Happy Wednesday and welcome to your morning wrap of the latest headlines from around the world.
First up, Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to halt strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days. The Russian leader has just had a long phone call with US President Donald Trump to discuss the future of Ukraine, with snippets from the discussion being drip-fed over the past hour or so to media.
A statement from the Kremlin, reported by the BBC, said alongside the ceasefire, negotiations would now begin over the safety of shipping in the Black Sea; the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine; and Russian demands that Ukraine does not mobilise nor rearm during the ceasefire.
The White House, in a statement of its own released after the call, said both leaders also “stressed the need for improved bilateral relations”, and spoke about the Middle East being a “region of potential cooperation” to prevent future conflicts. It shared the view that Iran should never be able to “destroy Israel”.
Ukraine is yet to comment.
The White House.
To Gaza now, where at least 404 Palestinians have been killed and 562 wounded after Israel launched a massive assault on the territory, reports Al Jazeera. The attack took place across Gaza, with its health ministry saying many of those killed were children.
Militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, said it viewed Israel’s attacks as a unilateral cancellation of the ceasefire which began on January 19.
“Netanyahu and his extremist government are making a decision to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate,” Hamas said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Hamas for the attack, saying the Israeli military has been instructed to take “strong action” against Hamas following their “repeated refusal to release our hostages”, the BBC reports.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu said.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
To the United States now, where Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back against Donald Trump’s call to impeach judges who rule against him.
CNN reports that Roberts took the highly unusual step of releasing a statement which said: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”
The statement did not name the president but came hours after Trump called for US District Judge James Boasberg to be impeached after he temporarily blocked deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members.
CNN reports that several Trump allies, including Elon Musk, have been calling for weeks to impeach judges following several preliminary rulings that went against the new administration.
To Europe, where Germany’s parliament has approved the creation of a €500bn fund and the relaxation of constitutionally enshrined debt rules to boost the country’s military.
The Guardian reports that incoming conservative chancellor Friedrich Merz and his likely coalition partners led the drive and secured last-minute backing from the Greens. Merz told MPs the package was motivated by “Putin’s war of aggression against Europe”, listing a range of suspected acts of Russian sabotage that he claimed were taking place in Germany every day.
In response to concerns about the increase in debt, Merz said it was time to acknowledge the new era Germany found itself in, where it had to be independent from the United States.
Moving to financial markets, where investors are taking a new shine to gold.
The yellow metal is up 1% to a fresh record high of US$3,038 per ounce as rising tensions in the Middle East and trade uncertainties caused by Donald Trump have fuelled demand for the perceived safe-haven asset.
Gold has been on an upward march since 2023 but this has accelerated in 2025 with the precious metal eclipsing US$3000 for the first time on March 14. It has gained 15% so far this year.
"The escalation in the Middle East tensions – as Israel launched military strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, which threatens to undermine the ceasefire – has injected a new bid into gold," MKS PAMP SA head of metals strategy Nicky Shiels told Reuters.
Carrying on with the topic of gold, a gang has been convicted over the theft of a £4.8m gold toilet from an art exhibition in the United Kingdom.
The thieves smashed their way into Blenheim Palace, the place where Winston Churchill was born, in September 2019 and ripped out the functional toilet in a matter of minutes.
Michael Jones was found guilty of planning the burglary. Fred Doe was convicted of conspiring to sell the gold, while Bora Guccuk was cleared of the same charge. Two other men who were seen on CCTV carrying out the heist have never been caught.
The fully functioning toilet is a satirical work titled “America” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and pokes fun at excessive wealth. It weighs just over 98kg and was insured for £4.75m.
After being stolen, it was broken down into smaller pieces and parts of it were sold.
