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Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at possible talks between the United States<\/strong> and Iran <\/strong>to end the war, several crucial elections in Europe<\/strong>, and a deadly attack on a Sudanese<\/strong> teaching hospital.<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump claimed<\/a> on Monday that Washington and Tehran were engaging in \u201cvery, very strong talks\u201d to end the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran<\/a>. According to Trump, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner were \u201cdealing with the man who I believe is the most respected and the leader\u201d of Iran. The president did not specify who that was, though he confirmed that Washington had not spoken to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at possible talks between the United States<\/strong> and Iran <\/strong>to end the war, several crucial elections in Europe<\/strong>, and a deadly attack on a Sudanese<\/strong> teaching hospital.<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump claimed<\/a> on Monday that Washington and Tehran were engaging in \u201cvery, very strong talks\u201d to end the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran<\/a>. According to Trump, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner were \u201cdealing with the man who I believe is the most respected and the leader\u201d of Iran. The president did not specify who that was, though he confirmed that Washington had not spoken to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.<\/p>\n As part of these alleged talks, Trump ordered<\/a> the U.S. military on Monday to \u201cPOSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement follows Trump\u2019s threat<\/a> on Saturday to \u201cobliterate\u201d Iran\u2019s power plants if the country did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, which it still has not done. Traffic in the strategic waterway\u2014through which around one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil normally passes\u2014has largely stopped due to Iranian attacks, causing an unprecedented disruption<\/a> to global energy flows.<\/p>\n Reports suggest<\/a> that Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is the official negotiating with Witkoff and Kushner; however, Ghalibaf wrote<\/a> in a post on X on Monday that \u201c[n]o negotiations have been held with the US\u201d and that fake news was being employed to \u201cmanipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.\u201d<\/p>\n Following Trump\u2019s announcement, Brent crude prices dropped roughly 13 percent on Monday to around $99 a barrel after hitting nearly $114 earlier in the day.<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> spoke to Trump on Monday to discuss the White House\u2019s alleged talks. \u201cPresident Trump believes there is an opportunity to leverage the tremendous achievements we have reached alongside the U.S. military to realize the goals of the war through an agreement, an agreement that will safeguard our vital interests,\u201d Netanyahu said. \u201cAt the same time, we are continuing to strike in both Iran and Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n The United States wants Iran to relinquish control<\/a> of its enriched uranium as part of a larger U.S. effort to curtail Tehran\u2019s nuclear program. Iran has thus far refused to do so, arguing that it has the right to enrich uranium<\/a> for peaceful purposes; Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for civilian use only.<\/p>\n Trump told CNN<\/a> on Monday that the United States and Iran have reached 15 points of agreement, though he only specified one: that Tehran has agreed not to have a nuclear weapon, a promise that it has made in the past.<\/p>\n According to Iran\u2019s semiofficial news agency Mehr News, the Iranian Foreign Ministry refuted the White House\u2019s claims, saying that regional countries have offered<\/a> \u201cinitiatives\u201d intended to \u201creduce tensions\u201d but that direct dialogue with Washington had not occurred. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed on Sunday that he had spoken by phone<\/a> with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.<\/p>\n Tuesday, March 24:<\/strong> Denmark holds snap parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hosts European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.<\/p>\n France kicks off the three-day Paris Forum on Defense and Strategy.<\/p>\n Thursday, March 26:<\/strong> France hosts a two-day G-7 foreign ministers\u2019 meeting.<\/p>\n Finland hosts a leaders\u2019 summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force.<\/p>\n Former Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife appear before a U.S. court in New York City on several charges, including conspiracy of narcoterrorism.<\/p>\n The Faroe Islands hold parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n Cameroon kicks off a four-day ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization.<\/p>\n Friday, March 27:<\/strong> Eurozone finance ministers hold a virtual meeting to discuss the Middle East crisis.<\/p>\n Sunday, March 29:<\/strong> Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto begins a three-day trip to Japan.<\/p>\n Monday, March 30:<\/strong> Faustin-Archange Touad\u00e9ra begins his third term as president of the Central African Republic.<\/p>\n Election roundup. <\/strong>This weekend was one for the ballot boxes, as several European countries held crucial elections.<\/p>\n Slovenian<\/strong> lawmakers called for urgent coalition talks<\/a> on Monday after Sunday\u2019s parliamentary election resulted in a near tie. With more than 99 percent of ballots tallied<\/a>, Prime Minister Robert Golob\u2019s Freedom Movement secured 28.56 percent of the vote, whereas the nationalist Slovenian Democratic Party\u2014led by pro-Trump populist Janez Jansa<\/a>\u2014clinched 28.12 percent. Jansa has accused the country\u2019s election commission of incorrect counting, without citing evidence. Meanwhile, Golob accused \u201cforeign services<\/a>\u201d last week of interfering in the country\u2019s election; Jansa has admitted to meeting with a representative of a private Israeli intelligence firm but has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Early polling on Monday showed<\/a> that 54 percent of Italian<\/strong> voters have rejected a key judicial reform referendum<\/a> championed by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Had the referendum passed, oversight of judges and prosecutors would have been divided and a new council created to discipline them, which Meloni argued<\/a> would have made the system \u201cmore just, more efficient, more meritocratic, and more free\u201d; Meloni has long accused Italian judges of impeding her immigration crackdown. Analysts suggest<\/a> that the referendum\u2019s failure signals growing discontent with Meloni\u2019s far-right policies and could help unify the fragmented center-left opposition.<\/p>\n German<\/strong> Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed<\/a> on Monday to push forward promised tax and social security reforms after his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won a key election in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate on Sunday. This was the first time in 35 years that the CDU had defeated its coalition partner, the center-left Social Democratic Party, in that state. However, experts argue that the biggest winner<\/a> was the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which more than doubled its share of the vote.<\/p>\n France<\/strong>\u2019s far-right National Rally (RN) party suffered<\/a> a significant electoral setback on Sunday, when it failed to win control of several major cities in nationwide municipal elections. The votes were seen as a test for the right wing\u2019s base ahead of presidential elections next year. RN leader Jordan Bardella and far-right figure Marine Le Pen are both projected<\/a> to perform well in that race, particularly as severe fragmentation within France\u2019s mainstream parties has embroiled centrist President Emmanuel Macron in political instability<\/a>. But Sunday\u2019s poor showing could mean that the far right does not yet have the public support<\/a> it needs to clinch the top job.<\/p>\n Targeting health care. <\/strong>An attack on a Sudanese teaching hospital in Darfur late Friday killed at least 64 people, including 13 children, and injured nearly 90 others. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed<\/a> the incident the following day. Since Sudan\u2019s civil war erupted in April 2023, more than 2,000 people have been killed in 213 recorded attacks on health care infrastructure.<\/p>\n It is unclear who was responsible for the assault on Al Daein Teaching Hospital. Both the Sudanese military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have denied<\/a> culpability. Sudan\u2019s army called the attack \u201ccharacteristic<\/a>\u201d of the RSF\u2019s tactics, whereas the paramilitary group argued<\/a> that it \u201creflects a systematic pattern of targeting innocent civilians and civil facilities, foremost among them healthcare facilities,\u201d by the Sudanese Armed Forces.<\/p>\n Since fighting began nearly three years ago, clashes have killed<\/a> tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million others, making Sudan the epicenter of one of the world\u2019s worst humanitarian crises<\/a>. Last month, the United Nations accused the RSF of acting with \u201cgenocidal intent<\/a>\u201d when it seized the North Darfur city of El Fasher in October. During that siege, more than 450 people were massacred<\/a> at the city\u2019s last functioning hospital.<\/p>\n Permission to dance<\/a>? K-pop boy band BTS is back in business. The global superstars kicked off<\/a> their return with an hourlong concert in Seoul\u2019s historic Gwanghwamun Square on Saturday. This was the group\u2019s first performance since 2022, when BTS went on temporary hiatus to allow its members to fulfill their mandatory service<\/a> in the South Korean military. But though this music genre is experiencing a fresh wave of global popularity following the success of the film Kpop Demon Hunters<\/em><\/a>, turnout for the concert was lower than originally expected. Only around 42,000 people showed up for the outside crowd (on top of the 22,000 inner-area tickets sold) rather than the anticipated 260,000 attendees.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nContradictory Claims<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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