National Security - Page 109

A Russian cargo ship on its way to Syria sank in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday after an explosion in its engine room.

Israel said this week that it will begin targeting Houthi rebel leaders in Yemen, just as it has targeted the leaders of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, in order to stop the Iranian-backed group from firing missiles at Israel.

Syrian insurgent leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani when he was a high-ranking al-Qaeda member, on Sunday repeated his promise that the new Syria would be inclusive and respectful of minority groups.

The government of Argentina on Monday eliminated a hefty 30 percent “inclusive” surcharge tax on foreign currency debit and credit card purchases imposed by the previous socialist administration.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden introduced his son, Hunter Biden, to Chinese premier Xi Jinping, on an official visit in 2013, new photos show. Vice President Biden also met Hunter’s business associates in China, despite later denials.

Far-left President of Colombia Gustavo Petro warned President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday that he will side with neighboring Panama “until the last consequences” should the United States take control of the Panama Canal.

Biden-Harris administration officials are reportedly urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to develop ties with Syrian rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa — a terrorist who until last week had a $10 million bounty on his head.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) warned on Monday that North Korea is preparing to send more troops, drones, and missiles to Russia to support its war against Ukraine. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is particularly eager to send more “suicide drones” to his ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey repeated a pledge Saturday to conquer Jerusalem during a speech in Mardin, Turkey, raising eyebrows and signaling new tensions in the relationship with Israel.

South Africa is preparing to “put the megaphone away” when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, anticipating that President-elect Donald Trump might not look kindly on that country’s anti-Western foreign policy stances.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin on Sunday with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukrainian drones struck a major Russian fuel depot for the second time in just over a week on Sunday, according to a senior Russian regional official, as part of a “massive” cross-border attack on fuel and energy facilities that Kyiv says supply Moscow’s military.

One of the last surviving members of the original Tuskegee Airmen has died at the age of 99, local reports said.

Ukraine brought the war into the heart of Russia Saturday morning with drone attacks that local authorities said damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the front line.

The administration of outgoing President Joe Biden stopped offering on Friday a reward for information leading to the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani), the de facto leader of Syria.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, on Friday demolished Jagmeet Singh of the left-wing New Democrat Party (NDP) for pretending to criticize embattled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while dancing away from votes that could have removed Trudeau from office.

Raúl Castro appeared visibly upset at a recent Communist Party meeting, slamming his fist on a table at his officials’ incompetence.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is urging governments to rescind their terrorist designations of Syrian insurgents Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The government of Malaysia announced on Friday that it had tentatively agreed to a deal with an American research organization to launch a new search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), which vanished in March 2014 and has not been found.

Chino Hills, California, resident Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, was arrested on Thursday and charged with acting as an illegal agent of Beijing while influencing local elections.

A group of U.S. diplomatic officials met on Friday with the rebels who toppled Bashar Assad, awkwardly seeking to open channels with an insurgency whose leaders are designated terrorists. 

Bar owners in Syria fear that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seizing power will lead to a nationwide ban on the consumption of alcohol.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly not attend the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on International Holocaust Remembrance Day next month because of fear that Poland will honor a warrant to arrest him.

Itamar ben Hemo, the CEO of an Israeli tech startup called Rivery, survived being shot in the chest while in combat in Gaza earlier this year and signed a $100 million deal with data management company Boomi in the U.S. this week.

Incoming U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee had a message for Israel on Thursday evening: “[Y]ou will never be alone again in your fight for freedom and to preserve the country and the land and the heritage that God gave you.”

A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early Friday killed at least one person and injured nine others, officials said. Moscow claimed it was in response to a Ukrainian strike on Russian soil using American-made weapons.

Canada Post announced on Wednesday that children will not receive letters from Santa Claus this year as a result of a month-long union strike that disrupted the postal office’s operations and its decades-long Santa letter program.

The Pentagon’s annual Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China report, released on Wednesday, found that China is making progress toward its goal of military modernization despite persistent corruption problems.

China’s state-run Global Times on Thursday mocked the United States as a “breeding ground for delusion” because of the furor over drone sightings in New Jersey.

A number of international media reports have exposed an operation called “Alabuga Start” that lures young African women to work at a Russian drone factory and then effectively enslaves them – but African governments have done little to protect their citizens from exploitation.

Monsignor Rolando Álvarez held his first public Mass since communist dictator Daniel Ortega banished him from Nicaragua.

Hundreds of people convened in the heart of Damascus on Thursday demanding the regime replacing ousted longtime dictator Bashar Assad respect women and the basic civil rights of all.

One of two men arrested for running an illegal Chinese police station to persecute anti-communists in New York City pleaded guilty.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at any time he revealed Thursday during a lengthy year-end press conference.

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin insisted on Thursday that Russia achieved its strategic goals with its military presence in Syria even with the collapsed of the regime of ally Bashar Assad – who has since fled to Moscow, where Putin promised to meet with him soon.

Israel dismissed a claim Thursday by Human Rights Watch that it is denying water to the Gaza Strip and thereby committing genocide.