WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration has banned imports of new, foreign-made routers citing supply chain vulnerability and cybersecurity risks. The newest addition to the U.S. “covered list” targets consumer-grade routers, the boxes that connect home computers, phones and smart devices to the internet.
NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks closed out their worst week since the Iran war began and their fifth losing week in a row. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% and is now 8.7% below the all-time high it reached in January. The Dow Jones dropped 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%. Crude oil prices rose again with no clear end in sight for the conflict.
TOKYO (AP) – China says it has protested to Japan over an alleged break-in at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo. An individual who claimed to be a Japan Self-Defense Forces officer scaled the wall and forced his way into the embassy compound on Tuesday morning, Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said in a news conference in Beijing.
ISLAMABAD (AP) – As fears of a wider regional conflict escalate following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that began in late February, Pakistan has emerged as an unexpected mediator, offering to help bring Washington and Tehran to the negotiating table. Islamabad isn’t often called on to act as an intermediary in high-stakes diplomacy.
BANGKOK (AP) – Asian countries are turning to coal as the Iran war disrupts oil and gas shipments. The continent is exposed because it relies on imported fuel, much of it passing through the Strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint for about a fifth of global oil and natural gas trade. LNG is a natural gas cooled to liquid form for easy storage and transport.
The House is considering whether to approve funds to pay Transportation Security Administration agents and most other Homeland Security agencies after the Senate unanimously passed the measure early Friday morning. The deal does not include funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but the package puts no new limits on immigration enforcement.
PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (AP) – It’s been three months since a ceasefire ended bitter border fighting between Cambodia and Thailand, but signs of combat are cut deep in this 11th-century Hindu temple atop a 525-meter (1,722-foot) cliff in the Dangrek Mountains.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities on Tuesday released American academic Dennis Coyle after holding him for over a year, with the Foreign Ministry saying the release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.