World News

Ukraine said Friday it had attacked a Russian Black Sea fleet ship and put it out of action after Kyiv warned it would bring the ongoing war on Ukrainian territory to Russia.

North Korea has confirmed custody of Travis King in its first response to requests for information on the U.S. soldier’s whereabouts, the United Nations Command has said.

Two Israeli researchers reported on Wednesday that Iran appears to be helping Syria to build an arsenal of chemical and advanced weapons for use not only by Tehran but also by Russia and, especially, by Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy and arch enemy of Israel, i24NEWS reports.

A US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has reported that Iran’s Islamic extremist regime is “dramatically” increasing the number of politically motivated executions it carries out, Radio Free Europe (Rferl) reports. Iran executes more people than any other country in the world, Amnesty International has reported separately.

The United States acknowledged Thursday that it ordered the evacuation of staff and families from its embassy in Niger following last week’s coup, which added to uncertainty within the Christian minority in the West African nation.

Authorities said Wednesday that a Russian drone strike hit Ukrainian port facilities at Izmail on the River Danube, near Romania, a member of the NATO military alliance.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Navy has unveiled new vessels equipped with 600-km range missiles at a time of rising tensions with the United States in the Gulf, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Simmering tensions between Hungary and the United States further rose Wednesday after Washington limited the Hungarian participation in a visa waiver program.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched a surprise military drill Wednesday on disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, just as the U.S. military increase its presence in the region over recent ship seizures by Tehran.

Thousands of Marines backed by advanced U.S. fighter jets and warships are slowly building up a presence in the Persian Gulf. It’s a sign that while America’s wars in the region may be finished, its conflict with Iran over its advancing nuclear program continues to worsen, with no solutions in sight.

Ukraine warned Russia on Tuesday to expect further drone strikes after the mayor of Moscow said a skyscraper had been attacked for the second time in two days.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has told the UN Security Council that, in the first half of this year alone, West Africa suffered more than 1,800 terror attacks which killed 4,593 people, the Associated Press reports.

Kyiv has confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organized peace summit to find a way to end the war with Russia in Ukraine. Officials said the gathering will be in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah early next month.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday that war is returning to Russia after a drone attack on Moscow.

Officials say a powerful bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in Pakistan’s northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, killing dozens of people.

Hong Kong’s high court has rejected a mainland China-backed government attempt to ban a protest song, Glory to Hong Kong. It became the unofficial anthem after the 2019 pro-democracy protests and ensuing crackdown.

Residents in southern Thailand were mourning Sunday after authorities said at least nine people, including three children, were killed in a blast at a market’s illegal fireworks warehouse.

Pope Francis appealed Sunday for a resumption of the grain deal as African leaders left two days of meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where they urged him to continue the agreement amid rising food prices and food shortages.

Amid heavy fighting against invading Russian troops, Ukraine has moved its official Christmas Day state holiday from January 7 to December 25 as part of Kyiv’s efforts to distance itself from Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church. The symbolic move came hours before the war escalated, with Russian mercenary forces fighting in Ukraine reportedly moving towards the Polish border.

New rules passed by El Salvador’s congress Wednesday will allow courts to try accused gang members in mass trials, in an effort to expedite tens of thousands of cases for those detained under the country’s crackdown on street gangs.