Ukraine agreed to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the conflict with Russia during talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia, said the countries in a joint statement.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ramped up a burgeoning trade war with Canada, saying he would double tariffs set to take effect within hours on all imported steel and aluminium products from Canada to 50%, amplifying a focus on tariff increases that has sent financial markets reeling and business leaders ringing alarm bells about weakening consumer demand.
Former Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte left Manila on a jet on Tuesday bound for The Hague, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, hours after he was arrested at the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over a “war on drugs” that defined his presidency.
Ukraine agrees to accept 30-day ceasefire proposal
Ukraine agreed to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the conflict with Russia during talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia, said the countries in a joint statement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would take the offer to the Russians, and that the ball was now in Moscow's court.
The US will resume sharing intelligence with Kyiv.
More than three hours into the meeting, Mike Waltz, the US national security adviser, emerged for a break with Rubio and told reporters: “We’re getting there.”
Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff who is leading the Ukrainian delegation, said earlier that the meeting had “begun very constructively”.
As the diplomacy plays out, Ukraine’s battlefield positions are under heavy pressure, particularly in Russia’s Kursk region where Moscow’s forces have launched a push to flush out Kyiv’s troops, which had been trying to hold a patch of land as a bargaining chip.
Ukraine overnight launched its biggest drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region yet, showing that Kyiv can also land major blows after a steady stream of Russian missile and drone attacks, one of which killed 14 people on Saturday.
The attack, in which 337 drones were downed over Russia, killed at least three employees of a meat warehouse and caused a short shutdown at Moscow's four airports, Russian officials said.
Ukraine said its drones struck an oil refinery near Moscow and a facility in Russia's Oryol region, while Hungary said crude oil shipments via Russia's Druzhba pipeline were suspended following the attack.
Ahead of the talks, Yermak told reporters that security guarantees remained key for Ukraine, but suggested they might only look at that in a preliminary way on Tuesday.
Zelensky, who was in Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, did not join the talks.
Trump doubles tariffs on Canadian metal imports
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ramped up a burgeoning trade war with Canada, saying he would double tariffs set to take effect within hours on all imported steel and aluminium products from Canada to 50%, amplifying a focus on tariff increases that has sent financial markets reeling and business leaders ringing alarm bells about weakening consumer demand.
Trump’s latest salvo was in response to the premier of Ontario’s announcement that he would place a 25% surcharge on the electricity Canada’s most populous province supplies to 1.5 million US homes unless Trump drops all of his tariff threats against the northern US neighbour.
In a post on his Truth Social media platform, Trump said he had instructed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to add an additional 25% tariff on the metals products from Canada that will go into effect on Wednesday morning. Tariffs totalling 25% on all imported steel and aluminium products originating from other countries will start that day.
Trump further lashed out at Canada for trade protections it has in place on dairy and other agricultural products, and threatened to “substantially increase” tariffs on cars coming into the US that are set to take effect on 2 April “if other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada”.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford was not bowed.
“We will not back down. We will be relentless. I apologise to the American people that President Trump decided to have an unprovoked attack on our country,” Ford told MSNBC after Trump’s announcement. About 1.5 million homes and businesses in New York state, Michigan and Minnesota are powered by the province’s utilities, and Trump said he would declare a national emergency to mobilise resources to assist the affected areas.
The latest escalation occurred at a time when there is effectively a power vacuum in Ottawa. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is stepping down and is due to formally hand over power to his successor Mark Carney this week.
Carney, who overwhelmingly won the leadership race of the ruling Liberals last weekend, told reporters on Monday he could not speak to Trump until he had formally been sworn in as prime minister.
Trump’s broadside delivered another painful jolt to financial markets, with the benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX) sliding by more than 1.0% as investors worry the import taxes will hurt US growth and rekindle inflation. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite index (.GSPTSE) was down by about 0.6% and the Canadian dollar fell to a one-week low against the greenback.
Since hitting a record high about a month after Trump’s inauguration, the S&P 1500 index — among the widest measures of the US stock market — has lost at least $5-trillion in value, a blow to wealth that could also stymie household spending.
Broader 25% levies on all steel and aluminium imported to the US from anywhere are due to take effect early on Wednesday, and another round of tariffs on autos as well as tit-for-tat reciprocal tariffs are lined up for early April. Canada and China have retaliated with their own tariffs on US exports, while Mexico stopped short of retaliation after Trump delayed his planned levies on the southern US neighbour.
Trump’s hyper-focus on tariffs since taking office in January has rattled investor, consumer and business confidence in ways that economists increasingly worry could cause a recession.
Philippines’ ex-president Duterte put on a plane after arrest
Former Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte left Manila on a jet on Tuesday bound for The Hague, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, hours after he was arrested at the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over a “war on drugs” that defined his presidency.
Duterte, a firebrand ex-mayor and former prosecutor who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was arrested at a Manila airport early on Tuesday, in a major step in the ICC’s investigation into thousands of killings in an anti-drugs crackdown that caused shock and condemnation around the world.
“I am confident the arrest was proper, correct and followed all necessary legal procedures,” Marcos told a press conference confirming Duterte had left the country bound for the Netherlands.
“We did not help the International Criminal Court in any way. The arrest was made in compliance with Interpol.”
The “war on drugs” was Duterte’s signature campaign platform that swept the mercurial crime-buster to power and he soon delivered on promises he made during vitriolic speeches to kill thousands of drug pushers and users.
Duterte has long insisted he instructed police to kill only in self-defence and has always defended the crackdown, repeatedly telling his supporters he was ready to “rot in jail” if it meant ridding the Philippines of drugs.
Veronica Duterte, the 79-year-old’s youngest daughter, said on Instagram her father had boarded the jet but the family had not been informed of its destination.
“The airplane used to kidnap my dad just left minutes ago,” she posted.
Duterte could become Asia's first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.
His arrest follows years of him rebuking and taunting the ICC since he unilaterally withdrew the Philippines from the court's founding treaty in 2019 as it started looking into allegations of systematic murders of drug dealers on his watch.
The ICC, a court of last resort, is probing alleged crimes against humanity and says it has jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes that took place while a country was a member.
Duterte and his family and allies expressed fury at the arrest, calling it unlawful.
A copy of the warrant, seen by Reuters, said Duterte is accused of criminal responsibility for the murder of at least 43 people between 2011 and 2019, which would include time when he served as mayor of southern Davao City.
Human rights groups and families of victims said his detention was a key step towards accountability for the killings of thousands of people in the Philippines, where police investigations have moved at a snail’s pace. Duterte has not been charged with any crimes locally.
According to the police, 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations under Duterte’s presidency that they say ended in shootouts. But activists say the real toll of the crackdown was far greater, with many thousands more slumland drug users, some named on community “watch lists”, killed in mysterious circumstances.
Greenlanders vote in election dominated by Trump’s control pledge
Greenland residents voted on Tuesday in an election brought into the international spotlight by Trump’s pledge to take control of the mineral-rich island, firing up a debate over its independence.
Since taking office in January, Trump has vowed to make Greenland — a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark — part of the US, saying it was vital to US security interests.
The vast island, with a population of just 57,000, has been caught up in a geopolitical race for dominance in the Arctic, where melting ice caps are making its resources more accessible and opening new shipping routes. Both Russia and China have intensified military activity in the region.
Greenland is a former Danish colony and a territory since 1953. It gained some autonomy in 1979 when its first parliament was formed, but Copenhagen still controls foreign affairs, defence and monetary policy and provides just under $1-billion a year to the economy.
In 2009, it won the right to declare full independence through a referendum, though has not done so out of concern that living standards would drop without Denmark’s economic support.
Trump’s vocal interest has shaken up the status quo, and coupled with the growing pride of the indigenous people in their Inuit culture, put independence front and centre in the election.
“The question of independence was put on steroids by Trump,” said Masaana Egede, editor of local newspaper Sermitsiaq. “It has put a lid on everyday issues.”
In the final debate on Greenland's state broadcaster KNR late on Monday, leaders of the five parties currently in parliament unanimously said they did not trust Trump.
Early on, the election campaign focused on the anger and frustration aimed at historical wrongdoings by former colonial ruler Denmark, according to Julie Rademacher, a consultant and former adviser to Greenland's government.
“But I think the fear of the US imperialist approach has lately become bigger than the anger towards Denmark,” said Rademacher.
Reuters spoke to more than a dozen Greenlanders in Nuuk, all of whom said they favoured independence, although many expressed concern that a swift transition could damage the economy and eliminate Nordic welfare services like universal healthcare and free schooling.
“We don’t want to be part of the US for obvious reasons; healthcare and Trump,” said Tuuta Lynge-Larsen, a bank employee and Nuuk resident, adding that this election was especially important. “We don’t like the attention, to put it short.”
The island holds substantial natural resources, including critical minerals such as rare earths used in high-tech industries, ranging from electric vehicles to missile systems.
However, Greenland has been slow to extract them due to environmental concerns, severe weather, and China’s near-total control of the sector, which has made it difficult for companies elsewhere to make a profit or secure buyers.
Trump initially declined to rule out military force, alarming many Greenlanders, although he later softened his stance, stating he would respect the will of the local people and was “ready to invest billions of dollars” if they joined the US.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede has stressed the island is not for sale and advocated for a broad coalition government to resist external pressure. In an interview aired on Monday by Danish broadcaster DR, he dismissed Trump’s offer as disrespectful, expressing willingness to cooperate with other countries instead.
Palestinian Columbia student's arrest battle to play out in US federal court
A legal battle over an arrested Palestinian activist and Columbia University student that has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s immigration policy will play out in federal court, with the US government set to propose the next steps in the case on Tuesday.
US District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan temporarily blocked authorities on Monday from deporting Mahmoud Khalil (29) and scheduled a hearing for Wednesday. Furman asked lawyers for the administration to respond by Tuesday afternoon with their suggestions as to what he should do.
Khalil was arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents on Saturday in one of the first efforts by Trump to fulfill his promise to seek the deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement.
Khalil was an outspoken activist at Columbia University, which experienced some of the biggest protests against the war Israel launched against Hamas after the Palestinian group attacked Israel in October 2023 and killed more than 1,000 Israelis.
Trump publicly branded Khalil on social media as a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student” and said more arrests would follow.
Demonstrators on the streets of New York City, the state attorney general and the American Civil Liberties Union have denounced the arrest as an attack on free speech.
Police and hundreds of protesters briefly clashed in lower Manhattan on Monday and at least one person was detained, according to a Reuters witness.
According to his lawyers, DHS agents initially told Khalil that his student visa had been revoked as they sought to arrest him outside his Columbia student residence. When his wife — who is eight months pregnant — told the officers that Khalil was a lawful permanent resident, the officials said his green card had been revoked as well, said his lawyers.
A green card permits a person to permanently reside in the United States and gives them the protections of the US Constitution, including the right to free speech under the First Amendment.
Khalil’s lawyers have filed what is known as a writ for habeas corpus in Manhattan federal court asking the court to examine the legal grounds for his detention. They argued that his detention was illegal because it was retaliation for his role in protests at Columbia, which they say is political speech protected by the First Amendment.
The lawyers later asked Furman to order that Khalil be returned to New York. They said he was moved to a federal jail for migrants in Louisiana to make it more difficult for them to have access to him.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X on Sunday that the government would be revoking visas and green cards of those supporting Hamas so they could be deported from the US.
However, unpopular protests and speech are not grounds for revoking a green card, according to immigration law specialists. Green cards are usually revoked only after a person is charged and c
Israeli fire kills four Palestinians in Gaza
An Israeli air strike killed four Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, said the territory’s civil emergency service, as Arab mediators and the US tried to hammer out differences between Hamas and Israel over a 19 January ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli military said its air force attacked “terrorists who were engaged in a suspicious activity on the ground in central Gaza and posed a threat to the force”.
At the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, relatives of the dead men arrived to bid farewell, sitting around the white-shrouded bodies. Medics and relatives said the four dead, who included two brothers, were civilians.
“Did we end the war or what happened? We don’t know,” said Arafat Al-Hana, the father of one of the victims.
Israel sent a delegation to the Qatari capital, Doha, for more ceasefire talks, and Hamas leaders ended a round of talks in Cairo earlier this week. But there has been no sign of a breakthrough to resolve the disputes that threaten a return to armed conflict.
Fighting in Gaza has been halted since 19 January under the first phase of the truce, and Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Hamas wants to begin talks on a second phase that was supposed to reach an agreement over Israel's full pullout from the enclave. Israel demands that the Palestinian militant group free the remaining hostages without beginning phase two negotiations.
On Tuesday, Hamas accused Israel of trying to cause famine in Gaza by continuing to suspend the entry of aid and also by its decision to sever its last working line of electricity to the enclave, a move that affected a water desalination and sewage treatment facility.
“We call on mediators to pressure the occupation [Israel] to abide by its pledges and open the crossings immediately, to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid and end the policy of collective punishment pursued by the occupation authorities against our people,” it said in a statement.
Israel cut aid flows of food, medicine, and fuel imports this month, aiming to pressure militant group Hamas in ceasefire talks. On Sunday it announced an electricity cut, which aid groups say would deprive Gazans of clean water.
There was a risk that Gaza would experience another hunger crisis if Israel continued to block aid, said the head of the UN Palestinian relief agency (Unrwa) in Gaza on Monday.
“I think the more we go ahead [with aid blockages], the more we will see the impact increasing on the population. And obviously, the risk ... is that we go back to the situation we experienced months ago about deepening hunger in the Gaza Strip,” said Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
Hamas-led militants carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, triggering an Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
UN Security Council to meet over Iran’s growing stockpile of enriched uranium
The United Nations Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday over Iran’s expansion of its stock of uranium close to weapons grade, diplomats said on Monday.
The meeting was requested by six of the council’s 15 members: France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain and the US.
They also want the council to discuss Iran’s obligation to provide the UN nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — with “the information necessary to clarify outstanding issues related to undeclared nuclear material detected at multiple locations in Iran”, said diplomats.
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the planned meeting.
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the IAEA has warned.
Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian programme and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful. DM