World News

North Korea displayed trademark defiance on Wednesday over new United Nations sanctions imposed after its sixth and largest-ever nuclear test, vowing to redouble efforts to fight off what it said was the threat of a US invasion.

Neutral Sweden has launched its biggest war games in two decades with support from NATO countries, drilling 19,000 troops after years of spending cuts that have left the country fearful of Russia’s growing military strength.

The Trump administration is poised to extend sanctions relief to Iran, avoiding imminent action that could implode the landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Japan’s top government spokesman has called a North Korean threat to sink Japan with a nuclear bomb extremely provocative and outrageous.

The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State dropped 5,075 bombs during operations in August, the highest total of any month since the three-year campaign against the terrorist group began.

The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) has some 11,000 blank Syrian passports that could be used to provide fake identities for jihadists, German authorities believe.

South Korea says it has found a small amount of radioactive element from air samples it collected following North Korea’s latest nuclear test.

The Trump administration on Tuesday threatened to cutoff from the U.S. financial system Chinese and Russian companies helping North Korea smuggle coal overseas to circumvent international sanctions on Pyongyang’s nuclear activities.

Australia on Tuesday launched a postal vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage as a widely watched poll indicated the country would be overwhelmingly in support.

Major U.S. allies in Asia welcomed on Tuesday the U.N. Security Council’s unanimous vote to step up sanctions on North Korea, with its profitable textile exports now banned and fuel supplies to the reclusive North capped after its sixth nuclear test.

North Korea illegally exported coal, iron and other commodities worth at least $270 million to China and other countries including India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka in the six-month period ending in early August in violation of U.N. sanctions, U.N. experts say.

Six months ago, it looked like her job might be in jeopardy, but now Chancellor Angela Merkel is cruising to victory in Germany’s Sept. 24 vote and the big question is what Europe’s dominant political leader plans to do with her mandate for a fourth term.

British officials fear that North Korea’s sudden advancement in developing nuclear weapons may be due to secret support from Iran, The Sunday Telegraph reported over the weekend.

North Korea’s chief diplomat at the United Nations was not hiding his satisfaction with Pyongyang’s recent nuclear test, warning the U.S. that it can expect more “gift packages” to come its way.

Germany said on Thursday that Russia was planning to send more than 100,000 troops to war games on NATO’s eastern flank this month, disputing Moscow’s version that only 13,000 Russian and Belarussian servicemen would participate.

The U.S. military is keeping a wary eye on Iran’s most violent proxy militia in Iraq, which has vowed to start killing Americans again once the Islamic State is expelled.

A magnitude-8.1 earthquake has struck off the southern coast of Mexico, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, shaking buildings as far away as Guatemala.

President Trump again insisted Wednesday that the U.S. and its allies will not tolerate North Korea’s nuclear weapons tests and missile launches, discussing the crisis on the Korean peninsula with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a 45-minute phone call.

South Korean commandos will work with the US Navy Seals who killed Osama bin Laden to create a special unit to assassinate Kim Jong-un in the event of war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that any decision by the United States to supply defensive weapons to Ukraine would fuel the conflict in eastern Ukraine and possibly prompt pro-Russian separatists to expand their campaign there.