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US issues 30-day sanctions waiver for purchase of Russian oil at sea

The United ​States issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea, in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said ‌was a step to stabilise global energy markets roiled by the Iran war. Oil prices eased on Friday morning in Asia after the US waiver announcement, which, according to Russia's presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, would affect 100 million barrels of Russian crude, equal to almost a day's worth of global output. The move, the second significant rollback of Ukraine war-related US sanctions in just over one week, was the latest attempt by President Donald Trump's administration to tame energy prices after the US ​and Israeli strikes on Iran paralysed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The 32-nation International Energy Agency said on Thursday that the war in the Middle East was creating the biggest oil ​supply disruption in history. Waiver runs till April 11 The licence issued by Washington on T...
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Japan to join Trump's 'Golden Dome' project, expects missile requests

Japan will inform the US next week that it intends to join the "Golden Dome" missile defence initiative and expects that Washington may seek its help with missile production due to the Middle East war and other conflicts, two sources said. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will announce the latest plan when she meets US President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. at a leaders' summit on March 19, the Japanese government sources said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. Trump's Golden Dome project, announced last year with an ambitious 2028 timeline, envisions expanding existing ground‑based defences such as interceptor missiles with more experimental space‑based elements, meant to detect, track and potentially counter incoming threats from orbit. But the project has made little visible progress so far. Details of how Japan will participate also remain unclear. The Yomiuri newspaper, which first reported Japan's plans on Friday, said Tokyo hoped the initiative could be used to defend the country against new hypersonic glide weapons being developed by China and Russia. Read: NATO-partner Serbia admits buying Chinese missiles after photos leaked Tokyo anticipates that Trump may request Japan to produce or co-develop missiles that could help replace stocks of US munitions depleted by the US-Israeli war on Iran, as well as its support for Ukraine, the sources said. It is still considering how to respond to any such request, they added. Japan exported a batch of surface-to-air Patriot missiles built under license to the United States late last year, marking a historic break from its long-standing ban on lethal weapons exports. The Trump administration is pushing defence contractors to step up production of missiles and other munitions that have been drawn down in recent years. Tokyo is seeking to bolster its own munitions reserves to deter an increasingly assertive China and nuclear-armed North Korea. Patriot interceptors have been critical in intercepting hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones fired at Gulf countries since the US and Israel launched their air war against Iran earlier this month. Ukraine has also relied on Patriots to defend its energy and military infrastructure since Russia invaded it in 2022.

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