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China Calls for Red Sea Attacks on Civilian Ships to End

File photo: The USS Carney shot down 14 drones launched by Houthis on Saturday. Aaron Lau / US Department of Defense/AFP
File photo: The USS Carney shot down 14 drones launched by Houthis on Saturday. Aaron Lau / US Department of Defense/AFP
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China Calls for Red Sea Attacks on Civilian Ships to End

File photo: The USS Carney shot down 14 drones launched by Houthis on Saturday. Aaron Lau / US Department of Defense/AFP
File photo: The USS Carney shot down 14 drones launched by Houthis on Saturday. Aaron Lau / US Department of Defense/AFP

China called for attacks on civilian ships in the Red Sea to end and for safe navigation there, when China Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Yemen counterpart in Beijing on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Wang said China is ready to continue to play a constructive role in the matter, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Yemen’s Houthi group has launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea region since November, later expanding to the Indian Ocean. It has said it will attack any ships sailing towards Israeli ports, even in the Mediterranean Sea.
Its attacks have forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and stoked fears of the Israel-Hamas war spreading and destabilizing the Middle East.
The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in retaliation for their attacks on vessels.

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World

2 Buildings Collapse in Central Istanbul after Gas Explosion

A man feeds seagulls on a rainy and windy day, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Friday, March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A man feeds seagulls on a rainy and windy day, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Friday, March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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2 Buildings Collapse in Central Istanbul after Gas Explosion

A man feeds seagulls on a rainy and windy day, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Friday, March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A man feeds seagulls on a rainy and windy day, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Friday, March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A natural gas explosion in Istanbul’s central Fatih district brought down two buildings on Sunday.

Search and rescue personnel were immediately dispatched to the site of the noon explosion, and determined nine people were caught under the rubble.

Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said they had recovered seven people, who are undergoing treatment in nearby hospitals. State-run news channel TRT reported an eighth has also been recovered and sent to hospital. Rescue operations are still working to find the last person.

TRT reports that none of the survivors is in critical condition.

One of the collapsed buildings was two stories, the other one.

World

Japan Could Consider Hormuz Minesweeping if Ceasefire Reached, Minister Says

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi applauds US President Donald Trump during a dinner at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, March 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi applauds US President Donald Trump during a dinner at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, March 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Japan Could Consider Hormuz Minesweeping if Ceasefire Reached, Minister Says

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi applauds US President Donald Trump during a dinner at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, March 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi applauds US President Donald Trump during a dinner at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, March 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Japan could consider deploying its military for minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil supplies, if a ceasefire is reached in the US-Israeli war on Iran, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Sunday.

"If there were to be a complete ceasefire, hypothetically speaking, then things like minesweeping could come up," Motegi said during a Fuji TV program. "This is purely hypothetical, but if a ceasefire were established ‌and naval ‌mines were creating an obstacle, then I ‌think ⁠that would be ⁠something to consider."

Japan's military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution, but 2015 security legislation allows Japan to use its Self-Defense Forces overseas if an attack, including on a close security partner, threatens Japan's survival and no other means are available to address it.

Tokyo has no ⁠immediate plans to seek arrangements to allow passage ‌through the Strait of ‌Hormuz for stranded Japanese vessels, Motegi said, adding it was "extremely ‌important" to create conditions that allow all ships to ‌navigate through the narrow waterway, the conduit for a fifth of the world's oil shipments.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Japan's Kyodo news agency on Friday that he had spoken to ‌Motegi about potentially letting Japanese-related vessels pass through the strait.

Japan gets around 90% of its ⁠oil shipments ⁠via the strait, which Tehran has largely closed during the war, now in its fourth week. A spike in global oil prices has prompted Japan and other countries to release oil from their reserves.

US President Donald Trump met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday, urging her to "step up" as he presses allies - so far unsuccessfully - to send warships to help open the strait.

Takaichi told reporters after the Washington summit that she had briefed Trump on what support Japan could and could not provide in the strait under its laws.

World

UK Minister Says Trump Speaks for Himself on His Deadline for Iran

British Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed looks on, as he speaks to the press, on the first day of Britain's Labor Party's annual conference, in Liverpool, Britain, September 28, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble Purchase Licensing Rights
British Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed looks on, as he speaks to the press, on the first day of Britain's Labor Party's annual conference, in Liverpool, Britain, September 28, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble Purchase Licensing Rights
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UK Minister Says Trump Speaks for Himself on His Deadline for Iran

British Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed looks on, as he speaks to the press, on the first day of Britain's Labor Party's annual conference, in Liverpool, Britain, September 28, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble Purchase Licensing Rights
British Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed looks on, as he speaks to the press, on the first day of Britain's Labor Party's annual conference, in Liverpool, Britain, September 28, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble Purchase Licensing Rights

British cabinet minister Steve Reed said on Sunday that US President Trump spoke for himself when he threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power ‌plants if Tehran ‌did not ‌fully ⁠reopen the Strait ⁠of Hormuz within 48 hours.

Asked what Britain's position on Trump's deadline was, Housing Secretary ⁠Reed told ‌Sky ‌News: "The US president ‌is perfectly capable of ‌speaking for himself and defending what it is that he's ‌saying."

"We're not going to be dragged ⁠into ⁠the war, but we will protect our own interests in the region. We will work with our allies to de-escalate the situation."