World News Roundup: EU agrees gradual Russian oil embargo, gives Hungary exemptions; Iran urges Greece to cooperate over seized ships without U.S. role and more

The toughest sanction yet on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, agreed overnight after weeks of wrangling, aims to remove 90% of Russia's crude imports into the 27-nation bloc by year-end, senior officials said. Iran urges Greece to cooperate over seized ships without U.S. role Iran urged Greece on Tuesday to cooperate to resolve a crisis over the seizure of ships without involving the United States, after Iranian forces seized two Greek tankers in the Gulf following the seizure of an Iranian vessel off Greece.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

EU agrees gradual Russian oil embargo, gives Hungary exemptions

European Union leaders have agreed on an embargo on Russian oil imports that will start kicking in towards the end of the year and which exempts, for now, pipeline imports that Hungary and two other landlocked Central European states rely on. The toughest sanction yet on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, agreed overnight after weeks of wrangling, aims to remove 90% of Russia's crude imports into the 27-nation bloc by year-end, senior officials said.

Iran urges Greece to cooperate over seized ships without U.S. role

Iran urged Greece on Tuesday to cooperate to resolve a crisis over the seizure of ships without involving the United States, after Iranian forces seized two Greek tankers in the Gulf following the seizure of an Iranian vessel off Greece. Tehran seized the Greek ships on Friday after Athens impounded the Iranian-flagged Pegas in April. The United States, which has imposed a tough sanctions regime on Iran, confiscated the Iranian oil cargo that was on the Pegas.

Ukraine troops hold out as Russia assaults Sievierodonetsk wasteland

Ukrainian forces were still holding out in Sievierodonetsk on Tuesday, resisting Russia's all-out assault to capture a bombed-out wasteland that Moscow has made the principal objective of its invasion in recent days. Both sides said Russian forces now controlled between a third and half of the city. Russia's separatist proxies acknowledged that capturing it was taking longer than hoped, despite one of the biggest ground assaults of the war.

Russia's Lavrov to meet GCC ministers in Riyadh on Wednesday say officials

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday where he will meet foreign ministers from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, two Gulf officials said on Tuesday. Lavrov, who was in Bahrain on Tuesday, is expected to meet ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain in the GCC headquarters in Riyadh, the officials said, asking not to be named.

Tsai says U.S. National Guard planning 'cooperation' with Taiwan military

The United States is planning on "cooperation" between its National Guard and Taiwan's military, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday, deepening security ties in the face of what Taipei's government complains is a rising threat from China. The United States is Chinese-claimed Taiwan's most important international supporter and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties. China has been stepping up its military activities near Taiwan and its military said last week it had recently conducted an exercise around Taiwan as a "solemn warning" against "collusion" with the United States.

Nepal recovers bodies of all 22 victims of plane crash, voice recorder found

Nepali search and rescue teams on Tuesday recovered the body of the last of 22 people aboard a small plane that crashed in the Himalayas two days earlier and also found the flight's voice recorder. Two Germans, four Indians, and 16 Nepalis were on the De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft that crashed 15 minutes after taking off from the tourist town of Pokhara, 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, on Sunday morning.

Sri Lanka appeals for farmers to plant more rice as food shortage looms

Sri Lanka wants farmers to plant more rice as part of plans to avert a severe food shortage, a top official said on Tuesday, as experts warned of a 50% drop in production that would worsen the impact of its already-severe financial crisis.

Sri Lanka is in the throes of its worst crisis in more than seven decades. The island of 22 million people has run out of foreign exchange reserves and is unable to pay for critical imports including fuel, food, and medicine.

Drought threatens starvation in Horn of Africa, U.N., agencies say

Millions of people face severe hunger in the Horn of Africa as the worst drought in more than 40 years could extend to a fifth consecutive failed rainy season, the United Nations and humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday. The March-May rainy season appears likely to be the driest on record, devastating livelihoods and deepening a humanitarian emergency in Ethiopia, Somalia, and parts of Kenya, including risk of famine in Somalia, they said in a joint statement.

'Hard to believe it's actually happening': Shanghai to lift COVID lockdown

Shanghai authorities on Tuesday began dismantling fences around housing compounds and ripping police tape off public squares and buildings before the lifting of a two-month lockdown in China's largest city at midnight. On Monday evening, some people allowed out of their compounds for brief walks took advantage of suspended traffic to congregate for a beer and ice cream on deserted streets. But there was a sense of wariness and anxiety among residents.

Turkey says Nordics must change laws if needed to meet its NATO demands

Finland and Sweden should change their laws if needed to meet Turkey's demands and win its backing for their bid to join NATO, the Turkish foreign minister said on Tuesday, doubling down on a threat to veto a historic enlargement of the alliance. In a move that shocked its allies, Turkey on May 13 objected to Finland and Sweden joining NATO on the grounds that they harbor people linked to groups it deems terrorists, including the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and because they halted arm exports to Turkey in 2019. The Nordic states applied to join NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.