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An entrance to the Chinese Embassy is seen in Tokyo on March 24, 2026, after a man was apprehended after he trespassed onto the embassy premises.…
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer shakes hands with European Council President Antonio Costa at Downing Street, London. (Reuters/File Photo) EU Council President Antonio Costa said Tuesday he was confident Britain and the European Union would reach a deal on UK participation in the bloc’s multi-billion-euro SAFE defence fund, despite talks over the issue breaking down in November.A British plan to join the original 150 billion euro ($174 billion) SAFE fund fell through after the government of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused to pay a financial contribution to join.However, Costa pointed to warmer ties between Britain and the EU, with Starmer consistently pushing for a post-Brexit “reset” with the bloc as grounds for hope of a deal.He also highlighted how Britain and France were jointly leading Ukraine’s “Coalition of the Willing” as a reason why he believed a deal would be reached.”The new Labour government has started the reset, and the reset is going well,” Costa said in a speech at Paris’ Sciences Po university.”It could take some weeks, months, but for sure, we will achieve an agreement with the UK on the SAFE issue,” he said.Last month, Starmer said his government would consider applying to join a second possible EU SAFE fund. Under the initiative, the EU jointly borrowed money on financial markets to lend to countries in the bloc for defence.Asked about Costa’s remarks, a British government source said the UK would only sign agreements that were in its national interest, and noted that British firms remained a vital part of defence supply chains across Europe.The source said the UK’s defence industry continued to have access to SAFE under standard third-country terms, which allow British companies to participate in SAFE-funded arrangements for up to 35% of a project’s value. Related Story Source link
Ireland will cut excise duty on fuels until the end of May as part of a 250 million euro ($290 million) package to cushion the economic impact of the Middle East conflict.The surging price of crude oil has led to prices at some Irish service stations rising above 2 euros per litre of unleaded fuel, a level last reached in 2022 at the start of the Ukraine conflict.A cut to excise duty of 15 euro cents per litre on petrol and 20 cents on diesel will take effect from midnight Tuesday, the government said.Prime Minister Micheal Martin told a news conference Tuesday that the measures are ‘targeted and temporary’ and will be reviewed subject to market developments.The government will also pause the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) levy for two months, which will reduce the price of motoring fuel and home heating oil by an additional two cents per litre, but this will require the passing of additional legislation.The agency is responsible for the maintenance of Ireland's strategic supplies of oil and is funded though the levy.Heating payments to social welfare recipients will be extended for four weeks and there will be enhancements to a rebate programme for hauliers.Finance Minister Simon Harris on Sunday said the government would limit the initial package to leave room for further help if the energy shock persists.The European Commission suggested cuts to national taxes on fuel as one way member states could curb surging energy prices. Italy has also temporarily cut excise duties, while Spain on Friday proposed wider measures worth 5 billion euros, including reductions in fuel prices and electricity bills. Source link
A Sri Lanka Navy vessel approaches an Iranian Navy vessel IRIS Bushehr (422) during a rescue operation, off the coast of Colombo. (Reuters/File Photo) Iran was in talks for the return of 251 sailors in Sri Lanka after one of its frigates was sunk near the island earlier this month, Tehran’s ambassador said yesterday. Alireza Delkhosh said crews from two vessels — 32 men from the IRIS Dena, which was torpedoed by a US submarine, and 219 from the IRIS Bushehr, which was given safe harbour in Sri Lanka — wanted to return home. “We are talking, and we are following this issue with the Sri Lankan government,” Delkhosh said in a press conference broadcast on local networks, but which was not open to international media. “I do hope that we can solve this problem as soon as possible”, he added, saying that they were being treated well but wanted to leave. “Their only worry is that they are separated from their families,” Delkhosh said. There was no immediate reaction from Sri Lankan authorities to Iran’s request. IRIS Dena was attacked just south of Sri Lanka on March 4, and the ambassador said that 104 sailors were killed, many of them cadets, as well as a music band. That raises the death toll from 84, based on the recovery of bodies by Sri Lanka’s navy. Those bodies have since been flown back to Iran.Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said that the island provided protection to the Bushehr crew in line with the 1907 Hague Convention, which requires a neutral state to hold combatants of a belligerent state until hostilities end. Dissanayake on Friday said he had denied permission for US warplanes to use ground facilities in Sri Lanka in order to maintain Sri Lanka’s neutrality. A third Iranian ship, IRIS Lavan, with 183 crew members, sought shelter in India’s Kochi port. Sri Lanka meanwhile has raised fuel prices by more than a third since the start of the Middle East war and has taken several energy-saving measures, including a four-day working week. The Iranian envoy said Sri Lanka’s crude oil supplies would face no issue passing through the Strait of Hormuz. “Sri Lanka is our friendly country… the Hormuz Strait is not closed to our friendly country’s vessels,” he said. Source…
An Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport late on Sunday, killing both pilots, injuring dozens and closing the facility, authorities said. The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane, operated by its regional partner Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members and had departed from Montreal, said Jazz, which is owned by Chorus Aviation. Jazz and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the pilot and first officer were killed. The crash comes as US aviation faces chronic shortages of air traffic controllers and a separate shortfall of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers due to a partial government shutdown that has led to delays, long security lines and heightened safety concerns across airports nationwide. A separate 35-minute ground stop at nearby Newark Liberty International yesterday morning added to delays after air-traffic controllers evacuated their tower because of a burning smell from an elevator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. “Today is an incredibly difficult day for our airline, our employees, and most importantly, the families and loved ones of those affected by the accident involving flight 8646,” said Jazz president Doug Clarke.Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority, said 32 of the 41 injured had been released, while nine remained in hospital with “serious injuries”. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that at least two Port Authority firefighters sustained serious injuries. Aviation safety experts say investigators would look at air traffic control staffing levels and the actions of both the controller and truck crew.“The Air Canada jet was obviously cleared to land and from the radio transmissions, it appears that the airport rescue and firefighting vehicle was cleared. There are a lot of questions now regarding the communications,” said US safety expert Anthony Brickhouse. “Communication is going to be a major part of this investigation.” Air-crash investigations typically find that accidents result from multiple contributing factors, rather than a single cause.Garcia said that the fire truck was responding to a separate United Airlines aircraft that had “reported an issue with odour”. United, along with unions representing US air traffic controllers (ATC) and Air Canada pilots declined to comment.Minutes earlier, air traffic control audio from LiveATC.net indicated that a United flight had declared an emergency due to an odour onboard. Controllers advised the crew that fire trucks were already on site.A later transmission captured a fire truck being cleared to cross Runway 4 at taxiway “Delta”, where the collision occurred.Moments later, according to the ATC audio, a controller can be heard saying: “Stop, stop, stop, truck 1 stop, truck 1, stop.”The aircraft struck the fire vehicle at a speed of about 24mph (39kph), according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, which last recorded data at 11.37pm ET (0337 GMT). Photos taken by Reuters after the accident showed visible damage to the nose of the plane, which was tilted upward.Two unnamed passengers told ABC affiliate WABC of the shock on board, with one describing a friend suffering a broken nose and travelers hitting their heads on the seats ahead. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it was deploying a team of experts to investigate the incident, while Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said it would also send a team to support the investigation. Air Canada, the country’s largest carrier, said its teams and those from Jazz Aviation are also heading to the site.The closure of one of New York’s busiest airports will add to travel disruption. Absences among transportation security workers have soared, leading to lengthy lines for passengers at major US airports.Hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were ordered yesterday to deploy to airports to help fill the TSA staffing gaps. About 546 flights had been canceled at the airport so far yesterday, according to tracking website FlightAware.Located in the New York borough of Queens, LaGuardia is New York’s third-busiest airport, serving 33.5mn passengers in 2024, according to port authority figures. It completed an $8bn redevelopment in 2024, upgrading its aging infrastructure with new terminals and roadways.The FAA recorded 97 runway incursions in January this year, compared with 133 in the same period last year. A bipartisan group of US House lawmakers last month proposed legislation to address 50 aviation safety recommendations issued after a year-long investigation into the January 2025 collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed 67 people. Last year also saw a UPS cargo plane crash shortly after takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky, killing seven and injuring 11 on the ground. Transcript of exchange between the air trafficcontroller and fire truckDriver: “Truck one and company, LaGuardia Tower. Requesting to cross four at Delta.”Controller: “Truck one and company, cross four at Delta.”Driver: “Truck one and company crossing four at Delta.”Controller: “Frontier 4195, stop there please. (Pause.) Stop, stop, stop, truck one, stop, stop, stop. Stop, truck one, stop! Stop, truck one, stop.”(Alarm goes off.)“Jazz 646. Jazz 646, I see you collided with vehicle. (Inaudible) Hold position. I know he can’t move. Vehicles are responding to you now.”After further dialogue.Second controller: “Man, that wasn’t good to watch.”First controller: “Yeah, I know. I was here. I tried to reach out to my staff. And we were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.”Second controller: “No man, you did the best you could.” – AFP Source link
The South Korean government is considering imposing restrictions on naphtha exports as the country is facing supply shortages of the material, widely used across petrochemical and other industries, due to persisting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Seoul officials said Tuesday.”Related ministries are preparing for the implementation of naphtha export restrictions,” South Korea’s (Yonhap) news agency quoted Deputy Minister for Trade, Industry and Resource Security Yang Ghi-wuk as saying in a daily briefing on resources supplies amid the Mideast crisis.The preparations come as the country is seeing increasing disruptions in naphtha supplies following the US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran late last month, with Yeochun NCC and other companies announcing “force majeure” for some of their products due to naphtha shortages.Force majeure refers to the occurrence of an unforeseeable and uncontrollable event that prevents a company from fulfilling a contract.South Korea imports around half of its naphtha through the Strait of Hormuz, a major Middle Eastern trade route, which has effectively been closed due to the war.”In case the (supply shortage) situation prolongs, we are also preparing for an emergency supply adjustment order,” Yang said.On Monday, LG Chem Ltd. suspended operations of its ethylene production facility in the southwestern city of Yeosu due to naphtha supply disruptions. Ethylene is produced by cracking naphtha.Last week, the government temporarily designated naphtha as an economic security item to better stabilize the supply and support affected companies. Source link
Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan discussed efforts to end the escalation in the Middle East, during a phone call on Tuesday.The two sides reviewed ways to prevent the security, political, and economic repercussions of the escalation from undermining regional security and stability.They also touched on the ongoing efforts to end the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as well as the illegal Israeli measures in the West Bank, which together undermine all prospects for achieving a just peace.In this context, Safadi and Fidan reiterated their condemnation of those measures and emphasized the need for a concerted international effort to halt Israeli escalations in the occupied territories immediately. Source link
The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an urgent debate Wednesday on Iran’s military attacks against Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, which have targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure and resulted in casualties.In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Council said that the urgent debate is being convened following an official request submitted by Bahrain on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Jordan on March 18.It added that the requesting states intend to present a draft resolution during the debate.The move follows a series of attacks launched by Iran since February 28 using ballistic missiles and drones, targeting vital civilian facilities and energy infrastructure in several GCC countries and Jordan, causing civilian casualties and material damage.The attacks have drawn widespread condemnation at both regional and international levels, amid warnings over their serious repercussions for global energy security and the safety of international navigation, as well as the threat they pose to regional stability and vital interests. Source link
The EU and Australia announced a free trade agreement and the adoption of a security and defense partnership to enhance cooperation in the maritime and cyber security fields.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that after a decade of work, the two sides concluded its trade agreement, considering this step a win for both sides.”The EU and Australia may be geographically far apart but we couldn’t be closer in terms of how we see the world,” von der Leyen said, adding that the two are ready to join forces at a time of global turmoil.She emphasized that the two are long-time allies and stressed that Europe’s security and Indo-Pacific stability are not separate conversations.For his part, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “This is a significant moment for our nation as we secure an agreement with the world’s second largest economy.” Source link
More than 2,100 children have been killed or injured, including 118 in Lebanon and one in Kuwait, over 23 days of the escalating conflict in the Middle East.”These are reported figures, and they are expected to rise as the violence continues. That is an average of approximately 87 children either killed or injured every day since the beginning of the war,” according to remarks by UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban.”Children across the region are paying a devastating price. A further descent into a wider or protracted conflict would be catastrophic for millions more,” he said.He called for three immediate actions: a cessation of hostilities and protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, ensuring safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, and providing urgent financial support to sustain the response.Meanwhile, UNESCO warned of a “deeper learning crisis” across the Middle East if the violence continues, marked by a “greater exclusion of the most vulnerable children, loss of teachers and researchers, weakening of public trust in institutions and lasting damage to the region’s scientific capacities.”Nearly a month into this devastating war, the impact is far reaching, shaking the world economy amid exponential price hikes in oil, fuel and gas, Executive Director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Jorge da Silva said.Disruptions to and closures of airspace, transportation, shipping routes and key humanitarian crossings across the Middle East are impacting humanitarian operations and commercial supply chains, including availability and prices of basic goods and pharmaceuticals, he said.Attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, threaten the delivery of basic supplies, risk higher food prices, and further strain fragile health systems, da Silva added.He pointed out that developing countries in Asia and the African continent are likely to bear the heaviest brunt, as fertilizer markets are impacted, threatening food security.He stressed that there is no military solution, noting that the only way to end this crisis is through a diplomatic and peaceful solution and the implementation of all UN Security Council resolutions. Source link