USA - Donald Trump has demanded a clause that would amount to a “veto” over any future Chinese or Russian investments in Greenland, The Telegraph can report. Diplomatic sources have revealed that preventing Beijing from accessing the substantial mineral reserves buried deep beneath the ice has become a key objective for the Trump administration in talks over the island. Officials from the United States, Greenland and Denmark have been locked in secret negotiations over a deal that satisfies the US president’s desire to control the territory. The talks were designed to provide Mr Trump with an off-ramp to his threats of a military takeover of the Arctic island, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is understood that the US sees the minerals buried deep under the island’s ice sheets as a strategic reserve in case of a war with China.

IRAN - The country’s parliament is set to vote on a bill offering rewards for the assassination of the United States and Israeli leaders following February’s strikes on Iran that killed Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader. Ebrahim Azizi, the chairman of Iran’s national security commission, said the body was preparing a bill titled “Reciprocal action by military and security forces of the Islamic Republic” that would formalise payment of €50 million (£43.5 million) to any individual or entity who kills Mr Trump or Mr Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Iran has handed an updated peace proposal to the US, according to a senior US official cited by Axios. The source said, however, that the proposal did not represent a meaningful improvement on Tehran’s previous position. “We are really not making a lot of progress. We are at a very serious place today. The pressure is on them to be responsive in the right way,” the official said, according to the outlet. The US wants to see a serious conversation over Iran’s nuclear programme, they added. “If that’s not gonna happen, we will have a conversation through bombs, which will be a shame.”

IRAN - Iran does not intend to "surrender" as it enters into diplomatic dialogue with the Unietd States, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a Twitter/X post on Monday. "Dialogue does not mean surrender," Pezeshkian said. "The Islamic Republic of Iran enters into dialogue with dignity, authority, and the preservation of the nation's rights, and under no circumstances will it retreat from the legal rights of the people and the country." This comes as a response to US President Donald Trump, who said on Monday he had paused a planned attack against Iran after Tehran sent a peace proposal to Washington, and that there was now a "very good chance" of reaching a deal limiting Iran's nuclear program. After Iran sent the US a new peace proposal, Trump said he had instructed the US military that "we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow, but have further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached."

UK - Nearly 80 countries have now introduced emergency measures to protect their economies as the world approaches a new, more dangerous phase in the energy crisis driven by the Iran war. Governments are stepping up their responses ahead of a looming tipping point, when traders warn that oil prices could jump again sharply unless more fuel trapped in the Gulf can be exported through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Paul Diggle, chief economist at fund manager Aberdeen, said his team was now examining a scenario where Brent crude rockets to $180 a barrel, causing surging inflation and recessions in a host of European and Asian countries. “We are taking that outcome very seriously,” he told the FT, adding that it was not yet his base case. “We are living on borrowed time.” Across large parts of the developing world, shortages are already apparent.

PAKISTAN - Pakistan has deployed 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets, and an air defense system to Saudi Arabia under a mutual defense pact, ramping up military cooperation with Riyadh even as Islamabad serves as the main mediator in the Iran war. The deployment, the full scale of which is reported here for the first time, was confirmed by three security officials and two government sources, all of whom described it as a substantial, combat-capable force intended to support Saudi Arabia's military if the kingdom comes under further attack. The full terms of the defense agreement, signed last year, are confidential, but both sides have said it requires Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to come to each other's defense in the event of an attack. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has previously implied that it places Saudi Arabia under Pakistan's nuclear umbrella. Pakistan has long provided military support to Saudi Arabia, including training and advisory deployments, while Riyadh has repeatedly stepped in to support Islamabad financially during periods of economic stress.

GERMANY - Days before Europe marked the 81st anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II, Berlin unveiled something unprecedented in the history of the modern Federal Republic: Its first-ever military strategy, titled ‘Responsibility for Europe.’ A country that spent decades defining itself through restraint and repentance now openly declares its ambition to build “the strongest conventional army in Europe.” Germany insists that this transformation is merely defensive. The declared threat is Russia, the declared mission deterrence. But history teaches Europeans to pay close attention whenever Berlin starts talking about military necessity, strategic leadership, and continental responsibility. The new doctrine is the ideological burial of postwar Germany. For decades, German society was built upon an anti-militarist consensus. Military force was viewed with suspicion, and pacifism became a civic religion. The very idea of German military leadership in Europe was politically toxic. But in only a few years, much has changed. A growing part of German society has accepted the narrative of an imminent Russian threat and abandoned the pacifism that had been carefully cultivated since 1945.

UK - Downing Street has refused to rule out Britain rejoining the EU after the next election. Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman declined five opportunities to clarify whether the Prime Minister agreed with Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham’s comments that the UK needed to reverse Brexit. Mr Streeting, who quit as health secretary last week, said at the weekend that he would seek a mandate to “one day” rejoin the EU if he won a Labour leadership election. The spokesman did not reject Mr Streeting’s remarks outright, saying: “Our position is set out in the manifesto for this Parliament... The next manifesto is a matter for the party and I’m sure they’ll set out their position for the next election.” Mr Streeting, who has said he would stand against Sir Keir in a future Labour leadership contest, had claimed leaving the EU had been a “catastrophic mistake”.

MIDDLE EAST - The threats are flying and the rhetoric is escalating. Donald Trump’s latest broadside against Iran’s regime – “they better get moving FAST or there won’t be anything left of them” – may be empty bombast, or a ploy to extract concessions in behind-the-scenes talks. But what if Iran simply digs in and offers no more flexibility? Trump may then believe that he has no choice except to restart the war – on pause since a ceasefire on April 7. And that moment of decision could be arriving soon. Nothing should diminish Trump’s primary responsibility for having begun this conflict alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, at the end of February. The president has paid a heavy price for his failure to define a consistent objective, or anticipate that Iran would retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz, bombarding its Gulf neighbours and triggering the greatest oil supply shock in history. If this war has a second round, it could prove even more destructive than the first.

IRAN - Iran’s new “supreme leader”, Mojtaba Khamenei, cannot appear in public and may be lying comatose in an underground hospital bed. More than 13,000 air strikes have proved that American and Israeli jets rule the skies above the Islamic Republic. Yet, despite everything, the regime strives to create an aura of brazen confidence. After Donald Trump denounced Iran’s “totally unacceptable” response to an American peace plan, the foreign ministry spokesman in Tehran replied simply: “We don’t care if others are happy or not.” Having suffered 40 days of round-the-clock bombing from two of the most formidable air forces in the world, Iran is now enduring a US naval blockade designed to strangle its seaborne oil exports and sever its economic lifeline once and for all. So is the regime’s defiance justified, or evidence of delusion and folly?

USA - Donald Trump warned Iran that there would be “nothing left” of the country if its leaders did not agree to a peace deal with the United States. Washington has been locked in conflict with Tehran since US and Israeli forces launched joint strikes on February 28, and has struggled to make any diplomatic progress toward ending a war that has shaken the Middle East. “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” His latest threat towards Iran – evidence of his growing frustration over the deadlock in talks to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz – followed indications that Tehran would reject Washington’s latest peace proposal.