World News

Several nations have threatened to boycott the world’s largest televised song competition if Israel participates.

The U.S. Department of State on Wednesday announced the designation of four Iran-backed militias as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), escalating pressure on Tehran and its network of proxies across the Middle East.

Iran erupted in protests overnight as thousands took to the streets to mark the third anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, the young Kurdish woman killed in custody by the regime’s morality police after refusing to wear a hijab.

The United States and the United Kingdom have signed a sweeping technology pact that will bring $42 billion in American tech investment into Britain, cementing closer transatlantic ties in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and nuclear energy.

A leading Dutch Jewish voice and longtime politician has filed a police complaint against the British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan, after the band’s frontman appeared to urge violence against Jews and to celebrate the recent assassination of born-again Christian influencer Charlie Kirk during a controversial concert in Amsterdam.

Ukraine says Russia’s military has bombarded the southern city of Zaporizhzhia with rockets overnight, killing one person and wounding 13 people, including two children, while another person died and several were injured elsewhere in the country.

The United States and the United Kingdom are set to unveil a wave of major nuclear energy agreements during President Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain this week, in what both governments are calling the start of a “golden age” of nuclear power.

The U.S. military struck a second vessel in international waters on Monday, killing three people alleged to be Venezuelan “narcoterrorists” transporting illegal drugs, President Donald Trump announced.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has urged American companies to stop publishing quarterly financial reports, pointing to China’s “long-term approach” as a model, although it is a Communist-ruled nation. He suggested that moving to semi-annual disclosures would cut costs and allow executives to focus on growth rather than short-term market pressures.

A government ban on major social media platforms that enraged young Nepalis has spiraled into the country’s deadliest political violence in decades, with authorities saying Sunday that at least 72 people have been killed and hundreds more injured during protests reflecting years of frustration over corruption, inequality, and “curbs on freedoms.”

The NATO military alliance has begun rolling out its defensive posture on its eastern flank bordering Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. NATO leaders said the new equipment is aimed at deterring potential Russian aggression after at least 19 Russian drones entered Polish territory and Romania also reported a violation of its airspace.

More than 100,000 people packed into central London on Saturday for what organizers billed as the largest free speech rally in British history. The “Unite the Kingdom” march, spearheaded by activist Tommy Robinson, featured a live video appearance by billionaire Elon Musk and a tribute to slain U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Six independent journalists and media outlets from Eastern and Central Europe have been named laureates of the 2025 Free Media Awards, honoring their investigative reporting under pressure from what they view as authoritarian regimes.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison on Thursday after being convicted by Brazil’s Supreme Court for plotting a coup to stay in power following his 2022 election loss.

President Donald Trump has asked the European Union to slap tariffs of up to 100% on certain Chinese and Indian goods in a bid to increase economic pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine, European officials confirmed Wednesday.

Poland’s government said Wednesday it was forced to shoot down suspected Russian drones over its territory in what officials called the nation’s closest step toward armed conflict since World War II, raising alarm across Europe and beyond.

Yang Guoliang, a paralyzed farmer in eastern China, lives under the glare of police floodlights and cameras pointed at his modest home. Every phone call, bus ticket, and hospital visit is tracked. His wife and daughter are in jail for petitioning Beijing after officials seized their farmland. “Every move in my own home is monitored,” Yang said. “Their surveillance makes me feel unsafe all the time, everywhere.”

U.S. President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday rushed to assure Qatar that Israel would not carry out another strike on its soil after the Israeli military launched a rare airstrike in Doha targeting Hamas leaders.

Ethiopia on Tuesday inaugurated the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Africa’s largest hydroelectric project, hailing it as a unifying national achievement that will double the country’s power generation capacity.

The government of Australia’s New South Wales state has confirmed that some prayers are now unlawful under a new ban on LGBTQ+ “conversion practices,” prompting protests from Christian leaders.