Slovakia gets first new F-16s to boost air defense

Slovakia received on Monday the first two of 14 new F-16 fighter jets that will replace Russian-made planes it had already donated to Ukraine. Tap for the full brief.

Russian lawmakers seek punishment for troops using smartphones in Ukraine war

Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, has proposed disciplinary detention for up to 10 days for troops using devices with camera and geolocation functions in combat zones such as Ukraine, R...

Netanyahu heads to Washington, says Israel will remain key US ally whoever replaces Biden

Israel will be the United States' strongest ally in the Middle East regardless of who is elected president in November, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday before flying to Washington,...

Top UN court says Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal

The United Nations' highest court said on Friday that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible, in its strongest ...

“We failed”, US Secret Service director says on Trump shooting

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted to Congress on Monday that she and her agency failed when a would-be assassin wounded Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a July...

All state Democratic party chairs endorse Harris

State Democratic party chairs on Sunday threw their weight behind Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party's new presidential nominee to run against Republican nominee and former president, Don...

Somali forces repel al-Shabab attacks across three bases, official says

Dozens of fighters were killed in clashes on Monday in the southern tip of Somalia when al-Shabab militants tried to overrun three army bases, officials and the insurgent group said. Tap for the fu...

Russian court sentences Russian-American journalist Kurmasheva to 6.5 years in prison

A Russian court has sentenced Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), to 6-1/2 years in prison for spreading false information about...

Analysis: Tougher on Israel, steady on NATO - how a Harris foreign policy could look

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to stick largely to Joe Biden's foreign policy playbook on key issues such as Ukraine, China and Iran but could strike a tougher tone with Israel over the G...

Biden pulls out of presidential race

U.S. President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign on Sunday after fellow Democrats lost faith in his mental acuity and ability to beat Donald Trump — leaving the presidential race in uncharted...

Israel says strike kills elite Hezbollah unit field commander

A field commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces was killed in an Israeli strike on south Lebanon, the Israeli military and two security sources said on Thursday, the latest senior member of th...

Russian court jails US reporter Gershkovich for 16 years in spying case his employer calls a sham

A Russian court found U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich guilty of espionage on Friday and sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony in what his employer, the Wall Street Journal, ca...

US aid vetting failures may have benefited militants in Afghanistan, watchdog finds

Two State Department bureaus could not prove compliance with internal policies for vetting aid groups in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan that received $293 million in funds, raising a risk that extremist...

Three die in fresh Bangladesh student protests amid telecoms disruptions

Three people died in Bangladesh on Friday in fresh protests against quotas for government jobs, media said, as telecoms links were widely disrupted and television news channels went off the air. Ta...

Arms race gathers pace as Russia, US plan to redeploy once-banned weapons

On June 28, President Vladimir Putin said Russia would resume making short and intermediate-range land-based missiles — and take decisions on where to place them if needed. Tap for the full brief.