Beijing (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - China began the first of its 'Two Sessions' meetings on Wednesday, a grand political theatre during which it will outline its annual growth target and defence budget, as well as its roadmap for the next five years.
Washington, United States (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - The US Senate on Wednesday rejected a resolution aimed at curbing President Donald Trump's authority to continue military strikes on Iran, in a narrow congressional show of support for a conflict launched without explicit approval from lawmakers.
Beijing (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - Chinese shipping giant Cosco, which operates one of the world's biggest oil tanker fleets, announced it was suspending services to and from Gulf countries from Wednesday, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait.
Tehran (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - Iran said on Wednesday it was trying to swiftly appoint a new supreme leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes on the weekend.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - Saudi Arabia intercepted a drone attack in targeting its massive Ras Tanura refinery, the defence ministry said Wednesday, following an earlier hit on the complex along its Gulf coast this week.
Yangon, Myanmar (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - Snaking queues of vehicles waited in Myanmar for shrivelling petrol supplies on Wednesday, with some gas stations shuttered as fuel stocks dried up due to the war in the Middle East.
Walldorf, Germany (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - Europe should focus on competing in industrial AI, a top executive at German software giant SAP said, as the continent plays catch-up in the race for the cutting-edge technology against the United States and China.
Geneva (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - Suspected widespread use of AI to select targets and launch attacks on Iran raises many questions, and fears that human control of war machinery could be slipping, a leading expert said Wednesday.
Erbil, Iraq Mar 4, 2026 - An Iranian Kurd group exiled in Iraq told AFP an Iranian strike on its fighters killed a member of its ranks, as the Middle East war raged across multiple fronts.
Hong Kong (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - Stock markets across Asia were pummelled Wednesday as investors began panic-selling on fears the Israel-US war on Iran will fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
Washington, United States (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - President Donald Trump and his team scrambled Tuesday to reclaim the narrative on why he decided to attack Iran, after his top diplomat suggested the US struck only after learning of an imminent Israeli strike.
Kinshasa (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - The death toll from a landslide at a mining site in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has passed 200, the government said Wednesday.
Saint-Cloud, France (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - France's Dassault Aviation on Wednesday accused Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain in the multibillion-euro FCAS warplane programme, of seeking to sabotage the project.
Colombo (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - Nearly 150 people were missing and several dead after an Iranian warship sank Wednesday off Sri Lanka following what crew members reported as an explosion, officials said.
London (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - British police on Wednesday arrested three men on suspicion of spying for China, including the husband of a lawmaker from Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ruling Labour party.
Kinshasa (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 - An armed attack on the headquarters of Upemba National Park in southeastern DR Congo has killed five staff members, the state-run body that manages it said Wednesday.
