The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog warned Tuesday that Iran is "not entirely transparent" regarding its atomic program, particularly after an official who once led Tehran's program announced the Islamic Republic has all the pieces for a weapon "in our hands."
Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, just across the Persian Gulf, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, alluded to remarks made this weekend by Ali Akbar Salehi. Grossi noted "an accumulation of complexities" in the wider Middle East amid Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Full StoryThe Senate early Tuesday passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, pushing ahead after months of difficult negotiations and amid growing political divisions in the Republican Party over the role of the United States abroad.
The vote came after a small group of Republicans opposed to the $60 billion for Ukraine held the Senate floor through the night, using the final hours of debate to argue that the U.S. should focus on its own problems before sending more money overseas. But more than a dozen Republicans voted with almost all Democrats to pass the package 70-29, with supporters arguing that abandoning Ukraine could embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and threaten national security across the globe.
Full StoryEstonia's prime minister has been put on a wanted list in Russia because of her efforts to remove Soviet-era World War II monuments in the Baltic nation, officials said Tuesday as tensions between Russia and the West soar amid the war in Ukraine.
The name of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas appeared on the Russian Interior Ministry's list of people wanted on unspecified criminal charges. While independent Russian news outlet Mediazona first reported Tuesday that Kallas was on the list, it said she has been on it for a while. The list includes scores of officials and lawmakers from other Baltic nations.
Full StoryThe U.S. government has seized a Boeing 747 cargo plane that officials say was previously sold by a sanctioned Iranian airline to a state-owned Venezuelan firm in violation of American export control laws.
The Justice Department said Monday that the American-built plane had arrived in Florida and would be disposed of.
Full StoryArmenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday traded accusations over a border skirmish that left at least four Armenian soldiers dead and escalated tensions between the two Caucasus neighbors.
Armenia's Foreign Ministry denounced what it described as a "provocation" by Azerbaijani troops who fired on Armenian forces across the border in the eastern Syunik region early Tuesday. Four Armenian soldiers were killed and one was wounded, the ministry said. It urged Azerbaijan to refrain from "destabilizing" actions.
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NATO "cannot be an alliance a la carte," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday after Donald Trump downplayed his commitment to NATO's security umbrella in Europe if he becomes U.S. president again.
Full StoryThe Kremlin on Monday rejected Ukraine's claims that Russian troops fighting on the frontline were using Starlink terminals.
Kyiv's GUR military intelligence agency said it had evidence that Starlink internet terminals were being used on a "systematic" basis by Russian troops, accusing Moscow of "smuggling" them into the country.
Full StoryThousands of supporters of Pakistan's imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and members of other political parties blocked key highways and started a daylong strike in the volatile southwest Monday to protest alleged rigging of last week's elections.
Candidates backed by Khan won more seats than the political parties who ousted him from power nearly two years ago, according to the final tally published Sunday. However, no party won a majority, so the parties will have to hold talks on forming a coalition government. The new parliament chooses the country's next prime minister.
Full StoryPoland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk was traveling to Paris and Berlin on Monday in a diplomatic effort to rebuild key alliances as fears grow that former President Donald Trump could return to power in the United States and give Russia a free hand to expand its aggression in Europe.
The meetings on Monday come after Trump shocked many in Europe on the weekend by inviting Russia to invade any NATO member not spending enough on its own defenses.
Full StoryWhite House hopeful Donald Trump said he would "encourage" Russia to attack members of NATO who had not met their financial obligations, his most extreme broadside against the military alliance he has long expressed skepticism about.
With U.S. lawmakers debating new aid for Ukraine ahead of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion, the former president has repeatedly said it was unfair to commit the United States to defending NATO's 30 other member nations.
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