World News

The Trump administration on Monday launched what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called an unprecedented global economic offensive against Iran, unveiling a sweeping sanctions campaign designed to sever Tehran from the international financial system and choke off revenue flowing to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian regime.

European leaders rallied around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday as Ukraine marked 35 years of independence and its fifth Independence Day since Russia’s full-scale invasion, while senior representatives of the administration of U.S. President Donald J. Trump were notably absent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that holding elections in wartime, as suggested by his former defense minister, would “destroy” the country.

The European Union marked Ukraine’s Independence Day by pledging to provide the war-torn nation with 6.1 billion euros ($7.1 billion) for “air and missile defense systems” as well as other “missiles, ammunition and radars.”

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham accused Russia on Monday of “outrageous threats” against the United Kingdom after Moscow warned that his decision to provide Ukraine with newly declassified blueprints for the production of long-range missiles would escalate the war.

Iran flexed its muscles Monday, saying it had blacklisted 45 tankers that had “broken its rules” for crossing the Strait of Hormuz, ahead of the United States launching what it called its “greatest financial offensive ever” against the Islamic Republic.

The American-Chinese race for global dominance in Artificial Intelligence (AI) escalated further Monday, with Taiwan announcing the indictment of nine people over the alleged illegal export of advanced AI servers to China as Beijing showcased increasingly capable humanoid robots.

Iran’s parliament speaker has issued a rare public warning that military power alone cannot preserve the Islamic Republic as hunger, inflation, and sanctions tighten around the country.

A Russian mother and son who fled to Finland after opposing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have won a court battle against their deportation, but their future remains uncertain as Finnish authorities reconsider their asylum claim amid fears they could face imprisonment, torture and even death if returned to Russia.

Australian authorities have charged a Russian-Australian man with foreign interference after he allegedly infiltrated Ukraine’s armed forces to obtain military information for people he believed were linked to Russian intelligence.

The death toll from a Russian drone strike on a crowded shopping center in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown rose to at least 16 Sunday, as Kyiv pleaded for more air-defense interceptors and France promised additional missiles amid mounting concerns that the conflict is increasingly affecting security across Europe.

Iran’s president has urged an end to the war with the United States in a daring pushback against Islamic hardliners who want to continue the armed conflict, which has also left minority Christians suffering in prisons and elsewhere.

Hungary said Saturday it had begun restarting one of three nuclear reactors shut down because of record-low water levels in the Danube River, while neighboring Romania and Bulgaria also struggled to maintain nuclear power production amid a severe regional drought.

A military airstrike on a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar, also known as Burma, killed at least 14 people and wounded 20 others who were taking part in a meditation retreat, opposition representatives and residents said Saturday.

Iran urged Qatar on Saturday to transfer three Iranian fighter pilots it claims are being detained “on water” to a hospital on land, saying they are in poor physical condition, amid mounting tensions over the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

NATO’s chief has sought to reassure Bulgaria of the military alliance’s support amid reports that Iran has weighed attacking American military targets in Europe if U.S. President Donald J. Trump orders renewed or expanded strikes against the Islamic Republic.

Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf expressed his sorrow Friday after authorities confirmed that a teenager armed with a sword attacked students at a Swedish high school, killing one person and injuring three.

Ukraine is appealing for expanded access to Western satellite technology to help locate and destroy Russian missile launchers and other military targets as relentless Russian drone and missile attacks have killed dozens of civilians within two days, exposing growing shortages in Kyiv’s air defenses.

Millions of Ukrainian men are believed to be attempting to avoid mobilization for the frontline, but many are being hunted down and sometimes harshly detained by authorities as part of a massive drive to reinforce the country’s depleted armed forces.

Hungary’s new president, András Baka, has urged the country’s relaunched public broadcaster to regain the trust of millions of Hungarians after years in which he said it spread falsehoods, as political tensions continued over the dismantling of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s system.