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Highlights

“The EU has taken advantage of the U.S. on trade for many years. It will soon stop!” Trump tweeted as he vowed to put tariffs on $11 billion of EU products. The move comes a day after the U.S. Trade Representative proposed a list of products targeted for tariffs as retaliation for European aircraft subsidies: goods on the list range from large commercial aircraft and parts to dairy products and wine. A European Commission source said the EU is preparing for possible retaliation over U.S. subsidies for Boeing.

A U.S. judge on Monday halted the Trump administration’s policy of sending some asylum seekers back across the southern border to wait out their cases in Mexico, stopping a program the government planned to expand to stem a recent flood of migrants.

Tomorrow will mark the first time the largest U.S. banks have appeared before Congress since the 2008 financial crisis. As leading CEOs prepare to face off against lawmakers such as Democratic Representative Maxine Waters and progressives including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a prepared testimony says they think Wall Street has reformed, but crisis scars linger.

President Donald Trump designated Iran’s Guards a foreign terrorist organization yesterday — an unprecedented step that will raise tensions in the Middle East. Iranian lawmakers wore Guards’ uniforms to parliament in a show of support and chanted “Death to America” as Iran marked the annual National Day of the Revolutionary Guards, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Iran’s arch rival Saudi Arabia has welcomed the U.S. decision.

World

The fate of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the hands of Israelis as they begin voting in the country’s parliamentary elections. A win would see Netanyahu - dubbed “King Bibi” - overtake Israel’s founding father, David Ben-Gurion, as longest-serving premier, but his hope has been dented by a looming graft indictment. Critics warn of “Bibi fatigue” and Benny Gantz, a former chief of the armed forces and centrist political novice, has been rising in the opinion polls.

Casualties from the battle for Tripoli are mounting. The United Nations’ health body said local facilities had reported 47 people killed and 181 wounded in recent days as eastern forces seek to take Libya’s coastal capital from an internationally-recognized government. A group loyal to Islamic State have also killed three people in Libya’s remote center, showing how militants may exploit renewed chaos.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron today to argue for a Brexit delay while her ministers hold crisis talks with the opposition to try to break the deadlock in London. Without an extension, Britain is due to leave the EU at 2200 GMT on Friday, without a deal to cushion the economic shock.

Heavy gunfire was heard at a protest outside the defense ministry in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, live broadcast by Arab TV stations showed. Sudan has been rocked by months of small but persistent protests that were sparked by bread price rises and cash shortages but have since turned against President Omar al-Bashir. Interior minister Bishara Jumaa has said 39 people have died since the onset of the protests, including three members of the security forces. Activists put the death toll at more than 60.

In a Nordic country used to a high level of state social care, Finns were shocked to hear of care homes leaving elderly patients all night in soaked diapers, a scandal that may play a part in helping the left return to power after 20 years in opposition. With parliamentary elections due on April 14, concerns about social welfare have seen support rise for the Social Democrat Party. They have led polls for almost a year, with 20.1 percent of the vote in the latest one by public broadcaster Yle.

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6:36 AM - 9 Apr 2019