And the price of a pint is set to rise in the UK next month.
Elon Musk.
Good morning and welcome to your Tuesday wrap of international business and political news.
First today, Israel is making plans for a possible major ground offensive in Gaza that could involve sending tens of thousands of troops to occupy large areas of the enclave, sources told CNN.
The potential large-scale offensive was one of several scenarios the Israeli government was assessing as it increased attacks to pressure militant group Hamas to release more hostages.
Under one scenario, Israeli forces would clear Hamas from large areas of Gaza and then occupy that territory to prevent the militant group’s resurgence, the sources told CNN.
Meanwhile, as fighting continued in Ukraine, United States and Russian officials held talks in Saudi Arabia to secure an immediate maritime ceasefire deal, Reuters reported.
The White House said the aim of the talks was to reach a ceasefire in the Black Sea, allowing the free flow of shipping.
In other news, police and protestors clashed in Turkey for a fifth night of demonstrations against the imprisonment of the main rival to the president, the BBC reported.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was charged with corruption. He claimed the allegations were politically motivated. Imamoglu was due to be selected as the presidential nominee for the main opposition party. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the demonstrations.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Elsewhere, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was warned against “appeasing” US President Donald Trump as he considered lowering a major tax for US technology companies while cutting disability benefits and public sector jobs, the Guardian reported.
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed there were “ongoing” discussions about the UK’s digital services tax imposed on companies such as Meta and Amazon.
The Liberal Democrats warned Labour was “in danger of losing its moral compass” and it would be “tantamount to robbing disabled people to appease [Elon] Musk and [Donald] Trump”.
Staying in the UK, the National Grid said Heathrow Airport had plenty of power from other substations following Friday's fire that caused the airport to shut down and widespread travel chaos, the BBC reported.
Chief executive John Pettigrew told the Financial Times the fire was a "unique event" but two other substations remained operational and could power the airport in west London.
"Losing a substation is a unique event but there were two others available. That is a level of resilience. There was no lack of capacity from the substations. Each substation individually can provide enough power to Heathrow."
Wall Street was in positive territory as shares rose on reports that Trump may hold back from implementing some of his strict tariffs, CNBC reported.
Earlier, the Dow Jones rose about 475 points, or 1.1%. The S&P500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq also made solid gains in Monday trading.
Tesla shares were up as much as 9%, adding to gains recorded on Friday, after falling for nine consecutive weeks amid negative publicity about owner Elon Musk’s work with Trump in the White House and widespread public sector cuts.
Investors were cautious over a potential slowdown in the US economy. Trump announced on Monday local time that the US would introduce 25% tariffs on countries that buy oil and gas from Venezuela from April 2, CNBC noted.
The price of beer is set to rise.
Finally, spare a thought to your mates and colleagues over in London as the cost of a pint is set to rise.
Research by Frontier Economics found the average price of a pint of beer was expected to rise to £5.01 for the first time, up from £4.80.
The British Beer and Pub Association said pub landlords had been left with no choice but to raise prices to offset tax rises from April.
Pubs faced higher costs because of an increase in the national minimum wage, a rise in national insurance rates, and a drop in the threshold at which they start paying national insurance. Discounts on business rates paid by hospitality companies would also be cut from 75% to 40% from April, the Guardian reported.
