DR CONGO: African leaders announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops today from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi who had been sent to quell insurgencies in mineral-rich east of the country. M23 rebels have killed some of the peacekeepers while overrunning the region this year.

Troops from the three countries were sent in 2023 under but public opposition to the deployment has surged since 14 South African and three Malawian peacekeepers were killed by the insurgent group in January.

HUNGARY: Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said today that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to visit before Easter.

Mr Orban has vowed to disregard the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against the Israeli leader, accusing it of “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes.”

Member countries of the ICC, such as Hungary, are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that.

Pakistan: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has commended the country’s armed forces for rescuing 339 passengers after a deadly train hijacking by the Baloch Liberation Army on March 11 in Balochistan. A total of 25 people were killed by the attackers.

The dead included 21 civilian hostages and four soldiers, one of whom was killed during the military’s rescue operation. Authorities haven’t provided the number of wounded. All of the insurgents were killed, officials said.

US: President Donald Trump threatened a 200 per cent tariff on European wine, champagne and spirits today if the EU goes forward with a planned 50 per cent tariff on American whiskey.

The European import tax, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminium tariffs by the US administration, is expected to go into effect on April 1, just ahead of separate reciprocal tariffs that Mr Trump plans to place on the EU.