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Blinken to Visit Asia to Emphasize Commitment Despite Ukraine Crisis

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau (not pictured) at the State Department in Washington, DC, US February 4, 2022. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau (not pictured) at the State Department in Washington, DC, US February 4, 2022. (Reuters)
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Blinken to Visit Asia to Emphasize Commitment Despite Ukraine Crisis

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau (not pictured) at the State Department in Washington, DC, US February 4, 2022. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau (not pictured) at the State Department in Washington, DC, US February 4, 2022. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken goes to Asia next week for talks with Indo-Pacific allies, including a meeting of foreign ministers of the four-nation Quad, the State Department said on Friday.

Blinken is making the trip despite the mounting crisis over Ukraine and policy analysts say the aim is to show the Indo-Pacific region support and that pushing back against China's expanding influence remains Washington's top priority.

Blinken will leave Washington on Monday and be in Australia from Feb.9-12 for the meeting of the Quad - the United States, Japan, India and Australia.

Blinken will then meet Pacific Island leaders in Fiji before heading to Hawaii to confer with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts to discuss the North Korea issue.

The State Department said the purpose of the trip was "to engage Indo-Pacific allies and partners to advance peace, resilience, and prosperity across the region and demonstrate that these partnerships deliver."

The trip was announced even as China and Russia proclaimed a deep strategic partnership on Friday to balance what they portrayed as the malign global influence of the United States.

The State Department said that in Fiji on Feb. 12 Blinken would discuss the climate crisis, COVID-19, disaster assistance, and "ways to further our shared commitment to democracy, regional solidarity, and prosperity" with Pacific Island leaders.

He will be the first US secretary of state to visit Fiji since 1985.

A senior US official has said President Joe Biden's administration plans to start a new Pacific Islands initiative with allies and partners that would bring together regional countries to "raise our ambition in the region, including on climate, maritime, and transportation issues."

The official said it would at the same time finalize negotiations on Compacts of Free Association: agreements with three Pacific Island countries - the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau - that facilitate US military access. They are due to expire in 2023 in the case of the former two states and in 2024 in the case of Palau.

US Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell has said that the Pacific could be the part of the world most likely to see "strategic surprise" - comments apparently referring to possible Chinese ambitions to establish Pacific-island bases.

Washington had not done enough to assist the region and that there was a very short amount of time, Campbell said, to work with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and fellow Pacific power France, "to step up our game across the board."

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World

US Forces Lift Blockade of Iran Ports

Iranians walk past a billboard at Enqelab square in Tehran, Iran, 18 June 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Iranians walk past a billboard at Enqelab square in Tehran, Iran, 18 June 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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US Forces Lift Blockade of Iran Ports

Iranians walk past a billboard at Enqelab square in Tehran, Iran, 18 June 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Iranians walk past a billboard at Enqelab square in Tehran, Iran, 18 June 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

American forces on Thursday lifted their naval blockade of Iranian ports after more than two months of preventing ships from sailing from or to Iran, the US military said.

"Today, US forces lifted the blockade on all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas," US Central Command said in a post on X, adding that American warships "will remain in the general area to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to."

The move came after US President Donald Trump signed a deal to end the conflict.

The signing of the deal by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian set in motion a 60-day period for talks on wider issues between the two foes, including the Iranian nuclear program.

The US military, which had enforced its own blockade after Iran shut the Strait at the start of the war, has allowed at least 12 ships to pass through, Vice President JD Vance said.

Before the war, the strait saw around 120 transits per day, according to the shipping journal Lloyd's List.

Vance said he planned to go to Switzerland for "technical negotiations" with Iran "this weekend" rather than Friday, but emphasized that the plan "could change.”

In Iran, the Tasnim agency said "nothing has been confirmed" about the Iranian delegation's trip to Switzerland.

World

IOM Chief: Foreign Aid Cuts Push Up Migrant Flows

Men push a stuck cart toward Sudan at the Adre border post on June 8, 2026. (Photo by Joris Bolomey / AFP)
Men push a stuck cart toward Sudan at the Adre border post on June 8, 2026. (Photo by Joris Bolomey / AFP)
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IOM Chief: Foreign Aid Cuts Push Up Migrant Flows

Men push a stuck cart toward Sudan at the Adre border post on June 8, 2026. (Photo by Joris Bolomey / AFP)
Men push a stuck cart toward Sudan at the Adre border post on June 8, 2026. (Photo by Joris Bolomey / AFP)

Cuts in development aid by wealthy countries tend to drive up displacement away from the world's poorest regions, the head of the UN's International Organization for Migration warned in an interview with AFP on Thursday.

"When we see cuts in development assistance, we're actually just making the likelihood that people will have to leave in search of safety, in search of stability, so much higher," Amy Pope said.

"We've seen it in places like Sudan, which is the world's largest displacement crisis as a result of the war there," she added.

"With decreasing support for humanitarian assistance, we then see more Sudanese look for safety, look for opportunity further afield."

Several rich Western countries -- particularly the United States but also many European nations -- have cut their development aid budgets in recent years, while also tightening migration policies and strengthening border controls.

Pope was speaking on the sidelines of the Berlin Climate Mobility Forum.

"In order to respond to domestic political pressures", many countries are making "short-term decisions... that may not ultimately serve (them) in the long term", he said.

"The more we can connect assistance to the movement of people in ways that are humane and dignified, ways that give people agency and opportunity, the less likely we're going to see large patterns of movement," she said.

Shortly after entering the White House for a second time, US President Donald Trump cut 83 percent of the programs run by USAID. Before the cuts, the US development agency managed some 42 percent of global government humanitarian aid.

Germany has slashed its development budget under successive governments to just over 10 billion euros this year from nearly 14 billion in 2022.

Climate change is having an "enormous impact on migration around the world", Pope said.

Small Pacific island states such as Tuvalu are threatened by rising sea levels, while some 10 million people are estimated to have been displaced because of storms in the Philippines, the IOM chief said.

Several regions of Africa have been affected by prolonged drought.

Pope called on policymakers in the wealthiest countries, which bear the greatest responsibility for climate change, to offer more help for people forced to leave their homes.

"What are they willing to invest now to ensure more stability, more options, less likely occurrence of unplanned migration in the future?" she said.

"Let's not wait for the emergency... Let's make the investments now."

Contrary to the narratives being pushed by some political leaders about migration, most displacement happens within countries rather than across borders, Pope said.

By mid-2024 there were an estimated 304 million international migrants, according to the IOM, and more than 700 million internal migrants worldwide.

"In the first instance, people will stay in their country. They will go somewhere in their country if they can find resources or safety. Then they move in the neighboring countries," Pope said.

Providing support within the countries most affected "actually is a lot less expensive... and will have a more stabilizing effect", she added.

"Really, as policymakers, we should be looking at the issue in terms of where can we provide the most support in a way that saves the most lives."

World

Zelenskiy Says 'Moscow will Burn' if Russian Strikes Continue

Ukrayna Devlet Başkanı Volodimir Zelenskiy (EPA)
Ukrayna Devlet Başkanı Volodimir Zelenskiy (EPA)
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Zelenskiy Says 'Moscow will Burn' if Russian Strikes Continue

Ukrayna Devlet Başkanı Volodimir Zelenskiy (EPA)
Ukrayna Devlet Başkanı Volodimir Zelenskiy (EPA)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday heavy drone attacks on Russia were retaliation for a strike that damaged a historic monastery in Kyiv this week, and that "Moscow will burn" if attacks continue.

Scores of drones targeted Moscow overnight, hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the second time this week.

"We don't want this war, we never did, and everyone knows it, and our partners know it," Zelenskiy said in a voice message sent to reporters on a WhatsApp group. "But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn."

At least 10 people were killed on Monday across Ukraine in a drone and missile attack that damaged the 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, Reuters reported.

Zelenskiy was due to attend a meeting of Ukraine's military allies in Brussels on Thursday. He said the supply of air defences to Ukraine through a NATO programme and the creation of an anti-ballistic missile system by Ukraine and its allies would be discussed at the meeting.

Zelenskiy called on Europe and the United states to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions on Russia's defence and energy sectors and broader economy to force President Vladimir Putin into ending the war.

"Everyone need to put pressure on Putin: Ukrainians, absolutely all the Europeans, Americans, and Russians - it's time to sober up and put pressure on their leader."