By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, March 26 (Reuters) - The head of the World Trade Organization said on Thursday the multilateral system has fundamentally changed and that countries must look to the future to consider how to reform the global trade system.

"The world order and multilateral system we used to know has irrevocably changed. We will not get it back...We must look to the future," WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told delegates at the opening of the 14th WTO ministerial conference in Yaounde, Cameroon.

MOSCOW, March 26 (Reuters) - Russia is in contact with the United States about a new round of talks on a Ukraine peace settlement as soon as conditions allow, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

"We remain open, we are in contact with the Americans, and we are counting on holding the next round of talks as soon as circumstances permit," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov rejected the thesis of a New York Times opinion piece that said the Iran war had caused President Vladimir Putin to lose interest in negotiating an end to the Ukraine conflict.

BRUSSELS, March 26 (Reuters) - NATO's European allies and Canada increased defence spending by 20% in 2025 compared to the previous year in real terms, alliance chief Mark Rutte said in his annual report published Thursday, urging NATO members to keep up the momentum.

"I expect Allies at the next NATO Summit in Ankara to show they are on a clear and credible path towards the 5% objective," he wrote, adding that "a strong transatlantic bond remains essential in an age of global uncertainty".

MOGADISHU, March 26 (Reuters) - Drivers of tuk‑tuk taxis in Somalia’s capital are abandoning their livelihoods as fuel prices surge, pushed up by disruptions to oil shipments linked to the Iran conflict.

With fares rising, passengers have dropped away and many drivers in Mogadishu say they can no longer keep their three-wheelers on the road.

ISLAMABAD, March 26 (Reuters) - Pakistan is continuing military operations against Afghanistan after the end of a temporary pause announced for the Islamic festival of Eid-al-Fitr, the spokesperson of Pakistan's foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Fighting between the allies-turned-foes started last month, with Kabul saying more than 400 people were killed in a Pakistani air strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in the Afghan capital last week before the neighbours suspended fighting.

March 26 (Reuters) - The Pentagon is weighing whether to redirect weapons originally meant for Ukraine to the Middle East, as the war in Iran strains supplies of some of the U.S. military's most critical munitions, the Washington Post reported Thursday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

The weapons that could be redirected include air defense interceptor missiles purchased through a NATO initiative launched last year, under which partner countries buy U.S. arms for Kyiv, the report said.

US President Donald Trump has pushed back his deadline for strikes on Iran's energy assets, saying talks on ending the war were "going very well" as Israel announced fresh strikes on Tehran early Friday.

As the conflict that has roiled energy markets nears its second month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said G7 nations should help push for the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz, in remarks before arriving in France on Friday for a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.

BEIJING, March 26 (Reuters) - China on Thursday urged parties to the Middle East conflict to "create conditions for starting truly meaningful and sincere peace talks".

"The pressing priority is to actively promote peace talks, seize the opportunity of peace and promote the cessation of the war," Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a regular briefing when asked if China was aware of any ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States.

European lawmakers cleared the way Thursday for tougher penalties for irregular migrants and their potential deportation to so-called "return hubs" outside the bloc.

The measures, criticised by human rights groups, are part of a tightening of Europe's immigration rules in response to pressure across the 27-nation bloc to curb migration.

The European Parliament approved the package with support from centre-right and far-right groups in a 389 to 206 vote in Brussels -- bringing it a step closer to final approval.

SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand, March 26 (Reuters) - A surge in diesel prices triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war onIran is pushing Thailand's multibillion-dollar fishing industry towards a standstill, with fishermen warning that their boats could be idled within days unless the government steps in.

At the country's largest fishing port in a central province along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, over half of the fishing trawlers are already docked and those still operating would likely stop work within days, said Jumpol Kanawaree, president of the Samut Sakhon Fishmonger Association.