John Hayward

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that cooperation with the new Syrian government is “developing very actively,” and could lead to Russia keeping some military bases that it feared losing when its client Bashar Assad was overthrown in December 2024.

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) reports that China is now the largest foreign investor in Central Asia, surpassing Russia after a decade of growing investments in oil, gas, mining, and transportation infrastructure.

Apostolic Nuncio Paolo Borgia on Monday visited several villages in southeastern Lebanon whose residents have refused to leave, despite the ongoing battle between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed terrorists of Hezbollah.

The Pentagon added tech giant Alibaba, EV titan BYD, and search engine Baidu to its list of companies linked to China’s military.

Canada looks set to be the latest country to join the worldwide trend of banning social media for children under 16, with a bill headed to the House of Commons in the coming days.

The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen declared “a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation” through the Red Sea on Monday.

Chinese companies have reportedly delayed two major refinery projects, capable of producing 500,000 barrels per day combined, due to the shortage of crude oil from the Middle East after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz.

Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa said on Monday that Israel has conducted 3,491 airstrikes against targets in Lebanon since the U.S.-brokered “ceasefire” began on April 17.

China announced on Friday that dictator Xi Jinping will make his first trip to North Korea since 2019 next week, in a bid to shore up China’s ties with its erratic neighbor after North Korea grew closer to Russia.

Roger Kamba, Minister of Public Health for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), complained on Friday that travel restrictions against his country due to the Ebola outbreak are “discriminatory” and cannot be justified by science or medicine.

A large group of protesters brandishing cardboard flamingoes marched through the Albanian capital of Tirana for several nights this week, demonstrating against plans for a luxury resort by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Fighters from an insurgent group linked to the Islamic State killed 16 civilians in the eastern Congo, the area of the Ebola outbreak.

Iranian officials on Thursday denied bombing the Kuwait airport and insisted ceasefire talks with the United States are proceeding.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announced a ceasefire plan with Israel, but it was quickly rejected by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists.

Two people were reportedly “shot dead” on Monday during protests in Kenya against a planned Ebola isolation center for Americans at a military installation.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday announced sanctions against four Iranian digital asset exchanges, including Nobitex, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Iran.

The Malawi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday it will begin repatriating its citizens from South Africa due to a wave of anti-immigrant violence.

Kuwaiti officials said on Wednesday that at least one person was killed and 63 injured by an Iranian missile and drone attack on the Kuwait International Airport.

China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) announced on Monday that the state-run China Central Television (CCTV) has overseen the deletion of some 8,000 AI-altered videos from online platforms.

A cargo ship was attacked by drones while sailing near the Umm Qasr port in Iraq on Monday. On Tuesday, Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for a missile attack against a commercial vessel, describing it as justified retaliation for an attack by the “terrorist and child-killing U.S. military” against an Iranian ship.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday announced the reopening of the airport in Bunia, the capital city of Ituri province, which is the epicenter of the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he brokered a new ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists of Lebanon, but both sides continued to launch attacks on Tuesday, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are still issuing evacuation orders for Lebanese communities where strikes against Hezbollah are imminent.

The Chinese Coast Guard said on Monday it is conducting “law enforcement” patrols east of Taiwan in response to Japan and the Philippines reaching an agreement on maritime boundaries.

Brazilian health officials said on Saturday they were monitoring two suspected Ebola infections, both travelers who recently arrived from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, the epicenter of the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak.

Malaysia began enforcing its social media ban for children on Monday, requiring all social media platforms with 8 million or more users to implement age-verification systems that will prevent people under 16 from creating accounts.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday there will be “no calm in Beirut” unless the Iran-backed terrorists of Hezbollah stop attacking Israel with rockets and drones.

China kept a low profile at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, sending only a group of academics instead of top military officials.

Israeli Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman said on Wednesday that renewed military action against Iran is possible if Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities are not neutralized by a prospective peace deal with the United States.

World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Thursday evening, seeking to support the medical response to the fast-growing outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday announced new sanctions on Iranian oil sales in a bid to choke off funding for Iran’s military apparatus.

Ship trackers said on Thursday that two more tankers were able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz with their transponders turned off.

Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said on Thursday that the quarantine period for passengers from the Hondius, the cruise ship that was afflicted by a hantavirus outbreak in April, will be extended from June 5 to June 23.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) accused Iran on Thursday of an “egregious ceasefire violation” for firing a ballistic missile at Kuwait and launching “five one-way attack drones that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz.”

Syria’s transitional government said on Tuesday it has recovered “remnants” of the secret chemical weapons program created by deposed dictator Bashar Assad, and have arrested 18 suspects who were allegedly involved in the program.