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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with this worldwide news update.
An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad escalated into clashes that have killed more than 1,000 people over four days, a war monitor estimates. The attack Thursday near the port city of Latakia reopened the wounds of the country's 13-year-old civil war and sparked the worst violence Syria has seen since December when insurgents overthrew Assad. The counteroffensive against the Assad loyalists in the largely Alawite coastal region brought havoc to several cities and towns. Israel has cut off the electricity supply to Gaza. The move has affected a desalination plant producing drinking water for part of the territory. The U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas calls it part of Israel's starvation policy. Israel is pressing Hamas to accept an extension of the first phase of their cease-fire that ended last weekend. Hamas instead wants to start negotiations on the cease-fire's more difficult second phase. VOA's Arash Arabasadi has more. In recent days, a Trump administration negotiator met with Hamas to discuss a hostage release deal, calling the meeting "very helpful." In the meantime, for Palestinians in Gaza's Khan Yunis, shortages of basic needs continue. Israel imposed a total blockade on all goods entering the enclave including food, fuel and medicine until Hamas frees the remaining 59 hostages still held in Gaza. People here say they wait for hours to get bread as there's no longer electricity or firewood for cooking. Israel says it plans to send a delegation to Qatar on Monday to advance negotiations with Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Arash Arabasadi, VOA News. This is VOA News. Even as U.S.-led peace negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine recently faced setbacks, talks between Washington and Kyiv are set to take place this week in Saudi Arabia. VOA's Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the details. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled Sunday to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to hold talks with a Ukrainian delegation. The aim, according to an official statement, is to, quote, "advance President Donald Trump's goal to end the Russia-Ukraine war." The visit comes days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent President Trump a conciliatory letter in the aftermath of a contentious meeting the leaders had at the White House on February 28. As a form of pressure to get the parties to the negotiating table, Trump has paused military aid to Ukraine and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, while threatening to impose sanctions and tariffs on Russia. Veronica Balderas Iglesias, VOA News, Washington. President Trump is dismissing business concerns over the uncertainty caused by his planned tariffs on American trading partners. AP correspondent Julie Walker reports. In an interview with Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo, Trump did not rule out the possibility of a recession this year. "I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition, because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing. And there are always periods of, it takes a little time." He says his plans for broader reciprocal tariffs will go into effect April 2. "Big globalists have been ripping off the United States." Last week, Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada and then quickly paused them. I'm Julie Walker. Former central banker Mark Carney will become Canada's next prime minister after the governing Liberal Party elected him its leader on Sunday as the country deals with President Trump's trade war and annexation threat and a federal election looms. The 59-year-old Carney replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until his successor is sworn in. Carney navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada, and in 2013 he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694. Trudeau's popularity had declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website, voanews.com. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA News. |