WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Tariffs U-turn, school cuts, and why space ads are written in the stars

 
today's international story

Trump's tariffs pause sends markets soaring

What happened
Stocks surged to one of their biggest gains since the Second World War after Donald Trump abruptly announced that he would back down on his "reciprocal" tariffs for 90 days against most nations – but not China. The S&P 500 rose 9.5%, its steepest single-day gain since October 2008, though the index is still below where it was when Trump announced his sweeping tariffs last week. Asian stock markets also soared today in early trading.

Who said what
Asked why he had ordered the pause, the US president told reporters: "People were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy." Following the U-turn, White House officials made repeated efforts to frame it as a deliberate, pre-planned move. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, criticised the media, claiming they had "failed to see what President Trump is doing here", while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the move as Trump's "strategy all along".

But make no mistake, said The Telegraph's US economics correspondent Melissa Lawford, this "enormous row-back shows that even Trump has to bow to markets". The president had been subject to a "tidal wave of criticism" as economists "sounded huge alarm bells over an imminent recession and financial crisis".

What next?
As he announced the 90-day pause on Truth Social, Trump also increased tariffs on Chinese imported goods to 125% "effective immediately". But even in that complex relationship "there could be more developments to come", said the BBC's Matt Spivey. Trump said he was open to a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping: "We will get a phone call at some point and then it's off to the races."

 
 
today's education story

England's state secondaries forced to cut staff

What happened
Half of the secondary schools in England have had to reduce staff this year due to mounting financial pressures, according to polling. The findings are based on a survey of 1,200 teachers from 1,000 schools by the National Foundation for Educational Research on behalf of the Sutton Trust educational charity.

Who said what
"State schools are overwhelmed with financial pressures and many are rapidly heading towards breaking point," said Nick Harrison, the chief executive of the Sutton Trust. According to the polling, secondary schools are also having to reduce subject choice at GCSE level to save money, as well as minimising extracurricular activities, school trips and investment in IT.

Commenting on the staff cuts, Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "No school leader wants to be in the position of losing teachers or support staff, but the financial situation facing schools and colleges has seldom been as grim as it is right now."

What next?
The Sutton Trust has called for a new national strategy to stem the cuts and close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.

 
 
Today's health story

Go teetotal to avoid breast cancer risk, women told

What happened
The World Cancer Research Fund has advised women to give up alcohol completely in order to avoid breast cancer. The charity's major review of evidence, led by a team at Harvard University, found that just one glass of wine a day increases the risk of breast cancer by 9% in post-menopausal women, and 5% in younger women.

Who said what
"Almost four-fifths of European women are unaware of the risks surrounding alcohol consumption and breast cancer, highlighting an important area to target policy efforts," said researchers.

The evidence suggests "any amount of alcohol increases breast cancer risk" because it damages cell DNA and increases the level of oestrogen in the body, which can help fuel the cancer's development. Researchers also found a link, although less strong, between alcohol consumption and bowel cancer.

What next?
Exercise, a healthy BMI, a diet high in fibre and vegetables and low in red or processed meats cuts the risk of both breast and bowel cancer.

 
 

It's not all bad

Scientists have built the most complete circuit diagram of a mammalian brain, mapping 84,000 neurons and half a billion synapses from a grain-sized piece of mouse visual cortex. The 3D reconstruction, produced using electron microscopes and AI, offers sweeping insights into how brain cells communicate. Researchers say it could transform the understanding of consciousness, intelligence and disorders like Alzheimer’s and autism – describing the work as a potential "Google map" for the brain.

 
 
under the radar

Space ads could be coming to a sky near you

A sky full of ads? A Russian company has already taken the first step towards making this wild idea a reality. Space is the next frontier of free real estate for commercial purposes, though many are strongly against putting advertising infrastructure in the sky. But without international regulation, giant floating billboards may just be the next profit-making scheme.

The Russian company Avant Space deployed what it called the "first space media satellite" into Earth's orbit. This is a prototype for a "planned fleet of small, low-cost, laser-equipped satellites designed to emblazon Earth's sky with corporate logos, QR codes and other consumer-culture ephemera", said Scientific American.

While the sky being emblazoned with ads feels like something straight out of a dystopian science fiction movie, some swear that its implementation will "prove that space is not just for scientists, not just for the military – it is entertainment, too," Vlad Sitnikov of StartRocket, a Russia-based firm partnering with Avant Space, told Scientific American. "And people like entertainment."

It is safe to say that there are plenty of people vehemently opposed to using the sky for ads, and scientists have long been calling for an international ban. But without international regulation on space ads, "the lure of it is so great that I can't imagine that no one will try", John Barentine, the principal consultant of Dark Sky Consulting, which focuses on outdoor lighting management, told Space News. While ads in the cosmos is unlikely to happen any time soon, "anything profitable tends to occur sooner or later in this mad, mad world of ours", said TechCrunch. "Don't be surprised if you hear about attempts being made."

 
 
on this day

10 April 2001

The Netherlands became the first country to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide. The initially strict conditions have since broadened to allow doctors to end someone's life if they are suffering psychologically, as well as physically. Last year there was a 60% increase in such cases, which are becoming increasingly controversial.

 
 
Today's newspapers

The Telegraph leads on Donald Trump pausing tariffs on most nations for 90 days – apart from China. The Guardian says the twist follows days of "market turmoil and recession warnings". The Times hears from Ukraine's commander-in-chief that Russia has doubled the number of military assaults along the front line over the past week, as part of a new spring offensive. Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch tells the Daily Express that the UK should "make more" of our "Brexit freedoms" in the face of economic turmoil.

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Thinking outside the post box

Royal Mail has revealed a solar-powered post box with a barcode scanner and a hatch for bulky parcels, marking the biggest redesign since the mid-1900s. The black, beret-like lid is actually a solar panel powering the tech inside. Only five have been installed so far in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, but the company says thousands more could follow. Royal Mail will be hoping the rollout doesn’t take quite as long as it did to repaint all the post boxes from green (the standardised colour from 1859) to the current, more eye-catching red – a task that dragged on for a decade between 1874 and 1884.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Jamie Timson, Devika Rao, Ross Couzens and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Angela Weiss / AFP / Getty Images; Leon Neal / Getty Images; Brian A Jackson / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images.