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Billionaire businessman Elon Musk and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun spoke by phone to discuss making elements of Musk’s sprawling business empire available in Lebanon, a statement from Aoun’s office said on Thursday. The statement said Musk called Aoun and “expressed his interest in Lebanon and its telecommunications and
NATO’s decision to increase defense spending will not significantly affect Russia’s security, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. NATO allies on Wednesday agreed to raise their collective spending goal to 5 percent of gross domestic product over the next decade, citing what they called the long-term threat
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Pope Leo said on Thursday that conflicts in the Middle East were raging with an unprecedented “diabolical intensity” and appealed for greater respect for international law, in comments to Catholic bishops and aid agencies operating in the region. At a meeting in the Vatican, the pontiff said countries in the
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed victory over Israel and said his country had “delivered a hand slap to America’s face” on Thursday, in his first public comments since a ceasefire was declared in the war between the two countries. Khamenei spoke in a video broadcast on
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President Donald Trump’s administration hit back Wednesday at accounts Iran may have moved enriched uranium before US bombing, as a row grew on how much the strikes set back Tehran’s nuclear program. Trump, seeking credit for ordering the military action and then quickly announcing a ceasefire between Israel
Middle East
The sleeper cell behind a deadly church bombing near Damascus belonged to the Daesh group, which had plans to target a Shiite shrine in a similar attack, Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday. Sunday’s attack on the Mar Elias Church killed at least 25 people. The attack
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Environmental groups raised concerns Thursday over a $6 billion Indonesian EV battery megaproject backed by Chinese giant CATL which is set to open on a once-pristine island, as Jakarta exploits its huge supply of nickel. Indonesia is both the world’s largest nickel producer and home to the biggest-known reserves,
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China hosted defense ministers from Iran and Russia for a meeting in its eastern seaside city of Qingdao on Thursday against the backdrop of war in the Middle East and a summit of NATO countries in Europe that agreed to boost military spending. Beijing has long sought to present the
Politics
President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit Wednesday and suggested that increased spending by the trans-Atlantic alliance could help prevent future Russian aggression against its neighbors. NATO members agreed to raise their spending targets by 2035 to 5 percent of gross
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The suspect in a Molotov cocktail attack on a march by Jewish protesters in Colorado will face an additional 12 charges for carrying out a hate crime, the US Justice Department said Wednesday. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national, already faces over 100 criminal counts for allegedly throwing firebombs and
Politics
Ukraine and the Council of Europe human rights body signed an agreement on Wednesday forming the basis for a special tribunal intended to bring to justice senior Russian officials for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset signed the
Politics
Senators are set to meet with top national security officials Thursday as many question President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites — and whether those strikes were ultimately successful. The classified briefing, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday and was delayed, also comes as the Senate is
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Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday a former air force officer who is under British and EU sanctions had been detained, the latest such arrest announcement since longtime ruler Bashar Assad’s ouster. Authorities in the Harasta area outside Damascus “arrested the criminal pilot Maj. Gen. Meezar Sawan,” the
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US President Donald Trump asserted on Wednesday that US and Iranian officials will talk next week, giving rise to cautious hope for longer-term peace even as Tehran insisted it will not give up its nuclear program. Trump, who helped negotiate the ceasefire that took hold Tuesday on the 12th day
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US President Donald Trump reveled in the swift end to war between Iran and Israel, saying he now expected a relationship with Tehran that would preclude rebuilding its nuclear program despite uncertainty over damage inflicted by US strikes. As exhausted and anxious Iranians and Israelis both sought to resume normal
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Taiwan said Wednesday military drills to be held in July will involve the largest ever mobilization of reservists for the annual exercises, which are being extended to improve the island’s response to “grey zone” harassment by China. Beijing insists democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has never