World News in Brief: March 30

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said the visit of the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un, to Russia remains on the agenda, according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

This photo shows a damaged building after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran on March 29, 2026. (Photo: Xinhua)
This photo shows a damaged building after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran on March 29, 2026. (Photo: Xinhua)

* Mongolian parliament, or the State Great Khural, on Monday approved the resignation of its speaker, Nyam-Osor Uchral. A total of 80.2 percent of the 101 legislators present at the plenary session of the 126-seat unicameral parliament voted in favor of his resignation.

* The National Assembly of Cambodia on Monday passed a draft law on combating online scams, which will deliver up to 30 years or life imprisonment to scam bosses. A total of 112 lawmakers in attendance unanimously approved the draft bill.

* Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) detected 42 cases of travelers found in possession of e-vaporizers, as well as those who voluntarily disposed of them, amid stepped-up inspections at the city-state's air, land, and sea checkpoints.

* The United States Coast Guard allowed a Russian-owned crude oil tanker to reach Cuba after months of oil blockade to the country, The New York Times reported Sunday.

* Russia's air defenses destroyed 27 Ukrainian drones over four regions in seven hours on Sunday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. The ministry said that Russia's on-duty air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 27 Ukrainian drones from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Moscow time on Sunday.

* U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he wants to "take the oil in Iran" and could seize Kharg Island, the country's oil export hub.

* Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae said Monday she would consider holding talks with the Iranian leadership at an "appropriate" time if it serves Japan's national interest as tensions in the Middle East remain high, local media reported.

* Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud held a telephone conversation on Sunday, expressing grave concern over rising tensions in the Middle East, according to the Uzbek presidential press service.

* Jordan's King Abdullah II met visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday to discuss regional developments and bilateral ties, according to a statement from the Royal Hashemite Court.

* The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, approved the 2026 state budget on Monday in its final reading, averting a government collapse and an early election, according to local media. The spending bill, totaling 850.6 billion shekels (about 271 billion USD), passed by a vote of 62 to 55, as the largest in Israel's history.

* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military on Sunday to widen what Israel refers to as a "security buffer zone" in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces expanded their ground offensive.

* Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Sunday it has completely destroyed a U.S. E-3 Sentry aircraft equipped with an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) in a recent missile and drone operation against the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

* The Isfahan University of Technology in central Iran was attacked by the United States and Israel on Sunday for the second time in recent days, the official news agency IRNA reported.

* The Israeli Defense Forces said on Monday its air force intercepted two drones launched by Houthi forces in Yemen. The drones triggered air raid sirens in the southern city of Eilat on the Red Sea.

* One of the petrochemical units in Tabriz, northwestern Iran, was hit in a midnight strike by Israeli-U.S. forces, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported Monday. Rescue and operational teams were at the scene, and authorities said there was no release of dangerous, toxic, or polluting substances, urging the public not to be alarmed, according to the IRNA.

* Iran's heavy water production plant at Khondab, located in central Iran, has been severely damaged and is no longer operational, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday.

* An Afghan army spokesman in northern Afghanistan's Badakhshan province has rejected the reports on the presence of Pakistani troops in Wakhan district as baseless.

* Kuwait said on Sunday that its air defense systems successfully intercepted multiple aerial threats over the past 24 hours, while a projectile strike on a military camp left 10 troops injured, according to an official military statement.

* A total of 49 people were killed and 116 injured on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 1,238 and the number of wounded to 3,543 since the escalation of hostilities on March 2, Lebanon's Disaster Risk Management Unit at the prime minister's office said.

Xinhua
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