World News

The European Union announced a deal Tuesday to curb its natural gas consumption between now and spring despite objections of EU member state Hungary.

The longtime top adviser of Hungary’s hardline nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has resigned over a “pure Nazi speech” in which he spoke out against becoming a “mixed race.”

In the East, however, security and economy-focused blocs led by Beijing and Moscow are looking to take on new members of their own, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, two influential Middle Eastern rivals whose interest in shoring up cooperation on this new front could have a significant impact on global geopolitical balance.

A volcano on Japan’s western major island of Kyushu has erupted with the alert level raised to 5 – the highest.

Russia‘s Gazprom said Monday that it would further reduce natural gas flows through a major pipeline to Europe to 20% of capacity, citing repairs of equipment.

Wheat prices rose sharply on July 25 after Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian port of Odesa over the weekend despite claims by the Kremlin that the strike targeted military installations and would not affect grain exports.

Myanmar’s ruling military confirmed Monday that it had executed four pro-democracy activists as part of a broader crackdown that also targeted Christian minorities.

Europe, already rattled by record inflation, faced more headache this weekend after Italy’s president dissolved the Parliament of Europe’s third-largest economy.

The European Union has imposed asset freezes and visa bans on influential Syrians for allegedly recruiting mercenaries to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.

Explosions rocked a critical Ukrainian port city Saturday, threatening a landmark food that the United Nations chief described as a “Beacon of Hope” for a hungry world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak a “global emergency,” raising the prospect of tighter health measures.

Iran’s nuclear program is “galloping ahead” and the International Atomic Energy Agency has very limited visibility on what is happening, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Spain’s El Pais newspaper in an interview published on Friday.

Two Russian maritime patrol aircraft tested the U.S. and Canadian air defense zone two weeks ago in a show of force in the midst of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine and nuclear saber-rattling, the commander of the Northern Command said Friday.

The expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an “extraordinary” situation that qualifies as a global emergency, the World Health Organization chief said Saturday.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi resigned Thursday after key coalition allies boycotted a confidence vote, signaling the likelihood of an early election and a renewed period of uncertainty for Italy and Europe at a critical time.

Chinese censors are removing videos, posts and hashtags related to protests over mortgage payments from Chinese social networking sites such as Douyin and Weibo, according to Reuters.

There were fears Thursday of new unrest in Sri Lanka after Parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new president of the bankrupt Buddhist-majority nation.

The European Union’s executive European Commission has urged countries across the bloc to cut their natural gas use as fighting raged in Ukraine, where Russia planned to capture more territory.

A massive police force cleared a key bridge in Hungary’s capital on Monday as social unrest mounted against government-imposed tax reforms that will impact hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs and their families.

Liza Dmytriyeva, a 4-year-old with Down syndrome, is among at least 23 people killed in a Russian missile strike on the historic city of Vinnytsya in central Ukraine, authorities confirmed this weekend. “Sunny Flower,” as locals called the toddler, proudly pushed her baby carriage through a Ukraine park. She had just returned from the nearby speech therapy center, where she learned her first words. She liked to clean the corridor and helped to organize the toys there. She always seemed happy till a rocket took her life.