COLOMBO, April 15 (Reuters) - Over 200 Iranian crew members from two warships who were rescued by Sri Lanka have been sent back to their homeland, a top official said on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka rescued 32 Iranian crew from the warship IRIS Dena on March 4 after it was hit by a torpedo from a U.S. submarine.

The ship was returning from a naval exercise organised by India, amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Sri Lanka also rescued 208 crew from a second vessel, IRIS Booshehr on March 5 that had also requested assistance from Colombo after it ran into engine trouble.

China's President Xi Jinping met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday as a string of leaders of countries affected by the Middle East war flock to Beijing.

Lavrov joins Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vietnamese leader To Lam in meeting Xi this week.

The top Russian diplomat told a news conference after meeting Xi that Moscow could "compensate" for China's energy shortages as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains choked by the Iran war.

ISLAMABAD, April 15 (Reuters) - Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey from April 15 to 18, Islamabad said on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari; Editing by Sonali Paul)

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday its military had completely halted trade going in and out of Iran by sea, even though President Donald Trump said talks with Tehran on ending the war could resume this week.

Trump said negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials could resume in Pakistan in the next two days and Vice President JD Vance, who led weekend talks that ended without a breakthrough, said he felt positive about where things stood.

By Ruth Chai and Florence Tan

April 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. blockade on vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports adds to uncertainty over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been all-but-shut since the start of the Iran war.

Ordinarily, roughly one fifth of global oil and gas exports transit the Strait of Hormuz.

Here's a look at some of the non-Iranian oil tankers that have passed the strait since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, listed by cargo destination.

April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his criticisms of Pope Leo on Tuesday and said it is "unacceptable" for Iran to have a nuclear bomb.

"Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable," Trump said on Truth Social.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul)

By Andrew Mills, Nazih Osseiran and Sarah El Safty

DOHA, April 15 (Reuters) - Until the Iran war, shipments of Austrian spruce timber to Qatar, where the wood is used to support concrete and make basic frames on construction sites, werea matter of routine.

The standard 2x4, as it is known in the building trade, was typically sourced from Austria in Europe, shipped to Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, transferred to a feeder vessel and delivered to Qatar’s Hamad Port in about 45 days.

SEOUL, April 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Wednesday a high-level Israeli offical said it accepted Seoul's explanation of President Lee Jae Myung's social media remarks on the Holocaust and that the situation had been resolved.

Lee sparked a diplomatic row and domestic criticism after comparing Israeli military actions against Palestinians to the Holocaust in a post on X, comments that Israel strongly rejected.

(Reporting by Kyu-seok ShimEditing by Ed Davies)

Three years into Sudan's war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and spawned numerous war crimes allegations, Germany said Wednesday it hoped donors would pledge more than $1 billion towards humanitarian efforts.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of international donors in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said: "We want to achieve more than at the last conference in London, that was a billion dollars."

"It seems to be working," he told the Deutschlandfunk broadcaster, adding: "There are more pledges coming in now, we are working on this."

By Minwoo Park, Kaori Kaneko and John Geddie

SEOUL/TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - An 'eco-friendly' range of paper tubes and pouches touted by Yonwoo, a South Korean maker of packaging for cosmetics, has reaped unexpected benefit from the Iran war, which has disrupted supplies of the plastic needed to turn out single-use wrapping.

While the conflict has sent prices of plastic soaring to roughly four-year highs by choking off flows of the required raw materials of oil and petrochemicals, the company says it has fuelled inquiries three-fold for paper-based options.