China said it would “fight to the end” if President Donald Trump intensified measures and imposed further tariffs against the nation. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration, allowing deportation flights to El Salvador to continue. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
China vows to ‘fight to the end’ if Trump hikes tariffs to 104%
The U.S. and China are in a standoff over President Donald Trump’s newly imposed tariffs.
China threatened to “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the U.S. if necessary after Trump indicated he would impose an additional 50% tariffs on Chinese imports.
If Trump implements that plan, China will face tariffs of 104%.
The threat comes after China’s implementation of 34% counter-tariffs on all American goods, responding to Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs that he introduced last Wednesday, April 2, for more than 180 countries.
Trump said the additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods will take effect Wednesday, April 9, if China does not back down from those retaliatory tariffs by the end of the day Tuesday, April 8.
Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs are scheduled to take effect Thursday, April 10.
SCOTUS lifts order blocking deportations under the Alien Enemies Act
In a win for the Trump administration, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the enforcement of the Alien Enemies Act — for now.
In a 5-4 decision, the high court ruled that migrants being deported under the Alien Enemies Act must be notified to challenge their deportation.
Trump invoked the 18th-century wartime law in March to deport Venezuelan migrants suspected of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador.
However, while the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to resume deportations, the high court now mandates additional steps before this can occur.
Straight Arrow News reporter Lauren Keenan has the details here.
Also on Monday, April 7, the Supreme Court temporarily paused a court-imposed midnight deadline to return a Maryland man, whose lawyer insisted again that he had no gang ties and was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
The justices agreed to a request from Trump that will give them more time to consider the case.
Trump announces direct talks with Iran on nuclear weapons
President Donald Trump announced Monday, April 7, that he would be speaking directly with Iran about its nuclear weapons program on Saturday, April 12.
Trump made that announcement during remarks to reporters after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started; it’ll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting and we’ll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious,” Trump said. “And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it. So we’re going to see if we can avoid it.”
The president did not specify what the “obvious” is. Still, when asked if he would commit to military action against Iran if his administration and Tehran are unable to reach an agreement, Trump responded, “Iran is going to be in great danger.”
Trump recently sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader calling for direct negotiations with the U.S. regarding its rapidly advancing nuclear program. However, Iran’s president stated last month that Iran rejected Trump’s request but left open the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington.
Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 7, 2025
It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court.
Iran’s foreign minister confirmed plans for talks with the U.S. in the coming days but appeared to contradict Trump’s claims that they would be “direct talks,” stating, “Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks. It is as much. an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court.”
South Korea to hold election to replace the impeached president
In just under two months, South Korea will hold a presidential election. Voters will select the successor to former President Yoon Suk Yeol on June 3.
The announcement comes less than a week after the constitutional court removed Yoon from office. Once the court makes this decision, an election must be held by law within 60 days.
The next president will serve a 5-year term.
Yoon’s presidency faced a significant setback after he declared martial law in the country late last year, asserting his need to eliminate political rivals. This action prompted an impeachment effort against Yoon and resulted in troops on the streets of Seoul.
The former president’s People Power Party will face the Democratic Party nominee in the election. Observers said the Democratic Party candidate, Lee Jae-myung, is the favorite.
Scientists genetically engineer modern-day dire wolves thousands of years after extinction
The marvels of modern science never cease to amaze. Although dire wolves have not roamed the Earth in over 10,000 years, scientists are striving to bring them back.
SOUND ON. You’re hearing the first howl of a dire wolf in over 10,000 years. Meet Romulus and Remus—the world’s first de-extinct animals, born on October 1, 2024.
— Colossal Biosciences® (@colossal) April 7, 2025
The dire wolf has been extinct for over 10,000 years. These two wolves were brought back from extinction using… pic.twitter.com/wY4rdOVFRH
Three genetically engineered wolves that might resemble extinct dire wolves are currently maturing in a secure, undisclosed location, according to the company attempting to revive the lost species.
Colossal Biosciences stated that the wolf pups are between three and six months old and weigh approximately 80 pounds. When fully mature, they are expected to reach 140 pounds.
Since dire wolves have been completely extinct for thousands of years, scientists had to use their closest living relatives to create these pups.
“So de-extinction to us is recreating these phenotypes. So a gray wolf is the closest living relative of a dire wolf. They’re genetically really similar, 99.5% similar. And phenotypically, their morphology is also similar, only dire wolves are larger, more muscular and have these light-colored coats and other things that we can see from the fossils. And so we targeted. DNA sequence variants that we believe lead to those traits. And then we edited gray wolf cells to contain those dire wolf DNA variants. And then, we cloned those cells and created our dire wolves.”
Beth Shapiro, chief scientist of Colossal Biosciences
To create the pups, researchers studied a 13,000-year-old dire wolf tooth unearthed in Ohio and a 72,000-year-old skull fragment found in Idaho.
Meet Romulus and Remus—the first animals ever resurrected from extinction. The dire wolf, lost to history over 10,000 years ago, has returned. Reborn on October 1, 2024, these remarkable pups were brought back to life using ancient DNA extracted from fossilized remains.
— Colossal Biosciences® (@colossal) April 7, 2025
Watch… pic.twitter.com/XwPz0DFoP5
Colossal Biosciences has also been working toward resurrecting the woolly mammoth, dodo bird and Tasmanian tiger since 2021.
Florida wins 3rd NCAA men’s championship with comeback effort
The Florida Gators came back from a 12-point second-half deficit to beat the Houston Cougars in the NCAA championship on Monday, April 7. It’s the third national championship for the Gators.
THE FLORIDA GATORS ARE YOUR 2025 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 🏆
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 8, 2025
THE GATORS HAVE RETURNED TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN 👑 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/NNWAaEcYuY
Florida trailed for most of the game against Houston and its stifling defense. However, the Gators chipped away and made a couple of key free throws down the stretch, from Alijah Martin and Denzel Aberdeen.
Houston had 19 seconds remaining to tie or win the game. However, the Gators’ defense forced a loose ball and pounced on it to seal the victory.
“We did what we did all year,” Gators head coach Todd Golden told CBS. “This team never quits. We clearly have the best team in America. I’m super fortunate to be with this group right here.”
NO BETTER FEELING 🏆#MarchMadness @GatorsMBK pic.twitter.com/LCL3Ix3VY0
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 8, 2025
Florida won its third national championship, defeating Houston 65-63.
Coach Todd Golden, 39, became the youngest coach since the 1980s to win an NCAA title.