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1259 articles · page 24 of 27
The United States is close to finalizing a deal with Venezuela that would give Washington a stake in the country's oil fields, according to insiders familiar with the negotiations. The agreement, if completed, would significantly boost US oil supplies over the long term but may face legal challenges related to existing sanctions and asset seizure claims.
Six months into a conflict that Washington initially billed as a limited military operation, experts say the United States and Iran are locked in a grinding war of attrition with 'bleak' prospects for peace — though a diplomatic breakthrough remains theoretically possible.
Israeli settlers have surrounded a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, with at least four people trapped inside, as a siege that has now lasted three weeks is further entrenched by the installation of new Israeli gates around the area.
· 2 sourcesSyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed Mazloum Abdi, the former commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a presidential advisor — a move that comes just three days after the SDF was formally dissolved. The appointment signals a major shift in Syria's post-war consolidation, raising questions about Kurdish autonomy, Ankara's reaction, and the future of US-backed forces in the northeast.
Iran announced on Friday that it is preparing to draft conditions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after receiving requests from mediators, in a possible sign of de-escalation following weeks of heightened tensions that have disrupted global oil shipments and rattled energy markets.
President Donald Trump's imposition of new 50% tariffs on Canadian imports could put nearly 90,000 Canadian jobs at risk, according to a recent analysis, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing trade dispute between the two nations.
Critical minerals continue to flow out of Myanmar despite the country’s deepening civil war, according to a Foreign Policy analysis published Thursday. Authors Kristina Kironska and Jan-Sha argue that while international attention has focused on the humanitarian crisis, the opaque supply chains for tin, tungsten, and rare earths remain largely undisturbed — and accountability for human rights abuses and environmental damage is becoming harder than ever.
A devastating flood that swept through Tibet and Nepal this week has been described as a stark warning about the growing climate security risks in the Himalayan region, prompting calls for international frameworks that address both environmental threats and geopolitical sensitivities.
A Russian military serviceman was killed in a car bomb explosion in St Petersburg on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera, marking the latest in a string of attacks targeting military personnel and others linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The blast occurred in the second-largest Russian city, raising questions about security and the effectiveness of counterintelligence efforts.
Qatari and Iranian officials have held talks focused on reducing escalation in the Strait of Hormuz and creating “appropriate conditions” for dialogue, Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Saturday, as international observers expressed cautious hope that the discussions could revive stalled diplomacy between Tehran and Washington.
The ongoing US-Israeli military campaign against Iran is rapidly draining the US Navy budget, forcing the service to divert funds from payroll and other sources to cover combat costs, according to documents obtained by the Guardian and interviews with officials, contractors, and defense analysts.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for Washington and Beijing to ‘overcome obstacles’ in bilateral relations during a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue in Beijing on Wednesday, as preparations begin for Chinese President Xi Jinping's scheduled visit to the United States next month.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced dash to Moscow last week, a journey described by security analyst Frank Gardner as 'nothing routine', sparking intense speculation about the purpose of the visit at a time when US-Russia relations are at their lowest point since the Cold War.
An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon has killed a woman described as a 'newlywed' and wounded several other people, local officials report, underscoring the fragility of the region's security despite a recent US-brokered memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran and a separate framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon that had led to an overall reduction in hostilities.
· 2 sourcesA coordinated campaign by Israeli settlers targeting Palestinian-owned factories in the occupied West Bank is at risk of collapsing the already fragile Palestinian economy, according to a detailed investigation published by Al Jazeera. The report documents dozens of incidents in which settlers have vandalized, burned, or forcibly occupied industrial facilities, with the apparent goal of driving Palestinian workers from their land and businesses.
Al Jazeera this week marked six months of war on Iran with a new report, a day after it reported that families of children killed in a US missile strike on an Iranian school continue to grieve. The strike killed at least 170 people, most of them children, according to the network.
· 2 sourcesRussia's foreign ministry has issued a stark warning that it could target the United Kingdom in response to Ukraine firing British-supplied long-range cruise missiles at Russian territory, labeling the use of such weapons an act of 'terrorism' and a significant escalation in the West's involvement in the conflict.
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Thursday, as the United States escalates its campaign of economic pressure against the Islamic Republic. The visit underscores Qatar's ongoing role as a mediator in regional conflicts and comes amid heightened tensions over Iran's nuclear program and its support for proxy groups.
Sergio Gor, President Trump's envoy to India, has sparked confusion in diplomatic circles by making statements that appear to diverge from official US policy, raising concerns about the coherence of Washington's approach to South Asia. Analysts say it is increasingly unclear whether Gor speaks for himself or the White House, complicating relations with a key regional partner.
Diplomatic efforts in the Strait of Hormuz crisis have yielded a temporary shipping agreement, even as Iran's president reveals sanctions and a US-led naval blockade have cut the country's exports and imports by nearly 35 percent. The deal, announced after Qatari mediation, comes amid warnings that British households face an energy price cap increase due to the conflict.
· 3 sourcesThe United Nations' special envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, warned today that the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire agreed last October would represent a 'point of no return' for the region, as he condemned Israeli airstrikes and ongoing Hamas military activities that have eroded the 10-month-old truce.
· 2 sourcesRussia has warned it could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine in retaliation for the UK's decision to share classified technology enabling Kyiv to produce long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles, as reports emerge that the CIA director secretly cautioned the Kremlin against attacking NATO allies.
Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, traveled to Tehran on Thursday as the war involving Iran nears its six-month mark, stepping into a delicate balancing act between his role as a key mediator and his country’s explicit blame of Iran for hundreds of missile and drone attacks.
A crisis in the Strait of Hormuz has cut traffic through the vital waterway by an estimated 95%, according to reports from maritime tracking agencies and transport industry groups, triggering cascading disruptions across global shipping networks that carry about 80% of the world's trade by volume. The sharp decline, which began in late August 2026, follows escalating tensions in the region, with shippers rerouting vessels and major oil consumers scrambling to secure alternative supplies.
Russian troops are attempting to infiltrate the vast, overgrown reservoir basin of a dam they destroyed three years ago, forcing Ukrainian soldiers to hunt them at close quarters in a deadly cat-and-mouse game, according to a report by The New York Times.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly warned Russian officials during a visit to Moscow that any attack on NATO member states would trigger a decisive response, while the Kremlin dismissed the US media reports as ‘scare stories,’ according to sources familiar with the matter. The visit comes as the Pentagon’s policy chief prepares to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to reaffirm alliance commitments.
In an opinion piece published Thursday, former U.S. intelligence and military officers Jonathan Sweet and Mark Toth argue that the Trump administration has shifted its Iran strategy toward promoting regime change through non-military means, after exhausting traditional pressure points such as sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
Russia, historically one of the world's largest oil exporters, has been forced into an unprecedented scramble to import crude and refined fuels after sustained Ukrainian drone attacks have knocked out a significant portion of its refining capacity, according to a Guardian investigation published Thursday.
After weeks of intensified Houthi attacks on Saudi territory, analysts say the kingdom and the Iranian-backed militia are on the brink of a full-blown military confrontation, potentially reigniting a devastating conflict in Yemen and widening the regional proxy war with Iran.
Israeli artillery attacks, air raids, and ground incursions continue against targets in Syria and Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera, even as the United States publicly advocates for a diplomatic resolution to the violence. The persistent operations are raising questions about whether Washington is willing or able to enforce its stated preference for de-escalation.
A video released by the Syrian presidency shows President Bashar al-Assad making his first payment using a Visa card, one day after the United States removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. The move marks a significant step in the normalization of Syria's banking and financial systems following the lifting of US sanctions, but raises questions about the pace of reintegration and the humanitarian impact of remaining restrictions.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is traveling to Tehran in a renewed effort to revive diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, as the US-Israel military campaign against Iran approaches its sixth month without any sign of a political resolution.
The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has accused Israel of deliberately working to dismantle the agency and erase the issue of Palestinian refugees, following the seizure of an UNRWA training centre in East Jerusalem. The claim, made on Tuesday, underscores deepening tensions between the UN agency and the Israeli government, which has long criticised UNRWA's mandate and operations.
The acting head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Christian Saunders, has condemned Israel’s seizure of the agency’s training centre in East Jerusalem, describing it as part of a broader campaign to weaken UNRWA and undermine Palestinian rights. The raid on the facility, located in the contested city, marks the latest escalation in a long-running dispute between Israel and the UN agency that provides education, health care and social services to millions of Palestinian refugees.
A year after the United States lifted sanctions and removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, the analyst who originally argued that sanctions relief was a necessary tool for positive engagement with President Ahmed al Sharaa’s government has issued a sober reassessment: while al Sharaa has won diplomatic breathing room abroad, deep-rooted domestic problems — economic stagnation, lagging reconstruction, and questions over governance — threaten to undermine his leadership.
President Donald Trump this week escalated his trade war with Canada, calling the nation 'difficult and unreasonable' and threatening to rename a lake after trade talks collapsed, according to reports. The outburst marks a dramatic shift in tone toward what was once considered one of America's closest allies and the best-liked country in the world.
President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that the ongoing war with Iran will persist 'for as long as necessary,' signaling no immediate plans for de-escalation. The remarks come as the conflict enters its third month, with both sides suffering significant casualties and diplomatic efforts stalled.
Global oil traffic is increasingly rerouting toward the United States as ongoing hostilities in Iran disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to industry analysts. The shift reflects a significant realignment of crude supply chains amid one of the most serious threats to Persian Gulf transit in decades.
The United States reported a 3.7 percent annual inflation rate for July, unchanged from the previous month but still well above the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target, as energy prices surged following the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran, according to Al Jazeera.
A new analysis published by The Diplomat warns that China-linked influence operators are increasingly using artificial intelligence to craft more effective disinformation targeting Japanese audiences. The report, by analyst Cheng-Pu Kao, argues that generative AI has sharply lowered the cost and technical barriers to running influence campaigns, enabling smaller teams to produce large volumes of localized, convincing content and raising new challenges for Japan and its allies.
The ongoing Iran war is severely disrupting trade connectivity across Eurasia, derailing Central Asian efforts to use Iranian ports and railways as key transit hubs for overland commerce, according to a report from The Diplomat.
The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force will deploy three F-2A fighter jets to India for the first time in its history, flying via Okinawa and Thailand to take part in the bilateral air exercise Veer Guardian 26, with the US Air Force providing aerial refueling and other support along the route.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa have discussed the fate of two strategic Russian military bases in Syria — the Khmeimim airbase and the Tartous naval facility — which were previously used to support the ousted Assad regime, Al Jazeera has reported.
Qatar's Prime Minister is set to travel to Tehran for talks on de-escalating regional tensions, the Qatari foreign ministry announced Thursday, as US President Donald Trump told Al Jazeera he is ‘not in a hurry’ for Iran to return to nuclear negotiations. The diplomatic push comes amid a prolonged standoff over Iran's nuclear programme and US sanctions.
· 2 sourcesIn a stark opinion piece published Wednesday, former Nicaraguan diplomat Arturo McFields claims Russia is systematically deceiving Latin American migrants with promises of high pay and a path to citizenship, only to force them into front-line combat in Ukraine. 'They were promised the moon and the stars but found only hell in a foreign land,' McFields writes, drawing on his experience as a former ambassador to the Organization of American States. The accusation echoes a growing body of reports from Ukrainian and Western officials about Moscow's recruitment of foreign fighters from developing nations.
China has issued a security advisory urging its citizens to leave Eswatini, the sole African country that still maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, escalating a long-running campaign to isolate Taipei internationally. The notice, published by the Chinese embassy in Mbabane on August 26, cites unspecified 'security risks' but comes amid Beijing's sustained pressure on the remaining 12 states that recognize Taiwan rather than the People's Republic.
Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels are circulating AI-generated deepfake videos that make two Ukrainian lawmakers appear to call for peace talks on terms favorable to Russia. According to a report by NewsGuard, the clips have garnered over 130,000 views in two weeks, and experts warn that even after debunking, such fakes erode public trust in credible information sources.
The United States launched strikes on Iranian launchers on Larak Island late Saturday, the first direct exchange of fire in the Strait of Hormuz in more than a month, prompting Iranian retaliatory attacks against US forces in the region and a sharp warning from Tehran.
· 3 sources