The Trump administration has quietly lifted a major restriction on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles supplied by Western allies, allowing Kyiv to expand its attacks on Russian territory, according to U.S. officials cited by The Wall Street Journal.

The European Union’s legislature has awarded its top human rights honor, the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, to two imprisoned journalists — Andrzej Poczobut of Belarus and Mzia Amaghlobeli of Georgia — for what it called their “courage in defending press freedom under authoritarian pressure.”

Faced with relentless Russian attacks that threaten to destroy his nation’s energy infrastructure, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced support for U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s proposal for Kyiv and Moscow to freeze their war at the current frontlines. Zelenskyy called it “a good compromise” while admitting that Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear he would not accept the arrangement.

A string of fires and explosions at oil refineries and natural gas-processing plants this month has underscored what experts describe as a growing global risk to critical energy infrastructure amid aging equipment, industrial stress, and ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Ukraine and its key European allies have declared that any negotiations to end the war with Russia must be based on the current line of contact, rejecting Moscow’s territorial demands, as doubts grow over a planned summit between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Days after U.S. President Donald J. Trump oversaw renewed peace efforts in Israel and predicted a “new dawn” for the Middle East, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its 2025 economic growth forecast for the region but cautioned that global risks continue to weigh on the outlook.

Japan on Tuesday elected Sanae Takaichi as its first female prime minister, marking a historic political shift in the world’s third-largest economy.

French authorities said Tuesday that crown jewels stolen in a daring daylight heist at the Louvre Museum over the weekend are worth an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million) — excluding their immense historical value to France.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that American airstrikes had wiped out Iran’s nuclear industry, telling the president to “keep dreaming.”

Concerns mounted Monday over the fate of a bishop and 12 clergymen of the Armenian Apostolic Church who were detained amid a deepening standoff between church leaders and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government — a dispute unfolding as Christians in the region face growing pressure.

Ukraine and its key European allies have declared that any negotiations to end the war with Russia must be based on the current line of contact, rejecting Moscow’s territorial demands, as doubts grow over a planned summit between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have confirmed the signing of an $8.5 billion agreement to strengthen cooperation on rare earths and other critical minerals, aiming to reduce global dependence on China’s supply chain dominance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday he would be ready to attend a planned summit in Budapest between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin if formally invited.

European Union energy ministers have agreed to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by January 2028, despite opposition from heavily dependent nations such as Slovakia and Hungary.

The European Union’s foreign-policy chief has voiced disapproval of Hungary’s decision to host Russian President Vladimir Putin despite his international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.