Global Trade Shifts, AI Diplomacy, and Ecuador’s Runoff Election

Good Morning,

President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will impose a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, including from Canada and Mexico, along with additional reciprocal tariffs later in the week, World leaders, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, are meeting in Paris for an AI summit focused on shaping global AI governance, fostering innovation, and addressing geopolitical tensions, and Ecuador’s presidential race heads to an April 13 runoff between incumbent Daniel Noboa and leftist Luisa González.

Top Stories

● Trump says he will announce 25% steel and aluminum tariffs Monday, and more import duties are coming (AP)

● World leaders, CEOs and scientists from about 100 countries are meeting for a high-stakes AI summit (AP)

● Ecuador’s conservative incumbent and a leftist lawyer advance to presidential runoff (AP)

● Looming $2.7 billion Pell Grant shortfall poses a new threat for college aid (CNBC)

● Uganda battles new Ebola outbreak – and a vaccine hesitancy crisis (AJ)

United States and Canada

● Court grants request to block detained Venezuelan immigrants from being sent to Guantanamo (AP)

● Trump says Musk to uncover billions in ‘fraud and abuse’ at US Pentagon (AJ)

● Consumer protection agency neutralized by Trump's new chief (Reuters)

● US courts halt DOGE access to Treasury records, USAID furlough (AJ)

● Trump directs Treasury to stop minting new pennies, citing cost (CBS News)

● Supreme Court Signals That Landmark Libel Ruling Is Secure (NYT)

Latin America

● Nicaragua blasts Vatican after exiled bishop's TV appearance (Reuters)

● Chile’s president orders curfews as part of state of emergency decree in regions hit by wildfires (AP)

● Petro prompts Colombian government chaos with demand for resignations (AJ)

● Accident involving bus in southern Mexico killed 41, authorities say (Reuters)

Africa

● Libya uncovers 50 migrant bodies in mass graves (AN)

● Trump cuts aid to South Africa over white minority rights (AN)

● Sam Nujoma, Namibia’s fiery freedom fighter and first president, dies aged 95 (AP)

● Uganda central bank names new governor, Ugandan media reports (Reuters)

● Mali army says 25 civilians killed in convoy ambush (Reuters)

● UN to investigate atrocities in Eastern DRC (AN)

Middle East

● Israeli police raid Palestinian bookstore in east Jerusalem and confiscate books about the conflict (AP)

● Trump says US might lose patience with ceasefire deal (Reuters)

● Sanctions on Syrian banks choke recovery hopes, investment chief says (Reuters)

● US committed to ‘buying and owning’ Gaza, Trump says (AJ)

● Famine mostly averted but is a danger again if Gaza ceasefire collapses, UN humanitarian chief says (AP)

● Kuwait ready to return to international debt markets, finance minister says (Reuters)

Indo-Pacific

● One dead after landslide hits China’s Sichuan province (AJ)

● China says a visit by Cook Islands’ prime minister isn’t meant to antagonize others in South Pacific (AP)

● South Korea prosecutors indict 63 over courthouse rampage by Yoon supporters (Reuters)

● Thai nationals held captive by Hamas in Gaza return home (Reuters)

Europe

● Baltic states cut last Russian energy link (AJ)

● Germans worried about economic malaise ahead of election, survey finds (Reuters)

● Kosovo prime minister looking for allies for a new Cabinet after failing to win parliament majority (AP)

● Russia yet to receive satisfactory proposals to start talks on Ukraine, RIA reports (Reuters)

● British junior minister sacked by PM Starmer over WhatsApp messages (Reuters)

● Serbian protesters block key bridge and roads to mark 100 days since deadly canopy collapse (AP)

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