UK - Goods exports to the United States worth more than £60 billion to the UK economy are firmly in the sights of Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariff frenzy. Tonight the US president is expected to include Britain in his protectionism attempts to help American manufacturers and 'make America wealthy again'. The tariffs - up to 20 per cent across the board - could knock up to 1 per cent off the size of the UK economy if there is a full-blown trade war where the UK retaliates to Trump's measures. The sectors most at risk are the UK car industry and other manufacturing efforts including medicines and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, power generators and scientific instruments. These six fields between them accounted for almost half of the value of UK exports to the United States, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

UK - Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to finalise a package of economic concessions to the US in an attempt to persuade Donald Trump to spare the UK from his trade war. The Government had been scrambling to agree a deal with Washington before Wednesday, which the president has dubbed “Liberation Day” and when he is expected to announce a swathe of global import tariffs. However, the Prime Minister now accepts a deal will not happen and is instead turning his attention to showing the White House that the UK is willing to give ground. The package the Government has put on the table is focused on future technologies, with agreements expected on artificial intelligence. The UK could also ease or scrap its Digital Services Tax on US tech giants. Downing Street is also offering to change the tariffs that it imposes on American exports of chicken, beef and other meats.

USA - Statecraft in the United States was once a fine art, a cherished part of institution-building, a framework for global leadership, the preserve of big brains like George Kennan and Henry Kissinger. High-minded diplomacy existed alongside a more rough-and-tumble approach to foreign affairs: tinpot or even copper-bottomed dictators were classified as SOBs — sons of bitches — and if they were willing to be bought by Washington they could be raised to the status of “our SOBs”, bad guys who were ready to help out. Now statecraft in the US seems little more than a wimpish aberration. And the division of much of the world into varying kinds of SOBs increasingly appears like a Cold War relic. The western alliance systems are crumbling because of US indifference.

USA - Donald Trump will on Wednesday announce sweeping tariffs on America’s trading parties in what he billed “Liberation Day” for the US economy. The tariffs follow the taxes already slapped on goods from China, Mexico, Canada, cars and steel and aluminium imports to the US. Economists have sounded the alarm over the huge toll that is coming for business and consumers as the tariffs are predicted to drive-up the costs of goods. The bosses of America’s biggest companies are likely in for a day of pain. But while there will be some big corporate losers, there will be some political winners such as Mr Trump’s key trade adviser.

UK - Researchers at a UK university have analysed the possible effects of President Trump's increasing number of import tariffs he is slapping on other countries. President Donald Trump's swathe of new tariffs on imports into the United States could spark a negative fallout costing the global economy a staggering 1.4 trillion dollars, UK experts claim. Unlike other countries, the UK has decided to not yet set out plans to retaliate with tariffs of its own - while many furious nations have responded by slapping tariffs on US imports across their own borders. Now analysis by Aston University researchers estimates if there is a full global retaliation with reciprocal tariffs - sparking extensive global disruption and reduced trade flows there could be a $1.4 trillion global welfare loss.

UK - Sky News was interrupted this morning when Beth Rigby quizzed the Prime Minister about President Trump's global trade tariffs. Due to severe uncertainty around the timing and scale of the tariffs, officials are said to have worked up "dozens" of scenarios for what Trump's "liberation day" could mean for Britain. In the worst-case scenario, Trump announces immediate tariffs of 20 percent on all UK exports, with an even higher rate for products, which would mean Britons are "worse off." This would add £12 billion to the cost of the UK's £60 billion annual exports to America and would result in a huge hit to the economy, as well as Starmer. Beth Rigby asked the Prime Minister, "People are going to be worse off when Trump's tariffs come into effect, won't they?" To which he replied, "We are working on an economic deal. Nobody wants to see a trade war, but I must act in the national interest."

PANAMA - Earlier this month, BlackRock Inc secured control over key ports near the Panama Canal, stripping away Chinese-linked influence over one of the world’s most crucial shipping routes. The $23 billion deal, which includes $5 billion in debt, will effectively place the strategic ports under American control — a move long advocated by President Donald Trump and national security hawks concerned about China’s grip on global infrastructure. This historic acquisition grants control over 43 ports in 23 countries, including major sites in Mexico, the Netherlands, Egypt, Australia, Pakistan, and Panama’s critical ports of Balboa and Cristobal — the two primary gateways to the Panama Canal. President Donald Trump has vowed to “take back” the Panama Canal, arguing that Panama has violated its neutrality pledge and allowed China to gain control over the waterway. Now China is blocking the transfer of the critical ports to a Blackrock-owned group. This sets up a major confrontation with President Trump.

ISRAEL - Israel has launched a major expansion of its military operation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, saying that its army would seize “large areas” of the Palestinian territory. In a statement early on Wednesday morning, Israel Katz, the country’s defence minister, said that Israel would expand its presence in Gaza to “destroy and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”. The operation would “seize large areas that will be incorporated into Israeli security zones”, he said, without explaining how much territory Israel would take. The announcement comes after he warned last week that the military would soon “operate with full force” in additional parts of Gaza.

ICELAND - A volcano south of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, erupted on Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of nearby areas. It marks the eighth eruption to hit the region since the end of 2023. The eruption, displaying dramatic scenes of lava and smoke, has forced the evacuation of residents and tourists in areas around Sundhnuksgigar, including the popular Blue Lagoon spa and the fishing town of Grindavik. A red alert has also been issued for the area, which is being battered by hundreds of small earthquakes.

USA - This week will see the opening salvoes in a global trade war that brings echoes of darker times. Donald Trump, hailing it as “liberation day”, proposes to impose tariffs across the board from April 2 and this will trigger retaliation. Despite the US president’s braggadocio, there are no winners from this approach, as we have seen in the past. The protectionist policies pursued by William McKinley in the late 19th century, raising import duties to 50 percent in some instances, caused high prices and a political backlash. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 worsened the Great Depression. The arguments used in the past were the same: if foreign goods were more expensive then Americans would buy home-produced products, bolstering US manufacturing and fuelling economic expansion. But the impact of retaliation, especially in a more integrated global trading environment than before, cannot easily be calculated.

USA - The “Signalgate” scandal confirmed what Europeans already knew. The Trump administration’s disdain for Europe is deep and the transatlantic fracture is structural. While our leaders publicly play down the significance of the unravelling that is manifestly under way, few actually sound as convinced in private. Hopes persist that Europe can prevent the most extreme manifestation of the collapse in the relationship, be it an invasion of Greenland, the withdrawal of US forces from Europe’s Nato member states or an all-out trade war. Most urgently, European leaders are focused on ensuring that if (or perhaps when) the US throws Kyiv under the bus, it is Europe collectively that will somehow succeed in securing a free, independent and democratic Ukraine.

ISRAEL - The US military aid package is substantial, but not decisive. It accounts for less than 3% of Israel’s national budget. We can – and we should – replace it ourselves. Israel is stronger than ever – economically, militarily, and diplomatically. But in one critical area, we’re still acting like a nation that hasn’t found its footing. We’re still accepting billions in American aid, year after year, as if we can’t stand on our own. That’s no longer true. And it’s no longer right. We’re proud to be America’s closest ally. We’re grateful for the decades of support. But gratitude is not a strategy. And strength built on dependence is not real strength. If we want to act like a sovereign nation, we need to finance our own defense. It’s time for Israel to proactively and proudly phase out US military aid.

ISRAEL - Binyamin Netanyahu has said that the Israeli military would intensify its ­campaign in Gaza and “pound” Hamas into submission, promising to secure the release of hostages. Defying protesters, who took to the streets again on Saturday, the Israeli prime minister met his cabinet and ­released a video message vowing to ­increase the pressure on Hamas while continuing hostage negotiations. “We are negotiating under fire,” ­Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday, adding that there were “suddenly cracks” in Hamas’s leadership.

GERMANY - Germany's top general says conscription will be necessary to ensure it can defend itself against Russia. The country has already missed a goal of increasing its soldiers by 20,000 to bring the total to around 203,000, with other major European powers, including the UK, struggling to attract willing recruits. But the country's Chief of Defence Carsten Breuer believes Berlin now needs to go much further. Speaking to Radio 4, he said the nation's military needed 100,000 more troops and that conscription in "some form" would "absolutely" be necessary for Europe's largest economy to defend itself. "We won't get this additional 100,000 soldiers without having one way or the other, a model of conscription," he argued.

FRANCE - From the front row in the Paris court, Marine Le Pen glared at Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis for 90 minutes. Then, she had had enough. Grim-faced, Le Pen whispered to her lawyer then stood and walked out of the Palais de Justice into the Paris sunshine. The gates of the Élysée Palace in 2027 had just been slammed shut for the front­runner in the next presidential election. That meant that unless an appeal court reverses the sentence after a new trial next year, Le Pen is barred from the 2027 race. The latest poll shows her winning up to 37 per cent in the first round of that election — 15 points higher than her score in 2022 when she was defeated by President Macron, who had won only 28 per cent in the first round that year. Le Pen was defiant as she denounced the verdict last night as a “political decision” and promised it would not end her political career.