Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones, accompanied by large-scale evacuations of the population.
President Donald Trump proclaimed “Liberation Day” in the US on Wednesday as he prepared to impose sweeping new tariffs that would escalate a trade war with global partners, increase prices and upend a decades-old trade order.
France’s foreign minister warned on Wednesday that if world powers were unable to quickly reach a new agreement with Iran over its contested nuclear programme, then a military confrontation seemed “almost inevitable”.
Israel to seize parts of Gaza as military operation expands
Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones, accompanied by large-scale evacuations of the population.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said troops were seizing an area he called the Morag Axis, a reference to a former Israeli settlement once located between the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, some 3-4km from the southern border.
“Because we are now dividing the Strip and we are increasing pressure step by step so they will give us our hostages,” he said in a video message.
He said the move, which would cut off Rafah from Khan Younis, would give Israel control of a second axis in southern Gaza in addition to the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, running along the border with Egypt, which Israel sees as a key line preventing the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
Separately, the Israeli military said troops had completed the encirclement of the Tel al-Sultan area near Rafah and killed dozens of militants. It had also found two rockets as well as a launcher aimed at Israeli territory.
But there was no sign of an end to the operation, and the head of the Israeli military, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, said it would continue “at a deliberate and determined pace”.
“The only thing that can halt our further advance is the release of our hostages,” he said in a statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that troops would be widening their operation in Gaza to clear out militants and infrastructure “and seize large areas that will be added to the security zones of the state of Israel”.
The Israeli military had already issued evacuation warnings to Gazans living in some southern districts, and Palestinian radio reported that the area around Rafah was almost completely empty following the evacuation orders.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 60 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, with 19 people, including children, killed in a strike at a UN clinic being used to house displaced people.
Israel’s military said it had struck a building previously used as a clinic that it said was serving as a Hamas command and control centre to plan attacks, and that the military had used surveillance to mitigate the risk to civilians. Hamas denied using the building and called the Israeli accusation that it did so a “blatant fabrication”.
At the site of another strike in Khan Younis, Rida al-Jabbour held up a tiny shoe and pointed at a blood-spattered wall as she related how a neighbour had been killed along with her three-month-old baby.
“From the moment the strike occurred, we have not been able to sit or sleep,” she said, describing how rescue workers were unable to separate the remains of those killed.
Katz’s statement did not make clear how much land Israel intended to seize or whether the move represented a permanent annexation of territory, which would heighten pressure on a population already living in one of the most crowded areas in the world.
But the push reinforced Palestinian fears of a permanent displacement and the imposition of full-scale Israeli military control over the coastal enclave.
According to Israeli rights group Gisha, even before the operation, Israel had already taken control of some 62 square kilometres or around 17% of the total area of Gaza, as part of a buffer zone around the edges of the enclave.
Israeli leaders have said they plan to facilitate the voluntary departure of Palestinians from Gaza, after US President Donald Trump called for it to be permanently evacuated and redeveloped as a coastal resort under US control.
“It seems like Netanyahu will not stop his war on Gaza until we are displaced,” said Amer al-Farra, who said he had been displaced eight times during the war. “With God’s will we will remain steadfast.”
Israeli leaders have been encouraged by signs of protest in Gaza against Hamas, which has controlled the enclave since 2007, and the expanded operation appeared at least partly aimed at increasing civilian pressure on its leaders.
“I call on the residents of Gaza to act now to eliminate Hamas and return all the kidnapped,” said Katz. “This is the only way to end the war.”
Israel resumed airstrikes in Gaza on 18 March after two months of relative calm during a US-backed truce to allow the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since and Israel has also cut off aid to the enclave, saying much of it was being taken by Hamas.
Efforts led by Qatari and Egyptian mediators to get talks aimed at ending the war back on track have so far failed to make progress, and the military’s return to Gaza has fuelled protests in Israel by families and supporters of some of the hostages.
Trump to impose sweeping tariffs, escalating global trade tension
Trump proclaimed “Liberation Day” in the US on Wednesday as he prepared to impose sweeping new tariffs that would escalate a trade war with global partners, increase prices and upend a decades-old trade order.
Trump has kept the world guessing on the details of the tariff plans, which were still being formulated ahead of a White House Rose Garden announcement ceremony scheduled for 4pm Eastern Time (2000 GMT).
A person familiar with the administration’s deliberations said the tariffs were expected to be significant and would hit a wide range of countries, including close allies.
The new duties, which would undo trade arrangements in place since 1947, are due to take effect immediately after Trump announces them. A separate 25% global tariff on auto imports will take effect on 3 April.
But the White House has not yet published an official notice of either set of tariffs, as it is required to do before they take effect.
“IT’S LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Trading partners are expected to respond with actions of their own.
Outside economists have warned that tariffs could slow the global economy, raise the risk of recession, and increase living costs for the average US family by thousands of dollars. Businesses have complained that Trump’s barrage of threats has made it difficult to plan their operations.
In just over 10 weeks since taking office, Trump has imposed new 20% duties on all imports from China and fully restored 25% duties on steel and aluminum, extending these to nearly $150-billion worth of downstream products.
On Wednesday, the administration said that would include all beer and empty aluminium can imports.
A month-long reprieve for most Canadian and Mexican goods from his 25% fentanyl-related tariffs is due to expire on Wednesday.
Growing uncertainty over the duties is eroding investor, consumer and business confidence. Global stocks retreated on Wednesday, while safe-haven gold held near record highs.
US stocks have erased nearly $5-trillion of value since February.
France ramps up pressure on Iran over nuclear deal
France’s foreign minister warned on Wednesday that if world powers were unable to quickly reach a new agreement with Iran over its contested nuclear programme, then a military confrontation seemed “almost inevitable”.
Speaking after President Emmanuel Macron convened a rare and undisclosed meeting of key ministers and experts on Wednesday to discuss the Iran dossier, Jean-Noel Barrot appeared to ramp up the pressure on Tehran.
European powers are seeking to create a diplomatic path to get an agreement to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment activity by the summer and ahead of an October 2025 deadline, when UN sanctions related to a 2015 accord on Iran’s nuclear programme with world powers expire.
Western powers say the nuclear programme amounts to a disguised effort to develop an atomic bomb. Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons.
“The window of opportunity is narrow. We only have a few months until the expiration of this [2015] accord. In case of failure, a military confrontation would seem to be almost inevitable,” Barrot told a parliamentary hearing.
The earlier Cabinet meeting, confirmed by three diplomatic sources, is rare and highlights mounting concern among Washington’s European allies that the US and Israel could launch airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities unless there is a quick negotiated deal on its nuclear programme.
The US has reinforced military capabilities in the Middle East with more warplanes, said the Pentagon on Tuesday, amid a US bombing campaign against the Houthis who control much of Yemen and are supported by Iran.
A senior European official said European strategists were asking themselves whether the campaign could be a precursor to a US strike on Iran in the coming months.
Trump, who has urged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to engage immediately in negotiations, threatened Iran on Sunday with bombing and secondary tariffs if it did not come to an agreement over its nuclear programme.
The foreign minister of Iran’s direct adversary Israel will be in Paris on Thursday.
Diplomatic sources said ministers from France, Britain and Germany, all party to the 2015 deal, were hoping to discuss the Iran dossier with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio when they convene in Brussels for a Nato ministerial meeting this week.
Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 deal that placed strict limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment, producing stocks at a high level of fissile purity, well above what Western powers say is justifiable for a civilian energy programme and close to that required for nuclear warheads.
Russian missile kills four in Ukrainian city
A Russian missile attack on Wednesday struck an enterprise in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing at least four civilians, said officials.
An 8-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl were among 14 injured, said the regional governor on Telegram.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, shared photographs of the aftermath of the attack on X, showing bodies lying bleeding on the ground, heavy black smoke rising into the sky and a building on fire.
“Everywhere in the world, such strikes are called by the same name — terror. The only way to stop this is by applying sufficient pressure on Moscow, on the Russian system, forcing them to abandon war and terror,” added Zelensky, appealing to the US and other allies.
Moldova says Russian agents spent €200m to rig votes last year
Moldova’s prime minister said on Wednesday that Russian agents spent around €200-million — nearly 1% of the small pro-European country’s GDP — on efforts to buy votes at its presidential election and EU referendum last year.
The comments came on the same day Britain sanctioned Evrazia, a pro-Russian non-governmental organisation, saying it was responsible for attempting to rig the referendum in Moldova and destabilise its democracy.
Moldova has repeatedly accused Moscow of meddling in its affairs to keep the former Soviet country in its orbit and stymie its bid to join the European Union by 2030.
Moscow has denied the allegations and criticises the government in Chisinau.
“The Kremlin’s agents launched a mass vote-buying campaign, spending about €200-million — almost 1% of Moldova’s GDP — in order to destabilise our country,” the official, Dorin Recean, told a briefing in Chisinau.
Moldovan law enforcement authorities have said the efforts to bribe voters were led by pro-Russian fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor and his supporters. Shor denies any wrongdoing.
Britain’s foreign office said the sanctioned Evrazia network was operated by Shor.
Moldova is scheduled to hold a parliamentary election this autumn that will be a test of the popularity of the pro-EU government’s course.
Hamas warns those who ‘spread chaos’ after killing of its police officer
A Gaza family’s open admission this week that they killed an officer from the Hamas-run police force after they said a relative was shot dead has added to signs of popular dissent against the militant group after 18 months of war with Israel.
It drew a warning from the Hamas-run interior ministry that actions that undermined public order would not be tolerated.
But following protests against Hamas by hundreds of demonstrators in northern Gaza last month, the incident underscored the increasing willingness of some Gaza civilians to voice criticism or act against Hamas, which has run the Palestinian enclave since defeating the rival Fatah faction in 2007.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Palestinians also rallied in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, chanting “Hamas out” and “Enough death” in renewed protests against the Islamist faction.
Residents were angered by new Israeli military evacuation orders, which the military said followed rocket salvoes by militants from the area.
They may have been emboldened to take to the streets by a sharply reduced presence of Hamas police and security forces in the past weeks since Israel’s large-scale attacks have resumed, after a surge during a ceasefire in January.
The pockets of anti-Hamas sentiment were highlighted by the video of the street killing of the police officer going viral on social media. It showed him being shot in the head and then sprayed with bullets from an assault rifle as other men urged on the family members.
The family, well known in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, issued a statement on social media, which was shared by several relatives, saying they had killed the officer, without identifying who had pulled the trigger, but also said it had not been a planned action.
They said one of the family had been killed by a police officer as police tried to resolve a feud outside a flour storage site — rejecting that he had been caught by shrapnel.
“We will not allow any party to spread chaos in Gaza Strip or take the law into their hands,” said Hamas, adding that it had begun measures to bring those involved to justice.
In a separate statement, Hamas said the killing of the officer was a crime that only “serves Zionist goals in breaking the internal Palestinian front and spreads chaos and anarchy”.
In a different incident, in Gaza City, another family accused Hamas police of killing a relative and vowed vengeance.
With US absent, China steps in for earthquake-hit Myanmar
After a 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook Myanmar on Friday, killing more than 2,800 people, international rescuers rushed into the devastated Southeast Asian country.
The most ubiquitous among them have been Chinese relief workers, whose blue and orange uniforms appear across videos circulating on social media.
The posts are often accompanied with expressions of gratitude toward Beijing, whose first responders — as well as their Indian and Russian colleagues — have pulled dazed survivors and bodies out from the rubble of hotels, schools, and monasteries.
The reaction marks a change in the negative reception China often receives on Myanmar’s social media because of its support for the unpopular military junta.
The US’s chief geopolitical rival has so far pledged to deliver 100 million yuan ($13.76-million) worth of supplies. The first batch of aid, including tents, blankets and first aid kits arrived in Yangon on Monday, Beijing has said.
The US, which was until recently the world’s top humanitarian donor, has offered a relatively modest $2-million. Washington also said it would send a three-member assessment team, though their arrival has been delayed by problems obtaining visas from the military regime.
In past years, when tsunamis, earthquakes and other disasters struck around the world, the US had regularly and rapidly deployed skilled rescue workers to save lives.
The US absence shows how Trump’s moves to slash the size of the US government has hobbled its ability to act during disasters, three current and former US officials told Reuters.
With Trump’s blessing, billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has enacted huge funding cuts and contractor terminations across the federal bureaucracy in the name of targeting wasteful spending.
Trump has also moved to fire nearly all US Agency for International Development (USAID) staff, who oversee Washington’s disaster response efforts overseas.
A functional USAID would have activated urban search-and-rescue teams that were capable of being deployed to Myanmar in 48 hours, said Marcia Wong, formerly a top humanitarian official at USAID.
But most of the people who would have coordinated the response had been let go, while third-party partners have lost contracts, she said.
“We have created a vacuum which can allow other actors to step in,” said Wong.
Judge who barred France’s Le Pen gets police protection
The judge who barred far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running in France’s 2027 presidential election is under police protection after facing death threats and having her home address shared online, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The address of Benedicte de Perthuis — the head of a three-judge panel that found Le Pen guilty of embezzling EU funds and handed her a five-year ban on seeking public office — was shared online after she delivered her ruling on Monday, the source said. She is now receiving police protection at work and home.
De Perthuis also received threats on social media, with her photo plastered all over X and far-right sites.
Paris police confirmed an investigation was under way into the threats, referring further queries to the Paris prosecutor’s office, which did not respond.
In a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron delivered his first comments since Le Pen’s conviction, telling ministers that France’s justice system was independent and its decisions must be respected as a pillar of democracy, according to government spokeswoman Sophie Primas.
“The threats made against judges are absolutely unbearable and intolerable,” said Macron, according to Primas.
The threats against De Perthuis and other judicial officials involved in Le Pen’s trial have prompted soul-searching in France about a current of populist discontent that is undermining faith in the country’s justice system.
Nearly 90% of Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) supporters believe the court treated her more harshly than other politicians, while more than half of French people believe she got a fair trial, according to an Odoxa poll published on Monday.
Before Monday’s ruling, Le Pen was the front-runner for the 2027 vote. She and her allies at home and abroad have accused the French establishment of sabotaging her presidential ambitions, saying judges have caused a democratic crisis by meddling in politics.
Brazilian President Lula’s disapproval rating hits all-time high
A majority of Brazilians now disapprove of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s performance leading Latin America’s largest economy, a fresh poll showed on Wednesday, as high inflation levels increasingly worry voters ahead of polls next year.
The growing dissatisfaction with the 79-year-old leftist leader, which the poll showed extends even to his northeastern political stronghold, comes as he weighs a potential bid for reelection.
The Quaest poll commissioned by brokerage Genial showed that 41% of those surveyed approve of Lula’s administration, down from 47% in January, while disapproval rose to 56% from 49% earlier this year.
That marked Lula’s highest disapproval level in his three non-consecutive terms as president, Genial said.
Lula’s main political rival, right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro, was barred from public office until 2030 and now faces trial for allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government after he lost the 2022 election.
That has removed one obstacle if Lula does, indeed, seek reelection.
However, support for the president had already dipped in the previous Quaest poll, when his disapproval rating surpassed approval for the first time since he took office in his latest term in January 2023.
The new poll suggests that measures the government hoped would drive up his popularity did not have an immediate effect.
Those include a proposal to exempt Brazilians earning 5,000 reais ($880) or less per month from income tax and slashing import taxes on certain products to curb food inflation.
“The government’s inability to reverse the disapproval situation is also the result of a worsening perception of the economy,” said Quaest’s director, Felipe Nunes.
“Much of it is related to the high price of food and the increased view that fuel is more expensive at gas stations, which produces a widespread perception that the purchasing power of Brazilians today is lower than it was a year ago.”
Brazil’s 12-month inflation hit a two-year-high of 5.26% in early March, well above the upper end of the central bank’s 1.5%-4.5% target range, as policymakers continue to tighten monetary policy.
China concludes two-day war games around Taiwan
China’s military concluded two-day war games around Taiwan in which it held long-range, live-fire drills in the East China Sea, marking an escalation of exercises around the island.
The military’s Eastern Theatre Command said late on Wednesday it had completed the drills, which tested the troops’ “integrated joint operations capabilities”.
“Troops of the theatre command remain on high alert at all times, and will continue to strengthen combat readiness with intensive training, resolutely thwarting any separatist activities seeking ‘Taiwan independence’,” said the military in a post on its social media account.
China has stepped up rhetoric against Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, calling him a “parasite” on Tuesday in the wake of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Asia visit, during which he repeatedly criticised Beijing.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly denounced Lai as a “separatist”. Lai, who won the election last year, rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
The Eastern Theatre Command said that on Wednesday, as part of the Strait Thunder-2025A exercise, its ground forces had conducted long-range, live-fire drills into the waters of the East China Sea, though it did not specify the location.
“The drills involve precision strikes on simulated targets of key ports and energy facilities, and have achieved desired effects,” it said, without elaborating.
Liberal wins Wisconsin Supreme Court election in setback for Trump, Musk
Wisconsin voters elected Susan Crawford to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, maintaining the court’s 4-3 liberal majority in a setback for Trump and his billionaire ally Musk, who had backed her conservative rival.
The election was widely seen as an early referendum on Trump’s presidency, and the campaign easily became the most expensive judicial contest in US history with more than $90-million spent by the candidates, the state parties and outside groups, according to New York University’s Brennan Center.
Crawford, a county judge, defeated conservative Brad Schimel, a former Republican state attorney general and also a county judge, who conceded in a phone call to Crawford and in a speech before his supporters. Crawford held a nine-point lead with a margin of some 191,000 votes and 88% of the vote counted.
With the balance of the court at stake, Musk and political groups tied to him spent more than $21-million to support Schimel. Crawford framed the race as a contest between her and the out-of-state billionaire.
“I’ve got to tell you, as a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world for justice and Wisconsin. And we won!” Crawford told supporters in a celebration in Madison, the state capital.
Trump chose not to comment on the Supreme Court election in a social media post, instead celebrating the victory of a separate Wisconsin ballot measure requiring greater levels of identification for voters.
National Democrats claimed victory, calling the Wisconsin result one step toward their goal of reclaiming the House of Representatives in 2026.
In another test of Trump’s popularity, two Florida Republicans won their special elections to fill US House vacancies created by Trump’s Cabinet picks.
The victories gave Republicans a House majority of 220-213.
Republicans had been expected to easily hold both seats, so the parties were watching to see how close the Democrats might come.
In one district that includes Daytona Beach, Republican state Senator Randy Fine defeated Democrat Josh Weil, a public school educator. Fine was up around 14 points, after Michael Waltz, now Trump’s National Security Advisor, won the seat by 33 points in November.
In the other race around Pensacola, Republican state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis defeated Democrat Gay Valimont, a gun violence prevention activist. Patronis was up nearly 15 points, after Valimont had lost the seat to Matt Gaetz, once Trump’s nominee for Attorney-General, by 32 points in November.
Wisconsin’s top court is likely to issue critical rulings on voting rights and election rules ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race, when the state is expected to remain a central battleground. Trump won Wisconsin in November by less than a percentage point — the closest margin of any state.
The court is also poised to decide whether abortion rights should remain legal statewide and could revisit a Republican-backed law that stripped most public employee unions of collective bargaining rights.
Crawford’s campaign received a boost from billionaire Democratic megadonors, including philanthropist George Soros and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. DM