BRICS foreign ministers meet in India as Iran war, fuel crisis dominate agenda

Deep divisions within BRICS over the Middle East war and criticism of Western powers have raised uncertainty over whether the meeting will produce a joint statement.

BRICS was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers. / AFP


Foreign ministers from the BRICS group of nations, including Iran and Russia, started their meetings in India on Thursday, with the Middle East conflict and related fuel crisis set to dominate discussions.

India, which holds the BRICS chair this year, is hosting the two-day gathering of foreign ministers from the expanded bloc, which now includes Iran and the United Arab Emirates, countries at odds over the conflict launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.

India's foreign ministry said talks will focus on "global and regional issues of mutual interest", spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters.

With India serving as the bloc’s chair, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is not attending the meeting as Beijing is currently hosting US President Donald Trump for a summit with President Xi Jinping.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in New Delhi late on Wednesday, Iran's embassy in India said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also attending. He met his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar after arriving in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.

Jaishankar said in a statement that their discussions included "trade and investment, energy and connectivity" as well as "global and multilateral issues".

"Our political cooperation is even more valuable in an uncertain and volatile global environment," Jaishankar added.

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Cuba Reportedly Pleads With Vatican To Get The US Off Its Back As Energy Crisis Grows

(Photo by ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP via Getty Images)

Derek VanBuskirk

Reporter

March 30, 20266:23 PM ET

Cuban officials have reportedly petitioned the Vatican to advocate for the island nation in an effort to maintain power and secure aid as the communist country struggles amid an energy crisis.

The crisis, which has resulted in rolling blackouts, arose following a late January executive order characterizing Cuba as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” and imposing a tariff on any country that provides or sells oil to Cuba.

In the two months since the de facto oil blockade was put into place, the Cuban government has conducted senior-level meetings with Holy See officials — including the pope — in the hopes that they would function as an interlocutor between Cuba and the U.S., according to The Washington Post (Post). 

On Feb. 20, the senior diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Mike Hammer, and the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, held meetings with Latin American ambassadors to the Vatican, according to the Post.

They spoke of “how to work with the Church to support the Cuban people’s desire for economic opportunity and freedom,” the outlet reported. The U.S. diplomats reportedly also met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.

Hammer told the Latin American Church diplomats that Cuba’s regime would fall “in a matter of days,” a person familiar told the outlet.

Hammer and Burch also held a meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. A source familiar with the conversation said the Vatican hopes for a resolution that is “not as traumatic” as Trump’s arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

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Ilhan Omar’s Daughter Says She Is ‘Honored’ To Be in Cuba

PUBLISHED
MAR 22, 2026 AT 08:12 PM EDT

UPDATED
MAR 22, 2026 AT 08:13 PM EDT

By Adeola Adeosun

Weekend Night Editor

Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Democratic Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, publicly defended her visit to Cuba on Sunday, saying on social media she was "honored to be here" and "honored to make history" on the island amid escalating tensions between Havana and Washington.

Omar later reposted her daughter's message on X.

Why It Matters

Hirsi's visit comes as U.S.-Cuba relations are at a particularly volatile point. President Donald Trump has publicly floated the idea of "taking Cuba in some form," while Havana has said its military is actively preparing for the "possibility of military aggression" from the United States. The trip — and Hirsi's public defense of it — is likely to draw sharp criticism from Republicans, who have long targeted her mother over her progressive politics and immigration background.

What To Know

Hirsi responded to a New York Post X post that characterized her trip and those of others as "tone-deaf," writing: "yes i am in cuba! people are here from across the globe to express solidarity with the Cuban people. people who are standing against the oppressive blockade exacerbated by the trump administration. i am honored to be here. i am honored to make history and Eid Mubarak to all."

Cuba is currently grappling with a severe energy crisis, driven in large part by a U.S. campaign to restrict oil shipments to the island. Trump signed an executive order threatening tariffs on any country that exports fuel to Cuba, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly signaled support for leadership change in Havana. The island has experienced repeated nationwide blackouts throughout March, and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has warned that any external aggressor would face "impregnable resistance."

Nuestra América Convoy

The Nuestra América Convoy (English: Our America Convoy) is an international humanitarian movement proposed as a maritime convoy plan to deliver aid to Cuba in response to a severe humanitarian and economic crisis during early 2026. The initiative was initially a flotilla, before being expanded into a global coordinated mission involving the deliveries of humanitarian supplies by air, land, and sea, and is scheduled to converge in Havana on 21 March 2026.

Our America Convoy

Our America Convoy to Cuba

Nuestra América Convoy

The logo of the initiative since February 2026
Formation February 2026; 1 month ago

Region Europe, South America and North America

Organizer David R. K. Adler
Website https://nuestraamericaconvoy.org/

Formerly called Nuestra América Flotilla (Early February 2026)

'They refuse to conform': 100,000 churches could close across the U.S.

The US airports where you should brace for long security lines as unpaid TSA agents stop showing up for work

By Lina Batarags and Taylor Rains

Airline passengers waited in long lines to get through security screening at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston on Sunday, March 8, 2026. The line stretched from the security checkpoint into the lower level baggage claim area and to the parking garage.Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Mar 10, 2026, 9:45 AM ET

• Some US airports are warning travelers about long TSA lines.
• The delays come as TSA agents, facing a missed paycheck amid the partial government shutdown, are not coming to work.
• Houston Hobby, San Juan, and New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport all warned of delays.

The effects of the partial government shutdown have been on display in some US airports since the weekend.

As TSA agents are expected to miss their first full paycheck on Saturday because of the partial shutdown, which started in February, some are not coming in to work.

On Sunday and Monday, the staffing shortages resulted in long lines in some airports. The disruption, which appears to have lessened in some airports as of Tuesday morning, comes as air travel hits the busy spring break period.

In X posts on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA, described the situation as "spring break under siege" and shared photos of throngs of people waiting in an airport.

For now, the chaos appears largely localized to a handful of airports — but travelers should expect lines across the US to worsen the longer the security officers work without pay.

More Snow Hits Northeast as it Continues to Dig Out From Blizzard

 

LIVE: U.S. House committee holds hearing on Minnesota fraud crisis

  

LIVE: U.S. House committee holds hearing on Minnesota fraud crisis

Alpha News

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance holds a hearing on how fraud schemes have exploited multiple federally funded programs in Minnesota.

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