American and Ukrainian officials began talks in Saudi Arabia about ways to end the war with Russia. Before the negotiations America’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said that territorial concessions by Ukraine are the “only way” to halt the conflict. He also suggested that America could end the suspension of military aid to Ukraine.
Ahead of the talks Ukraine launched a drone attack on Moscow. At least 91 drones were aimed at the Russian capital, with hundreds more fired at other regions. Russia said it was the biggest such attack yet and claimed to have downed 337 of the drones. Russian authorities said that the strikes killed three people.
Donald Trump announced an additional 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium from Canada, on top of the 25% he implemented earlier this month. Mr Trump called it a response to an “abusive threat” after Ontario, a Canadian province, placed a 25% surcharge on America-bound electricity. He added that Canada must abandon its “long time” tariffs or face “substantially” higher levies on car exports.
Armed militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, close to the border with Iran, took more than 450 train passengers hostage, according to local officials. The Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist militant group, claimed the attack and warned of “severe consequences” for any rescue attempts. Local police said that at least three people, including the driver, have been injured.
Israeli air strikes killed at least four people in central Gaza, according to Palestinian officials; Israel’s armed forces said the strikes targeted terrorists “engaged in suspicious activity”. Negotiators are struggling to make progress in talks to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the first phase of which officially expired this month. Separately, Israeli troops killed four people in the West Bank.
Police in the Philippines arrested Rodrigo Duterte after he landed at Manila airport. The country’s former president is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for potential crimes against humanity. The allegations stem from the “war on drugs” he waged while he was in office in 2016-22. In that war police and vigilantes acted with near impunity. The ICC estimates that 12,000-30,000 people were killed.
Nissan’s boss, Uchida Makoto, will step down on April 1st. The shakeup at the Japanese carmaker comes less than a month after the collapse of merger talks with Honda, a rival firm. The merger would have created the world’s third-largest carmaker by sales. Nissan has been floundering: it reported a 78% drop in operating profits in the three months to December.
Figure of the day: 85%, the proportion of people who say they experienced an annoying co-worker last year. (The rest were presumably sole traders or liars.) Read the full story.
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