US President Donald Trump geared up to unveil sweeping new "Liberation Day" tariffs on Wednesday in a move that threatens to ignite a devastating global trade war. Key US trading partners including the European Union and Britain said they were preparing their responses to Trump's escalation, as nervous markets fell in Europe and America. Trump will unveil the levies in a grand ceremony with his cabinet members in the White House Rose Garden -- just as Wall Street stocks close at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT). "IT'S LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!" Trump posted a one-liner on his Truth Social platform early Wednesday. The 78-year-old has promised so-called reciprocal tariffs on friends and foes alike if they target the world's largest economy, saying the levies will stop the United States being "ripped off." But Trump has kept the world guessing until the last minute about the scale and scope, with the White House saying he was still "perfecting"...
Of the 57 seats going to polls today, nine are from West Bengal, 13 from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Bihar, six from Odisha, four from Himachal Pradesh, three from Jharkhand, and the lone seat of Union Territory Chandigarh. All 13 seats of Punjab are also on today's list. The election is expected to be triangular, with INDIA allies Congress and Aam Aadmi Party having a "friendly" contest that is expected to split the non-BJP vote and play into BJP hands. Polling will also take place for the remaining 42 assembly seats and six Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. The BJP, which has replaced the Congress as the main Opposition party, is hoping to corner Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal. By-elections are being held on six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh, which will also have a bearing on the fortunes of the state's Congress government. All six seats were held by Congress but the MLAs had turned rebel and cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election, resigned and joined the BJP...