WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. is urging G20 members and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to take coordinated action to ensure fertilizer access amid disruptions in food trade supply chains caused by the war in the Middle East, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott…
BARCELONA, April 17 (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was offered a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his government during her visit to Spain but she declined because she did not consider it “opportune”, Sanchez said on Friday. Machado’s lack of contact with any members of Spain’s leftist coalition government contrasts…
BUDAPEST, April 17 (Reuters) – Hungary’s incoming prime minister Peter Magyar said on Friday he was about to start initial talks with EU officials in Budapest as there was no time to waste in his efforts to unblock funds frozen by the bloc over disputes with his predecessor. Magyar, whose landslide victory in an April…
By Victoria Waldersee and Joan Faus BARCELONA, April 17 (Reuters) – Spain’s Pedro Sanchez and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will spearhead gatherings of the global left in Barcelona on Friday and Saturday, in a bid to defend multilateralism and mobilise left-wing movements against the far right. The meetings, organised by Spain and left-wing…
LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday faced renewed calls from his political opponents to resign after it was revealed that his former ambassador to the United States failed security vetting and was still allowed to take up the job. The government on Thursday confirmed Mandelson – who was subsequently…
BUCHAREST, April 17 (Reuters) – Romania’s broad ruling coalition of four pro-European Union parties has no choice but to continue to govern, President Nicusor Dan said, even if its biggest party will likely call for the prime minister’s resignation on Monday. Romania’s leftist Social Democrats are likely to vote on Monday to withdraw their support…
PARIS, April 17 (Reuters) – France and Britain will chair a meeting on Friday of around 40 countries aimed at signalling to the United States that some of its closest allies are ready to play a role in restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz once conditions allow. Iran has largely closed the…
WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko left the United States on Thursday buoyed by what she called positive talks with top U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, saying she found him to be supportive of her war-torn country. Svyrydenko told Reuters that she used the meeting with Bessent to hammer…
WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said Pope Leo was free to say what he wanted but that it was important for him to understand that Iran could never have a nuclear weapon. Trump has repeatedly criticized the religious leader, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the U.S.-Israeli…
By Andrew Osborn and Dmitry Antonov MOSCOW, April 16 (Reuters) – The Kremlin took the unusual step of publicly acknowledging sharp criticism of the authorities from a celebrity blogger on Thursday, saying work was under way to address a slew of problems identified by social media influencer Viktoria Bonya. Bonya, who is well known inside…