World News

President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at countering China’s drive to corner the international market on rare earth minerals — key elements used in high-tech products that are the backbone of the U.S. economy and key weapons systems.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has had talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyrias Mitsotakis about possibly transferring its highly strategic US airbase from Turkey to Greece, DEBKAfile sources have revealed. The US is also reportedly in talks with Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates about moving the Turkish base to the Gulf state.

The U.S. government has seized nearly 100 domain names used by a branch of Iran’s armed forces that officials said Wednesday were being used to conduct a disinformation campaign featuring fake news sites targeting the United States and other countries.

France and Germany said on Wednesday they would propose European Union sanctions against Russian individuals after receiving no credible answers from Moscow over the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent.

Two British Islamic State terror suspects known as the “Beatles” were indicted in the torturing and beheading of American aid workers and journalists among others once held hostage in Syria, according to court documents made public Wednesday.

The Russian military says it has successfully test-launched a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile off Russia’s northern coast, in what President Vladimir Putin hailed as a “big event” for the country.

Officials in the former Soviet nation of Kyrgyzstan say they have annulled the results of Sunday’s parliamentary elections after violent protests in the capital Bishkek killed at least one person.

Imagine going to the bank to take out cash, except without going to the bank and without the cash. If the Chinese central bank’s plan for a digital yuan succeeds, the future could look something like that for everyone.

Negotiators from Russia and the United States met on Monday in Helsinki for a new round of nuclear arms control talks, Finnish officials say.

In contrast to a low-key stance it has adopted in the past, China is now pushing hard for leadership posts in United Nations agencies, frequently resorting to bribery and economic coercion in doing so, the Washington Times reported on Sunday. As one of the five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, China has veto power.

Germany’s government has condemned the latest anti-Semitic attack that overshadowed the 30th-anniversary commemoration of the reunification of Germany.

The United Nations has confirmed the names of most of the candidates running for seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council in elections tentatively set for next week, and the expected return of the likes of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba will draw attention once again to the justification given by the Trump administration in 2018 for its decision to withdraw.

The European Central Bank (ECB) says it moves towards issuing a digital version of the euro currency that critics fear could replace banknotes.

Armenia says it is ready to discuss a ceasefire in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where heavy fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in recent days has killed dozens and left scores wounded. The announcement comes amid international calls to end the most significant escalation in years.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to speak to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday to “take stock” of negotiations on a post-Brexit free trade deal and to “discuss next steps,” a British government spokesman said.

The Armenian President warned the international community Wednesday that Caucasus, a region disputed by former Soviet republics Armenia and Azerbaijan, may become “another Syria,” CNBC reported Wednesday. President Armen Sarkissian gave the warning after fighting broke between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus on Sunday.

Russia, France, and the U.S. on Thursday issued calls for an immediate cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan as clashes between the two rivals sparked recently over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh killing dozens of people and threatening to drag nearby Turkey and Russia into a direct military confrontation.

The European Union said Thursday it will take legal action against the British government for violating the terms of their Brexit agreement.

The U.S. and China have “diametrically opposed values” and will eventually slip into a “new cold war” in the coming decades, said a China analyst from Fitch Solutions.

The European Union is considering the possible high-risk deployment of EU military observers to Libya in the event a ceasefire holds in the war-torn North African country, Politico reports. Libya has been the scene of a years-long civil war between Tripoli’s UN-backed Government of National Accord headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, and rebel General Khalifa Haftar, leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA).