U.S. envoy Witkoff to head to Europe for peace talks this week
U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and officials from m...
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
U.S. President Donald Trump has paused a planned 50% tariff increase on Canadian goods for three days, saying Washington and Ottawa had reached a preliminary agreement. The announcement followed a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, just hours before the tariffs were due to take effect. Trump said the two countries had “a deal”, but acknowledged that the documents still needed to be finalised.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed on Tuesday as shipowners remain cautious over the waterways' reopening following the Iran war. Kpler data showed six commodity vessels crossed the Strait on Tuesday, down from nine the previous day and below the 10-day average of 11. U.S. President Donald Trump said no talks were taking place with Iran and insisted the Strait was open, contradicting Tehran's claim that it remained closed to shipping.
South Korea and the U.S. are scaling back their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises following President Donald Trump's order to substantially reduce American participation. The drills will now end on 21 August instead of 27 August. Some field manoeuvres will be reduced, while live-training activities will be cancelled or replaced by computer simulations. The changes come as Trump seeks to revive diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while Pyongyang continues to condemn the exercises as preparations for an invasion.
An Israeli airstrike killed at least six Palestinians and wounded 14 others at a café in western Gaza City, according to Gaza health officials. Israel said the strike targeted Hamas commanders and other militants, including one it said who took part in the 7 October, 2023 attack, but provided no evidence. The strike came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner left the region without a breakthrough in efforts to advance Washington’s Gaza peace plan.
At least nine people, including a child, were killed in a hotel fire in Kolkata, India, on Wednesday. Around 30 people were safely evacuated from the building, while at least six others were reportedly receiving hospital treatment for injuries. Police said an electrical short circuit may have triggered the blaze, but the exact cause remains under investigation.
U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for continuing to target Russia's energy infrastructure, while Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight killed at least one person and damaged a metro station.
What started out as planned protests against the cost of living, declining public services and education funding in France, quickly devolved into violent riots across the country on Saturday.
The day after waiving sanctions and tariffs related to Russian exports, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he has yet to announce a final decision on the matter as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said officials want more time to evaluate the situation.
A Saudi AH-6i helicopter crashed in the Najran region of Saudi Arabia due to a technical malfunction, killing its two crew members, the Saudi-led coalition's spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki said in a statement on Sunday.
French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the violence, looting and vandalism that erupted during cost-of-living protests across France. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu held crisis talks on Monday, calling for partial curfews and raising the possibility of a state of emergency.
U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and officials from major European nations and NATO in Norway this week for talks about ending the war in Ukraine. He is also set to travel to Russia to speak to Vladimir Putin.
The U.S. and five Central Asian nations have held high-level talks in Samarkand, focusing on trade, investment and regional security as Washington seeks to strengthen its presence in the strategically important region.
French authorities imposed local curfews in parts of Paris, Lille and Nice on Monday after a weekend of riots and looting linked to nationwide anti-government protests, as the government faced mounting criticism over security failures.
Torrential rain and flooding in eastern Spain have killed at least four people, forced thousands to evacuate and left tens of thousands of residents under shelter-in-place orders, as emergency crews rescued people stranded on rooftops.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest level across both of his presidential terms, while Democrats have widened their lead over Republicans ahead of the 3 November congressional elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
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