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UK Lifts Sanctions against Syria's Defense Ministry, Intelligence Agencies

The Union Jack flag is flown outside the Houses of Parliament, in London, Britain February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson/File Photo
The Union Jack flag is flown outside the Houses of Parliament, in London, Britain February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson/File Photo
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UK Lifts Sanctions against Syria's Defense Ministry, Intelligence Agencies

The Union Jack flag is flown outside the Houses of Parliament, in London, Britain February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson/File Photo
The Union Jack flag is flown outside the Houses of Parliament, in London, Britain February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson/File Photo

Britain on Thursday lifted assets freezes on Syria's defense and interior ministries, and a range of intelligence agencies, reversing sanctions imposed during Bashar al-Assad's presidency.
The West is rethinking its approach to Syria after insurgent forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ousted Assad as president in December after more than 13 years of civil war, Reuters reported.
A notice posted online by the British finance ministry said the Syrian Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense and General Intelligence Directorate were among 12 entities no longer subject to an asset freeze.
The notice did not set out reasons for the de-listing.
In March, the government unfroze the assets of Syria's central bank and 23 other entities including banks and oil companies.
The British government has previously stressed that sanctions on members of the Assad regime would remain in place.

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World

Russian Attack Damages Energy, Port Infrastructure in Ukraine’s South, Governor Says

The site of the Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Zaitseve, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine March 16, 2026. (Reuters)
The site of the Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Zaitseve, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine March 16, 2026. (Reuters)
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Russian Attack Damages Energy, Port Infrastructure in Ukraine’s South, Governor Says

The site of the Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Zaitseve, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine March 16, 2026. (Reuters)
The site of the Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Zaitseve, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine March 16, 2026. (Reuters)

A Russian attack damaged industrial, port and energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine's Odesa region on the Black Sea overnight, causing disruption to power supplies in separate settlements in the southern part of ‌the region, a ‌local official said ‌on ⁠Tuesday.

Regional Governor Oleh ⁠Kiper said on Telegram that fires had been quickly extinguished. He added that no one was hurt in the attack.

Critical infrastructure has ⁠been switched to backup ‌power, he ‌said.

The mayor of the town of ‌Izmail, Ukraine's biggest port ‌on the Danube which lies across the river from NATO member Romania, said the town came under ‌a "massive" Russian drone attack overnight.

Infrastructure facilities and residential buildings ⁠were damaged ⁠in the attack, the mayor said on social media.

Romania's defense ministry said on Tuesday it was looking for drone fragments reported to have fallen near the village of Plauru across the Danube river from Ukraine, after a Russian overnight attack.

World

Philippines Rejects Beijing’s Claim to Sovereignty Over Entire South China Sea

A Chinese coast guard vessel stays beside suspected Chinese militia ships near Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa Island on November 6, 2024 ahead of a Philippine military multi-service joint exercise at the disputed South China Sea, Philippines. (AP)
A Chinese coast guard vessel stays beside suspected Chinese militia ships near Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa Island on November 6, 2024 ahead of a Philippine military multi-service joint exercise at the disputed South China Sea, Philippines. (AP)
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Philippines Rejects Beijing’s Claim to Sovereignty Over Entire South China Sea

A Chinese coast guard vessel stays beside suspected Chinese militia ships near Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa Island on November 6, 2024 ahead of a Philippine military multi-service joint exercise at the disputed South China Sea, Philippines. (AP)
A Chinese coast guard vessel stays beside suspected Chinese militia ships near Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa Island on November 6, 2024 ahead of a Philippine military multi-service joint exercise at the disputed South China Sea, Philippines. (AP)

The Philippines said on Monday it rejected Beijing's assertion of sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, disputing a claim by China's embassy that a Filipino diplomat had once conceded the disputed Scarborough Shoal was not part of Philippine territory.

"China must be reminded that maritime and territorial claims are subject to established international legal procedures and dispute settlement mechanisms, not through unilateral proclamations or social media posts," Philippine foreign ministry spokesperson Rogelio Villanueva told a briefing.

Villanueva said the Philippines had "indivisible, incontrovertible and longstanding sovereignty" over Scarborough Shoal and ‌the islands ‌Manila holds in the Spratly archipelago.

The remarks are ‌the ⁠latest in a ⁠war of words between Philippine officials and the Chinese embassy in Manila.

The Chinese embassy in Manila said on Tuesday that China "has never laid claim" to the entirety of the South China Sea as its territory.

"The Philippine side’s deliberate distortion of China’s position is unconstructive and has no merit," embassy spokesperson Ji Lingpeng said in a statement ⁠posted on social media.

The Philippines and China both lay ‌claim to the Scarborough Shoal, which is ‌effectively under Beijing's control through continuous deployment of its coast guard. Sovereignty ‌over the atoll has never been formally established.

STRATEGIC SHOAL

Villanueva was responding ‌to a weekend social media post by the embassy that said a former Philippine ambassador had told a German radio station that Scarborough Shoal did not fall within Manila's territory.

Located 200 km (124 miles) off the Philippines and ‌inside its exclusive economic zone, the strategic shoal is located close to major shipping lanes and is coveted ⁠for its ⁠fish stocks and a turquoise lagoon that provides safe haven for vessels during storms.

"Sovereignty is not merely claimed, it is exercised," Villanueva said.

The Philippines and China have been locked in a series of maritime confrontations in recent years, with the Philippines accusing Beijing of aggressive actions inside its EEZ. Those include water-cannoning and interference in resupply missions to Philippine-held features that Manila has often called "dangerous maneuvers".

China has insisted its coast guard has acted professionally to defend what is its territory.

The Philippines won a landmark case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 that found China's sweeping claim of sovereignty in the South China Sea had no basis under international law, a decision that Beijing continuously rejects.

World

Police in Nigeria Say Suspected Suicide Bombings Killed at Least 23 People

FILE PHOTO: A police vehicle of Operation Fushin Kada (Anger of Crocodile) is parked on Yakowa Road, as schools across northern Nigeria reopen nearly two months after closing due to security concerns, following the mass abductions of school children, in Kaduna, Nigeria, January 12, 2026. REUTERS/Nuhu Gwamna/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A police vehicle of Operation Fushin Kada (Anger of Crocodile) is parked on Yakowa Road, as schools across northern Nigeria reopen nearly two months after closing due to security concerns, following the mass abductions of school children, in Kaduna, Nigeria, January 12, 2026. REUTERS/Nuhu Gwamna/File Photo
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Police in Nigeria Say Suspected Suicide Bombings Killed at Least 23 People

FILE PHOTO: A police vehicle of Operation Fushin Kada (Anger of Crocodile) is parked on Yakowa Road, as schools across northern Nigeria reopen nearly two months after closing due to security concerns, following the mass abductions of school children, in Kaduna, Nigeria, January 12, 2026. REUTERS/Nuhu Gwamna/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A police vehicle of Operation Fushin Kada (Anger of Crocodile) is parked on Yakowa Road, as schools across northern Nigeria reopen nearly two months after closing due to security concerns, following the mass abductions of school children, in Kaduna, Nigeria, January 12, 2026. REUTERS/Nuhu Gwamna/File Photo

At least 23 people were killed and more than 100 injured following suspected suicide bombings Monday night that targeted Maiduguri city in northeastern Nigeria, police said Tuesday, one of the deadliest attacks in the conflict-battered city in recent history.

Residents and emergency services earlier told The Associated Press that three explosions were reported in crowded places in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, including in a major market and at the entrance of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

“Regrettably, a total of twenty three (23) persons lost their lives, while one hundred and eight (108) others sustained varying degrees of injuries,” Borno police spokesperson Nahum Kenneth Daso said in a statement that blamed the attacks on suspected suicide bombers.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the blame quickly fell on the Boko Haram extremist group, which in 2009 launched an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria to enforce their own radical interpretation of Shariah law.

Boko Haram has since become stronger, with thousands of fighters and different factions, including the ISIS West Africa Province, which is backed by the ISIS group. Maiduguri city is at the heart of the deadly violence.