As battles raged, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia is still willing to hold a new round of peace talks with Ukraine, which Moscow invaded nearly 3.5 years ago.

Tensions were rising Friday as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned there would be “legal consequences” for organizing or attending a Budapest Pride march in violation of a police ban on the event planned for this weekend.

The United States and China have reached an additional agreement aimed at implementing the Geneva framework as part of ongoing trade negotiations, a White House official confirmed to The Epoch Times on Wednesday.

Kenya’s self-declared Christian president faces pressure to resign after nationwide anti-government protests allegedly killed as many as 16 people.

President Donald Trump delivered a stern warning to Spain on Wednesday, accusing the nation of shirking its defense obligations under NATO and threatening to double tariffs in retaliation.

Despite a recent pledge to ease restrictions, China is delaying export approvals for rare-earth magnets—critical components used in electric vehicles, defense systems, and electronics—causing major disruptions for Western manufacturers, The Wall Street Journal reports.

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff announced Wednesday that major developments are on the horizon for the Abraham Accords, including the addition of new member nations and the potential for a historic peace agreement with Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first televised appearance in nearly two weeks Thursday, claiming a “decisive victory” over Israel and the United States in the 12-day war that erupted earlier this month. In a broadcast aired on Iranian state television, Khamenei declared that Iran had “delivered a hand slap to America’s face” and vowed that any future aggression would come at a steep cost.

NATO military alliance leaders have agreed to invest 5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in defence by 2035, after Spain nearly torpedoed the deal by refusing to sign up to the pledge.

Iran’s parliament voted unanimously on Wednesday to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), erupting into chants of “Death to America! Death to Israel!” as lawmakers blamed the West for recent attacks on its nuclear facilities. The vote, which passed with 221 members in favor, signals a dramatic escalation in Tehran’s response to U.S. and Israeli strikes and the IAEA’s recent censure.

Iran executed three men on Wednesday accused of collaborating with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, part of a sweeping crackdown following the Islamic Republic’s military defeat in its 12-day war with Israel.

The U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 22, 2025, was met with widespread praise across the Arab world, particularly among liberal intellectuals and journalists who took to social media to thank President Donald Trump for what they described as a historic act that “saved humanity.”

Iran is suspected of hiding “hundreds if not thousands” of advanced centrifuges in secret locations across the country, raising renewed fears that Tehran retains the capacity to build a nuclear weapon despite U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on its known facilities, The Telegraph reported Monday.

As a ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to be holding Wednesday, U.S. President Donald J. Trump said it underscored the effectiveness of his policy of peace through strength.

French police have detained 12 people after 145 individuals, most of them women and girls, reported being pricked with syringes during a nationwide street music festival over the weekend, officials said.