Author: Daily Sabah With Reuters

British stocks closed lower on Friday on continued worries about the economic impact of U.S. tariff policy, while a shutdown of Heathrow Airport pressured travel stocks. The blue-chip FTSE 100 was down 0.6%. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index declined 0.9%. Despite the day’s losses, the blue-chip index rose 0.3% this week. The mid-cap index snapped four weeks of losses, rising 0.5%. Meanwhile, Britain’s Heathrow said it had begun the process of reopening, after a fire knocked out its power supply and shut Europe’s busiest airport for the day. The shutdown weighed on airline and travel stocks globally, though stocks pared…

Ukraine does not consider a U.N. mission an alternative to the deployment of a contingent of foreign troops or security guarantees to end the war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday. “With all due respect, the U.N. will not protect us from the occupation or Putin’s desire to come back,” Zelensky said at a joint press conference with Czech President Petr Pavel in Kyiv.

Europe’s biggest military powers are drawing up plans to take on greater responsibilities for the continent’s defence from the U.S., including a pitch to the Trump administration for a managed transfer over the next five to 10 years, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The UK, France, Germany and the Nordics are among the countries engaged in the informal but structured discussions, the newspaper reported, citing four European officials involved.

Europe’s biggest military powers are drawing up plans to take on greater responsibilities for the continent’s defence from the U.S., including a pitch to the Trump administration for a managed transfer over the next five to 10 years, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The UK, France, Germany and the Nordics are among the countries engaged in the informal but structured discussions, the newspaper reported, citing four European officials involved.

Billionaire Elon Musk took his campaign to cut the U.S. federal government into uncharted waters on Friday, holding an unprecedented top-level meeting at the Pentagon and calling for the prosecution of any Defense Department officials leaking “maliciously false information” about his visit. Musk, whose businesses have a number of Defense Department contracts, met U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for 80 minutes in his first such talks at the Pentagon, which is responsible for a large chunk of federal government spending. It was unclear whether U.S. generals joined that meeting virtually. The New York Times reported that Musk would be briefed…

The founder of a cryptocurrency financial services firm pleaded guilty on Friday to U.S. charges that he participated in a wide-ranging scheme to manipulate the market for digital tokens on behalf of client companies. Aleksei Andriunin, the founder and CEO of cryptocurrency “market maker” Gotbit, and his company entered guilty pleas in federal court in Boston to charges that they conspired to commit market manipulation and committed wire fraud. The pleas by the Russian national and his company came less than a month after Andriunin, 26, was extradited from Portugal, where he had been residing at the time of his…

The United Nations said on Thursday that each day of renewed violence in Gaza makes the return of the remaining hostages held there a more distant objective. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East Khaled Khiari said the return to hostilities threatens all civilians, including hostages, of whom 24 are thought still to be alive. “With every passing day, we move further away from the objective of returning the remaining hostages safely to their homes,” Khiari told a U.N. Security Council briefing. At least 91 more Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, in addition…

The next round of U.S.-Russia talks will take place on March 24 in the Saudi capital Riyadh and at an expert level, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday. The Russian delegation will be led by Grigory Karasin, the head of the international affairs committee in Russia’s upper house of parliament, and Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the head of Russia’s FSB security service, Ushakov said in a statement.

The United States and Israel will hold strategic talks on Iran’s nuclear program at the White House next week, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two Israeli officials and one U.S. official. Israeli strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi will be part of Israel’s delegation, according to Axios.

European Union leaders will commit on Thursday to do more to make the bloc more competitive with more military muscle in the face of U.S. tariffs and other economic challenges, and doubts over Washington’s future backing in defence. All leaders, except Hungary’s Viktor Orban, are also expected to re-affirm their financial and military support to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose video-link address will start the summit. The 26 EU leaders are expected to agree a text which commits to uphold Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and urges Russia to “show real political will to end the war”. The summit…