NEW DELHI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Israel from February 25 to 26, India's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
The visit will be Modi's second to Israel.
Modi's first visit took place in 2017, which was also the first ever by an Indian prime minister to Israel.
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee; Editing by YP Rajesh)
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Tuesday's State of the Union address provides President Donald Trump with a nationally televised opportunity to persuade skeptical American voters to rally behind his threatened strikes against Iran over its nuclear program.
Advisers have urged Trump to focus on the economy, immigration and other domestic policy issues when he takes the U.S. House of Representatives podium for the speech at 9 p.m. ET (0200 GMT on Wednesday).
That has not been his focus to date.
DUBAI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - An Iranian Army helicopter crashed into a fruit market in the central province of Isfahan on Tuesday, killing the pilot, co-pilot and two merchants, state media reported.
The helicopter came down in the city of Dorcheh, causing a fire that was put out by emergency services, the reports added.
Experts say Iran has a poor air safety record, with repeated crashes, many involving aircraft bought before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and lacking original spare parts for maintenance.
GENEVA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The head of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday urged top contributor the United States to pay its fees in full after Washington made only a partial payment to the global body, amounting to less than 5% of the total amount owed.
The United States has paid about $160 million of the more than $4 billion it owes to the U.N., a United Nations spokesperson said last week, after Reuters reported that an initial payment was pending.
United Nations Secretary-General has warned the body faces "imminent financial collapse" due to unpaid fees.
By Gavin Finch , Parisa Hafezi and John Irish
LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Iran is close to a deal with China to purchase anti‑ship cruise missiles, according to six people with knowledge of the negotiations, just as the United States deploys a vast naval force near the Iranian coast ahead of possible strikes on the Islamic Republic.
Iran on Wednesday dismissed US claims about its missile programme as "big lies", after President Donald Trump said Tehran was developing missiles that could strike the United States.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump accused Tehran of "sinister nuclear ambitions" as Washington ups the pressure with a massive military deployment around the Gulf.
The two foes are scheduled to meet for a third round of talks on Thursday in the Swiss city of Geneva in an effort to reach a diplomatic solution.
By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump says he should get the Nobel Peace Prize after wading into eight conflicts since taking office last January. But the issues that caused many remain unresolved and conflict has flared again in some of the regions, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and along the border between Cambodia and Thailand.
Here are some of the international disputes where Trump has intervened:
ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
ISTANBUL, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Brazil, France, Spain, Turkey and various other states condemned Israeli decisions that they said introduce sweeping extensions to unlawful Israeli control over the West Bank.
"Changes are wide-ranging, reclassifying Palestinian land as so-called Israeli ‘state land’, accelerating illegal settlement activity, and further entrenching Israeli administration," said the joint statement, issued late on Monday by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
President Donald Trump on Monday denied reports that the top US military officer had flagged the risks of a major operation against Iran, saying Washington would "easily" beat Tehran in any war.
US media reported that General Dan Caine, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, had warned of various risks associated with strikes against Iran including a long-term entanglement.
But Trump said on his Truth Social network that it was "100 percent incorrect" that Caine was "against us going to war with Iran."
Iran vowed on Monday to retaliate "ferociously" against any attack from the United States, and repeated its warning of a regional conflagration in response to President Donald Trump's latest threat of strikes.
The bellicose rhetoric from both Tehran and Washington came as the foes prepared for indirect talks in Geneva on a potential deal regarding Iran's nuclear programme, after a US official confirmed discussions would resume on Thursday.
