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.

UK - The case of two parents in Hertfordshire arrested for sending emails to their child's school and criticising it in WhatsApp messages and on social media should terrify us all. Since when did criticism and having an opinion become a crime? Six uniformed officers went to the home of Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine. Looking at footage from the raid you might think that their house was being used as a base for criminal gangs, drug dealing or to hide an inmate who had escaped from prison. Everybody in the county feels safe to walk the streets at night. The drug dealers have all been banished and anti-social behaviour has ceased to exist. If only this was true. Which is why this latest incident is not only disturbing but brings into question policing priorities. The parents had concerns about the recruitment process for a new head teacher at Cowley Hill Primary.

UK - The leftist government in Britain has announced that the ‘morning-after’ birth control pill will be offered free of charge to women at pharmacies throughout the country. The Sun newspaper reported that later this year, British taxpayers will be expected to fund subsidies for National Health Service (NHS) pharmacies to provide morning-after pills to women without charge throughout the country. The morning-after pill can be taken up to five days after conception to terminate a pregnancy. The move, expected to come amid a broader investment in pharmacies, has been pitched as a means of equalising the treatment offered to women and reducing the strain on the socialised healthcare system.

UK - Starting Tuesday, white men in the United Kingdom will face tougher sentencing than ethnic, cultural, or faith minorities, as well as young people under 25, women, and pregnant women. They used to call this racism. So now, if you are a white man, you can expect more time in prison than a minority person. This is the same country that arrests you for smart-a$$ comments on social media. Britain truly is lost. What a humiliating end to a once-great empire. The policy has sparked controversy, with many arguing that it enshrines racial and gender-based discrimination into the judicial system. Critics say the new approach is a violation of the principle that justice should be blind to race, gender, and background.

UKRAINE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected a proposal from President Donald Trump, which included a minerals deal, acknowledgment of US military aid as debt, and direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Ukraine received a new agreement [proposal] from the US regarding mineral resources, which is an entirely different document from the previous framework agreement,” said Zelensky, adding, “Ukraine will not recognize US military aid as debt. We are grateful for the support, but this is not a credit, and we will not allow it,” Zelensky continued. Zelensky will not accept the minerals deal, does not recognize US military aid as debt, and will not engage in direct talks with Putin. He only wants US money and weaponry. Ukraine is not a grateful ally.