By Liz Lee, Andrea Shalal and Susan Heavey BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's stunning decision to pause the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries sent battered global stock markets surging on Thursday even as he ratcheted up a trade war with the world's No.

Facing a a global market crisis, the US President decided to pause tariffs on most countries for 90 days. DW has more.

Trump's turnabout, which came less than 24 hours after steep new tariffs kicked in on most trading partners, followed the most intense episode of financial market volatility since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly paused part of his tariff assault on global trading partners, dialing back duty rates on goods from many countries for 90 days to allow room to negotiate lower trade barriers,

As markets tumble and fears grow over a global trade war in response to President Trump's tariffs, he has advised Americans to "be strong" and "hang tough."

The United States and Iran are preparing for talks on Tehran's nuclear program in Oman to avert a possible military confrontation that could have devastating consequences far beyond the Middle East. The talks follow President Donald's Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign of toughened sanctions on Iran and a build up of military force in the region.

President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. officials will meet directly with Iranian leaders Saturday amid tension over the country's nuclear ambitions. He threatened if talks don't go well, "Iran is going to be in great danger.

The United States issued fresh sanctions on Iran on Wednesday, the Treasury Department said, two days after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. planned direct talks with Tehran over its nuclear program.

Iran and the United States will hold talks in the sultanate of Oman on Saturday in an attempt to jump-start negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Nothing is more sensitive in Iran than the prospect of direct negotiations with the United States, particularly when the president in question is called Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel would be the “leader” of a potential military strike against Iran if Tehran doesn’t give up its nuclear weapons program

In a further sign of the difficult path to any deal between the two geopolitical foes, Trump issued a stark warning that if the talks were unsuccessful, "Iran is going to be in great danger."