World News

The first set of U.S. sanctions against Iran that had been eased under the landmark nuclear accord went back into effect early Tuesday under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, targeting financial transactions that involve U.S. dollars, Iran’s automotive sector, the purchase of commercial planes and metals including gold.

Drones armed with explosives detonated near Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as he gave a speech to hundreds of soldiers in Caracas on Saturday but the socialist leader was unharmed, according to the government.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States has cut secret deals with al-Qaida fighters, paying some to leave key cities and towns the militants had seized across Yemen and letting others retreat with weapons, equipment and wads of looted cash, an investigation by The Associated Press has found. Hundreds more were recruited to join the coalition itself.

A strong earthquake struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok on Sunday, killing at least 82 people and shaking neighboring Bali, one week after another quake on Lombok killed more than a dozen.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard forces are gearing up to stage a major exercise in the Persian Gulf, perhaps within the next 48 hours that could be aimed at demonstrating their ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, according to a CNN report citing two US officials ‘directly familiar with the latest US assessment of IRGC troop movements.’

Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church’s stance on the death penalty in a new policy published Thursday, saying it is ‘inadmissible’ because it ‘attacks’ the inherent dignity of all humans.

Syria said late Thursday that its air defenses destroyed an unspecified enemy target during an attempted airstrike west of Damascus, as residents reported a series of loud explosions around the Syrian capital.

Congress and the Trump administration are issuing a stern warning to European partners: End all business ties with the Iranian regime or face harsh new sanctions in the coming months, a move that could impact international financial markets and U.S. banks tied to foreign monetary institutions, according to multiple senior U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon about diplomatic efforts to pressure Europe on Iran.

Zimbabwe’s hopes to move past the long, damaging reign of ousted President Robert Mugabe hung in the balance Wednesday amid expanding violent protests and charges of ballot fraud over the results of the first post-Mugabe presidential election Monday.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard is expected to put 100 gun boats in the Persian Gulf sometime in the next 48 hours to practice ‘swarm’ tactics simulating actions which could potentially shut down the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly 10 percent of the world’s oil passes through each year, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Turkey’s Islamist government vowed late Wednesday to respond to the imposition of U.S. sanctions against two of its government ministers over the treatment of an American pastor, and one of the targeted ministers shrugged off the move, saying he had no financial interests in the United States.

Rare general-level talks between the two Koreas ended with no agreement Tuesday, but the top delegates said they had a meaningful discussion on easing their countries’ decades-long military standoff.

The Trump administration plans to propose slapping a 25-percent tariff on $200 billion of imported Chinese goods after initially setting them at 10 percent, in a bid to pressure Beijing into making trade concessions, a source familiar with the plan said on Tuesday.

Canada’s continental partners are simply trying to work through difficult bilateral sticking points on NAFTA, federal insiders insist, even as the Canadian government appears to have been left out of ongoing talks between the United States and Mexico.

Scientists warn that a new pathogen could kill almost 10 percent of the world’s population of 7.6 billion people.

President Trump’s comment Monday that he was ready to meet with Iranian leaders came just hours after the regime’s foreign ministry rejected the idea of negotiations with the U.S., saying Washington had proven to be ‘untrustworthy’ and dismissing reports speculating that mediation efforts may be underway.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would be willing to meet Iran’s leader without preconditions to discuss how to improve ties after he pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying, ‘If they want to meet, we’ll meet.’

North and South Korea held military talks on Tuesday amid rising tensions after the United States detected renewed activity at a North Korean missile factory.

U.S. spy satellites have detected renewed activity at the North Korean factory that produced the country’s first intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States, a senior U.S. official said on Monday, in the midst of talks to compel Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arms.

The United Nations envoy for Middle East peace met Sunday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and other officials for talks on calming tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, relieving the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and reviving the long-stalled peace process.