Reuters News Now

Highlights

China quickly hit back at the Trump administration's plans to slap tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods, retaliating with a list of similar duties on key U.S. imports including soybeans, planes, cars, whiskey and chemicals. The speed with which the trade struggle between Washington and Beijing is ratcheting up – the Chinese government took less than 11 hours to respond with its own measures – led to a sharp selloff in global stock markets and commodities.

A woman who had voiced complaints online about YouTube opened fire with a handgun at the tech company’s headquarters near San Francisco, wounding three people before shooting herself dead, authorities and media said.

On April 4, 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel by an avowed segregationist. A half century after his assassination, Memphis residents remember the man and his legacy, while U.S. civil rights leaders say they are fearful Trump could reverse progress made since King’s death.

World

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held talks in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan ahead of a three-way summit with Russia on the Syrian conflict. The three countries are working together to try to reduce the violence in Syria despite supporting opposing sides in the war.

Millions of French commuters suffered a second consecutive day of travel chaos as striking rail workers locked horns with President Emmanuel Macron’s government in a dispute over reforming the state-owned SNCF railways.

Commentary: At the end of his first Baltic Summit yesterday, Donald Trump praised the "terrific jobs" done by the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Now he need to learn from their hard-earned expertise on the frontline of Russia’s energy, cyber and propaganda war -- and craft U.S. policy accordingly, writes Agnia Grigas.

Choosing a church can be complicated under the rule of the communist party. In this village in Hebei it goes beyond that - one official, two underground and at least one "house church" operate a hundred meters from each other. Check the story on Reuters Wider Image. https://reut.rs/2H9C9sK

3:12 AM - APR 4, 2018