CIA Director John Ratcliffe held rare high-level talks with Cuban officials Thursday as protests erupted across Havana over the island’s worst rolling blackouts in decades, intensifying pressure on Cuba’s communist government amid President Donald Trump’s hard-line energy blockade.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned President Donald Trump on Thursday that any mishandling of Taiwan could push the United States and China toward “clashes and even conflicts,” injecting a sharp geopolitical warning into a summit both leaders had hoped would steady relations between the world’s two largest economies.

The Pentagon has abruptly canceled the deployment of a U.S. armored brigade to Poland, marking another significant step in President Donald Trump’s effort to reduce America’s military footprint in Europe and shift greater responsibility for the continent’s defense onto NATO allies, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Iran’s ability to threaten Israel, America’s regional allies, and U.S. personnel across the Middle East has been dramatically reduced, according to Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, who told a Senate committee Thursday that Tehran’s military reach has been severely weakened after recent U.S. operations.

Japan’s prime minister confirmed Thursday that a Japanese supertanker emerged in the Gulf of Oman after apparently making a rare “dark transit” through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz without broadcasting its location.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, urged the United States to become “partners, not rivals” Thursday as he welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump to Beijing for high-stakes talks overshadowed by tensions over trade, Taiwan, Iran, and technology competition.

Hungary’s new Prime Minister Péter Magyar has vowed to return luxury government buildings from the Orbán era to “the Hungarian people,” after revealing that he found a highlighted Bible passage in former premier Viktor Orbán’s office declaring that “the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth.”

Saudi Arabia launched covert airstrikes inside Iran during the recent Middle East war, according to a Reuters exclusive citing two Western officials and two Iranian officials — a move that, if confirmed, would mark the first known Saudi military action carried out directly on Iranian soil. The reported strikes came in late March after the kingdom suffered Iranian attacks, including missile and drone strikes that exposed vulnerabilities in the U.S.-backed security umbrella protecting Gulf Arab states.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that Russia had successfully test-fired its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile — nicknamed “Satan II” by NATO — declaring it the most powerful missile in the world and saying it would enter combat service by the end of 2026.

Hungary’s new government signaled Monday it will continue buying Russian energy despite European Union plans to phase out imports of Russian oil and natural gas, raising the prospect of an early confrontation with Brussels.

The United States has been holding regular negotiations with Denmark and Greenland to expand America’s military presence on the strategic Arctic island, according to the BBC citing multiple officials familiar with the talks.

The United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes directly on Iranian soil, according to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal — a revelation that marks a seismic shift in the Persian Gulf balance of power and places a major Arab Gulf monarchy squarely in the role of active combatant against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

President Donald Trump will arrive in Beijing this week for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Washington intensifies pressure on both China and Iran amid a fragile ceasefire the president described as being on “massive life support.”

The United States has deployed more than 20 warships to enforce a sweeping naval blockade against the Islamic Republic of Iran, in President Donald Trump’s campaign to strip Tehran of the resources it uses to fund terrorism, destabilize the Middle East, and pursue nuclear weapons.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced mounting pressure Tuesday to announce his resignation timetable after his ruling Labour Party suffered devastating losses in local and regional elections across the United Kingdom.