The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime issued a report on Thursday that found the amount of land used to cultivate opium poppies in Afghanistan has decreased by 20 percent over the past year.
The Trump administration signed off on a $1.4 billion deal with two rare-earth startup companies this week, taking an early step in President Donald Trump’s ambitious plan to break China’s grip on critical mineral supply chains.
Reuters on Thursday cited “three people briefed on the talks and a U.S. administration official” who said President Donald Trump asked Chinese dictator Xi Jinping to release imprisoned Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai when the two leaders met in South Korea last week.
Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall in the Philippines on Tuesday, blasting through the heavily-populated center of the country with driving rain and 120 mile per hour wind gusts.
The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday produced a report that found $303 billion in oil revenue from the past ten years is missing, much of it attributed to oil thieves who tap into pipelines and sell their stolen crude on the black market.
A German environmentalist group called Urgewald published a report on Tuesday that found oil and gas production is growing rapidly around the world, frustrating the hopes of climate activists for a “green energy transition.”
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said on Tuesday that he regarded President Donald Trump’s expression of concern for oppressed Christians as a “threat,” and that confronting violent extremists will make Nigeria “come out stronger.”
The body of the last U.S. citizen kidnapped by Hamas, 19-year-old Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, was returned from Gaza for burial on Monday.
The United States on Tuesday prepared a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that would lift sanctions against Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Interior Minister Anas Khattab ahead of their visit to the White House on November 10.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning expressed support for the government of Nigeria on Tuesday, and claimed President Donald Trump was only interested in the slaughter of Christians as an “excuse” to interfere in Nigerian politics.
Nigerian military officials met to plan a response to President Donald Trump’s threat of military action against Islamist terrorists.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney was eulogized on Tuesday by his running mate, former President George W. Bush, as a “calm and steady presence” and “among the finest public servants of his generation.”
The Iranian regime held massive rallies in over 900 cities on Tuesday to commemorate the anniversary of the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in 1979 – an event known as the “National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance” in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Cairo held its inaugural event on Saturday, drawing a huge amount of media and online attention to the beautiful new 258,000-square-foot facility with a massive drone and fireworks display.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Monday at the demilitarized zone (DMZ).
The Islamist junta which overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in December 2024 took the unusual step of allowing a Halloween party in Damascus on Friday.
The terrorists of Hamas returned the remains of three more slain hostages to Israel on Sunday. All three were Israeli soldiers who were killed attempting to repel the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The terrorists dragged their bodies back to Gaza to use as bargaining chips.
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Wednesday that suspicious activity has been detected around Iran’s bombed-out nuclear sites, although he said there was no sign that Iran could resume uranium enrichment any time soon.
The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics reported on Friday that manufacturing activity contracted for the seventh consecutive month in October, posting even lower numbers than expected.
A blackout interrupted President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe in the middle of his State of the Nation address on Tuesday, forcing him to deliver part of the speech by torchlight.
The Sudanese insurgent militia known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the city of al-Fashir and raided its last functioning hospital this week, reportedly killing hundreds of people and displacing thousands of others.
Japan’s recent elections highlighted a poignant issue facing almost every industrialized nation, from America to Asia: the Japanese do not want mass migration, but their own demographics are collapsing so quickly that they might not be able to resist importing the next generation of young workers.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday that he and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping agreed to “work together” to end the war in Ukraine during their “amazing meeting” in South Korea.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, said on Wednesday that Hamas violated the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal when it attacked a group of Israeli soldiers on Tuesday, killing one of them.
Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid, who resigned and fled the country in August 2024 amid violent protests, confirmed on Wednesday that she has been living in India since her abdication – and she “would love to go home,” if “law and order genuinely prevailed.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday confirmed that dictator Xi Jinping will meet with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in South Korea on Thursday.
President Donald Trump said that he and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung have worked out most of the details of a bilateral trade deal.
Speaking to U.S. troops aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said his interdiction of drug shipments in the Caribbean has been so successful that “we can’t find a ship” loaded with drugs any more.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday presented President Donald Trump with South Korea’s highest honor, the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, along with a replica of the golden Cheonmachong crown.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday signed an “upgraded” free trade agreement with China.
Canada is reportedly on the verge of losing its “measles elimination” status due to an outbreak spreading from New Brunswick that began exactly one year ago on Monday.
Russian oil giant Lukoil issued a statement on Monday saying it would sell many of its international assets spread out across 11 different countries under intense pressure from President Donald Trump’s latest round of sanctions.
President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae praised each other in glowing terms on Tuesday, and Trump cemented the friendship by signing major deals on trade and rare earth minerals.
Chinese state media ran a few victory laps on Sunday and Monday over news that U.S. and Chinese negotiators reached a provisional trade agreement after two days of talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The world’s oldest living president, 92-year-old Paul Biya of Cameroon, was confirmed the winner of the latest election by the nation’s top court on Monday, despite decades of protests over election irregularities that left four people dead.
Chinese state media claimed several nuclear-capable H-6K bombers flew into “the waters and airspace around Taiwan.”
President Donald Trump met with Japanese Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Monday, continuing a tour of Asia that began at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia on Sunday and is scheduled to end with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in South Korea on Thursday.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand on Monday hailed Communist China as a valuable strategic partner, a dramatic turnaround from years of tense relations between Ottawa and Beijing necessitated by Canada’s deteriorating relationship with the United States.
Japan’s new prime minister, Takaichi Sanae, plans to increase defense spending and accelerate Japan’s military buildup.
President Donald Trump will be conducting high-stakes diplomacy during his trip to Asia next week. Trump will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia on Sunday, followed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in South Korea, and possibly a bilateral meeting with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping on Thursday.
