World News

Deployment of China‘s new DF-26 intermediate-range missile, dubbed the “Guam killer” by Beijing, has rapidly expanded over the past year, according to a Pentagon intelligence report.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, spoke on Wednesday to discuss “recent Israeli activities in the region,” and Israel’s normalization of relations with a number of Arab states last year, the Times of Israel said. According to Iranian media, Rouhani and Erdogan talked about regional and economic cooperation between their countries.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday expelled 10 Russian diplomats in retaliation to Moscow’s interference in last year’s presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies.

Political tensions are rising in Hungary over government plans to build the European Union’s first Chinese university campus in Budapest, the capital, despite security and social concerns.

The United States will soon announce new sanctions against Russian individuals and entities for alleged election interference and malicious cyber activity, Voice of America reports. It is expected that thirty organizations will be blacklisted and that some 10 Russian officials in the US will be issued with orders to leave the country.

China sent 25 military planes into Taiwanese airspace on Monday, escalating tensions between the United States and Beijing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reason for a major military buildup on Ukrainian borders remains a mystery, U.S. intelligence officials told lawmakers.

In its annual survey of United States national security threats, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) reported Tuesday that China and Russia currently pose the greatest danger to America, the Washington Times reports.

Japan announced Tuesday that it plans to dump 1 million tons of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, Business Insider reports. Set to be implemented in 2023, the plan is part of an ongoing effort to deal with the 2011 tsunami-triggered disaster at the plant.

US President Joe Biden has offered to have a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid rising tensions over Russia’s buildup of troops close to Ukraine’s eastern border and Crimea, the Washington Times reports. Moscow has acknowledged the offer of a summit.

Denmark is the first country to fully ban the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine over concerns about its link to blood clots in recipients.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told Congress on Wednesday the COVID-19 pandemic began either from an accident at a Chinese laboratory or through an infected animal who passed it along to humans.

Britain, France and Germany criticized Iran on Wednesday for increasing enrichment of uranium to levels banned by the 2015 nuclear deal.

A senior Iranian official confirmed Tuesday that the blast at the Natanz nuclear facility, which Tehran blames on Israel, destroyed or damaged thousands of centrifuges used to enrich uranium.

NATO leaders and Russia traded sharp threats Tuesday over a military standoff in Ukraine, with President Biden pressing the Kremlin to de-escalate the situation and suggesting it was time for him and Russian President Vladimir Putin to have a face-to-face talk about Russian provocations.

U.S. President Joe Biden will announce that all American troops will leave war-torn Afghanistan by September 11, officials said.

The Iranian government has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it will begin 60% uranium enrichment, Axios reports. This will be the most serious Iranian violation of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal since the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the agreement in 2018.

The United States, South Africa, and European Union have “temporarily” halted the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 jab amid mounting global concerns about coronavirus vaccinations.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday that the US is an “adversary” which works to “undermine Russia’s position on the world stage,” Reuters reports. Ryabkov made his statement while two US warships prepare to sail into the Black Sea this week, an event which Russia says is “provocative.”

The Biden administration has told Congress it will move ahead with a massive arms deal to the United Arab Emirates, including advanced F-35 aircraft, that was signed in the wake of Israel’s normalization deal with the Gulf nation, congressional aides told Reuters on Tuesday.