KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Reuters) – Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday he had spoken to the leaders of Iran, Egypt, Turkey and other regional countries and said Malaysian vessels were now being allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Anwar in a televised address thanked Iran’s president for allowing the passage…
BUDAPEST, March 26 (Reuters) – Hungary’s opposition leader Peter Magyar called on the chief prosecutor late on Wednesday to launch a probe into what he called a state intelligence operation against his Tisza party, after a report by news site Direkt36 published this week. Speaking on the campaign trail, Magyar, whose party looks set to…
BEIJING, March 26 (Reuters) – China on Thursday urged parties to the Middle East conflict to “create conditions for starting truly meaningful and sincere peace talks”. “The pressing priority is to actively promote peace talks, seize the opportunity of peace and promote the cessation of the war,” Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said…
HAVANA (AP) — Former Cuban President Raúl Castro is involved in talks between the island and the United States, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Wednesday. The talks, which Diaz-Canel said are in the early stages, come at a time of increasing tensions between the two nations, with Cuba plagued by nationwide blackouts resulting from a…
VAUX-DE-CERNAY, France, March 26 (Reuters) – Foreign ministers from the world’s leading Western democracies meet in France this week against the backdrop of wars in Iranand Ukraine, economic uncertainty, and mounting unease over an increasingly unpredictable U.S. foreign policy. The two-day gathering at the restored 12th-century Abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay, about 40 km (25 miles) southwest…
The Iran war has deflected global attention from Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor Ukraine as Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II enters its fifth year and an emboldened Kremlin undertakes a spring offensive. The past week showed that neither side is easing up. Russia on Tuesday fired almost 1,000 drones and 34 missiles…
TAIPEI, March 26 (Reuters) – Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo on Thursday indicated the next arms sale package from the United States is on track after the government received a letter of guarantee from Washington, even as the U.S. and Chinese leaders prepare to meet in May. A major U.S. arms package for Taiwan worth…
SEOUL, March 26 (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un welcomed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to Pyongyang on Wednesday, North Korean state media KCNA said on Thursday, touting ties between the two close allies of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. When Lukashenko visited Pyongyang’s Kumsusan mausoleum to pay respects to former North Korean leaders, he laid…
WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Wednesday it had reached framework agreements with BAE, Lockheed and Honeywell to boost production of defense systems and munitions as part of its shift to “wartime footing.” Under the deals, Honeywell Aerospace will “surge production of critical components for America’s munitions stockpile,” as part of a…
MADRID, March 25 (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday it was unjust for citizens worldwide to bear the cost of what he called illegal U.S. and Israeli actions in Iran, warning the war was inflicting severe global economic damage, with Spanish firms alone losing 100 billion euros ($116 billion) in under…