-backed Minsk agreements after seizing Ukrainian territory in 2014.

Trump dismisses these concerns, saying there will be security for Ukraine, but without saying how this will be assured. He has said Putin will be deterred and is in a difficult position with “no choice” but to make a deal for reasons that “only I know”.

Rubio said on Tuesday the US delegation had substantive discussions with the Ukrainians on a permanent end to the war, including “what type of guarantees they’re going to have for their long-term security and prosperity”, but again didn’t elaborate.

Statement: “The United States will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”

Analysis: This is the big win for Zelensky in this agreement and sees US weapons supplies being delivered at a rate of around $2bn (£1.5bn)-worth a month, restored.

Critically, it also means Washington will once again share its intelligence data and satellite pictures with Kyiv, which helps it target Russian positions. The White House said it suspended this aid because it felt Zelensky wasn’t “committed” to Trump’s peace plan.

The Ukrainian leader had tried to voice his concerns based on some of the reasons above when he was ejected from the Oval Office. His reservations are likely being set aside while he welcomes the agreement in this form – a necessary price to pay to restore US security assistance.

Statement: “Both delegations agreed to name their negotiating teams and immediately begin negotiations toward an enduring peace that provides for Ukraine’s long-term security. The United States committed to discussing these specific proposals with representatives from Russia. The Ukrainian delegation reiterated that European partners shall be involved in the peace process.”

Analysis: This paragraph is confusing because it’s unclear whether it refers to negotiations between Ukraine and the US on establishing any security guarantees for Ukraine, or if it refers to negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to permanently end the war once a ceasefire is under way.

If it is the former, it appears to suggest that Washington and Kyiv will hammer out any decisions on how to back up Ukraine’s security and deter Russian breaches of a truce, and the US will then discuss these with Moscow.

But it is all a far cry from the kind of security guarantee Zelensky ultimately wanted, which was membership of Nato, which Trump has said won’t happen – a major long-term concession to Moscow’s demands.

The paragraph also contains a vague and lukewarm reference to the idea of European peacekeepers, which have been pitched by the UK and France, with the line attributed only to the Ukrainian delegation.

It’s notable that the US appears not to be putting its name to this part after Moscow categorically rejected the idea.

Statement: “…both countries’ presidents agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources to expand Ukraine’s economy and guarantee Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security.”

Analysis: This was the agreement that never got signed after Zelensky was told to leave the White House last month.

It would give the US a future stake in some of Ukraine’s state-owned mineral deposits, as well as oil and gas revenues.

Trump sees it as an effective security guarantee for Ukraine, arguing it would deter Russian re-invasion because American companies would be on the ground.

Opponents point out this is meaningless because US economic presence in Ukraine didn’t deter Putin in 2014 or 2022.

Statement: “The Ukrainian delegation reiterated the Ukrainian people’s strong gratitude to President Trump…”

Analysis: This is a key line that might help explain Zelenky’s rehabilitation in the eyes of the White House.

Vance had castigated him in the Oval Office for not thanking Trump, even though the Ukrainian leader has thanked the US dozens of times for its military support.

Now Trump has an official Ukrainian thank you, on a piece of paper meant to make peace.

The fentanyl dealer from Los Angeles stands to the side watching carefully as a Mexican drugs cartel operative prepares his latest shipment. The synthetic opioid drug is wrapped in foil, sealed in plastic, then dropped with an oily splash into the petrol tank of the trafficker’s nondescript car.

Jay, not his real name, had crossed earlier from the US to this cartel-run safe house on the Mexican side of the border. The house looks like any other in this neighbourhood. We are told to drive in quickly and an iron gate closes firmly behind us. They don’t cook the drug here, but still they are wary of attracting attention. The men all speak in hushed voices and work quickly.

Their lethal business has become the centre of a dispute causing shockwaves in the global economy after the White House used fentanyl smuggling through US borders as a key justification for raising tariffs. US President Donald Trump has also vowed to “wage war” on the drug cartels.

The BBC gained rare access to a cartel’s operation along the border and travelled to the US to meet their ultimate customers, to see if the international row was doing anything to halt the illegal flow of narcotics.

The men we meet at the safe house are foot-soldiers of a well-known cartel. Two of them loading the car admit to fleeting moments of remorse. But when I ask the man packing the drugs into the fuel tank if he feels guilty about the deaths the pills cause, he sniggers. “We have family too, of course we feel guilty. But if I stop, it’s going to continue. It’s not my problem,” he tells me with a shrug.

The men keep their faces covered while they remove the back seat of the car to gain access to the tank, taking care not to spill petrol. The smell inside the car could alert customs officers on the other side of the border that the fuel tank has been tampered with.

The light green pills, 5,000 in total and marked with an M, are packed tightly – a fraction of what Jay says he sells every week in LA and across the American northwest.

“I try to get 100,000 pills a week, every week,” the softly spoken dealer tells me. “I don’t send them in one vehicle. I try to spread it in different cars. That way I minimise my risk of losing all my pills.”

A 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico was introduced in response to what President Donald Trump said was the unacceptable flow of illegal drugs and illegal immigrants into the US. Some of those tariffs have since been delayed until 2 April.

Defeating the fentanyl trade is one of President Trump’s top policy goals, but Jay doesn’t rate his chances.

“Last time he was in office, he tried to do the same thing, and it never happened. There’s always going to be a demand. And where’s the biggest demand? United States, lucky for us. We’re here in the border,” says Jay with a smile.

There is so much of the drug flowing into the US, most of it coming from Mexico, that according to Jay the price he sells it for in LA has fallen from about $5 or $6 per pill a year ago, to $1.50 now (£1.16).

Mexican police say cartels switched in a big way to fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, because unlike other opiates – which are made from the opium poppy – it is completely synthetic and much easier to make and transport.

Fentanyl’s strength and addictiveness has left a deep scar on American society: drug overdoses kill more people in the US than guns or car crashes. Fatalities have started to decline, perhaps in part to the greater availability of Naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of overdoses of opioids. But the latest figures are still stark: 87,000 overdose deaths (mostly from opioids) from October 2023 to September 2024, down from 114,000 the year before.

In an attempt to stave off punitive tariffs from the White House, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has pledged to send 10,000 National Guard troops to the border. The government has made more than 900 arrests since October in Sinola, a major drug trafficking hub. Back in December, Mexico announced its biggest ever fentanyl seizure in the state: more than a tonne of pills. In fact, the country has seized more fentanyl in the past five months than it did in the previous year.

Mexico has also made it harder to import a key ingredient of fentanyl from China, prompting cartels to reduce the strength of each pill – and, in the process, making them less deadly.

And at the end of February, 29 senior drug cartel figures were handed over to the United States, including members of five of the six Mexican crime syndicates that President Trump’s administration recently designated as terrorist organisations.

President Sheinbaum also said she had agreed to the CIA increasing surveillance drone operations over Mexican territory in search of fentanyl drugs labs, after the media revealed the covert missions.

Jay acknowledges the dangers of his trade to himself and his customers, but is untroubled.

“They always try to blame us, that we are the ones that are poisoning American citizens. But they’re the biggest users.

He coolly insulates himself from responsibility and guilt for the deaths his drugs cause. He claims not to know anyone who has died using his product. “I only deal with other suppliers,” he tells me.

The cartels mostly use American citizens to courier their drugs across the border, as they are less likely to be stopped by US Customs and Border Protection. The driver, who goes by the name Charlie, has a US passport. He, too, is mostly indifferent to the suffering the fentanyl epidemic has caused.

“I need the money,” he says. When I ask him how many times he has made the drugs run, he replies: “Too many.” (I later learn that the 5,000 pills in the fuel tank made it across the border without incident.)

President Sheinbaum has also recently emphasised the demand side of the crisis, saying the US fentanyl crisis began with the legal but “irresponsible approval” of painkillers, such as OxyContin, starting in the late 1990s. “The US government should take responsibility for the opioid-consumption crisis that has caused so many deaths,” she said at a daily news conference.

In Philadelphia’s Kensington neighbourhood – dubbed the largest open-air drugs market on the US east coast – Rosalind Pichardo of Operation Save Our City is on to her second Bible. She records in the book’s back pages the number of times she has reversed an opioid overdose using the quick-acting drug Naloxone.

For the past six years, the figure totals 2,931. She flicks through the pages and that number written in red comes alive with the memories of the individuals she saved, and the ones she lost.

She begins to list: “Male in his 60s… male 30s… female in her 30s, very thin, no hair.” Beside each name in this roll-call of fentanyl victims, is the number of doses of Naloxone – sold under the name Narcan – she used to attempt to revive people.

Ms Pichardo, who runs a drop-in centre called Sunshine House, operates what she calls a “no-judgement zone”. She bristles at the terms like “addict”, “junkie” or “zombie”, which have been used to describe the people of her neighbourhood. Instead, she calls everyone “sunshine”.

Some she doesn’t remember; others she will never forget.

“Look at this one, seven years old, two Narcans,” she points out. Ms Pichardo had been called to a neighbour’s house where a woman was holding in her arms a child who had turned blue. Ms Pichardo went inside and the girl was placed on the floor, but as she entered the child’s father ran upstairs carrying a bag. “I’m thinking if that was my child, I’d be running to help the child,” she recalls.

At first, she thought it might be epilepsy, but she spotted drug scales and plastic baggies on a nearby table. The kid’s dad was a drug dealer; the seven-year-old had been poisoned by his stash and overdosed. “I was livid,” she says.

Those two doses of Narcan were enough to save the child’s life.

On another page, a woman, six months pregnant, two doses of Narcan. She also survived.

In Kensington, drugs are cheap and plentiful, and people shoot up in the open. As she walks the neighbourhood, Ms Pichardo finds people passed out on the pavement, a woman in a stupor with her trousers down, a man lying prone next to a metro turnstile, another man in a wheelchair, his eyes closed and money in his hands.

He, like a growing number of opioid users, has had a limb amputated. A new drug on the street, the animal tranquilliser Xylazine, is being mixed with fentanyl. It leads to open wounds which become infected. The air is rank in places.

John White is 56 years old, and for 40 of those years he has struggled with addiction. At Sunshine House, Ms Pichardo serves him a bowl of homemade soup.

“I’ve been in this city all my life,” he says. “The fentanyl and opioid epidemic is the worst I’ve ever seen. Fentanyl will get you so hooked that you have to get more. So they put it in everything.”

Mr White had a fentanyl overdose after smoking a joint laced with the drug: it is being added to all kinds of illicit drugs, including heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

Ms Pichardo holds out little hope that even if the fentanyl trade is cut off from Mexico that it will improve people’s lives in Kensington.

“The problem that we have with the war on drugs is – it didn’t work then [and] I don’t believe it’s going to work now,” she explains.

When the supply of one drug is cut off, another replaces it, she says. “Once there was heroin, now there’s no more. Now there’s fentanyl. When there’s no fentanyl, now it’s going to be Xylazine. So it’s like they’ll find a way to keep people addicted so that people can make money off of people, off the suffering of people,” says Ms Pichardo.

Directly across from Sunshine House, a young woman is found collapsed on the pavement, her body splayed across the concrete: she’s unresponsive. Ms Pichardo is quickly on the scene, her medical kit by her side, yet again administering Naloxone. The woman is eventually revived – she will survive.

Roz Pichardo returns to Sunshine House, another life saved and another digit to be added to the back pages of her tattered Bible.

Top picture: Darren Conway, BBC