Summary
We are now closing the blog. Here is a round-up of today’s events.
Europe is braced for US president Donald Trump to impose sweeping tariffs on global trading partners on Wednesday, threatening cost increases and likely drawing retaliation from all sides. Details of Trump’s tariff plans are due to be announced in the White House Rose Garden at 4 pm Eastern Time (10pm CET, 9pm BST).
Donald Trump’s planned tariffs will be negative across the world, with the damage depending on how far they go, how long they last and whether they lead to successful negotiations, European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday.
The effect of US tariffs on Italian companies will be massive – with fashion, pharmaceuticals and the food industry the hardest hit, the head of national industry lobby Confindustria said on Wednesday.
Benedicte de Perthuis, 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, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
French President Emmanuel Macron said “that the threats made against judges are absolutely unbearable and intolerable” and that “the law is the same for everyone”, Politico reports. Macron also stated that “all defendants have the right to legal recourse.”
European visitors to the UK will need a new online entry permit from Wednesday as the British government shakes up longstanding travel rules. Travellers from Europe will now need a digital Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) permit.
Russian attacks damaged energy facilities in Ukraine’s Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions, President Zelenskyy said adding that Russia was intentionally attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure and called on allies to mount pressure on Moscow to halt its invasion.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that Ukraine had attacked Russian energy facilities twice during the past 24 hours. The Guardian could not verify the reported strikes.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a visit to the US by President Vladimir Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, was “possible”, and that contacts with the US were continuing.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to visit Hungary on Wednesday defying an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued over allegations of war crimes in Gaza.
Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen began her three-day visit to Greenland on Wednesday for talks with the territory’s incoming government, following US President Donald Trump’s repeated expressions of interest in controlling the Arctic island, Reuters reports.
President Emmanuel Macron convened key ministers and experts on Wednesday to discuss Iran, including its nuclear programme, amid growing tensions between Tehran and US President Donald Trump, three diplomatic sources told Reuters.
Italy’s interior ministry has written to police forces across the country to increase security at Tesla dealerships after 17 of the electric cars made by Elon Musk’s company were destroyed in a fire in Rome.
Nato allies have pledged $21.65bn (more than 20bn euros) in military support for Ukraine in the first three months of the year, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday.
Norway will not withdraw from the global convention banning anti-personnel landmines as all the other European countries bordering Russia have done, the country’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Norway will not withdraw from the global convention banning anti-personnel landmines as all the other European countries bordering Russia have done, the country’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Finland on Tuesday said it planned to quit the 1997 Ottawa Convention as a way to mitigate the military threat posed by Russia, following Poland and the Baltic countries, which announced similar moves last month.
Norway’s foreign minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters: “This particular decision [by Finland] is something that we regret.
“If we start weakening our commitment, it makes it easier for warring factions around the world to use these weapons again, because it reduces the stigma.”
He added: “We have a very modern advanced defence system. We have purchased extremely advanced systems that can attack from land, the air and sea.”
