MOSCOW/UNITED NATIONS —The Kremlin warned on Wednesday that the outlook for extending a deal beyond May 18 that allows the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizer from several Ukrainian Black Sea ports was not great because Russia's own such exports still face obstacles.The Ukraine grain Black Sea export deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July to help ease a global food crisis that United Nations officials said had been worsened by the deadliest war in Europe since

HATAY PROVINCE, TURKEY/LONDON —More than two months after the February 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria that killed more than 50,000 people, millions of survivors are still living in tents with little hope of returning home anytime soon.As Turkey’s presidential election campaigns enter full swing ahead of the May 14 first-round vote, some survivors say they feel forgotten.Yunus Emre Yildiz, his wife and their three children live in a tent on stony waste ground in their hometown of Hassa in Hat

ROME —Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized Wednesday in intensive care because of a problem related to a previous infection but was alert and speaking, Italy's foreign minister said.He's stable. He's a rock, Berlusconi's brother Paolo said after visiting him Wednesday afternoon at Milan's San Raffaele hospital.The 86-year-old three-time premier was admitted to the ICU because of an unresolved problem related to a previous infection, said Foreign Minister

WASHINGTON —As Vietnamese durian farmers celebrate the opening of trade with China, experts are cautioning against becoming reliant on a market that can disappear if consumer tastes change or long-running friction between Beijing and Hanoi erupts again over competing claims to the South China Sea.“The Chinese market is so huge. When they are into a certain fruit, we’re actually struggling to grow enough to supply to them,” said Vo Tan Loi, director of Phuong Ngoc-Cai Be Company, a veteran fr

BEIJING —President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron are to land in China on Wednesday seeking to reset ties with an important economic partner while broaching thorny issues like Ukraine and trade risks.Macron last visited China in 2019. It will be von der Leyen's first trip since becoming European Commission president that year.Since then, China's strict pandemic controls forced all diplomatic meetings online as relations with Europe s

WARSAW, POLAND —Poland's agriculture minister promised financial support from the government and the European Union and easier rules for constructing grain storage as he met Wednesday with farmers angered by falling grain prices.Farmers in Poland blame the drop in prices on an inflow of huge amounts of Ukrainian grain that was supposed to go to Africa and the Middle East. Bulgarian farmers also staged a border protest Wednesday over the issue.Poland and other countries in the region have of