World

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has appointed a new commander to the armed forces in Ukraine as Moscow looks to turn around its dwindling fortunes.  General of the Army Sergei Surovikin will take over as Commander of the Joint Group of Russian Forces in Ukraine effective immediately, drawing on experience from the second Chechen war and campaigns in Syria and …

Iranian protesters continue to confront the autocratic regime that rules over the vast Mideast country with chants of “death to the dictator,” a slogan targeting the iron-fisted rule of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The pressing question for many experts on Iran and veteran observers of Tehran is will the widespread demonstrations blanketing Iran end the regime that …

Canada on Friday said it would ban the top leadership of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from entering the country and promised more targeted sanctions over the treatment of women in Iran and the downing of a civilian airliner in 2020. Iran has faced increasing international condemnation and nationwide protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the …

A series of explosions rocked the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv early Saturday, sending towering plumes of illuminated smoke into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The blasts came hours after Russia concentrated attacks in its increasingly troubled invasion of Ukraine on areas it illegally annexed, while the death toll …

Vote counting has begun in southern Africa’s tiny mountain kingdom of Lesotho following a day when thousands of citizens in urban and rural areas voted to elect the country’s 120 legislators. Soon after the polls closed, electoral officials were seen verifying voters’ rolls at various polling stations. The Independent Electoral Commission will announce the official results, which some expect will …

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is going to jailed Belarus rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian group Memorial and the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties, the award’s judges said Friday. Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the judges wanted to honor “three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence in the neighbor countries Belarus, …

Russia has submitted preliminary objections to a genocide case against Moscow brought by Ukraine, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Thursday. At the ICJ, the United Nations highest court for disputes between states, parties can file preliminary objections if they believe the court does not have jurisdiction in a case. A general view of the International Court of Justice …

The United States sanctioned several top Iranian officials for censorship and violence against protesters, who have taken to the streets in recent weeks following the death of a 22-year-old woman while in custody of the regime’s morality police.  The new sanctions target seven Iranian leaders, including the country’s Minister of the Interior, Ahmad Vahidi, as well as Iran’s Minister of …

Under the watchword “Every gesture counts,” the French government launched an energy-saving drive Thursday to get the country through the winter without natural gas from Russia and closer to the European Union targets of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. The French push for “energy sobriety,” months in the planning, dovetails with gas- and electricity-saving drives taking root across Europe. The …

CNN  —  The mediator sent to Burkina Faso by West Africa’s main political and economic bloc ECOWAS, Mahamadou Issoufou, on Tuesday said he was satisfied by a meeting with the country’s new military leader Ibrahim Traore. Issoufou added that the 15-member bloc would continue accompanying Burkina Faso’s transition to constitutional rule after the country was hit by its second military …