March 21 (Reuters) - Cuba's national electric grid collapsed on Saturday, the country's grid operator said, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the island's already obsolete generation system. Read full story

Flash: Cuban energy ministry announces "total disconnection" of national electric system Read full story

PARIS, March 21 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries said on Saturday they stood ready to take necessary measures to support global energy supplies and reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime routes, including in the Strait of Hormuz. Read full story

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Robert Mueller, the no-nonsense former FBI chief who documented Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. election and its contacts with Donald Trump's campaign but opted not to bring criminal charges against a sitting president, has died at age 81, his former law firm confirmed on Saturday. Read full story

(Fixes typo in Michaela in paragraph 1) Read full story

KYIV, March 21 (Reuters) - Most of Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region was left without power on Saturday after a Russian drone attack, local governor Viacheslav Chaus said. Read full story

BEIJING: More than 1,200 Tai Chi practitioners from nine countries and 10 Chinese provincial-level regions gathered on Saturday at Wuyi Mountain, a Unesco World Heritage site, for the main event marking Unesco's inaugural International Taijiquan Day, reported Xinhua. Read full story

March 21 (Reuters) - Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the U.S.-U.K. military base Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Saturday. Read full story

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP): Iran has fired two ballistic missiles toward the joint US-UK military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday (March 20), citing US officials. Read full story

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP): US President Donald Trump said he was considering "winding down" military operations in the Middle East even as the United States is sending three more amphibious assault ships and roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the region. Read full story

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday gave a 30-day authorization for the delivery and sale of crude oil and petroleum products of Iranian-origin loaded vessels, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Read full story

DAEJEON, South Korea, March 21 (Xinhua) -- A fire at an auto parts manufacturing factory in Daejeon, South Korea, has left 10 people dead, 59 injured and four missing, fire authorities said Saturday. Read full story

PANAMA CITY, March 20 (Reuters) - The Panama Canal is operating at top capacity with a daily passage of between 36 and 38 vessels, the waterway's chief Ricaurte Vasquez told reporters on Friday, adding that the Iran war is boosting demand by owners and operators of liquefied natural gas tankers, particularly those loading at U.S. ports. Read full story

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - A U.S.-led defense manufacturing partnership agreed to launch a new missile motor production program with Japan, push forward a drone cooperation effort across Asia and explore building a new ammunition production line in the Philippines, the Pentagon said on Friday. Read full story

March 20 (Reuters) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro is being examined in criminal investigations by two U.S. federal prosecutors' offices, a source familiarwith the matter told Reuters on Friday. Read full story

March 20 (Reuters) - Myanmar's parliament will start the process to elect a new president on March 30, officials said on Friday, a vote many analysts expect will be won by the head of the junta that seized power in a coup in 2021. Read full story

OSLO, March 20 (Reuters) - Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit said on Friday she regretted her friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, seeking to contain one of the biggest scandals to hit the country's royal family. Read full story

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump drew a parallel on Thursday between U.S. strikes on Iran and Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, as he defended the war he launched against Tehran while meeting Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington. Read full story

SEOUL, March 20 (Reuters) - A fire at a car parts factory in the South Korean city of Daejeon has injured 50 people, 35 of them seriously, the Yonhap News Agency reported on Friday. Read full story

PARIS (AFP): Iranian authorities gave the national women's football team a hero's welcome after returning from Australia where some had made and then withdrawn asylum claims, amid accusations Iran had pressured their families. Read full story

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Leading European nations, Japan and Canada issued a joint statement on Thursday saying they were ready to join appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and would take steps to stabilise energy markets. Read full story

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - A Colombian reporter working for a Spanish- language news outlet who was arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Nashville in early March was released from custody on Thursday, her legal team said. Read full story

DUBAI: Emirati and Kuwaiti air defences were responding to missile fire early Friday, authorities in the Gulf states said, while Saudi Arabia intercepted drone attacks. Read full story

Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, March 19 (Reuters) - Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad confirmed on Thursday he is going to run for governor of Sao Paulo, giving President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a key ally on the campaign trail this year in the country's most populous state. Read full story

JAKARTA, March 20 (Reuters) - Michael Bambang Hartono, an Indonesian billionaire who with his younger brother ran one of the country's biggest conglomerates, Djarum group, died on Thursday at the age of 86. Read full story

ANTANANARIVO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Eighteen illegal migrants drowned in a maritime incident on Wednesday off the coast of the Mitsamiouli region in the northern part of Grande Comore island in the Comoros, the country's foreign ministry said Thursday. Read full story

VIENNA, March 19 (Reuters) - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a 57-nation east-west body comprising former Cold War foes, agreed on a budget on Thursday for the first time in five years, with heavy cuts demanded by the United States. Read full story

SEOUL, March 20 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised an offensive tactical drill of a new type of tanks that demonstrated superior attack and defence capabilities against drones and anti-tank missiles and showcased a modernized tank industry, KCNA state news agency said on Friday. Read full story

ROME, March 19 (Reuters) - Umberto Bossi, a gravel-voiced populist leader who pushed for independence for northern Italy and shook up national politics, died on Thursday at a hospital in Varese, in the north of the country, family and party sources told Reuters. Read full story

DUBAI, March 19 (Reuters) - Iran seeks compensation from the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of enabling U.S. attacks against Iranian territory, Iran's U.N. Ambassador told the UN Secretary General in a letter according to a Nournews report published on Thursday. Read full story

MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) - Peace talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine are on pause amid the Iran war, Izvestia reported on Thursday, citing Russian officials. Read full story

NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - An immigration judge has ended the asylum claim of the Ecuadorean boy who was detained during an immigration raid in Minneapolis, Minnesota Public Radio reported on Wednesday, citing a lawyer for the boy and his family. Read full story

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The United States hosted representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, with talks centering on the stalled peace process in eastern Congo. Read full story

KUALA LUMPUR: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar will celebrate Aidilfitri on Friday (March 20). Read full story

HELSINKI, March 19 (Reuters) - Heavy social media usage appears to contribute to a drop in wellbeing among young people, especially girls, in some English- speaking countries, the World Happiness Report published on Thursday found. Read full story

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration is considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East, as the U.S. military prepares for possible next steps in its campaign against Iran, said a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter. Read full story

OTTAWA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Canada on Wednesday announced that it will maintain its target for the policy rate at 2.25 percent, amid heightened global economic risks stemming from the conflict in the Middle East. Read full story

ABU DHABI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities said on Thursday that operations at the Habshan gas facilities have been temporarily suspended due to falling debris from interceptions of missiles. Read full story

BANGKOK, March 18 (Reuters) - Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday accepted for consideration a petition challenging the legality of election ballots used in last month's polls, according to three local media outlets. Read full story

TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's call for allies to send warships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz has revived questions about how far pacifist Japan can go to support its closest ally in a conflict. Read full story