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Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky said some partners have urged Kyiv to scale back strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, while Kosovo joined a US-backed stabilisation force for Gaza alongside Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Albania.

G7 finance ministers pledged to stabilise energy markets as Brent crude surpassed $116 a barrel, and Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iranian civilian infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

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1️⃣ 🇺🇦 Allies urge Ukraine to scale back energy strikes: Volodymyr Zelensky said some unspecified partners have asked Kyiv to reduce attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, framing Ukraine's strikes as a direct response to Russian attacks on its own grid. He indicated Ukraine would only stand down if Russia stopped targeting its energy first.

2️⃣ 🇽🇰 Kosovo approves troops for Gaza stabilization force: Kosovo has agreed to send troops to Gaza as part of a US-backed international stabilization force, after receiving a formal invitation from Washington in December, joining Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Albania in the effort. The force is intended to keep peace and back a transitional administration under Trump's Board of Peace following the 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

3️⃣ 🇷🇺🇬🇧 Russia expels British diplomat over espionage claims: Moscow ordered a British diplomat to leave within two weeks, accusing him of attempting to obtain sensitive economic information through informal meetings with Russian experts. London dismissed the allegations as completely unacceptable, vowing not to tolerate what it called intimidation of its embassy staff or their families.

4️⃣ 🇷🇺🇨🇺 Russian oil tanker reaches Cuba amid blockade uncertainty: A Russian tanker carrying 100,000 tonnes of crude reached Cuba for the first time since January, days after the US Treasury had added Cuba to a list of countries barred from receiving Russian oil deliveries. Trump then told reporters he had no objection to the shipment, though whether this represents a permanent reversal of the blockade or a one-off exception remains unclear.

5️⃣ 🌐 WTO talks collapse without deal: The WTO's four-day ministerial meeting in Cameroon ended without an agreement on extending an e-commerce tariff moratorium or a broader reform agenda, with the US pushing for a ten-year extension while Brazil moved to block any extension at all. The director-general said members came close but ran out of time, urging further negotiations at WTO headquarters in Geneva to finalise outstanding texts.

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Major Story

🇮🇷 Iran War Update: Day 32

1️⃣ G7 pledges to stabilise energy markets: Finance ministers and central bankers vowed to take "all necessary measures" to steady markets after Iran's Hormuz blockade pushed Brent crude above $116 a barrel. 

2️⃣ 🇺🇸 Trump threatens to obliterate Iranian civilian infrastructure: Trump warned he would destroy Iran's power plants, oil wells, and desalination facilities if a deal is not reached and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, while claiming talks are underway with a "new" Iranian government. International law experts condemned the threats as collective punishment prohibited under international humanitarian law, though the White House maintained the US would act within the law.

3️⃣ 📈 Oil on track for record monthly gain amid escalation fears: Iran dismissed the US ceasefire proposal as "excessive, unrealistic and irrational" as oil prices surged 54% in March, their largest ever monthly rise, surpassing the previous record set during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The IMF warned the conflict would drive higher prices and slower growth worldwide if it continues to throttle flows through the Gulf.

4️⃣ 🇹🇷 NATO intercepts Iranian missile over Turkey: A NATO air defense system neutralised an Iranian ballistic missile after it entered Turkish airspace, the fourth such interception since the conflict began. Iran has previously denied launching projectiles toward Turkey.

5️⃣ 🇪🇸 Spain closes airspace to US military over Iran war: Spain banned US military aircraft involved in the Iran conflict from its airspace, extending an earlier refusal to allow US forces to use jointly operated bases on Spanish soil. 

6️⃣ 🇺🇸 White House floats making Arab states pay for Iran war: The White House indicated Trump is interested in asking Arab countries to cover the cost of the conflict, estimated in the tens of billions.

7️⃣ 🇮🇩🇱🇧 Three Indonesian UN peacekeepers killed in southern Lebanon: Two Indonesian UNIFIL peacekeepers were killed and two others injured when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle in southern Lebanon, a day after a third Indonesian peacekeeper died in a separate explosion also of unknown origin. Both the IDF and Hezbollah are under investigation, with Israel noting the incidents occurred in an active combat area and urging against assuming IDF responsibility.

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Other News

1️⃣ 🇸🇾🇩🇪 Syria's leader visits Berlin for reconstruction talks: Syria's interim president met with German leadership to discuss reconstruction and the potential return of refugees, pointing to investment opportunities in Syria's energy, transport and tourism sectors. Berlin reaffirmed support for rebuilding Syria, with Chancellor Merz having previously said Syrians now have no grounds for asylum, as roughly one million sought refuge in Germany during the civil war.

2️⃣ 🇨🇳🇯🇵 China sanctions Japanese lawmaker over Taiwan ties: Beijing banned a Japanese lawmaker close to Prime Minister Takaichi from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macao, accusing him of colluding with Taiwan independence forces after he met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in March. Tokyo called the move absolutely unacceptable and demanded it be immediately retracted, describing it as an attempt to intimidate those holding views different from Beijing's.

3️⃣ 🇹🇼🇨🇳 Taiwan opposition leader to visit China ahead of Trump: The leader of Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang party will visit Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu from April 7 to 12 at Xi Jinping's invitation, a trip she said she hopes marks the beginning of a new era of cross-strait trust. It comes ahead of a planned Trump-Xi summit in May, as Beijing continues to refuse any engagement with Taiwan's ruling government, which it labels separatist.

4️⃣ 🇮🇱 Israel passes death penalty law for Palestinian terror convictions: Israel's parliament approved legislation making execution by hanging the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly terror attacks in military courts, with the bill passing 62 votes to 48 and Prime Minister Netanyahu voting in favour. Several European nations, Palestinian authorities and domestic critics condemned the law as discriminatory, with a civil rights group already petitioning the Supreme Court to strike it down.

5️⃣ 🇪🇺 Five EU governments flagged as rule of law dismantlers: A European civil liberties watchdog drawing on evidence from over 40 NGOs classified Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy and Slovakia as actively and intentionally eroding the rule of law across all four pillars — justice, anti-corruption, media freedom and checks and balances. It also flagged democratic decline in six others including France and Germany, finding that 61 out of 100 European Commission recommendations showed zero progress.

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