U.S. foreign policy has stalled in key regions as the Biden administration focuses on China as its paramount threat. It's allowed Beijing to present itself as a superior alternative as it seeks to become the top global superpower, according to experts. 

"I think the U.S. policy has been one of paralysis," Dr. Michael Pillsbury, senior fellow of the Heritage Foundation for Change of Strategy and author of "The Hundred Year Marathon," told Fox News Digital. "Not backing off, but it's just very little is actually happening other than the military support of the Ukrainian resistance to Putin's invasion and various other fronts.

"I don't see any new Biden doctrine, do you? I don't see a new foreign policy," he added. "They attack the Trump administration more than they put forward their own ideas."

The State Department told Fox News Digital the Biden-Harris administration has "a clear strategy" for the Middle East and Africa, two regions of intense interest for both China and Russia as the competition for energy resources pushes more diverse investment from world superpowers.

SAUDI ARABIA GROWS CLOSER TO BEIJING WITH STEP TOWARD MEMBERSHIP IN CHINA-LED SECURITY BLOC

A State Department spokesperson cited several policy gains in the Middle East, such as a truce in Yemen, a "historic agreement" to establish a maritime boundary between Israel and Lebanon and "strengthened Gulf regional security discussions," noting that some of the work "expanded the Abraham Accords."

But, following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the failure to close the deal on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, China has stepped in and scored some major policy wins while also supplanting the U.S. as the major source of support in those areas. 

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Rebekah Koffler, president of Doctrine & Strategy Consulting and a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer, told Fox News Digital the intelligence community believes China’s main goal is to become the dominant superpower on the planet, with a timeline that would see it overtake the U.S. militarily and economically by 2049.

"They’re marching steadily into that direction," Koffler said. "Now, obviously, it's not something that's going to happen right away. But they are well on track to have to do that because in certain areas they already are holding advantage."

"They want control, supply chain routes … they’re standing up the alternative financial architecture, alternative energy," she added. "They want to replace the dollar with the yuan, and they're getting on board all these other countries, not just Russia and Iran, but also looking to Saudi Arabia and India." 

China in January cut a deal with the Taliban to allow Beijing to extract oil from Afghanistan, providing significant funds to a country that struggled with a brittle economy since the major switch in power in 2021. 

Beijing also secured a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia — longtime regional rivals — that has led to both countries committing to resume diplomatic operations, including the reopening of embassies in their respective capitals. 

Biden referred to the latter as a "pariah" during his 2020 campaign but appeared to renege and visited Riyadh to try and deal with them anew, enjoying a very mixed reception in the process. That ambiguity — trying to admonish countries for their crimes and human rights issues while also trying to engage with them diplomatically — has resulted in a seemingly mixed policy in the region. 

WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS TAIWANESE PRESIDENT VISIT TO US AMID CHINA THREAT

"The withdrawal from the JCPOA brought us much closer to Saudi and to our other Gulf partners that were enormously concerned about that deal and gave clarity to them that the United States, under President Trump, was not going to … legitimize [Iran]," Victoria Coates, senior research fellow at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, explained. 

"I think what you've seen from the Biden administration is the mirror opposite of that," Coates, former National Security Council official for the Trump administration, added. 

Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant Secretary of State under President Obama, argued that a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran was "good for everybody" since it decreased tensions in the region, particularly through proxy wars in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. But he questioned China’s broader ability to secure peace deals. 

"They didn't create this one," Rubin said. "[China] did leverage what was done for several years what we and others led in Iraq, in particular: There were a lot of discussions in Iraq for a couple of years between the Iranians and the Saudis." 

WHITE HOUSE CONDEMNS WSJ REPORTER'S ARREST IN RUSSIA

Rubin pointed to Ukraine’s unwillingness to deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping concerning a deal with Russia, calling it a significant failure for the "Chi-ssia" relationship if Xi can’t help Russian President Vladimir Putin broker a deal to end the Ukraine war.

"[Xi] talks to Putin all the time, but he's actually not doing anything on peace negotiation," Rubin said. 

Instead, he argued that the U.S. has essentially increased its focus on China, trying to "box in" Beijing with stronger regional alliances and investment in the region, particularly with Japan, which doubled its military spending, and arming Australia with nuclear submarines. 

"It’s not like we're just sitting back and doing nothing," Rubin concluded. "This is all American diplomacy, recognizing an interest in Russia and China."

WORLD CHAOS STARTED WITH BIDEN'S AFGHANISTAN DEBACLE: REP. MIKE WALTZ

Pillsbury similarly rejected the notion that the U.S. has "slipped" in the Middle East and instead has focused more heavily on China as it prepares for a new Cold War, even if it is to the detriment of progress in those other regions. 

"When [China] sees an American foreign policy blunder, even if it’s something relatively minor … they echo and amplify any kind of American mistake or indecision as part of a long-term campaign to disqualify America from global leadership," Pillsbury explained. 

Coates argued that the shift in policy to focus more fully on China is "real, but also short-sighted." 

"We have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time," she argued. "The Saudi, Iran, China deal shows you that we can decide we're going to focus on the Pacific and just look at the China problem set, and then China pops up in the Middle East in our traditional sphere of influence.

"You could call it a symbiotic or parasitic relationship between China and Russia, [but] those problem sets are now emerging, and the ability to disaggregate between a China threat and Russia threat, well, those may be becoming one and the same," Coates added. 

"So you can try to pivot to Asia, but that doesn't mean the Middle East is not going to pivot back toward you. We do not have the luxury of just being a Pacific power."

Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga has led thousands of protesters in a third round of anti-government demonstrations on Thursday as the government warned that no more violent protests would be tolerated.

The opposition is blaming President William Ruto for the rising cost of living and alleges he illegally manipulated his election in last year’s polls, although the Supreme Court has upheld the validity of the election results.

Odinga says the protests will only stop after the government lowers the cost of basic food items and allows access to the 2022 election results from the electoral commission's main computers.

ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS BREAK OUT IN KENYA DESPITE GOVERNMENT'S DECLARATION THAT PROTESTS ARE ILLEGAL

Ruto, who on Thursday arrived back in the country from a four-day trip in Belgium and Germany, has remained adamant that the ongoing protests are illegal.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, who is in charge of the police, on Wednesday said no more violent protests would be tolerated, stating "we must halt the descent."

U.S. Senator Chris Coons on Wednesday met Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for what the Kenyan leader described as "strengthening ties."

Coons also met opposition leader Odinga for talks about "upholding the constitution and the rule of law," according to the Kenyan politician.

Police have been using force to disperse protesters and so far four people are reported to have died since the protests started last week.

Odinga said the protests will be held twice every week until the opposition’s demands are met. A governor from Odinga’s stronghold of Kisumu county had banned protests in the area but quickly rescinded and local government officials joined in Thursday’s demonstrations.

The protests have sparked counter violence against opposition targets. Last Monday saw the destruction of private property at former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family farm outside the capital, Odinga’s gas cylinder manufacturing firm near the central business district and the burning of shops in Odinga’s stronghold of Kibera slums.

The independent Policing Oversight Authority is investigating four incidents of police shooting and killing protesters as well allegations that police failed to respond to a report on the damaging of private property. The authority has urged police to abide by the law while protecting life and property.

KENYA'S PRESIDENT CRITICIZES SUPREME COURT RULING ALLOWING ACTIVIST TO REGISTER AN LGBTQ RIGHTS ORGANIZATION

Civil society groups that include Amnesty Kenya and the Kenya Human Rights Commission have expressed concern over the abuse of human rights by the police during the protests and urged police to uphold their service to humanity.

The African Union has called for calm and dialogue among stakeholders recalling a "successful conduct of the general elections and confirmation of the outcome by the Supreme Court."

Western diplomatic missions in Kenya expressed concern over the violence and damage to places of worship and private property.

The Media Council of Kenya said that journalists have been attacked in the demonstrations and said it would work closely with the police to ensure perpetrators face the law.

Britain's police watchdog asked prosecutors Thursday to decide whether to charge a police officer over the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man in London last year.

Chris Kaba died after an officer fired a single gunshot through the windshield of the car the 24-year-old was driving in a residential area of south London on Sept. 5.

Officials said at an inquest last year that the Audi was believed to be linked to a firearms incident that took place the previous day. The vehicle's registration number had been entered into a database for automatic camera recognition, although Kaba's name was not included in an officer briefing.

Kaba's family has accused London's Metropolitan Police of racism and called for the officer to be charged.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said Thursday it has completed a homicide investigation into Kaba's death and passed on a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service.

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The watchdog's director, Amanda Rowe, said it was up to prosecutors to decide whether or not to charge the officer, who was suspended from duty while under investigation.

Kaba's family welcomed the move and said they hoped "the truth will emerge, without delay, through criminal proceedings."

"Our family and community cannot continue waiting for answers," the family said in a statement.

Kaba was expecting a child when police pursued and blocked the Audi, according to information from the inquest. An officer who got out stood in front of Kaba's car and fired through the windshield, striking him in the head. He died in the hospital soon after.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Kaba's death prompted "anger, pain and fear" and a desire for change and justice across the capital, especially among Black Londoners.

The shooting came amid intense scrutiny of the Metropolitan Police.

In 2021, an officer on Britain's biggest police force pleaded guilty to raping, kidnapping and bearing responsibility for the death of a 33-year-old woman who disappeared while walking home from visiting a friend.

Another Met officer, who worked in the same parliamentary and diplomatic protection unit, pleaded guilty in January to committing dozens of rapes between 2003 and 2020. The police department has been embroiled in other matters involving its treatment of women and minorities.

Earlier this month, an independent review found the London force had lost public confidence because of deep-seated racism, misogyny and homophobia.

Cyprus’ Interior Ministry said Thursday 76 Afghans and Syrians seeking international protection have been relocated to France under a European Union program to ease the burden on Mediterranean countries receiving large numbers of migrants.

CYPRUS TO CRACK DOWN ON FAN VIOLENCE AT SPORTING EVENTS

The ministry said in a statement the relocation is one of several planned in coming months. A total 210 people have been relocated to other EU countries, including Germany, Bulgaria and Romania, in the three months since such transfers began.

The ministry said the program "constitutes tangible support and solidarity for Cyprus which is first in the EU in the number of individuals applying for international protection relative to its population."

PRESIDENT OF CYPRUS SETS DEFENSE SPENDING GOAL AT 2% OF GDP

Some 21 European countries signed a declaration in June 2022 on the voluntary solidarity program to help Mediterranean member states through relocating asylum seekers or recognized refugees or through financial contributions.

Separately, Cyprus has repatriated so far this year some 2,000 people who had their asylum applications rejected.

Egypt’s Central Bank said it raised interest rates on Thursday as the embattled Middle Eastern country continues to battle surging inflation and a depreciating currency.

In an online statement, the bank’s monetary policy committee said the most basic lending rate, the overnight deposit rate, has increased from 16.25% to 18.25%.

The hike aims to ease spiraling inflation, with the annual figure reaching 32.9% in February, up from 26.5% in January.

ANNUAL INFLATION RATE IN EGYPT REACHES NEW HIGH AS CURRENCY SURGES

Nearly a third of Egyptians live in poverty, according to official figures, and are struggling to keep up with rising prices, which have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. The prices of basic items such as grains, meat, poultry, fish and fruit, have risen drastically over recent months.

Since the outbreak of the war in Europe, the Egyptian pound has lost more than 50% of its value against the dollar.

EGYPT CONTINUES TO BATTLE INFLATION AS ITS CURRENCY LOSES VALUE

The currency slide accelerated after Egypt first announced it had reached a $3 billion bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund last October. In exchange, Egypt's Central Bank agreed to implement several economic reforms, including a shift to a flexible exchange rate.

To alleviate the hardship, Egypt's government has set up markets selling basic goods for cheaper prices and increased public servants’ pay.

Earlier this month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi announced that government employees would receive pay increases of 1,000 Egyptian pounds a month, about $34.

Egypt last raised its interest rates in December.

U.S. troops diagnosed with traumatic brain injury were being treated at their bases following attacks in Syria last week by Iranian-backed militants, officials said Thursday. 

Pentagon spokesman Brig. General Patrick Ryder said four service members suffered traumatic brain injuries at a U.S. base near Hasaka during a March 23 drone attack. Two others suffered injuries at the mission support site Green Village during an attack on March 24.

They were all in stable condition, he said. 

US BASE IN SYRIA ATTACKED BY IRANIAN PROXY FORCES AFTER RETALIATORY AIRSTRIKES

"All personnel in the vicinity of a blast are screened for traumatic brain injury. So these additional injuries were identified during post-attack medical screenings," Ryder said during a news briefing, according to Reuters.

The Pentagon estimated eight militants were also killed during retaliatory U.S. air strikes against two Iran-linked facilities in Syria.

Last week, President Biden warned Iran that the U.S. would act forcefully to protect American lives. Currently, U.S. troops are in Syria battling the remaining elements of the Islamic State. 

"Again, we do not seek conflict with Iran but we will always protect our people," Ryder said. 

Meanwhile, Iran has accused the U.S. of targeting civilian sites. 

Air strikes by Myanmar’s military on a village in the country’s northwest on Thursday killed at least eight civilians, including two children, according to members of a rebel ethnic minority group and independent media reports.

The attack on Khuafo village, just north of Thantlang, a major town in Chin state near the Indian border, also wounded 20 people, they said. It came three days after Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s ruling military council, said in a speech for Armed Forces Day that the military needs to take decisive action against the forces challenging its control.

The country’s independent online media reported the aerial bombardment, but there were no immediate reports about it in the state-controlled media.

MYANMAR AIR STRIKE DESTROYS 2 VILLAGES INHABITED BY ETHNIC REBEL FORCES, KILLS 5

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew the elected government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.

The pro-democracy resistance that arose allied itself with several ethnic minorities, including the Chin, that have been carrying out an armed struggle for decades seeking greater autonomy. The military has sought to suppress such opposition with air and artillery strikes, with civilians often the victims. More than 1 million people have been displaced by the army’s offensives since the takeover.

Salai Htet Ni, a spokesperson for the Chin National Front, an ethnic rebel group closely linked to the pro-democracy movement, said two jet fighters dropped four bombs on Khuafo village, about 3 miles north of Thantlang, killing a group of civilians, including two children.

Many of the more than 60 houses in the village were destroyed by fire, he said.

Another member of the group who is staying at its camp in Thantlang said a Mi-35 helicopter fired a machine gun at the village as the jet fighters were dropping bombs. According to a list of the dead he received, five were female and three male, and they ranged in age from 6 to 40. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals from the military.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an exile group that monitors human rights in Myanmar, at least 3,182 civilians have been killed by the security forces since the army seized power.

In January, military planes bombed the headquarters of the Chin National Front in Thantlang, killing five members of its armed wing, the Chin National Army, and damaging a clinic and other buildings.

There is currently no active fighting near Thantlang between the resistance forces and the army. More than 10,000 residents of Thantlang fled the town when intense fighting took place in late 2021, some staying temporarily in nearby villages including Khuafo and others seeking shelter across the border in Mizoram, India.

The resistance forces in Myanmar have been able to prevent the military from taking firm control of large areas of the country, but have a great disadvantage in weapons, particularly in countering air attacks.

Supporters of the resistance advocate banning or limiting the sale of aviation fuel to Myanmar to cripple the military’s advantage in air power. Many Western nations already have imposed arms embargoes on the military government, and in the past week the United States and Britain have enacted new sanctions targeting individuals and companies involved in supplying jet fuel to Myanmar.

MYANMAR'S MILITARY GOVERNMENT ACCUSES REBEL FORCES OF SHOOTING AT PASSENGER PLANE

On Wednesday, the military government took another major step in its ongoing campaign to cripple its political opponents, dissolving dozens of opposition parties including that of ousted leader Suu Kyi for not meeting a registration deadline ahead of a promised election.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, one of 40 parties ordered dissolved by the military-appointed election commission, had already announced that it would not register, denouncing the polls as a sham.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned" by reports of the dissolution of the parties.

"Any attempts to undermine democratic institutions and processes will only deepen the crisis and delay the return to a fully democratic and inclusive Myanmar," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

The U.N. chief "renews his call on neighboring countries and other member states to urge the military leadership to adhere to inclusive political processes" and reiterates his call for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners including Suu Kyi, Dujarric said.

An incredible image distributed by British prosecutors captures a moment of embarrassment as a police officer fails to catch a criminal less than a foot away from him.

Etmond Lika, 32, was wanted by police in connection to the production of cannabis, a controlled Class B drug in the United Kingdom. 

But police had a tricky time catching him, with the photo showing an officer searching outside a skylight in Liverpool while Lika lay on the roof just above the officer’s head. 

Local police did eventually capture him, and he was prosecuted for his crimes. The court sentenced Lika for two years and four months, the Crown Prosecution Service told Fox News Digital. 

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British police have a habit of allowing their blunders to end up as headlines, such as the 2017 case in which police in Cumbria found a suspicious vehicle outside their department and had the bomb squad blow it up.

The officers soon learned that the car belonged to a man who had fallen ill and gone to hospital, and police had parked his car outside their offices for safekeeping – but had forgotten to tell the rest of the squad, the BBC reported. 

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Another explosive incident for the police occurred when a police squad donated knives collected in a nationwide cleanup to an artist to create a "knife angel" sculpture, but accidentally included two bags of explosives in the donation.

The force responsible for the blunder never identified itself. 

UK SCIENTISTS FIND ONE OF THE LARGEST BLACK HOLES EVER DISCOVERED

Police force errors extended even to investigations and procedures, such as when Scottish police executed the wrong warrant, seeking out a drug dealer on suspicion of having an offensive weapon when they meant to arrest him on suspicion of intent to supply heroin and "street valium." 

The suspect went free on the drug charges, though he did face trial for breaching conditions of bail, the Greenock Telegraph reported. 

And Cambridgeshire police once spent considerable time and effort searching for a 57-year-old Lithuanian man by the name of Vytautas Jokubauskas, only to realize they had used the photo for a 50-year-old Vytautas Jokubauskus who had never set foot in the U.K. 

Former right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro returned to his home country Thursday after staying in Florida for three months following his election loss to leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro landed at the Brasília airport where hundreds of supporters had gathered to meet the former president. 

Those hoping to catch a glimpse of Bolsonaro were disappointed though after he left out of a back door and headed straight to his Liberal Party's headquarters, where he was again met by supporters.

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Despite the excitement from some for his return to Brazil, the turnout was apparently smaller than police had anticipated, and Lula’s office called his return a "flop," reported Reuters.

Bolsonaro, who never formally conceded the election, hit the ground running in his opposition to Lula’s administration.

After heading to the party’s headquarters, he gave an address in which he took aim at the administration. According to the BBC, he said, "Those people who are in power now won't be able to just do what they like."

BRAZIL RIOTS LEAVE BEHIND TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION, INCLUDING DECAPITATED SCULPTURES, URINE-SOAKED CARPETS

Bolsonaro told CNN ahead of his departure from Florida that he had no plans to lead an opposition campaign against Lula and his administration, though reports have suggested his political party is pushing him to do so.

The former president is also under investigation for whether he was responsible for inciting an insurrection after rioters stormed the capital on Jan. 8 in what was an eerie mirror to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack in the U.S.

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Bolsonaro has denied any responsibility for the riots, though critics have pointed to his questioning of the validity of the election’s results as motivation behind the attacks.

The former president has been summoned to testify for the investigation in less than a week, reported the BBC.

A drug dealer was convicted Thursday of killing a 9-year-old girl in the English city of Liverpool when he fired at a man who was trying to push his way into her house to escape the gunman.

Thomas Cashman, 34, was found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court in the fatal shooting of Olivia Pratt-Korbel on Aug. 22, 2022, as her mother tried to prevent the intended victim from barging into their home. He will be sentenced on Monday.

Cashman admitted to being a "high-level" cannabis dealer but denied being the gunman. Olivia’s mother, Cheryl Korbel, and the target of the attack, Joseph Nee, were also injured in the shooting.

UK POLICE ARREST TWO MEN IN CONNECTION WITH MURDER OF 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL, RELEASE THEM ON BAIL

"Thomas Cashman is a ruthless criminal who recklessly pursued another man, with no consideration of the consequences," prosecutor Maria Corr said after the verdict. "He refused to display any guilt or remorse, denying his involvement throughout and putting Olivia’s family through the torment of a lengthy trial."

The case has shaken the city of Liverpool, a city of almost 500,000 people in northwestern England, amid concerns about increasing violence linked to drug trafficking. Police put out repeated appeals for anyone with information about the shooting to come forward anonymously as authorities sought to shield witnesses from possible retribution.

LIVERPOOL POLICE HUNT FOR GUNMAN WHO FATALLY SHOT 9-YEAR-OLD CHILD

Hundreds attended Olivia’s funeral, with mourners pairing black outfits with pink jackets, ties and ribbons to honor the girl with her favorite color.

Authorities said the tragedy began when Cashman tried to kill Nee over a drug debt. As Nee tried to escape by forcing his way into the Korbel home, Cheryl Korbel barred the door but the gunman fired indiscriminately, with one bullet passing through the mother’s hand and killing Olivia.

Senegal's top opposition leader has been given a two-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of libel.

Ousmane Sonko on Thursday was convicted of spreading false statements and will also have to pay about $330,000 to Minister of Tourism Mame Mbaye Niang, who accused the politician of defamation and public insults.

"This is a historic day for Senegal. Many had said that the trial would not take place, but it did. This is a victory," the Cabinet minister's lawyer El-hadji Diouf told reporters in Senegal's capital, Dakar.

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The case stems from accusations that Sonko, 48, made against the tourism minister during a news conference late last year. He had alleged the minister stole $47 million from a government agency.

Security was tight around the courtroom Thursday, as small groups of people gathered in support of Sonko. Sonko was not present at the hearing. His lawyers had requested to postpone the trial, saying that Sonko was sick from tear gas fired earlier this month.

Sonko's party called the verdict unjust.

"The verdict is abnormal ... they decided to force it but they know that it’s not normal," El Malick Ndiaye, national secretary in charge of communication for Sonko's Pastef Les Patriotes party, told The Associated Press. Ndiaye said he was not sure if Sonko would appeal the verdict and said that Sonko was meeting with his lawyers to discuss options.

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Sonko’s supporters see the charges against him as the latest attempt to cut short his political career, including his likely presidential candidacy in 2024. Sonko finished third in Senegal’s 2019 presidential election and has called on President Macky Sall to declare publicly that he won’t seek a third term.

The ruling party says Sall should be allowed to run after a constitutional change in 2016 — made while Sall was president — which changed presidential terms to five years.

Along with the defamation trial, Sonko also faces rape charges based on accusations from a female employee who said she was assaulted by him at a massage salon. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and would be barred from running for president. No date is set for the that trial.

Thursday's conviction won't impact Sonko's ability to run for president, as defamation is not included in the electoral code as one of the reasons that would bar someone from running.

Greece’s defense minister announced Thursday that he will travel to neighboring Turkey next week as part of an effort to ease tension between the two NATO members, which have long-standing and often volatile disputes.

Nikos Panagiotopoulos told reporters in Athens that he would visit areas devastated by earthquakes in early February with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.

An outpouring of support from Greece to help its neighbor last month has led to a de-escalation in disputes centered around boundaries and drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

"My counterpart suggested that I visit the earthquake-affected areas ... The aim is to send a symbolic message," Panagiotopoulos said in an interview with Greek private television station Mega.

TURKEY HIT BY ANOTHER 6.4 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE, LEAVING AT LEAST THREE DEAD

"A de-escalation of tension in the bilateral relations between Greece and Turkey is now evident. It is our country’s wish for this de-escalation to acquire permanent characteristics."

In the wake of the earthquakes, Greece and Turkey have resumed high-level meetings, including talks attended by senior diplomats on the so-called positive agenda initiative, aimed at boosting trade and other cooperation in areas unrelated to the disputes.

The devastating Feb. 6 quake in southern Turkey killed around 50,000 people in the country and neighboring Syria.

Panagiotopoulos will visit Turkey on Tuesday and travel to the southern Hatay province, one of the hardest areas hit by the earthquakes, Turkish officials said.

China spoke out in favor of nuclear disarmament Thursday in a Foreign Ministry press conference, counter-signaling the U.S. assessment of its expanding nuclear programs.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning touched on the topic Thursday after being asked about the steep increase in China's nuclear arsenal.

"As a principle, China follows a policy of 'no first use' of nuclear weapons. We advocate for the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons and actively engage in talks and communications over arms control," Mao said.

RUSSIAN ENERGY FIRM HELPING CHINA'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM IS 'DIRECT THREAT' TO US, GOP WARNS

Mao shifted the focus to the U.S., suggesting the superpower should take the first steps in reducing the global nuclear arsenal.

"The U.S., with the most powerful nuclear arsenal in the world, should take the lead in fulfilling its nuclear disarmament obligations," Mao concluded.

RUSSIA HOLDS NUCLEAR MISSILE FORCES DRILLS IN SIBERIA TO PRACTICE SECRET DEPLOYMENT

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence claimed in its 2023 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community that China is bolstering its nuclear capabilities for international leverage in case of a first strike.

"China is reorienting its nuclear posture for strategic rivalry with the United States because its leaders have concluded that their current capabilities are insufficient," the ODNI wrote in its report. "Beijing worries that bilateral tension, U.S. nuclear modernization, and the PLA’s advancing conventional capabilities have increased the likelihood of a U.S. first strike."

UKRAINE CALLS FOR EMERGENCY UN MEETING OVER PUTIN’S ‘NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL’ IN BELARUS

China is reportedly building hundreds of new ICBM silos within its borders.

"Beijing is not interested in agreements that restrict its plans and will not agree to negotiations that lock in U.S. or Russian advantages. Beijing’s heightened confidence in its nuclear deterrent is likely to bolster its resolve and intensify conventional conflicts," the ODNI concluded.

Romania’s navy led multinational military drills in the Black Sea region Thursday that brought together U.S. and NATO troops as the 30-nation alliance looks to boost security on its southeastern flank amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

The sea and air exercises are part of a series of drills known as Sea Shield 2023 that involve some 3,400 military personnel from 12 NATO member countries and some partner nations.

Romania’s navy said Thursday’s drills in the Mahmudia region of the Danube Delta, which flows into the Black Sea, would demonstrate how the combined forces would "neutralize an enemy air landing" in an area adjacent to such a waterway.

More than 30 naval ships, 14 aircraft and 15 "fast intervention" boats and other patrol vessels are taking part in Sea Shield 2023, which started March 20 and runs until April 2. Anti-explosive divers have participated in drills, as have chemical, biological, and nuclear defense specialists.

NATO CHIEF SAYS UKRAINE WILL 'BECOME A MEMBER OF OUR ALLIANCE' IN THE 'LONG TERM'

In response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, NATO bolstered its presence on Europe’s eastern flank by sending additional multinational battlegroups to alliance members Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.

Romania, which joined NATO in 2004, has played an increasingly large role in the alliance throughout the war, including hosting a NATO meeting of foreign ministers in November.

Last month, U.S. and French troops that are part of a NATO battlegroup in Romania held joint combat drills at the Black Sea training range in Capu Midia. The drills involved some 350 battlegroup troops who practiced firing live ammunition from a U.S.-made multiple rocket launcher. Ukraine's military has used the HIMARS system in the fight against Russia.

Three major jolts in as many years coupled with the once unthinkable possibility of a power grid collapse have spooked reinsurers in South Africa, spelling an end to cheap coverage in the continent's most developed insurance market.

Insurance premiums are climbing worldwide on the back of rising inflation and interest rate hikes. But reinsurance rates in South Africa are outstripping the global trend - in some cases tripling - as insurers grapple with an unprecedented claims load, six industry executives told Reuters.

That's largely down to heavy payouts for business interruption claims in the first year of the pandemic, damage and looting during 2021 riots and heavy flooding last year.

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"From a reinsurance perspective, we've had the three biggest catastrophe events that this market has ever had in terms of insured losses," said Andy Tennick, managing director of Africa Reinsurance Corporation's South African subsidiary.

Reinsurance firms cover insurance companies against major catastrophic events that would otherwise overwhelm them, allowing them to manage risk and reduce the capital they must hold for payouts. As reinsurance rates go up, insurance firms tend to pass hikes onto their customers.

That's now helping add higher insurance premiums to the growing list of woes South Africans are already struggling with and could leave many exposed to heavy losses in the event of a power grid failure as reinsurers curtail coverage.

South Africa's relatively wealthy, developed economy and nearly three decades of political stability helped drive industry growth and draw in reinsurers.

The country's seeming insulation from natural disasters like tropical storms and earthquakes, meanwhile, made its risk profile more attractive than Australia, Japan and parts of North America and Europe.

At the onset of the pandemic, South Africa accounted for over 70% of Africa's $68 billion in gross written insurance premiums, according to a 2020 study by business consultancy McKinsey & Company.

It ranked fifth in the world in terms of total premiums as a percentage of gross domestic product.

Then came COVID-19 and a tidal wave of business interruption claims as government restrictions forced many companies to temporarily close shop.

Politically fueled riots and looting in 2021 caused some $3.2 billion in damage by one estimate. And insurers worry that one of the world's highest unemployment rates - over 43% of 15 to 34-year-olds are out of work - is making such unrest a systematic risk.

Floods, meanwhile, devastated KwaZulu-Natal province in the country's east last year. South Africa's total economic losses from natural catastrophes hit $3.5 billion in 2022, according to Swiss Re Institute, the research arm of Swiss Re, one of the world's biggest reinsurers.

About $1.4 billion of those losses were insured, but years of soft market conditions and underpriced risk left insurers swamped and reinsurers on the hook.

"The reinsurance market has carried the bulk of the insured losses," said Priyen Mehta, market head for Swiss Re's property and casualty reinsurance business in Southern Africa.

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Higher Premiums, Less Cover

As a result of these repeated hits, big reinsurers are missing their South African targets for return on equity - a measure of a firm's efficiency in generating profit. And they are now tightening the conditions of their agreements with insurance companies.

"Large industry losses in recent years ... have accelerated the need for insurance and reinsurance terms and conditions to return to global levels," Mehta said.

Though five reinsurers contacted by Reuters declined to share data on how South Africa's rapidly shifting risk profile has impacted their business, two insurance companies and a bank with an insurance arm said they are curtailing coverage and raising rates.

Garth Napier, managing director of Old Mutual Insure, the general insurance arm of Old Mutual Ltd, told Reuters that rates for its catastrophe programmes with reinsurers have increased up to 60% in the past three years.

Reinsurers are also pushing insurance companies to include so-called "named perils" in policies rather than offering blanket cover for catastrophes.

Paul Hanratty, chief executive of Sanlam Ltd, among South Africa's biggest insurers, told Reuters he'd seen a two-to-three fold jump in reinsurance premiums in just the past five years.

"Which is staggering to think about," he said, adding that the knock-on effect for consumers was two-fold as reinsurers are not only increasing rates but also scaling back on events they cover.

"So the cover has reduced, and the premium has gone up. Now you are paying 30% to 40% more for much less cover."

Grid Failure

There's one particular peril on everyone's mind.

Decades of neglect have crippled state power utility Eskom, necessitating daily hours-long planned power cuts.

Experts warn the power grid - once the cornerstone of Africa's most advanced economy - is now at risk of collapse as Eskom's ageing fleet of constantly breaking coal-fired power plants fails to meet rising demand for electricity.

Grid failure would plunge South Africa into a nationwide blackout that could last weeks.

Insurance companies and their reinsurer underwriters worry the dire and wide-ranging consequences for business operations and basic services of such an event would set off a deluge of claims, Africa Re's Tennick said.

Some insurers, either on their own initiative or at the urging of reinsurers, are already notifying clients that their policies will not cover grid failure, insurance executives confirmed.

But one reinsurer emphasised that the picture is much more nuanced and insurers will still be exposed to the risk.

Were a prolonged blackout to spark large-scale civil unrest, for example, insurers would likely still have to honour claims related to looting and destruction of property.

Insurance cover is intended to protect against losses from isolated, unexpected events, Tennick said.

"But if everybody is going to suffer that loss because the utility collapses, we can't afford that."

A Canadian judge has acquitted a now-retired 93-year-old priest of assault after a student at one of Canada’s notorious residential schools accused him of forcing himself on her more than 50 years ago.

Victoria McIntosh testified she was assaulted by Arthur Masse in a bathroom of the Fort Alexander Residential School north of Winnipeg, Manitoba sometime between 1968 and 1970.

McIntosh and Masse were the only witnesses who testified in the two-day judge-alone trial earlier this month.

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Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond said in her decision Thursday that she believed McIntosh was assaulted, but couldn’t determine beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Masse who did it.

McIntosh, who had about a dozen supporters with her in court, clutched a sweater a family member made for her and stared at the floor as Grammond read her analysis.

Masse stared straight ahead while the decision was being read.

More than 150,000 native children were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture, Christianize them and assimilate them into mainstream society.

The government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant.

Two Jewish settlers have been charged with terrorism for an axe attack earlier this month on a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said Thursday.

The Shin Bet said the attack occurred in the northern West Bank town of Hawara – the same town where hundreds of settlers burned houses and property in a rampage late last month that left one Palestinian dead.

The settlers were arrested for an attack that occurred the following week, on March 6. Security camera footage showed two assailants throwing stones at a Palestinian car. One of the attackers is then seen repeatedly striking one of the windows with what appears to be a hatchet or a small axe, before the car drives away.

The two suspects — one a resident of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar and the other a resident of the unauthorized outpost of Givat Ronen — were charged on Thursday with committing an act of terrorism and intentional sabotage of a vehicle with racist intent, the Shin Bet said.

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The agency said the pair belonged to a "violent group" that tries to harm Palestinians and disrupt the activities of the Israeli military in the area. "The Shin Bet sees these acts, which are carried out under nationalistic motives, as a danger to national security," it said.

Hawara, which is located near several hard-line Jewish settlements, experiences frequent friction between the sides. Arrests of Israelis for attacks on Palestinians are rare.

Last month’s settler rampage occurred after two Israelis were killed while driving through the town. Four Israelis have subsequently been wounded in two additional shootings there.

Israel’s police force says it has arrested 16 people in connection to the Feb. 26 rampage, including two suspects who are being held without charge while the investigation continues.

Fourteen people, including students, have died after a university bus collided with a passenger vehicle in Kenya, west of the capital, on Thursday.

Police say 12 people died on the spot and two others succumbed on the way to the hospital.

The bus had 30 people on board and the death toll may rise, Rift Valley Police Chief Tom Odera said.

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The bus was heading toward Nakuru town from the capital, Nairobi, when its driver lost control, hit an oncoming vehicle and rolled into a ditch, he said.

Road accidents are common on Kenya’s roads. Traffic police have in the past cracked down on drivers violating speed limits and those driving while drunk.

Last week, the National Transport and Safety Authority said that 974 people had died in road crashes across the country since January. The authority has been running a road safety campaign urging motorists to exercise caution especially in the ongoing rainy season.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has compared the policies of the Bosnia Serb separatist leader to those of Russian President Vladimir Putin following his moves to curb dissent and LGBTQ rights.

Blinken tweeted late Wednesday that "Milorad Dodik’s attacks on basic rights and freedoms in Republika Srpska show he is on President Putin’s authoritarian path."

Republika Srpska is the name for the half of Bosnia that is dominated by the country's Serbs. Dodik is the entity's president and leading politician who has repeatedly advocated for the breakup of Bosnia and clashed with Western officials in the Balkan country.

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Earlier this month, Dodik's government faced criticism from the U.S. and the European Union for pushing forward with a law to recriminalize libel and insult offences, which was seen as an attack on the freedom of expression and independent media.

Dodik also announced a law in the upcoming months to prohibit access for LGBTQ activists to kindergartens, schools and universities. This came only days after a group of hooligans attacked LGBTQ activists and journalists in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska’s administrative center.

Dodik, who is staunchly pro-Russia, has rejected Western criticism and said his entity would break off relations with the U.S. and British embassies in Bosnia. He has dismissed the need for U.S. support and blasted Washington's engagement in Bosnia, including continued financial backing.

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"It would have been better if they (U.S.) hadn't given a single dollar, if they hadn't gotten so involved," he tweeted on Thursday.

Washington and London have imposed sanctions on Dodik and his close associates for his policies of undermining Western efforts to promote reconciliation and democracy in Bosnia following the devastating ethnic conflict. Dodik has traveled often to Moscow and met with Putin there.

Blinken said that the U.S. "represented by Amb. (Michael) Murphy, continues to advocate for the democratic and prosperous future that all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina deserve."

Bosnia's 1992-95 ethnic war erupted when Serbs launched a rebellion to break away from the country’s Bosniaks, who are mainly Muslims, and Croats. More than 100,000 people died in the conflict before the U.S. brokered a peace agreement in 1995.

The deal divided Bosnia in two entities but kept them together by joint institutions. Fears have grown since the war in Ukraine that Russia could seek to stir trouble in Bosnia and elsewhere in the Balkans to avert attention from its full-scale invasion.

Pakistan on Thursday boosted security after 11 people were killed in stampedes at free wheat distribution centers for the poor since the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan last week, officials said.

Cash-strapped Pakistan last week launched the initiative to distribute free flour among low-income families to ease the impact of record-breaking inflation and soaring poverty during the holy month.

But as crowds swelled at the distribution centers across the country, many would panic in fear whether they would be able to get the flour, triggering the deadly stampedes. Eight deaths were reported in northwestern Pakistan and three in the eastern Punjab province.

Observant Muslims abstain from food and water from dawn to dusk during Ramadan and then, as the sun sets, break their daytime fast with iftar, the evening meal.

The flour distribution initiative was launched by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif as his government is facing the worst economic crisis amid a delay in getting a key $1,1 billion tranche of a $6 billion bailout package originally signed in 2019 with the International Monetary Fund.

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"So far, the Punjab government has distributed 20 million bags of flour," said Mohsin Naqvi, the head of the caretaker government in Punjab.

Along with Punjab, additional police were also deployed Thursday in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Haroon Shah, a government adviser in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told The Associated Press that the stampedes happened because desperate "people were impatient" and were not sure whether they will get the flour.

"We have enough flour in our stocks," he said.

On Thursday, housewife Zubaida Bibi was smiling as she came away from an Islamabad distribution center with three sacks of flour after having waited for hours.

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The South Asian nation is currently going through one of its worst economic crises amid depleting foreign exchange reserves and increasing cost of living. The weekly inflation is 45%, unseen since the country got its independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

Rising food costs and soaring fuel bills have raised fears of public unrest. Economists say Pakistan is currently facing a default-like situation mainly due to a delay in the release of the loan from the IMF. They say the cost of energy and prices of dairy products, maize, fruit, vegetables, and grains have doubled in the past year, and farmers are struggling to get fertilizers at higher rates for crops.

"This government of Shahbaz Sharif is worse than his predecessor Imran Khan," said Mohammad Afzal, a villager who lives near Islamabad.

A former cricket star turned Islamist politician, Khan served as prime minister 2018-2022 before he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament last April. He has since campaigned as opposition leader against Sharif's administration. Sharif claims the economic problems stem from Khan's bad governance.

Sharif visited a flour distribution center in Islamabad earlier this week. No violence was reported during his visit. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said Sharif was at the scene and wanted "to ensure uninterrupted" distribution of the flour to the people. She said 4.2 million people had already received free flour.