WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Chinese troops in Ukraine, London's wealth exodus, and tariffs on Lesotho

 
today's international story

Two Chinese nationals caught fighting for Russia

What happened
Ukrainian soldiers have captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting with Russian units in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Who said what
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Chinese troops fighting on Ukrainian territory "puts into question China's declared stance for peace". It is the "first official allegation from Ukraine that China is supplying Russia with manpower", said the BBC. Moscow and Beijing have yet to respond, but in recent years have "boasted of their 'no limits' partnership and deepened political, military and economic co-operation" since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, said Al Jazeera.

China has presented itself as a neutral party in the conflict, unlike the US and other Western nations that have been sending military aid to Ukraine.

What next?
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence services had evidence that "many more Chinese citizens" were fighting alongside Russian troops and that he had instructed his foreign minister to find out how China intends to respond. In an online post, Zelenskyy also demanded "a reaction from the United States, Europe and everyone in the world who wants peace".

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Russia is reportedly reclaiming ground in the Kursk region. US-based conflict monitor the Institute for the Study of War reported on Monday that Moscow's forces had recently made gains in that area, with Ukrainian troops now holding only small pockets of Russian territory.

 
 
today's wealth story

London no longer one of world's wealthiest cities

What happened
London has dropped out of the world's top five wealthiest cities after seeing the second largest fall in millionaire numbers, behind only Moscow.

Who said what
According to an annual study conducted for the advisory firm Henley & Partners by New World Wealth, the UK's capital has lost 11,300 dollar millionaires over the past year, including 18 centimillionaires (people who have more than $100 million) and two billionaires.

London's dip in rich residents has been attributed to "tax increases, Brexit and the fall in the value of the pound", while Moscow's is "mostly because of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022", said The Times.

What next?
As to where the wealthy are going, according to tax advisers they are relocating to countries such as Portugal, St Kitts and Nevis, Spain, Greece, the United Arab Emirates and Italy, where taxes are lower or can be avoided altogether. According to the study, the world's five wealthiest cities with the most dollar millionaires are now New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Singapore and Los Angeles.

 
 
Today's technology story

Instagram blocks livestreaming by teens

What happened
Teenagers under 16 will be banned from livestreaming on Instagram without parental permission as part of new safety measures announced by Meta. Teens will also need parental approval to disable a tool that blurs suspected nudity in direct messages. The changes come as Meta also rolls out its teen account protections to Facebook and Messenger.

Who said what
"These are major updates that have fundamentally changed the experience for teens on Instagram," Meta said in a blog post announcing the changes. "We're continuing to listen to parents, and that includes conducting research to understand how they feel about the changes."

What next?
The changes come as the UK's new Online Safety Act takes effect. Since last month, more than 100,000 platforms – including Facebook, Google and Reddit – must take action to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content, as well as showing that they are committed to removing illegal content including child abuse, fraud and terrorism.

 
 

It's not all bad

Bedford is set to become Britain’s newest tourism hotspot, with Universal announcing plans for its first European theme park on a former brickworks site just off the A421. Expected to open by 2031, the multi-billion-pound project will attract 8.5 million visitors a year, create 28,000 jobs and deliver a £50 billion boost to the UK economy. Featuring a theme park, hotel and entertainment complex, the venture promises a transformative future for Bedford and the wider region.

 
 
under the radar

Why Lesotho is in the crosshairs of Trump's tariffs

"Nobody has ever heard of" Lesotho, said Donald Trump last month with his trademark braggadocio.

That's despite America having a diplomatic mission in the Kingdom of Lesotho, a tiny mountainous enclave surrounded by South Africa. But the US president has since ensured that everyone has heard of Lesotho by imposing a 50% "reciprocal" levy on imports from the impoverished nation: the highest of his so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs.

If you've ever bought a pair of jeans from an American brand like Levi's, "chances are they were manufactured at a factory" in Lesotho, said The Associated Press. The country's annual GDP relies heavily on exports, and textile manufacturing is one of its "key industries".

Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act – a continent-wide trade agreement that has allowed eligible African nations tariff-free access to the US since 2000 – "a thriving garment industry" has arisen in Lesotho, accounting for about 20% of its GDP. Now, though, "all that is at risk". Of Lesotho's 30,000 garment workers, who are mostly women, 12,000 make clothes for US brands including Calvin Klein and Walmart.

Trump claims Lesotho charges a 99% tariff on US goods, based on a formula the White House used to calculate trade deficits. Lesotho disputes the figure, saying it is unaware of how the US arrived at that number. Many economists have explained that the methodology used is flawed and foreign governments have decried the resulting US levies as unfair and misrepresentative.

"We need to urgently travel to the US to engage with its executives and plead our case," said Lesotho's trade minister Mokhethi Shelile. "My biggest concern is the immediate closure of factories and job losses."

 
 
on this day

9 April 2005

Charles, then the Prince of Wales, married Camilla Parker-Bowles in a civil ceremony at Windsor. Today the King and Queen will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary at a traditional banquet during their state visit to Italy, which went ahead despite Charles's recent hospitalisation due to side-effects related to his cancer treatment.

 
 
Today's newspapers

The Telegraph leads on the row between Elon Musk and Donald Trump's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro. The slanging match has "exposed a growing White House split" over tariffs, said the broadsheet. Trump is "poised to ignite global trade war with steepest tariffs in a century", says the FT. China and the US in particular are on a "collision course" as the measures take effect, says The Guardian. 

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Support claws

A 71-year-old man was arrested after police found seven tigers at his home, which he claimed were "emotional support animals". Karl Mitchell had been seen walking them on his property in the Nevada desert and in public, even allowing others to interact with them. After police raided his home, Mitchell said he had rescued the tigers from Joe Exotic, the disgraced Oklahoma zookeeper who was the subject of the hit Netflix series "Tiger King", according to KTLA 5 News. Mitchell will appear in court this month while the tigers have been taken to an undisclosed sanctuary.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Sorcha Bradley, Ross Couzens and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Genya Savilov / AFP / Getty Images; Dan Kitwood / Getty Images; Matt Cardy / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images.