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Senate Democrats kept their promise to reject any Republican spending bill that didn’t extend or restore health care benefits, choosing instead to force a government shutdown. Now they have to figure out how to get out of it. Just hours after the shutdown began, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
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South Korea’s president vowed Wednesday to sharply increase defense spending to introduce a variety of high-tech weapons as part of efforts to build a more self-reliant military, as US President Donald Trump’s America-first agenda raises questions about the US security commitment to its Asian ally. A tariff war
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European leaders are converging on Copenhagen on Wednesday for two summits focused on security, defense and the war in Ukraine, following a spate of troubling drone incidents at Danish airports and military bases over the last week. Denmark’s defense ministry said that a precision radar system has been set
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US President Donald Trump gave Hamas an ultimatum of “three or four days” on Tuesday to respond to his plan for Gaza, as the militant group reviewed the proposal backed by Israel. The plan calls for a ceasefire, release of hostages by Hamas within 72 hours, disarmament of Hamas and
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Hamas had yet to respond Tuesday to Donald Trump on his plan for Gaza, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military would stay in most of the territory after he gave the US president his backing. The plan calls for a ceasefire, release of hostages by Hamas within
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President Donald Trump will on Tuesday speak at a rare gathering of hundreds of senior US military officers summoned, without public explanation, from around the world to meet at a base near Washington. No official reason has been given for the highly unusual meeting at Quantico. It comes as the
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US President Donald Trump said Monday that he had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s backing for a wide-ranging Gaza peace plan that would bring an immediate ceasefire. The plan, which Trump has circulated to Arab leaders, was released after Trump met Netanyahu in Washington. Trump told a press conference that
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The US and Israel are very close to an agreement on President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza after talks between special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a post on social
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The United Nations has reinstated an arms embargo and other sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program following a process triggered by European powers that Tehran has warned will be met with a harsh response. Britain, France and Germany initiated the return of sanctions on Iran at the UN Security
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US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday about reaching a deal to end the war in Gaza, saying there is “a real chance for greatness in the Middle East,” ahead of talks on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump did not provide specific details of a prospective
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House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are “marching the country” into a government shutdown over their refusal to meet with Democrats and strike a deal to save health care funding from cuts. Jeffries told the Associated Press in an interview late Friday that
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South Korea’s president has asked President Donald Trump to become “a peacemaker” and use his leadership to get North Korea to talks to reduce military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the South’s top diplomat said Friday. Trump “welcomed” the request from President Lee Jae-myung “and he expressed his
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Sudan’s new transitional prime minister has outlined plans for his country to be “reborn in unity” after years of brutal civil war. Kamil El-Tayeb Idris addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, months after being appointed by his country’s Transitional Sovereignty Council under President Abdel
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Six Myanmar war widows speak softly of their grief as they walk inside the crumbling walls of Mandalay Palace, fresh arrivals in an earthquake-wracked city strained anew by conflict. “We feel more freedom here,” said one among them, all widows of dead soldiers. She was evacuated from her hometown, which
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Vietnam’s Communist Party chief To Lam is expected to visit North Korea next month, two Vietnamese officials said, marking the first visit in nearly 20 years for a Vietnamese leader to the largely isolated nation. The two Communist countries maintain close diplomatic ties but have currently no trade relations,
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told global leaders Wednesday that the world is in “the most destructive arms race in human history” and urged the international community to act against Russia now, asserting that Vladimir Putin wants to expand his war in Europe. In a bleak view of today’s world,