WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump faces a deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending it, but the date is most likely to pass without altering the course of a conflict that has lapsed into a standoff over shipping routes. Ending the war…
BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) – Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges” with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer over a video call on Thursday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. The Chinese side “expressed serious concern over the recent U.S. restrictive trade measures against China”, but…
BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) – China and the U.S. should prepare for “important high-level exchanges”, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, while warning the Taiwan issue is “the biggest point of risk” for relations. “The Taiwan issue concerns China’s core interests,” Wang told…
MUNSTER, Germany, April 30 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized on Thursday the importance of the transatlantic partnership with the U.S., just hours after President Donald Trump said his administration was looking at reducing the number of U.S. troops in Germany. Speaking to reporters at a military base, Merz said Germany’s compass remained focused…
Hong Kong Disneyland has reported a drop in attendance after the resort recorded record profit, revenue, attendance and EBITDA in the previous year. The Hong Kong resort has shared its financial results for the fiscal year 2025, revealing attendance of 7.5 million visitors, down from the record 7.7 million in the prior fiscal year, when…
VILNIUS, April 30 (Reuters) – Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda said he was supportive of his country joining the U.S. freedom of navigation mission in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that he would present the proposal to the Baltic state’s defence council. The United States is pushing for other countries to help restore freedom of navigation…
April 30 (Reuters) – The United States is unlikely to serve as an effective mediator in international conflicts, given its actions on the global stage, senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday. The comments by Medvedev, a former president of Russia, appeared to contrast with the Kremlin’s official line that the U.S. is…
KYIV, April 30 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s top general on Thursday ordered a mandatory two-month time limit for front-line troops serving in forward positions, aiming to address a key challenge for Kyiv’s outmanned military in the fifth year of war with Moscow. Oleksandr Syrskyi’s decree comes amid frequent and often harrowing reports of Ukrainian soldiers serving…
TAIPEI, April 30 (Reuters) – Taiwan has activated backup communications for its northernmost territory, the remote and strategically located island of Dongyin, after poor weather conditions apparently shifted the wreckage of a ship onto an undersea cable causing it to break. The vulnerability of undersea communication cables linking Taiwan with its outlying islands has been…
A Chinese tree pangolin in the Leipzig zoo – credit, released by author into the public domain For the Chinese subspecies of the world’s most trafficked wild animal, the darkest days may be in the rearview mirror. The Chinese tree pangolin, a Critically-Endangered species according to the IUCN, is steadily growing in population size 6…