World News

President Donald Trump firmly rejected any suggestion that his administration is offering sanctions relief or negotiating with Iran, dismissing recent speculation as “phony” and doubling down on his claim that Iran’s nuclear program has been decisively destroyed by U.S. and Israeli strikes.

A top Shi’a Muslim cleric in Iran has issued a religious ruling, or fatwa, labeling former U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “enemies of God” — a serious accusation in Islamic law that can justify deadly punishment.

War-fatigued residents tried to recover Sunday after Russia fired more than 500 aerial weapons at Ukraine overnight, killing several people in a barrage that Kyiv called “the biggest air attack” of the three-year armed conflict.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a self-declared Christian, has lashed out at organizers and participants of Saturday’s Budapest Pride march, calling the event “disgusting and shameful.”

In a high-cost display of strategic commitment, the United States deployed an estimated 15 to 20 percent of its global Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile inventory during a 12-day war between Israel and Iran earlier this month. The operation, aimed at intercepting waves of Iranian ballistic and hypersonic missiles, reportedly cost the U.S. military between $810 million and $1.2 billion in interceptor missiles alone.

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) signed a landmark U.S.-brokered peace agreement on Friday in Washington, aiming to halt years of deadly conflict in eastern Congo and unlock billions in Western investment in the region’s prized minerals.

President Donald Trump has declared a sweeping U.S. victory in the war against Iran, calling the joint American-Israeli strike campaign a “total obliteration” of Tehran’s nuclear program and vowing to strike again if the Islamic Republic attempts to rebuild.

As battles raged, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia is still willing to hold a new round of peace talks with Ukraine, which Moscow invaded nearly 3.5 years ago.

Tensions were rising Friday as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned there would be “legal consequences” for organizing or attending a Budapest Pride march in violation of a police ban on the event planned for this weekend.

The United States and China have reached an additional agreement aimed at implementing the Geneva framework as part of ongoing trade negotiations, a White House official confirmed to The Epoch Times on Wednesday.

Kenya’s self-declared Christian president faces pressure to resign after nationwide anti-government protests allegedly killed as many as 16 people.

President Donald Trump delivered a stern warning to Spain on Wednesday, accusing the nation of shirking its defense obligations under NATO and threatening to double tariffs in retaliation.

Despite a recent pledge to ease restrictions, China is delaying export approvals for rare-earth magnets—critical components used in electric vehicles, defense systems, and electronics—causing major disruptions for Western manufacturers, The Wall Street Journal reports.

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff announced Wednesday that major developments are on the horizon for the Abraham Accords, including the addition of new member nations and the potential for a historic peace agreement with Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first televised appearance in nearly two weeks Thursday, claiming a “decisive victory” over Israel and the United States in the 12-day war that erupted earlier this month. In a broadcast aired on Iranian state television, Khamenei declared that Iran had “delivered a hand slap to America’s face” and vowed that any future aggression would come at a steep cost.

NATO military alliance leaders have agreed to invest 5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in defence by 2035, after Spain nearly torpedoed the deal by refusing to sign up to the pledge.

Iran’s parliament voted unanimously on Wednesday to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), erupting into chants of “Death to America! Death to Israel!” as lawmakers blamed the West for recent attacks on its nuclear facilities. The vote, which passed with 221 members in favor, signals a dramatic escalation in Tehran’s response to U.S. and Israeli strikes and the IAEA’s recent censure.

Iran executed three men on Wednesday accused of collaborating with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, part of a sweeping crackdown following the Islamic Republic’s military defeat in its 12-day war with Israel.

The U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 22, 2025, was met with widespread praise across the Arab world, particularly among liberal intellectuals and journalists who took to social media to thank President Donald Trump for what they described as a historic act that “saved humanity.”

Iran is suspected of hiding “hundreds if not thousands” of advanced centrifuges in secret locations across the country, raising renewed fears that Tehran retains the capacity to build a nuclear weapon despite U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on its known facilities, The Telegraph reported Monday.