BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) - China and the U.S. should prepare for "important high-level exchanges", Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, while warning the Taiwan issue is "the biggest point of risk" for relations.

"The Taiwan issue concerns China's core interests," Wang told Rubio, adding that the U.S. should "keep its promises and make the right choices in order to open up new space for China-U.S. cooperation and make due efforts for world peace", an official summary of the call released by Wang's ministry showed.

Dozens of residents and local officials from southern Lebanon gathered in Beirut on Thursday to protest Israel's destruction of their villages, which has been ongoing despite a fragile ceasefire.

Before and after the truce agreed on April 17 in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has been carrying out demolitions in the south and preventing the return of residents to more than 50 villages.

"We can't go back. It's been bulldozed -- basically there's nothing to go back to," Ibrahim Hamza, the mayor of the coastal town of Naqura, told AFP.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is cutting funding for the breakaway LIV Golf league after the 2026 season, a spokesperson from the fund told AFP on Thursday.

The announcement came hours after LIV Golf, founded in 2021 as a rival to the PGA Tour, said it was seeking to secure "long-term financial partners".

It has reportedly cost PIF over $5 billion so far to operate the series after signing many of the world's top players including Major winners Bryson DeChambeau and Spaniard Jon Rahm.

By Mushtaq Ali

TORKHAM BORDER, Pakistan, April 30 (Reuters) - Saleha Bibi, 40, was one of hundreds of Afghan refugees waiting at the Pakistani border on Thursday to be repatriated to Afghanistan - a country she has never seen - as fears rise for their safety due to fresh fighting between the neighbours.

Islamabad wants all Afghan nationals to leave the country except for those with valid visas and has expelled more than 2 million out of 3 million back to their home country since 2023. Many are second- and third-generation refugees who fled violence at home in the 1980s.

By Vladimir Soldatkin and Anton Kolodyazhnyy

MOSCOW, April 30 (Reuters) - Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday that the OPEC+ group of leading oil producers would continue working together despite the departure of the United Arab Emirates, Russian news agencies reported.

According to the reports, Novak said he did not expect an oil price war to emerge following the UAE's exit given a global oil deficit.

TEL AVIV, April 30 (Reuters) - A vessel carrying grain that Ukraine says was stolen from areas occupied by Russia will not unload in Israel, Ukraine said on Thursday, after Kyiv requested Israel to seize the cargo.

Ukraine's prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, said on the Telegram app that the vessel, Panormitis, left Israel's territorial waters and departed into neutral waters following "a range of procedural measures taken by Ukraine".

April 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump criticized German Chancellor ​Friedrich Merz on Thursday, saying he should focus on trying to end the Russia-Ukraine war and spend "less time on interfering" with the effort to tackle "the Iran nuclear threat".

Trump has been ​sparring with Merz over the war in Iran in recent days. On Tuesday, ​he said Merz didn't know what he was talking about after the German leader said the Iranians were humiliating the U.S. in talks to end the two-month-old war.

Trump made his comments in a Truth Social post.

MUNSTER, Germany, April 30 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized on Thursday the importance of the transatlantic partnership with the U.S., just hours after President Donald Trump said his administration was looking at reducing the number of U.S. troops in Germany.

Speaking to reporters at a military base, Merz said Germany's compass remained focused on a strong NATO military alliance and reliable partnership.

"As you know, this transatlantic partnership is particularly close to our hearts - and to mine personally," he said.

By Marissa Davison and Ben Makori

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Scared, angry at the government, and wondering whether they need to leave the country, British Jews in the north London suburb of Golders Green were reeling a day after an attacker stabbed two men in the street.

Members of the Jewish community said they were looking for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to show he can address the root causes of increasingly frequent antisemitic attacks and keep them safe.

By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall

DUBAI, April 30 - Weeks of conflict have aggravated Iran's dire economic problems, risking calamity after the war, but the Islamic Republic looks able to survive a standoff in the Gulf for now, despite a U.S. blockade that has cut off energy exports.

With major fighting paused by an April 8 truce, Iran is locked in a stalemate with the U.S. and Israel, with talks for a lasting ceasefire stalled while Tehran keeps the Strait of Hormuz shut and Washington blockades Iranian Gulf ports.