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President Donald Trump's planned tariffs on steel and aluminum won't exclude any of America's trading partners,top administration officials said on Sunday.Trump announced Thursday that the US planned to impose a 25% tariff, or import tax, on steel, and a 10% tariff on aluminum.Peter Navarro, the director of the White House National Trade Council, told CNN on Sunday that the tariffs would be signed this week or next week at the latest.

Residents are reported to be fleeing the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave in Syria as the situation there was described as "beyond critical".Syria's military appears to be advancing on several fronts as it tries to retake the enclave just to the east of the capital, Damascus. Government forces have now taken 25% of the area, UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitors say. A UN aid convoy planned for Sunday has not been able to enter the enclave. The fighting since 18 February has left more than 600 people dead, many of them children.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to form her fourth government after the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) voted in favour of another grand coalition. The vote by 464,000 rank-and-file members ends five months of political deadlock since September's election. The SPD had been split between the party's leadership, which backed joining the coalition, and its radical youth wing, which did not. Mrs Merkel, who has been in power for 12 years, congratulated the SPD. On her party's Twitter feed. she said she "looks forward to working together again for the benefit of our country".

China has warned that it does not want a trade war with the US, but will not sit idly by if its economy is hurt.Zhang Yesui, spokesperson for China's National People's Congress, made the comments amid controversy over Donald Trump's announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. The US president has also threatened to impose a tax on EU-made cars, and earlier said "trade wars are good". US trading partners, the IMF and the WTO have strongly criticised his moves.

The bad weather looks set to send a chill over Britain's economy, with warnings of a short-term hit to growth.The impact on sectors such as retailing and construction could halve the 0.4% GDP growth many economists had forecast for the first three months of 2018. Retail expert Phil Dorrell said the big freeze could be a "disaster" for the high street as people staying home turned to more shopping online. One small firms group said its members would lose £7,000 each on average. Economist Howard Archer, chief adviser to the forecasting group EY Item Club, said the snow's impact meant that the UK's first quarter GDP may be reduced by 0.1%, or up to 0.2% if the severe weather persists.

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