The death toll from China’s worst earthquake in nine years rose to 131 early Wednesday, with some 1,000 people injured, officials said.

On Tuesday, North Korea published new footage of its recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch amid calls to speed up the creation of an Indo-Pacific version of the NATO military alliance.

Iran faced accusations from Western Powers of developing and testing ballistic missiles, sending hundreds of drones to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, and enriching uranium to a 60 percent level unprecedented for a country without a declared nuclear weapons program. Each of these violates a UN resolution, the Associated Press reported.

Jordan’s King Abdullah welcomed Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s re-election Tuesday at a time when both nations face war in their neighborhood.

On Monday, the United States announced the formation of a 10-nation coalition creating a new force aimed at suppressing missile and drone attacks from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on vessels navigating the Red Sea. This “multinational security initiative” includes participation from Britain, France, Bahrain, and Italy among other countries.

The head of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Party warned the Pentagon in a letter about the necessity of establishing a more robust deterrent to avert war.  He emphasized the importance of innovative, “out of the box” strategies in arming the Taiwanese military to address the imminent threats posed by the Chinese government to the island.

In a controversial move upsetting conservative clergy, Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples.

The continued attacks on shipping tankers near Yemen have prompted several shipping companies, along with oil giant British Petroleum, to halt using the Suez Canal in light of the recent attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi Rebels, causing oil and natural gas to spike.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s party has claimed victory in snap parliamentary elections despite concerns about his perceived autocratic style and reports of voting irregularities.

Ukraine says air defense and mobile groups of drone hunters have shot down dozens of Russian drones over the weekend. The attacks came after Ukraine suffered a significant defeat in the European Union, with Hungary blocking $54 billion in aid.

Serbs began voting in parliamentary and local elections that will test the strength of the country’s governing party after several protests.

Kuwait got a new ruler on Saturday ahead of a lengthy mourning period after the death at 86 of Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Cybersecurity experts and the United States Department of Defense have reportedly discussed tackling the imminent breach of America’s and potentially everyone’s deepest secrets.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), already filling in as clergy and adding texts to the Bible, will soon replace television news anchors despite concerns it blurs the lines between truth and fake.

Ukraine faced a major defeat Friday that could potentially impact the outcome of its war against Russia as Hungary vetoed 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in European Union aid to the wartorn nation.