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Emergency EU summit seeks to bolster defence to counter US pivot from alliance
European Union leaders will hold emergency talks in Brussels on Thursday, gathering as the Trump administration upends traditional alliances and retracts wartime backing of Ukraine. Thursday's summit brings all 27 EU leaders together for the first time since the explosive meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky last week, with US military aid and intelligence sharing since suspended. The evaporation of American support has sent Ukraine's allies scrambling, with EU leaders openly questioning Washington's reliability as a security partner going forward. While the Brussels meeting will aim to cement European support for Kyiv, it is unlikely to yield any major announcements of aid beyond the 30 billion euros ($32 billion) the bloc has already committed for this year. The stark prospect of the United States pivoting from its European alliances has, however, fuelled a growing consensus on the summit's other major topic: the need to bolster Europe's defences against Russia. France 24, March 6

The Supreme Court thwarts Trump on foreign aid
The Supreme Court yesterday rejected President Trump’s emergency request to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid. The court, by a 5 to 4 vote, instead asked a lower court to clarify its February order compelling the Trump administration to resume foreign aid payments. The top court’s ruling was one of its first moves in response to Trump’s campaign to slash government spending. Two conservative justices joined the court’s three liberal members to form the majority, suggesting that Trump could face a more sceptical Supreme Court than its mostly conservative composition might have indicated. New York Times, March 6

Macron speech: French nuclear deterrent could cover EU allies
President Macron suggested that France could extend its nuclear deterrent to cover other EU nations as he warned that the continent must prepare to face the threat of Russia without the US. The French president made the suggestion in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday, delivered as “we are entering a new era” after President Trump’s election. France has an independent nuclear deterrent of fewer than 300 warheads designed to protect the country’s vital interests. Although the doctrine is deliberately vague, it is thought to include protection of the French population, territory and sovereignty. Macron is understood to be considering the extension of the notion of “vital interests” to Germany and other EU countries. In his address, he said he would bring together military chiefs from countries “willing to guarantee the peace in Ukraine” in Paris to discuss Ukraine next week, while expressing confidence that the EU governments would back Brussels’ plan for an increase in defence spending of up to €800 billion at a meeting on Thursday. The Times, March 6

US stocks struggle as ‘America First’ bets backfire
When Donald Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on December 12, the chants of “USA” from the trading floor epitomised the investor exuberance that had greeted the president-elect’s victory and powered US stocks to a series of record highs. But just a few months later, investors betting that the new president’s America First agenda would boost US equities and the dollar, while hitting the currencies and stocks of its trading partners, have been confounded. Investors now worry that his much-vaunted policy of trade tariffs will hurt domestic growth. Meanwhile, the US’s foreign policy has galvanised Europe’s politicians into promising a defence spending boom that has lifted the region’s assets. “You’d be hard pressed to find another period where the disparate trends across the Atlantic have switched gears like this so profoundly,” said Robert Tipp, head of global bonds at PGIM Fixed Income. Financial Times, March 6

Trump posts fresh ultimatum to Hamas as US enters direct talks with group
Donald Trump has posted a fresh ultimatum to Hamas, telling the group to “release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you”. “‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye,” he wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, in an apparent reference to the beginning of direct talks with the group. The post came just hours after the White House confirmed that the US had entered direct negotiations with Hamas, potentially to bypass Israel in securing the release of the remaining US hostages. It also followed a White House meeting between the US president and a group of hostages who had been released recently under the Gaza ceasefire deal. Fifty-nine hostages are still held by Hamas, though Israeli intelligence believes that only 22 are still alive. Five Americans are believed to still be held by Hamas, one of whom, 21-year-old Edan Alexander, is believed to still be alive. Trump reinforced his support for Israel and referred to a recent decision to provide billions more in support for Israeli arms sales. “I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say,” Trump wrote. The Guardian, March 5

Scientists discover new part of the immune system
A new part of the immune system has been discovered and it is a goldmine of potential antibiotics, scientists have said. They've shown a part of the body known to recycle proteins has a secret mode that can spew out an arsenal of bacteria-killing chemicals. The researchers in Israel say it transforms our understanding of how we are protected against infection. And gives a new place to look for antibiotics to tackle the growing problem of superbugs that resist our current drugs. The discovery centres on the proteasome - a tiny structure that is found in every cell of the body. Its main role is to chop up old proteins into smaller chunks so they can be recycled to make new ones. But a series of experiments, detailed in the journal Nature, shows the proteasome detects when a cell has been infected by bacteria. It then changes structure and role. It starts transforming old proteins into weapons that can rip open the outer layer of bacteria to kill them. BBC news, March 6

Trump says he’s ‘just getting started’
In an address to Congress last night, President Trump pitched his flurry of early actions, including deportations of migrants and the use of tariffs against major trading partners, as necessary to restore the strength of the US. His administration, he said, is “just getting started”. Trump railed against the Biden administration, seeking to blame his predecessor for high prices and other ills, and he hit culture war points, including an attack on schools that he said were “indoctrinating” children with “transgender ideology”. Earlier that day, Trump’s sweeping new tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China took effect, setting off a trade war that could undermine the US economy. His actions have upended diplomatic relations with America’s largest trading partners and provoked retaliation against US products - puzzling businesses, investors and economists. The tariffs prompted a sell-off in global markets. New York Times, March 5

Donald Trump warns tariffs will cause ‘a little disturbance’ in defiant speech
Donald Trump has warned that tariffs on the US’s biggest trading partners will cause “a little disturbance”, as he vowed to push ahead with his sharply divisive domestic agenda in a combative speech to Congress. In the first major policy speech of his second term, the president doubled down on his decision to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10 per cent levy on China. “Tariffs are about making America rich again, and making America great again,” he said. “It’s happening, and it will happen rather quickly.” Trump’s address comes amid mounting evidence that businesses and consumers are concerned about the effect of tariffs, which are likely to disrupt supply chains and send the costs of some goods higher. Wall Street stocks have wiped out all of their post-election gains as hopes that Trump’s policies would drive stronger growth have turned to worries about the trajectory for the world’s biggest economy. Financial Times, March 5

UK presses Trump on arms shipments as Zelensky signals he is ‘ready for peace’
Britain is pressing President Trump to reverse his decision to suspend arms shipments to Ukraine after President Zelensky said he was ready to agree to a “rapid” ceasefire with Russia. The Ukrainian leader attempted to salvage relations with Trump after being advised by Sir Keir Starmer to do everything he can to secure a “long-lasting peace”. In a carefully worded statement Zelensky praised the US president’s “strong leadership” and expressed his nation’s gratitude for “how much America has done to help Ukraine”. Zelensky said Ukraine was prepared to agree to American demands for an immediate ceasefire deal with Moscow that would see a “truce in the sky” with a ban on drone attacks and long-range missiles. The initial stage, Zelensky suggested, would also include an exchange of prisoners and an end to Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s fleet in the Black Sea. The Ukrainian president said he was ready to sign a mineral rights deal with the US, one of Trump’s key demands, “at any time”. The Times, March 4

BlackRock acquires Panama ports from Hong Kong firm amid Trump pressure
Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison said on Tuesday it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium. CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-per cent stake in the Panama Ports Company and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock. The sellers will receive $19 billion in cash, the company said in a statement. Hutchison subsidiary PPC has for decades run ports at Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the interoceanic waterway. But since taking office in January, Trump has complained that China controls the canal - a vital strategic asset that the United States once ran. France 24, March 4

Arab leaders approve $53bn alternative to Trump's Gaza plan
A $53bn (£41.4 billion) reconstruction plan to rival President Donald Trump's idea for the US to "take over Gaza" and move out more than two million Palestinians has been approved by Arab leaders at an emergency summit in the Egyptian capital Cairo. "The Egypt plan is now an Arab plan," announced the secretary general of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the end of this hours-long gathering. Without referring specifically to President Trump's ideas, he underlined that "the Arab stance is to reject any displacement, whether it is voluntary or forced". Egypt had produced a detailed blueprint, with a 91-page glossy document including images of leafy neighbourhoods and grand public buildings, to counter a US scheme labelled as a "Middle East Riviera" which shocked the Arab world and beyond. BBC news, March 4

Half of world’s CO2 emissions come from 36 fossil fuel firms, study shows
Half of the world’s climate-heating carbon emissions come from the fossil fuels produced by just 36 companies, analysis has revealed. The researchers said the 2023 data strengthened the case for holding fossil fuel companies to account for their contribution to global heating. Previous versions of the annual report have been used in legal cases against companies and investors. The report found that the 36 major fossil fuel companies, including Saudi Aramco, Coal India, ExxonMobil, Shell and numerous Chinese companies, produced coal, oil and gas responsible for more than 20bn tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2023. If Saudi Aramco was a country, it would be the fourth biggest polluter in the world after China, the US and India, while ExxonMobil is responsible for about the same emissions as Germany, the world’s ninth biggest polluter, according to data. The Guardian, March 5