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Trump Says China Caught 'Red Handed' Shipping Oil to N.Korea, Beijing Rejects Accusations

A Chinese flag is seen in front of the Friendship bridge over the Yalu River connecting the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in China's Liaoning Province on April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo
A Chinese flag is seen in front of the Friendship bridge over the Yalu River connecting the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in China's Liaoning Province on April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo
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Trump Says China Caught 'Red Handed' Shipping Oil to N.Korea, Beijing Rejects Accusations

A Chinese flag is seen in front of the Friendship bridge over the Yalu River connecting the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in China's Liaoning Province on April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo
A Chinese flag is seen in front of the Friendship bridge over the Yalu River connecting the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in China's Liaoning Province on April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

US President Donald Trump said that China was elling oil to North Korea, stating that such moves would prevent "a friendly solution" to the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear program.

"Caught red handed - very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea," Trump tweeted on Thursday.

China rejected the accusations on Friday, stressing that China did not violate UN resolutions and had looked into the report of a Chinese ship transferring oil to a North Korean vessel and found it to be inaccurate.

An official of the US State Department said the US government was aware of vessels engaged in such activity involving refined petroleum and coal, according to Reuters.

“We have evidence that some of the vessels engaged in these activities are owned by companies in several countries, including China,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, "The recent series of reports on this situation do not conform with the facts."

“China has always implemented UN Security Council resolutions pertaining to North Korea in their entirety and fulfils its international obligations. We never allow Chinese companies and citizens to violate the resolutions,” Hua added.

“The Chinese side has conducted immediate investigation. In reality, the ship in question has, since August, not docked at a Chinese port and there is no record of it entering or leaving a Chinese port,” Hua said.

South Korea said on Friday it had seized a Hong Kong-flagged ship suspected of transferring oil to North Korea in defiance of the sanctions.

A senior South Korean foreign ministry official said the ship, the Lighthouse Winmore, was seized when it arrived at a South Korean port in late November.

“It’s unclear how much oil the ship had transferred to North Korea for how long and on how many occasions, but it clearly showed North Korea is engaged in evading the sanctions,” an official told Reuters.

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said she did not have any information about the matter.

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World

UN Urges ‘Exemptions’ to Get Aid Through Strait of Hormuz

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, gives an update on the hyper-prioritized plan of the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) to media during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 March 2026. (EPA)
Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, gives an update on the hyper-prioritized plan of the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) to media during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 March 2026. (EPA)
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UN Urges ‘Exemptions’ to Get Aid Through Strait of Hormuz

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, gives an update on the hyper-prioritized plan of the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) to media during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 March 2026. (EPA)
Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, gives an update on the hyper-prioritized plan of the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) to media during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 March 2026. (EPA)

The United Nations aid chief warned Wednesday that the Middle East war was impacting aid routes and called for "exemptions" so humanitarian supplies could get through.

The war in the Middle East has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, while fuel supply disruptions are sending freight rates soaring.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher warned that the escalating war and its impact on the strait was having "a direct impact on our humanitarian supplies, including going to areas of key need in sub-Saharan Africa".

"I'm worried that further escalation will damage other supply routes," he told reporters in Geneva, warning that the war was pushing up prices and driving "more people into greater need".

"We're appealing to all the parties to try and secure those routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, for our humanitarian traffic... so we can reach anyone, anywhere, on the basis of greatest need."

"We're living through a moment right now of grave peril," Fletcher said.

"We're seeing these crises escalate rapidly and increasingly collide in dangerous ways," he said, calling for "calmer heads to prevail".

The last two weeks of fighting are further confirmation that "we're living in a time of brutality, impunity and indifference", he said, cautioning that "the rules-based scaffolding meant to restrain the worst excesses of war is cracking".

"Human ingenuity is being applied to find ever more sinister ways to kill at scale, while civilians are subjected to ever more abject violence."

- 'Massive gap' -

The UN aid chief warned that such violence was taking a heavy toll at a time when humanitarians were already on their knees.

"We're seeing violence reverberate across borders, displacement, economic shocks, soaring humanitarian needs -- and we're seeing the consequences spread faster than we can respond," he said.

"Humanitarian action (is) overstretched, under sustained attack and under-resourced."

When Fletcher launched the UN's annual Global Humanitarian Appeal for 2026 last December, he requested $23 billion to help 87 million of the world's most vulnerable people, with a heavy focus on dire conflict situations like those in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar.

The amount and scope were dramatically reduced compared to recent years, as the UN strives to adapt to a new reality since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, slashing foreign aid.

The UN has stressed that its smaller appeal did not mean humanitarian needs have shrunk.

Fletcher voiced optimism Wednesday that the 2026 target could be reached, while acknowledging that "the needs are far greater" than the people the UN can reach.

The UN has already received $5 billion towards the 2026 plan, including $2 billion from the US, with additional pledges bringing the total to $8.7 billion, he said.

"So that's over a third of what we're looking to get this year for this plan, delivered in the first quarter," he said.

But, he warned, "we still face a massive gap".

"Without additional support, millions of people will die."

The towering humanitarian needs were all the more distressing when around $1 billion is being spent every day on the Middle East war, he said.

Just a day's worth of war funding "would allow us to save millions of lives", Fletcher insisted.

World

Israel Urges UNSC to Designate Iran Guards 'Terrorist Organization'

A fragment of an Iranian missile is pictured on the outskirts of Israel's central city of Elad on March 10, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
A fragment of an Iranian missile is pictured on the outskirts of Israel's central city of Elad on March 10, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
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Israel Urges UNSC to Designate Iran Guards 'Terrorist Organization'

A fragment of an Iranian missile is pictured on the outskirts of Israel's central city of Elad on March 10, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
A fragment of an Iranian missile is pictured on the outskirts of Israel's central city of Elad on March 10, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)

Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to designate Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist organization", as the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic raged for a 12th day.

"The Iranian regime's recent actions underscore that its aggression constitutes a direct threat not only to Israel, but to regional and international peace and security," Gideon Saar posted on X.

"I urge the UN Security Council to condemn Iran and immediately designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization," he added, addressing a letter to the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, who is the current president of the Security Council, AFP reported.

The IRGC was created after the 1979 revolution to protect the Islamic republic, with a stated mission to "guard the revolution and its achievements".

The influence of the IRGC extends into politics and business, where it is a major player with involvement in most sectors of Iran's sanctions-hit economy.

The IRGC answers to Iran's supreme leader and boasts its own ground, naval and air forces.

The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing its supreme leader and plunging the Middle East into a spiralling war.

The US has already designated the Iran Guards a "terrorist organization", with the European Union following suit in January over a deadly crackdown on mass protests.

World

Spain Removes Ambassador to Israel

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the first International Forum Against Hatred in Madrid, Spain, 11 March 2026. EPA/Chema Moya
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the first International Forum Against Hatred in Madrid, Spain, 11 March 2026. EPA/Chema Moya
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Spain Removes Ambassador to Israel

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the first International Forum Against Hatred in Madrid, Spain, 11 March 2026. EPA/Chema Moya
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the first International Forum Against Hatred in Madrid, Spain, 11 March 2026. EPA/Chema Moya

Spain’s government decided to remove its ambassador to Israel, according ⁠to the official state ⁠gazette published on Wednesday.

Spain's ⁠embassy in Tel Aviv will be led by a charge d'affaires, a source at ⁠the ⁠Foreign Ministry said.

Relations between Spain and the United States are "operating normally" despite US President Donald Trump's threats to cut trade with Madrid over its opposition to the US-Israeli war on Iran, the Spanish foreign minister said on Tuesday.

The leftist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez drew Trump's ire last week after rejecting the war as reckless and illegal while banning US aircraft from using jointly operated bases in southern Spain in the offensive against Tehran.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters both Spain's embassy in Washington and the US ⁠embassy in Madrid were ⁠operating with "absolute normalcy”

"Our embassy in Washington is operating normally and has all the contacts it should have as usual," he said, adding that the same applied to the US embassy in Madrid.

Trump threatened on March 3 to impose a full trade embargo on Madrid, also citing the latter's ⁠refusal to meet NATO's new defense spending target of 5% of national output.