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Russia, US discussed nuclear arms and agreed talks need to start soon

Russian and U.S. negotiators discussed the expiration of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between the two countries and agreed on the need to quickly launch new arms control talks, the Kremlin said Friday.

The New START treaty terminated Thursday, leaving no caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century and fueling fears of an unconstrained nuclear arms race.

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Israel targets south and east Lebanon with series of strikes

An Israeli drone dropped Friday a stun grenade on the outskirts of Yaroun after overnight artillery shelling on the southern border town.

On Thursday, Israeli airstrikes targeted several regions in south and east Lebanon, with the Israeli army saying it targeted "Hezbollah" sites.

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Lebanon and Syria sign prisoners transfer deal

Lebanon and Syria signed an agreement Friday to transfer more than 300 Syrians from Lebanese prisons to continue serving their sentences in their home country, a step that will likely help improve strained relations between the two neighbors.

The signing came a week after Lebanon's Cabinet approved a treaty with Syria for the transfer of prisoners. The deal was signed at the government headquarters in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, by Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri and Syria's Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais.

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Architect aims to rebuild church and restore quake-hit Turkish city's multicultural past

Architect Buse Ceren Gul is on a mission: restore a 166-year-old Greek Orthodox church that was long a beacon of her hometown's multicultural past. She believes restoring the church left mostly in ruins by the earthquakes in southern Turkey three years ago will help locals reconnect to their city.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023, and another hours later were among Turkey's worst disasters. In Antakya, the quakes destroyed much of the historical town center.

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Trump says tariffs created economic miracle, facts tell a different story

Looking back on the first year of his second term, President Donald Trump boasts that he has resurrected the American economy by imposing big import taxes on foreign products. He made his case in a recent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, chiding the paper and critics, including mainstream economists, who predicted that tariffs would backfire, raising prices and threatening growth. "Instead,'' he wrote, "they have created an American economic miracle."

But the proof he offers is often off-base or wrong altogether.

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Cash-strapped Lebanon finds itself sitting on gold mine, as prices surge

Tiny Lebanon sits on one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East and its government is weighing whether it can use that stockpile to restore a crippled economy while its citizens are looking at gold as a way to protect their battered assets.

Lebanon's economy hobbled into 2026 with ongoing inflation and state decay and no reforms to combat corruption in sight. Its banks collapsed in late 2019 in a crippling fiscal crisis that evaporated depositors' savings and plunged about half its population of 6.5 million into poverty, after decades of rampant corruption, waste, and mismanagement. The country suffered some $70 billion in losses in its financial sector, further compounded by about $11 billion in the 2024 Israeli war.

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What to know as Iran and US set for nuclear talks in Oman

Iran and the United States will hold talks Friday in Oman, their latest over Tehran's nuclear program after Israel launched a 12-day war on the country in June and the Islamic Republic launched a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

U.S. President Donald Trump has kept up pressure on Iran, suggesting America could attack Iran over the killing of peaceful demonstrators or if Tehran launches mass executions over the protests. Meanwhile, Trump has pushed Iran's nuclear program back into the frame as well after the June war disrupted five rounds of talks held in Rome and Muscat, Oman, last year.

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Fans race to learn Spanish before Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show

Bad Bunny is expected to perform the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday entirely in Spanish — which has inspired fans to quickly learn the language.

In October, the Puerto Rican singer — born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — kicked off the 51st season of "Saturday Night Live" expressing pride over the achievement in Spanish, after which he said in English, "If you didn't understand what I just said, you have four months to learn!"

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US, Russia agree to reestablish high-level military-to-military dialogue

The U.S. and Russia agreed on Thursday to reestablish high level military-to-military dialogue following a meeting between senior Russian and American military officials in Abu Dhabi, the United States European Command said in a statement.

The agreement was reached following meetings between Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the Commander of U.S. European Command -- who is also NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe -- and senior Russian and Ukrainian military officials, the statement said.

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Backyard vegetable gardens are healthy for people and the planet

If you want healthy food, experts say to eat what's local, organic and in-season. Those foods benefit the planet too, because they are less taxing on the soil and they don't travel as far.

It doesn't get more local, organic and in-season than a backyard vegetable garden.

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