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DUBLIN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May arrived here on Friday night for talks with her Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar, local media RTE reported.

According to the report, May arrived at Farmleigh House, an official Irish state guest house in the western part of Dublin, at about 8:30 p.m. local time where she will hold a two-hour talk with Varadkar over a private dinner.

There will be no joint press conference after their meeting, noted the report.

Washington, Feb 8; PTI:  The US has discussed a potential missile defence collaboration with India, a top Pentagon official has said, underlining that America wants to build a "much deeper and broader relationship" with the country.

Under Secretary of Defence for Policy John Rood, however, said that it is early to determine how far India, which already has substantial domestic missile defence capabilities, will go regarding the defence collaboration.

Islamabad, Feb 8 (PTI) Underlining that Pakistan government and the Army are enjoying a period of "unprecedented coordination", a senior minister has ruled out any cut in the country's defence budget and said it could instead increase for the national security.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday said the country's defence budget is already low as compared to other countries in the region, and therefore it should be increased.

Tehran, Feb 8 (AFP) Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that Europe "cannot be trusted", a week after the EU launched a trade mechanism to bypass US sanctions on Tehran.

"These days there's talk of the Europeans and their proposals. My advice is that they shouldn't be trusted, just like the Americans," he said at a meeting with air force officials, his website reported.

LONDON (AP) — The British and Irish leaders were meeting Friday to discuss the Irish border — and mend fences — amid rising tensions between Britain and the European Union over Brexit.

British Prime Minister Theresa May was due to dine with Irish premier Leo Varadkar in Dublin to press her case for changes to Britain’s divorce deal with the EU. Britain’s Parliament rejected the agreement last month, largely over concerns about a provision designed to ensure an open border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

07 Feb 2019; DW: Paris has signaled it will support changes to EU guidelines regulating gas imports. Germany has thus far ignored opposition to its project, but it may not be able to any longer.

France's Foreign Ministry has signaled its intention to vote for changes to the EU's Third Energy Package Gas Directive regulating gas imports when the topic comes up for discussion Friday in Brussels.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A UN envoy said Thursday that the atmosphere for resuming the dialogue on Kosovo has been exacerbated over the past few months.

Zahir Tanin, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Kosovo, told the Security Council of "a tendency to disrupt rather than de-escalate" the tension between Serbia and Kosovo.

"Recent developments in the relations between Pristina and Belgrade have complicated efforts to create an atmosphere conducive to dialogue and good-faith compromise," he said.

YAOUNDE, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy to Cameroon confirmed on Thursday that the Singapore-flagged oil tanker, seized by Cameroon military over commercial dispute since Feb. 1, has been released with all its 26 crew members on board, including two Chinese nationals.

The ship is managed by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping. In a statement published Wednesday, the company said the vessel departed Cameroon's western port of Limbe on Tuesday with all 26 crew members safe and unharmed.

BERLIN, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The German industrial production fell unexpectedly for the fourth month in a row in December 2018, the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) reported on Thursday.

After the price, seasonal and calendar adjustments, the industrial production in December 2018 was down by 0.4 percent from the previous month. Compared to the same month in 2017, it shrank notably by 3.9 percent, according to a statement of Destatis.

BRUSSELS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May were constructive and robust, but the European Union (EU) will not reopen negotiations on the Brexit deal, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday in a joint statement.

May arrived in Brussels earlier Thursday to meet Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk and President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani for further talks on Brexit concessions despite the EU's repeated refusal to renegotiate.