SOUTH CHINA SEA: China’s coastguard accused a Philippine ship of deliberately ramming one of its vessels today near the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

The Philippines denied the allegation, saying that Chinese forces had used powerful water cannon that damaged its ship and injured a crew member.

A Chinese coastguard statement said the water cannon had been deployed after more than 10 Philippine government ships entered the waters around the shoal.

UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump has filed a $15 billion (£11bn) defamation lawsuit against the New York Times and four of its journalists.

The lawsuit filed at the US District Court in Florida claims several articles and one book published in the run-up to the 2024 election were “part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump.”

UNITED STATES: The Trump administration has added Colombia to a list of nations failing to co-operate in its war on drugs for the first time in almost 30 years, a stinging rebuke that reflects fraying ties between the White House and left-wing President Gustavo Petro.

However, Washington issued a waiver of sanctions that would have triggered major aid cuts, citing vital US national interests.

GERMANY: Ford plans to axe up to 1,000 jobs at its electric car plant in Cologne due to lower than expected demand, the company said today.

The jobs cull follows a restructuring announced last November that would cut 4,000 posts in Europe, including Britain.