Headlines

A collection of 169 posts

Kremlin Critic Jailed For 25 Years

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent Kremlin critic who has previously survived two suspected poisoning attempts, was on Monday sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment after publicly condemning Moscow's war in Ukraine. He was detained last year and charged with treason, spreading fake news about the Russ...

Russia

Poland, Hungary Ban Grain Imports From Ukraine

Poland and Hungary have imposed a temporary ban on imports of grain and food products from Ukraine, citing the need to protect struggling local farmers after a flood of supply depressed prices across the region....

Ukraine

US Rep. Greene Under Fire for Defending Alleged Ukraine Doc Leaker

US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) came under fire this week after defending 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, the suspect in the criminal case over leaked Pentagon documents that surfaced on social media platforms in the last few weeks....

Ukraine

Brazil: Judge Orders Bolsonaro To Testify About Riots

Following a request made by the country's Attorney General, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Friday ordered former Pres. Jair Bolsonaro to testify within 10 days about the marching of key government buildings in Brasília on Jan. 8....

Brazil

US Charges El Chapo's Sons, Chinese Businessmen with Fentanyl Trafficking

The US Justice Dept. (DOJ) announced Friday that it had charged dozens of defendants throughout Mexico, China, and Guatemala in connection to the Sinaloa Cartel's fentanyl trafficking operation allegedly fueled by Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical companies....

Mexico

Ukraine Bans Athletes from Competing Against Russia and Belarus

Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports on Friday banned its country's athletes and national teams from competing in any tournament where Russian and Belarusian athletes are also taking part. The ban applies to Olympic and non-Olympic sports, as well as competitions for sporting events for disab...

Ukraine

US Inflation Eases to 5%, Lowest Since 2021

The US Labor Dept. reported Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of US prices, rose 0.1% in March and 5% since last year, less than Dow Jones estimates and its slowest pace since 2021....

Economic conditions & trends

Syrian FM Makes First Visit to Saudi Arabia Since 2011

Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Wednesday after reportedly being invited by his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, as relations between Damascus and the Arab world move toward normalization....

Saudi Arabia

US Arrests Suspect in Connection to Ukraine Doc Leak

On Thursday, the US arrested 21-year-old Air National Guard Jack Teixeira in connection to a leak of dozens of classified US military documents detailing intelligence on the war in Ukraine and other sensitive information. The Massachusetts resident is reportedly due to appear in court Friday....

Russia

China Reports First Human Bird Flu Death

A 56-year-old woman from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong is the first person known to have died from a type of bird flu that is rare in humans, H3N8, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement Tuesday....

Medicine & healthcare

IMF: Interest Rates to Drop Once Inflation is Under Control

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that increased interest rates in major economies are likely temporary and will reduce once rising prices, caused by factors including the Ukraine War's impact on energy costs, are halted and reverted downwards....

Economic conditions & trends

Philippines, US Launch Largest-Ever Joint Military Drills

The US and the Philippines on Tuesday kicked off their biggest-ever joint military exercises amid the rising rivalry between Washington and Beijing in the disputed South China Sea....

Military

Biden Admin. Weighs Possible Rules for AI Tools

The US Dept. of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Tuesday invited the public to comment on what role the federal government can play to ensure Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms are behaving as they are intended and not causing harm....

Computers & internet

Al Jazeera: Hindu Mob Set Fire to Historic Library at Muslim School

On Monday, Al Jazeera reported that Madrassa Azizia, a prominent Muslim school in Bihar Sharif town of Nalanda district in eastern India’s Bihar state, was set on fire by a mob on the occasion of the Hindu festival Ram Navami....

Terrorism

Congressional 'Gang of 8' Access Docs From Trump, Biden, Pence Homes

The US Biden admin. has reportedly granted the 'Gang of Eight' — the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees and the four leaders of the House and Senate — access to the classified documents found at the homes of Pres. Joe Biden, former Pres. Donald Trump, a...

India

North Korea's Kim Calls for More 'Practical, Offensive' War Deterrence

North Korean state media reported on Tuesday that the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, called for strengthening the North's war deterrence in a 'more practical and offensive' manner in response to moves it called aggressive by the US and the South....

North Korea

British, Australian Lawmakers Call on US to Drop Assange Prosecution

British and Australian lawmakers on Tuesday called on the US to drop its prosecution of imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, marking the four-year anniversary of his imprisonment at Belmarsh prison....

Headlines

Ukraine Alters Military Plans in Wake of Pentagon Leaks

In the wake of classified US documents being leaked and circulated on the internet in the past several days, Ukraine has modified some of its war plans, a source close to Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN on Monday....

Ukraine

Macron: Europe Shouldn't Become 'America's Followers'

On Sunday, French Pres. Emmanuel Macron said Europe needs to seek 'strategic autonomy,' avoid getting entangled in 'crises that are not ours,' and reduce its dependency on the US....

China

Sudan Transition Deal Delayed, Protests Held Against Talks

On Wednesday, a pro-democracy bloc announced that the signing of an agreement to restore Sudan's transition to civilian rule — which was disrupted by a 2021 coup — was delayed for a second time in just a week over stalled negotiations between the army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support...

Politics

France, China Strike Deals in Civilian Nuclear Energy

French Pres. Emmanuel Macron and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, struck multiple cooperation deals, including civilian nuclear and green energy, on Thursday in China....

France

Protesters in France Storm BlackRock Building

As protests over pension reforms continued to grip French cities, demonstrators forced their way into the building of US investment giant BlackRock in Paris on Thursday....

France

Russian Defector Reports Putin Details

The story of a Russian defector with access to the workings of Russian Pres. Putin's inner world and security arrangements were shared with the media this week after the defector fled Russia to Turkey last year. Gleb Karakulov gave a series of interviews to the Dossier Center, a UK-based investig...

Headlines

ProPublica Report: Justice Clarence Thomas Failed to Disclose Luxury Trips

US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose decades of luxury trips gifted by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, according to a new ProPublica report published on Thursday....

Headlines

NPR Criticizes Twitter for 'State-Affiliated Media' Label

On Tuesday, Twitter applied a 'US state-affiliated media' label to the account of National Public Radio (NPR), a description usually designated for accounts like Russian government-funded Russia Today and China's Xinhua News Agency, the official PRC state news agency....

China