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Phil Goff, New Zealand's former High Commissioner to the UK, sacked for publicly questioning US President Donald Trump's understanding of history, has defended his comments. Goff stated his comments were prompted by the US President's «disgraceful bullying» of Ukraine and its president Volodymyr Zelensky, and the «untruthful statements» made by the Trump administration about Russia’s invasion. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters moved quickly to dismiss Goff, stating his position had become “untenable.” Goff, however, maintains he has no regrets and believes his actions will be viewed favorably in the future. Goff made the first comments about Trump during a live-streamed Q&A event with Finland Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen on March 4. Referring to Winston Churchill’s 1938 speech to the House of Commons following the Munich Agreement, asking Valtonen, “President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?” This question, according to Goff, arose from the “dismay” shared within the diplomatic community in London regarding Trump's stance on Ukraine. “As one untruthful statement followed another like something out of an Orwell novel, I increasingly felt that the lies needed to be called out," he had said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The global investment landscape is bracing for disruption as the Trump administration rolls out sweeping reciprocal tariffs on nearly all countries. The baseline 10% tariff rate against all countries will go into effect on 5 April.

Marco Rubio has assured NATO allies that Washington is committed to the alliance, despite concerns raised by President Donald Trump’s earlier remarks. Speaking at a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Rubio said that the United States seeks a stronger and more capable NATO. Rubio, as per the reports, said that the US is as active in NATO as it has ever been. He dismissed alleged hysteria and hyperbole in the media over Trump’s stance on the alliance. Rubio said that Trump has made it clear that the US supports NATO and they will remain a part of the organisation. However, Rubio reiterated Trump’s call for NATO allies to shoulder more responsibility. He, as per the Euro News report, urged European nations and Canada to increase their defence spending to five per cent of GDP. This reportedly is double of the current two per cent target which several nations including Belgium, Italy, and Spain fail to meet. Also Read :Judge who sentenced Marine Le Pen now under police protection

And he belaboured global trade with them on Wednesday. Much of the planet is in shock. This includes penguins and seals who are the sole inhabitants of Heard and McDonald Islands, an Australian external territory near Antarctica, which has been slapped with a 10% tariff. India is mildly disappointed that its constructive and radical offer to Washington — zero-for-zero tariffs on 70% of manufactured goods — didn't give it a reprieve beyond pharma. But GoI has sensibly taken a 'Keep Calm and Carry On' attitude to what it has come to recognise is a period of geopolitical upheaval, as the US, Russia and China, in their separate ways, disorder the global order.

The rationale, as given by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, was that US sanctions already prohibit «meaningful trade» with these nations, so further tariffs were not needed, according to Axios. But although this argument may make sense, the US continues to trade more with Russia than with nations such as Mauritius or Brunei, which did find themselves on Trump's tariff list, reported Axios.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The eurozone economy has never been far from recession over the three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent energy prices surging. It may finally be tipped over the edge by a fresh blow from another direction, as the Trump administration targets its exports.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: As the US has announced about 27% tariff on imports from India, petroleum products exports to the country are set to witness a major impact going ahead, said sector experts. A bulk of the petroleum exports to the US from India comprises of petrol or gasoline.

Here's a look at some of the new tariff regime's key features, as detailed in Trump's executive order.

global trade tensions and sparking uncertainty in markets worldwide. These tariffs, designed to counter what Trump calls unfair trade practices, are expected to reshape global commerce in a significant way.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump’s pursuit of breakneck diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine is colliding with Moscow and Kyiv’s go-slow approach. Russia is putting sticks in the wheels of Trump’s cease-fire drive, playing for time as it presses its gains on the battlefield and pushes for maximum concessions in negotiations.

The US State Department said in a statement that «today's action is a part of President Trump's maximum pressure campaign on the Iranian regime to disrupt efforts by the US-sanctioned Iran-based Qods Aviation Industries to procure equipment for Iran's military-industrial complex and UAV program.» «The United States will use all available means to expose and disrupt Iran's growing UAV and missile development programs and weapons proliferation, which destabilize the Middle East and beyond,» the statement added. Further, the State Department said that they will «continue to act» against the complex schemes Iran uses in third countries to conceal its acquisition and its transfers of sensitive technology. According to the US State Department, Iran uses this technology and the proceeds from arms sales to bolster its military industrial base to build missiles and UAVs, which are used against fellow countries, as well as exported to Russia, terrorist proxy groups around the Middle East, and to other actors of concern

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Gold’s latest quarterly gains now seriously rival the rise seen in 1986, the year of the Chernobyl disaster. The comparison is powerful, yet it pales against the performance of gold miners, which could keep gaining, acording to Wall Street analysts.

Donald Trump’s threat of more penalties against Russia raised concerns over potential disruptions to oil flows. State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. are seeking additional supplies for May arrival from regions such as the Middle East, North Sea and Mediterranean, said people familiar with the matter. The trading cycle for barrels delivered next month is typically concluded in early March. On Sunday, Trump raised the prospect of so-called secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil if President Vladimir Putin refused a ceasefire with Ukraine. The comments drove benchmark futures higher, with West Texas Intermediate surging 3.1% on Monday, the biggest gain in almost 11 weeks.

Gold June futures contracts at MCX rose by Rs 677 to their new all-time high of Rs 90,797 on Tuesday, April 1, amid uncertainties surrounding the trade war. Meanwhile, silver May futures contracts have been volatile, but firmly above the Rs 1 lakh/kg mark. The same opened higher today at Rs 1,00,791/kg, gaining of Rs 726 or 0.73%.

What matters now is the reaction of the other three key players to this latest move by the mercurial and inconsistent U.S. leader. Do Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping believe that Trump will actually follow through, and if he does what will it mean for their energy situation?

Poland is ramping up its defence capabilities, positioning itself as a key player on NATO's eastern flank in the face of an assertive Russia and also of a U.S. administration under Donald Trump that has sharply criticised Europe over security matters. «The safety of Polish skies has no price,» Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told a news briefing on Monday, adding that missile defence and cooperation with the United States are a priority. Kosiniak-Kamysz later confirmed to Reuters by text message that the value of the contract was almost $2 billion. The agreement with the U.S. concerns the delivery of logistical support for the Patriot system within the Armed Forces and includes technical support components as well as training.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday strongly rejected a report published by The New York Times, calling it «factually incorrect and misleading.» Official sources stated that the report misrepresented facts and framed issues to suit a particular political narrative. Responding to allegations concerning Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a state-owned defence company, the MEA asserted that HAL has always complied with international rules on strategic trade controls and end-user commitments. «We (Ministry of External Affairs) have seen a report published by The New York Times. The said report is factually incorrect and misleading. It has tried to frame issues and distort facts to suit a political narrative. The Indian entity (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-HAL) mentioned in the report has scrupulously followed all its international obligations on strategic trade controls and end-user commitments,» MEA sources told news agency ANI. The ministry also highlighted India's strong legal and regulatory framework for strategic trade. It reaffirmed that all Indian companies conducting business overseas are guided by these regulations. «India’s robust legal and regulatory framework on strategic trade continues to guide overseas commercial ventures by its companies. We expect reputed media outlets to undertake basic due diligence while publishing such reports, which obviously was overlooked in the instant case,» sources added.

Russia and the United States have started talks on joint rare earth metals and other projects in Russia, and some companies have already expressed an interest in them, President Vladimir Putin's investment envoy said in remarks published on Monday. Amid efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine, minerals cooperation has been floated by both Kyiv and Moscow, though Trump said on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants to back out of a proposed deal. Putin in February suggested that the United States might be interested in exploring joint exploration for rare earth metals deposits in Russia, which has the world's fifth-largest reserves of the metals used in lasers and military equipment. Kirill Dmitriev, Kremlin special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation, told the Izvestia newspaper in remarks published on Monday that talks had already begun. «Rare earth metals are an important area for cooperation, and, of course, we have begun discussions on various rare earth metals and (other) projects in Russia,» said Kirill Dmitriev, who is also the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. ABOARD THE HNLMS LUYMES—Belgian Navy Commander Erik Kockx was patrolling the Baltic Sea recently when he got word that a ship on NATO’s watchlist was acting in a suspicious manner. After leaving a Russian port, it had slowed down while passing near a pipeline on the sea bottom.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In his two months in office, US President Donald Trump has given a new meaning to the term ‘disruption.’ Before he took his second presidential avatar, the term was discussed mostly in hypothetical terms in seminar rooms and conference circuits. But eight weeks plus of Trump 2.0 have made disruption the operational reality for the global order.

Athos Salomé, a self-proclaimed psychic known as the ‘Living Nostradamus,’ has issued a warning about the possibility of World War III. The 38-year-old from Brazil believes recent global developments suggest an approaching major conflict. He pointed to sabotage and hybrid warfare as potential triggers, reported Mirror.