Monday Briefing: China Pauses Crucial Exports

China struck back at U.S. tariffs with an export pause

China has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries. The move is in retaliation after President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs.

The metals and the special magnets made with them can now be shipped out of China only with special export licenses. But Beijing has barely started setting up a system for issuing the licenses. Industry executives said that supplies of minerals and products outside the country could run low.

Trump’s rapidly escalating trade war with China has scrambled prospects for many global businesses. And there is no end in sight, my colleagues Ana Swanson and Ben Casselman report.

The U.S. administration has been waiting for the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to call Trump, but Beijing appears wary of putting Xi in an unpredictable situation with the U.S. president.

A Russian attack killed at least 34 in Ukraine

Two Russian ballistic missiles yesterday slammed into the city center of Sumy, where Ukrainians had gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday. At least 34 people, including two children, were killed in what appeared to be the deadliest attack against civilians this year.

Video of the aftermath showed mangled and bloodied bodies laying motionless, burning cars and debris covering the road as screams and sirens wailed in the background.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the attack showed that Moscow had no real interest in a cease-fire despite the Trump administration’s efforts to broker one. Kyiv has warned that Russia is preparing to push into the Sumy region, in Ukraine’s northeast, and open a new front in the war.

Politics: Petro Poroshenko, a former president who now leads an opposition party, spoke to our Kyiv bureau chief about prospects for peace talks. He has recently stepped up his criticism of Zelensky.

Saudi Arabia and the U.S. held talks on nuclear technology

The Trump administration revived talks with Saudi officials over a deal that would give Saudi Arabia access to U.S. nuclear technology and potentially allow it to enrich uranium.

“We’ve not reached the details on an agreement, but it certainly looks like there is a pathway to do that,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said yesterday in Riyadh. For years, Saudi Arabia has pressed the U.S. to help it develop a nuclear energy program, as Saudi officials look beyond oil to provide energy and diversify the economy.

Iran: After a first meeting, U.S. and Iranian officials agreed to move forward in their talks on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program. A second meeting is planned for Saturday.

MORE TOP NEWS

• Gaza: The Israeli military struck a hospital in northern Gaza that was one of the last mainstays of the health care system there.

• Hong Kong: Members of the opposition Democratic Party voted to disband, one more casualty of Beijing’s suppression campaign.

• Sudan: Paramilitaries killed the entire staff, including the head doctor, of the last medical clinic in a camp in western Darfur.

• Ecuador: Voters cast ballots to decide which candidate can better address the violence that drug trafficking has unleashed on the country.

• New York: A Spanish family died in a helicopter crash. Passengers who had flown on the aircraft that day are processing the shock.

• Tech: A landmark antitrust case against Meta opens today in Washington. It could have ripple effects for Silicon Valley.

• Africa: Somaliland wants to make a deal with Trump in which the U.S. would lease a port and an airstrip in exchange for statehood.

• U.S.: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that 10 more gang members had been sent to El Salvador. Hundreds have already been deported, often with little justification.

• Dominican Republic: See the moments leading up to the roof collapse at a nightclub in Santo Domingo.

• Health: New research about A.D.H.D. raises questions about the way we define and treat the condition. Here are the key findings.

Sports

• Golf: Rory McIlroy was leading in the final round of the Masters. Follow our live updates.

• F1: Oscar Piastri secured pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

• Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz won the Monte Carlo Masters title, reclaiming his No. 2 ranking.

MORNING READ

A reporter and a photographer traveled to Finland to watch the war games unfold.

Lives lived: Irmgard Furchner, a secretary at a Nazi concentration camp who was convicted of being an accessory to more than 10,000 murders, died at 99.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

• Dressed for space: Blue Origin’s first all-female crew will take off for a trip into zero gravity today, wearing redesigned flight suits.

• Rosie O’Donnell: She’s moved to Ireland, feuded with Trump and she’s making documentaries. What’s next?

• 408 tentacles: A family went viral last year after posting about its dozens of octopuses. Then the story became a cautionary tale.

• Is snooping OK?: Our Ethicist columnist responds to a reader whose partner can’t stop looking through his phone.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Where art grows on trees

Three times a day, a fog drifts from nozzles hidden in flower beds and rolls down the hills in the Khao Yai Art Forest in Thailand. Created by the Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya, this is one of many works by global artists there that transcend nature.

The art forest, which opened in February, focuses on site-specific works, farming and Buddhism. The project’s owner, Marisa Chearavanont, was driven to buy the site by her search for healing in nature after the Covid lockdown. Take a look.

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That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Emmett

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