America said that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to end “the use of force” in the Black Sea and to work to ban strikes on energy facilities. America said it would help restore Russia’s ability to export agricultural products. However, the Kremlin later stated the deal was contingent on a set of related sanctions being relaxed. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, accused Russia of “trying to distort agreements”.
Delivering her spring statement before Parliament, Rachel Reeves, Britain’s chancellor, said that cuts to welfare benefits would save £3.4bn ($4.4bn) and that planning reform would improve economic growth. Ms Reeves also confirmed an additional £2.2bn for defence spending over the next year. Meanwhile the Office for Budget Responsibility, Britain’s fiscal watchdog, cut its growth forecast for 2025 from 2% to 1%.
The Atlantic published a transcript of messages sent by American officials in a secret military-planning group. The magazine—whose editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to the group—released the messages after officials told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that the messages had not contained sensitive information. The messages include details of strikes on Yemen that officials shared shortly before they were launched.
Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, said that the country would raise defence spending from 2.4% of GDP to 3.5% by 2030. All four parties that support Mr Kristersson’s government agreed to the increase, which will be funded mostly by borrowing. Mr Kristersson said that Sweden needed to boost its defence in part because of “uncertainty with the transatlantic relationship”.
The European Commission published a 30-step preparedness plan amid growing threats from Russia. The initiative, which borrows from similar plans in states like Finland, urged member-states of the EU to encourage citizens to maintain stockpiles of enough food for 72 hours. It also said that the bloc should establish a “crisis hub” to co-ordinate its response to conflicts or other emergencies.
Indonesia’s rupiah fell to its lowest level against the dollar since the Asian financial crisis in 1998. The slide prompted the country’s central bank to intervene in bond and currency markets. The bank blamed “global factors”, including Donald Trump’s tariffs, for the rupiah’s fall. But markets are also spooked by Indonesia’s spending plans, including President Prabowo Subianto’s costly free-school-meals scheme.
A crypto platform backed by Mr Trump’s family will issue a stablecoin, a digital asset that will be pegged to the dollar. World Liberty Financial was created last year by the president’s sons and the son of Steve Witkoff, the administration’s diplomatic dealmaker. Mr Trump has been peddling a meme cryptocurrency, raising conflict-of-interest concerns. Recently he pledged to establish a “strategic bitcoin reserve”.
Who will win Canada’s election next month? Our poll tracker has the odds, updated daily.
Figure of the day: 23%, the share of the world’s copper that it is mined in Chile. Read the full story.