The Trump administration on Friday said that it is “80-85 per cent” confident of signing the peace agreement with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war in the Middle East. “We do expect to be signing this agreement over the next few days … if I were to give you a confidence that we were going to be signing this agreement, I maybe would have said 75 per cent this morning; it’s probably more like 80-85 per cent now, but it’s not 100 per cent,” a senior administration official...

The Trump administration on Friday said that it is “80-85 per cent” confident of signing the peace agreement with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war in the Middle East. “We do expect to be signing this agreement over the next few days … if I were to give you a confidence that we were going to be signing this agreement, I maybe would have said 75 per cent this morning; it’s probably more like 80-85 per cent now, but it’s not 100 per cent,” a senior administration official...

India on Friday summoned a senior US diplomat for the second time in three days, after missile strikes on commercial vessels killed three of its nationals and forced the rescue of dozens of crew members off the coast of Oman. New Delhi called in US charge d’affaires Jason Meeks again on Friday, following a previous summoning on Wednesday, to lodge a “strong protest” over the attacks – rare diplomatic steps against its strategic partner in recent years. “Such actions are unacceptable and...

Republican Congressman Rob Wittman on Thursday called the US killing of three Indian sailors off the coast of Oman “a very, very unfortunate incident”, claiming that the US military is trying to “determine exactly what happened”. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to those Indian families who lost their loved ones there in that situation,” Wittman told the South China Morning Post. “I know that our United States military is looking into that to try to determine exactly what happened there, but...

The US Court of International Trade is pressing the Trump administration to speed up tariff refunds of billions of dollars to thousands of importers, following a partial roll-out after the US Supreme Court struck down its global tariffs in February. “The time has come to refund all the duties,” said Judge Richard Eaton on Tuesday, adding that the delay is leading to a “growing inequity” between big importers and small businesses. The judge did not issue any new order but noted that the...

On a state visit to China last month, US President Donald Trump shocked his political base with a series of rhetorical concessions. In an interview, he warmly endorsed Chinese students studying in America, supported China-linked acquisition of US farmland, and dismissed concerns over state espionage as a routine, two-way reality. It was not the first time Trump’s softer stance on China clashed with his own administration’s hardline approach. Even before the summit, he repeatedly suggested...

China and North Korea have pledged to strengthen strategic cooperation and defend each other’s sovereignty, according to a North Korean state media report covering Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day visit to Pyongyang. The two leaders vowed to “open a new chapter” in bilateral ties and expand exchanges and cooperation in political, economic, cultural and other fields, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Tuesday. It quoted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as saying that...