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Russia, Ukraine to exchange 500 prisoners of war on March 5-6: negotiator
Moscow and Kyiv will each release a total of 500 prisoners of war over Thursday and Friday, Russia's top negotiator said, with the Russian defense ministry saying the first 200 on each side had already been swapped. "There will be an exchange of prisoners of war with Ukraine. 500 for 500," Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky wrote on Telegram, adding it was part of agreements reached at trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Geneva searching for an end to the conflict
March 5, 2026 -
US and Mideast countries seek Kyiv's drone expertise as Russia-Ukraine talks put on ice
The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against the Iranian drones, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday. He said he has spoken in recent days with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation. Russia has fired tens of tho
March 5, 2026 -
ECB policymakers warn of inflation spike if Iran war lasts
Three European Central Bank policymakers warned on Thursday that euro zone inflation would likely rise, and growth sag, if the war in Iran were to become drawn out and suck in more countries. As the US–Iran war entered its sixth day, the conflict has widened beyond Gulf states and into Asia, convulsing global markets and raising questions about the ECB's benign outlook for the euro zone. The ECB's vice president Luis de Guindos and the central bank governors of Germany and Finland all said it
March 5, 2026 -
France allowing US aircraft on some Mideast bases: military
France has allowed US aircraft on some of its bases in the Middle East after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered regional conflict, the French military said Thursday. "As part of our relations with the United States, the presence of their aircraft has been temporarily authorised on our bases" in the region, a spokeswoman for the military general staff told AFP. "These aircraft contribute to the protection of our partners in the Gulf." France has an airbase in the United Arab Emirates and aircra
March 5, 2026 -
British American Tobacco faces UK shareholders' lawsuit over North Korea sanctions breaches
British American Tobacco is facing a London lawsuit from shareholders over allegations the cigarette maker failed to properly tell markets about breaches of US sanctions in relation to its business in North Korea. BAT in 2023 agreed to pay more than $635 million to US authorities after a subsidiary admitted conspiring to violate US sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea and commit bank fraud from 2007 to 2017. More than 100 current and former BAT shareholders filed a lawsuit ag
March 5, 2026 -
Koreans in Middle East reveal fear, anxiety, and why they stay
Gal Young-hea, a 70-year-old Korean resident of Be’er Sheva, Israel, now spends her day counting how many times she heads to the bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming missiles. “When the sirens sound now, I just think about how long it will take me to reach the shelter,” she said. Missile alerts have become a regular part of daily life as tensions escalate following US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Tehran has retaliated by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and nearby count
March 5, 2026 -
Cuba hit by widespread power blackout
HAVANA (Reuters) -- A power outage struck most of Cuba, including Havana, the state electric utility said on Wednesday, as the Communist-run government grapples with increased pressure from the Trump administration that has curtailed oil shipments. The electric company Union Electrica UNE said the blackout was caused by an unexpected outage at Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant about 100 kilometers east of Havana, cutting electricity from Pinar del Rio in the far west to central-eastern Cam
March 5, 2026 -
Iran conflict may divert US weapons from Ukraine
With the United States focused on its conflict with Iran, Ukraine could face a critical shortage of US air defense missiles at a time when Russia shows no signs of easing its campaign of striking Ukrainian cities. Since the US and Israel began strikes on Iran on Saturday, Iran has fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at Gulf countries. Most have been intercepted, including with the PAC-3 Patriot missile interceptors that Ukraine relies on to defend its energy and military infrastruct
March 5, 2026 -
Ecuador orders mission to leave country
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador declared Cuba’s ambassador, Basilio Antonio Gutierrez, and his diplomatic staff “persona non grata” on Wednesday and gave them 48 hours to leave the South American country. Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the measure was adopted within the framework of international diplomatic law, but didn't say why they were forcing the diplomats to leave. The Vienna Convention allows countries to declare diplomatic personnel a persona non grata with
March 5, 2026 -
Sea is higher than we thought: study
Climate change's rising seas may threaten tens of millions more people than scientists and government planners originally thought because of mistaken research assumptions on how high coastal waters already are, a new study said. Researchers studied hundreds of scientific studies and hazard assessments, calculating that about 90 percent of them underestimated baseline coastal water heights by an average of 30 centimeters, according to Wednesday's study in the journal Nature. It's a far more frequ
March 5, 2026 -
US Senate backs Trump on Iran strikes
US Senate Republicans backed US President Donald Trump's military campaign against Iran on Wednesday, voting to block a bipartisan resolution aiming to stop the air war and require that any hostilities against Iran be authorized by Congress. The Senate voted 53 to 47 not to advance the resolution, largely along party lines, with all but one Republican voting against the procedural motion and all but one Democrat supporting it. The latest effort by Democrats and a few Republicans to rein in Pre
March 5, 2026 -
15% global tariff likely implemented this week, Bessent says
WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that Donald Trump's 15-percent global tariff is likely to be rolled out this week, as the president moves to rebuild his trade agenda after a major legal setback. The Supreme Court last month struck down Trump's country-specific tariffs, which he imposed last year on allies and competitors alike, delivering a stinging rebuke of his signature economic policy. Since then, the US leader has tapped a different law to impose a new
March 5, 2026 -
China sets lowest growth target since 1991
China set its most modest growth target in more than three decades, in a tacit acknowledgment that the model powering the country’s rapid rise for four decades is showing strains. The goal — a range of 4.5 percent to 5 percent — was in a copy of the government’s annual work report seen by Bloomberg News. It marks the first formal downgrade since 2023 and the least ambitious expansion goal since 1991. While widely anticipated by economists, it carries symbolic weight in a country where growth fig
March 5, 2026 -
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, frontrunner to be Iran's supreme leader?
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba has emerged as frontrunner to succeed his late father as Iran's supreme leader after years spent forging close ties with the elite Revolutionary Guards and building influence in the clerical establishment. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has survived the US-Israeli air war on Iran and is seen by Iran's establishment as a potential successor to his father, who was killed in an airstrike on Saturday, two Iranian sources said on Wednesday. A powerful mid-ranking cleric,
March 5, 2026 -
Trump sends Fed chair Warsh nomination to Senate
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday officially nominated former Federal Reserve Gov. Kevin Warsh to be the US central bank's next chair, the White House said, putting the president one step closer to installing a rate-cut-friendly Fed chief. But there are big hurdles both to Warsh's path back to the Fed and, once confirmed as Fed chair, his way forward to delivering the rate cuts Trump wants. Warsh, who would take over from Jerome Powell after his leadership term ends on May 15, would occupy
March 5, 2026