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WASHINGTON/DUBAI, June 19 (Reuters) - Switzerland said U.S. talks with Iranian negotiators on a pact to end the Middle East conflict would not take place on Friday, as Vice President JD Vance dropped plans to travel to Geneva, adding to uncertainty whether a lasting truce can be found. "The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable," the White House spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday night. Vance and the U.S. delegation had been ready to depart as soon as plans were finalised. The talks, set for the mountaintop resort of Burgenstock, would not take place, Switzerland's...

The European Parliament will switch to French ​search engine Qwant from Google (GOOGL.O), ‌it said on Wednesday, underscoring Europe's push to reduce its reliance on U.S. technology ​in favour of local alternatives. The ​European Commission will later on Wednesday ⁠announce measures on chips, cloud computing ​services and AI as part of ​its "Buy and Use European" drive. "From 4 June 2026, Qwant will become the default search engine ​on the European Parliament's Microsoft ​Edge and Mozilla Firefox browsers," a Parliament spokesperson ‌said ⁠in an email. The change will be applied automatically, though users will still be able to select alternative...

The United Arab Emirates has agreed to unlock billions of dollars for Iran, four sources ​said, in a tactical shift after weeks of Iranian attacks on the wealthy Gulf Arab state during the U.S.-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic. (snip) Two regional sources told Reuters the UAE had agreed to release a total of $10 billion, more than $3 billion of which had already been delivered. Two other sources with knowledge of the arrangement put the total funds involved at $20 billion, adding that the move had been agreed in return for a ​halt to Iranian attacks on the UAE....

Hundreds of anti-immigrant protesters took to ​the streets of Belfast on Tuesday, with some setting vehicles alight, after police charged a Sudanese man over ‌a knife attack that left one person with serious neck and head wounds. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the attack, which took place in north Belfast late on Monday evening, as "sickening". Video of it was shared widely on social media.

SummaryNew law in effect from December allows descendants of Canadians beyond first generation to claim citizenship Nearly half of new approvals are Americans, Canada's immigration agency says Americans' interest in Canadian citizenship partly fueled by US political divisions, lawyers ​say TORONTO, May 30 (Reuters) - While U.S.-Canadian relations have frayed under U.S. President Donald Trump, data on ‌Canadian citizenship approvals under recently widened rules suggests many Americans would welcome the chance to become Canadian. Under the new rules, which allow more descendants of Canadians to claim citizenship compared with just first-generation descendants previously, approvals for proof of citizenship by descent...

Tulsi Gabbard resigned as President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence on Friday, citing her husband’s recent diagnosis with bone cancer. While both Gabbard and Trump put out releases citing Gabbard’s husband’s illness, Reuters reported that Gabbard “had been forced out by the White House.” Reuters ran with the initial headline, “White House forced top spy Gabbard to resign, source says,” and included the line, “A source familiar with the matter said that ​Gabbard had been forced out by the White House.” Gabbard’s chief of staff as DNI, Alexa Henning, shared Reuters’s report and wrote, “Just when you think you...

The European Commission has drafted plans to give more free emissions permits to industries ​over the next few years, a move that ‌could save companies 4 billion euros ($4.68 billion) in CO2 costs, an internal EU document seen by Reuters showed on Monday. The EU's ​carbon market is the bloc's main tool for ​addressing CO2 emissions, which it does by forcing ⁠industries to buy CO2 emissions permits when they pollute. The ​scheme has come under growing political pressure from member states ​worried about Europe's faltering economic competitiveness, while some heavy industries have urged Brussels to give them more free CO2...

In January, the Franklin County Board of Elections in Ohio received a surprising call. The man on the line said he was an agent at the Department of Homeland Security – and he needed immediate access to voter records. Franklin County has a large population of Democrats and has long been a focal point of Republican skepticism about urban voting centers in Ohio. In the weeks that followed, the requests multiplied. According to emails reviewed by Reuters, the agent asked for voter registration forms and voting histories for dozens of voters – records that include driver's license numbers and other...

Britain's King Charles heads to the United States next week for the most high-profile trip of his reign so far, on a mission to shore up the future of the two allies' "special relationship" which the Iran war has plunged to its lowest point in ‌70 years. The state visit marks the 250th anniversary of the U.S. declaration of independence from British rule, when the then 13 American colonies decided to split from King ‌George III, Charles's five-times-great-grandfather. For Charles, it will be a moment to reflect on how Britain and the United States have come together since then to...

US President Donald Trump’s administration is likely to extend as soon as Friday (Apr 10) a waiver allowing countries to buy some sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The US Treasury Department has allowed purchases of Russian oil and products at sea since mid-March with a 30-day waiver that expires on Apr 11, part of efforts to control global energy prices during the US-Israeli war with Iran. Russia’s presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev had said that the original waiver would free 100 million barrels of Russian crude, equal to almost a day’s worth...

A US official denied on Saturday that Washington had agreed to release frozen assets belonging to Iran, contradicting earlier reports. Reuters had reported that the United States agreed to release Iranian funds held in Qatar and other foreign banks, citing a senior Iranian source, which described the move as a goodwill step ahead of talks.

Donald Trump's dramatic climbdown from his chilling threat to wipe out Iran's civilization has exposed the limits - and the rising risks - of the U.S. president's typically unpredictable negotiating style. His decision on Tuesday to back down and agree to a two-week ceasefire – which critics mockingly called another example ​of “TACO,” or “Trump always chickens out” – marked the biggest step so far toward de-escalating a 40-day-old war that has shaken the Middle East and disrupted global energy markets. But Trump’s claims of victory over Iran overlooked questions about ‌the effectiveness of mixing maximalist demands, erratic rhetoric and...

Iran has once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, blocking oil tankers from transiting the waterway, in retaliation for Israeli strikes on Hezbollah, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-tied outlet Fars News reported on Wednesday. Oil tankers attempting to transit the strait received threatening messages from the Iranian Navy, according to several shipping sources. "Any vessel trying to travel into the sea ... will be targeted and destroyed..." the message, which was received by several vessels, said. This is a developing story.

A container ship belonging to French shipping group CMA CGM has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, MarineTraffic vessel tracking data shows, in a sign that Iran may not consider France a hostile nation. The Malta-flagged Kribi, owned by CMA CGM, crossed the Strait on April 2. It is the first French-owned vessel to make it through the channel since US-Israeli attacks began on Iran at the end of February. Until the war led to the effective closure of the Strait, it was the route for about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. It was not...

U.S. conservatives have long pointed to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as proof that a Western leader can crack down on immigration, defy global institutions and wage war on “woke” liberalism – and still win elections. But as Hungary heads toward an April 12 parliamentary election, some of Orban’s most enthusiastic admirers in the U.S., including President Donald Trump, are confronting a once‑unthinkable prospect: after 16 years in power, Europe’s champion of “illiberal democracy” could be voted out of office. Defeat for Orban would reverberate well beyond Hungary, casting doubt on the durability of a political system – marked by...

Netanyahu seeks to pass the Budget by March 31 to avoid snap elections, which polls suggest he would likely lose. The war in Iran has shifted focus from Gaza, but polls remain unchanged since Oct 7, showing weak support for Netanyahu. To secure the Budget, Netanyahu's coalition allocated funds to allies, like ultra-Orthodox parties, ensuring their support. Polls consistently show around 40 per cent of voters sticking with Mr Netanyahu’s coalition of nationalist and religious parties, 40 per cent backing opposition parties, and a swing vote so far not moving to Mr Netanyahu, said Professor Gideon Rahat, a political scientist...

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The ​Pentagon has ‌asked the White House ​to ​approve a more ⁠than $200 ​billion request ​to the U.S. Congress to ​fund ​the war in ‌Iran, ⁠the Washington Post reported ​on ​Wednesday, ⁠citing a senior ​administration ​official.

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The ​Pentagon has ‌asked the White House ​to ​approve a more ⁠than $200 ​billion request ​to the U.S. Congress to ​fund ​the war in ‌Iran, ⁠the Washington Post reported ​on ​Wednesday, ⁠citing a senior ​administration ​official.

U.S. President Donald Trump's demands for a coalition to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz appeared to fall on deaf ears on Monday as allies Japan and Australia said they were not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the vital waterway.

The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since ​the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now, according to sources familiar with the matter. The ‌Navy's assessments spell continued disruption to Middle East oil exports. The U.S. Navy has held regular ⁠briefings with shipping and oil industry counterparts and has said during those briefings it is unable to provide escorts for the time being, three shipping industry sources familiar with ​the matter said. The sources, who declined to be identified...