And details about the new Nintendo Switch 2 have been released.
Happy Thursday (or should we say Liberation Day?) and welcome to your morning wrap of the latest political and business headlines from around the world.
We begin first in the United States, where all eyes are on President Donald Trump and his pending announcement on tariffs.
He is expected to reveal the size and scope of tariffs on US imports at about 9am New Zealand time. The new duties will take effect immediately, although separate 25% global tariffs on auto imports will start from tomorrow.
“It will be negative the world over,” European Central Bank President Christine Largarde told Ireland’s Newstalk radio. “The density and the durability of the impact will vary depending on the scope, on the product targeted, on how long it lasts, on whether or not there are negotiations.”
Meanwhile, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social: "IT’S LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!" He has previously called tariffs the “most beautiful word in the dictionary”.
Reuters reports that Australia, the European Union, Canada, and Mexico have all vowed to respond with retaliatory tariffs and other countermeasures.
Wall Street’s main indices, which have been rocked by volatility in recent days, opened sharply lower but have cut their losses and are now all in the green.
However, European markets have closed lower as global traders brace themselves for the impending tariff announcement.
Christine Lagarde.
In other news, Myanmar’s military has announced a ceasefire following last week’s devastating earthquake, the BBC reports.
In a statement, the ruling junta’s State Administration Council said the deal would be in effect for 10 days from April 2.
It comes after rebel groups fighting the military declared a ceasefire earlier this week to support relief efforts. Close to 3000 people are known to have been killed following the magnitude 7.7 earthquake. Hundreds of people are still missing.
To Gaza, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would seize more land in the Palestinian enclave, Al Jazeera reports.
“The Israeli army is seizing territory, hitting the terrorists, and destroying the infrastructure. And we are also doing another thing – seizing the ‘Morag Route’. This will be the second Philadelphi Route, another Philadelphi Route,” he said in a video released overnight.
His comments come after Israel’s defence minister announced a major expansion of its ground offensive and promised to seize large areas of land and incorporate them into “security” zones.
More than 1100 Palestinians have been killed since Israel broke its truce with Hamas last month.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In business news, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has reported a large drop in first-quarter vehicle deliveries.
The company, led by Elon Musk, reported 336,000 deliveries in the three months ended March, which is a 13% decline from a year ago. Investors were expecting the company to report deliveries of between 360,000 and 370,000 vehicles.
Across 15 European countries, Tesla’s market share declined to 9.3% in the first quarter from 17.9% in the same period a year earlier, according to data tracked by EU-EVs.com.
Despite this, the company’s share price was up nearly 4% after Politico reported that Musk could leave his post at DOGE.
To Norway, where the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund is being urged to scrap its ban on investing in weapons, CNBC reports.
The country’s centre-right Conservative Party said the time had come for the government to lift the ban that prevents the US$1.8 trillion fund from taking positions in certain defence companies, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rearming of other countries in recent years.
The fund has been prevented from taking stakes in companies that are involved in the production of cluster munitions, landmines, and components for nuclear weapons.
Defence stocks in Europe have surged in recent months amid growing geopolitical risks.
And finally this morning, more details have been revealed about the impending release of the Nintendo Switch 2.
The new device replaces its predecessor, which has sold 150 million units since it was released in 2017. It will be bigger, faster, and include more storage.
This morning it was confirmed the Switch 2 will hit shelves on June 5 for US$449, CNBC reported.
The new gaming system comes during a period where consoles are less central to the gaming industry than ever before. Sony’s Playstation 5 has sold fewer units than its predecessor. It’s a similar story for Microsoft and its Xbox hardware.
