World News

The Trump administration is opening talks with Saudi Arabia on a potentially lucrative atomic energy agreement that’s inextricably linked to an Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. At stake: Billions of dollars in contracts for US companies and bigger questions about America’s ability to keep friend and foe alike from reaching nuclear weapons capability.

The United States threatened unilateral action against Iran on Monday after Russia vetoed a western bid for the United Nations Security Council to call out Tehran for failing to prevent its weapons from falling into the hands of Yemen’s Houthi group.

The Arctic storm dubbed the ‘Beast from the East’ set record temperatures across much of Europe on Monday and brought a rare snowstorm to Rome, paralyzing the city and giving its residents an unusual chance to ski, sled and build snowmen in its famous parks and piazzas.

Syrian forces launched a ground offensive Monday on a rebel-held eastern Damascus suburb despite a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding a 30-day cease-fire across Syria. The U.N. chief denounced the violence in the embattled region, describing it as ‘hell on Earth.’

U.S. officials are finalizing a new effort to crackdown on Iran’s top terror organization as part of an effort to reverse sweeping sanctions originally granted by the Obama administration as part of a little known deal to enrich entities tied to the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, according to sources familiar with the effort.

Russia has laid the groundwork for a likely veto on Monday of a British, U.S. and French bid for the United Nations Security Council to call out Iran over its weapons falling into the hands of Yemen’s Houthi group.

Iran said pro-Damascus forces would press ahead with attacks on an insurgent enclave near the Syrian capital, as ground fighting raged on there in defiance of a U.N. resolution demanding a 30-day truce across the country.

Russia has deployed two of its most advanced and sophisticated stealth jets in Syria, in a power move likely to draw US criticism, as the Pentagon expressed its alarm earlier this month over recent close calls with Russian planes in the war-torn country.

The White House responded cautiously to North Korea’s expression of interest in diplomatic talks with the U.S. Sunday, suggesting the Trump administration may be interested, but remains committed to ‘achieving the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.’

A large earthquake has struck the middle of Papua New Guinea.

Warplanes pounded the last rebel enclave near Syria’s capital for a fifth day running on Thursday as the U.N. Security Council considered demanding a 30-day ceasefire across the country to allow emergency aid deliveries and medical evacuations.

Tehran has told United Nations nuclear inspectors of its plan to build nuclear reactors for ships, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Thursday.

The Trump administration plans to announce on Friday what is being billed as the largest package of sanctions yet against North Korea to increase pressure on Pyongyang for its nuclear and ballistic missile tests, a senior administration official said.

Russia’s most advanced combat warplane, the Su-57 stealth fighter, appears to have begun trial missions over the war-weary Syrian skies.

A Venezuelan evangelical pastor who is running for president said on Wednesday that religious leaders have earned the right to enter politics in Latin America due to the failure of politicians in the region, where Protestant candidates are on the rise.

The Trump administration waived key sanctions on Iran’s main propaganda network last month, causing outrage among Iranian dissidents and administration insiders who tracked the effort to a little known Obama-era side deal with Iran that bars these sanctions from being implemented, according to multiple sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

The Nigerian army rescued about 80 girls abducted by Boko Haram militants in a raid at a school on Wednesday.

Vice President Mike Pence was all set to hold a history-making meeting with North Korean officials during the Winter Olympics in South Korea, but Kim Jong Un’s government canceled at the last minute, the Trump administration said Tuesday.

The final version of a landmark deal aimed at cutting trade barriers in some of the Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing economies was released on Wednesday, signaling the pact was a step closer to reality even without its star member the United States.

Two American destroyers sailed into the Black Sea over the weekend, the first time since 2014 that more than one U.S. warship has operated in this tense region other than in an exercise.