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Trump says meeting with Putin being arranged

Published

1 year ago

2025/01/10

Priyan

US President elect Donald Trump has said that a meeting is being arranged between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He gave no timeline for when the meeting might take place.

“He wants to meet and we are setting it up,” he said in remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The Kremlin said in response that it was open to the talks, but that no details had been confirmed yet.

Trump has promised to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine soon after he takes office on 20 January and has expressed scepticism about US military and financial support for Kyiv.

“President Putin wants to meet,” he said on Thursday. “He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess.”

A spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Friday that Kyiv expected high-level talks to take place with the Trump administration after the inauguration.

This includes an eventual meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The president-elect has nominated Keith Kellogg, a former national security adviser and retired lieutenant-general in the US military, to be special envoy to Ukraine and Russia for his second administration.

Kellogg set out his ideas for how the US could bring about an end to the war in a research paper published by the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank, in April last year.

He proposed that Ukraine should only get further US aid if it agreed to participate in peace talks with Moscow. The paper also suggested, however, that if Moscow refused to take part then the US should continue its aid to Ukraine.

Following Trump’s election win in November, Zelensky said he believed that, with Trump as president, the war would “end sooner” than it otherwise would have.

He said the two had had a “constructive exchange” by phone, though did not say whether Trump had made any demands regarding possible talks with Russia.

[BBC]

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Trump says he is postponing strikes on Iran power plants after ‘productive’ talks on ending war

Published

29 mins ago

2026/03/23

Priyan

Donald Trump says the US and Iran have held talks on the “complete and total resolution of hostilities” in the Middle East

He says that, as a result of the talks, he has postponed threatened strikes on Iranian power plants and oil and gas fall immediately after.

On Saturday night, Trump had given Iran a 48 hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. – or, he said, the US would “obliterate” Iranian power plants

An Iranian news agency quotes an unnamed source saying there have been no talks between Teheran and Trump.

Earlier, the UK’s Keir Starmer and Trump agreed that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is “essential to resume global shipping” during a call late on Sunday according to Downing Street

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it expects to face ‘several more weeks of fighting against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon

(BBC)

Business

Asia stocks slide as US and Iran threaten to escalate war

Published

7 hours ago

2026/03/23

Priyan

Major stock markets in Asia slumped on Monday after Washington and Tehran threatened to escalate hostilities, as the Iran war enters its fourth week.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was almost 3.6% lower, while South Korea’s Kospi fell by almost 6%.

US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that he would “obliterate” Iranian power plants if Iran did not open the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route. Iran said it would respond to any such strikes by targeting key infrastructure in the region, including energy facilities.

Japan and South Korea have been particularly impacted by the conflict, as they are heavily dependent on oil and gas that would normally pass through the strait.

Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest shipping channels, since the US and Israel attacked the country on 28 February.

About 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) usually passes through the waterway – and the war has sent global fuel prices soaring.

On Monday, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said that the war could see the world facing its worst energy crisis in decades.

Speaking at the National Press Club in Australia’s capital, Birol compared the current energy crisis to those of the 1970s and the impact of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“This crisis as things stand is now two oil crises and one gas crash put all together,” he said.

“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!,” Trump said in a social media post published at 23:44 GMT Saturday.

That threat came after Iranian missiles hit the Israeli city of Dimona, and shortly before a second attack on the town of Arad nearby.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, said on Sunday that energy and desalination infrastructure in the region would be “irreversibly destroyed” if his country’s power plants were attacked.

Such action would significantly escalate the conflict, which has already disrupted global energy supplies, pushing up prices and causing fuel shortages.

Other markets in the Asia-Pacific region were also lower on Monday.

Hong Kong’s Hang was down by almost 3.5% and the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite index 2.5% lower.

Global oil prices were broadly steady, with Brent crude 0.45% higher at $112.69 (£84.56) a barrel and US-traded oil was up by 0.7% at $98.93.

[BBC]

Latest News

Heat Index at Caution Level in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Anuradhapura, Mannar and Vavuniya districts

Published

8 hours ago

2026/03/23

Priyan

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology
at 3.30 p.m. on 22 March 2026, valid for 23 March 2026.

The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in
Anuradhapura, Mannar and Vavuniya districts.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.