World

Iran Probe Finds Raisi Helicopter Crash Caused by Weather
Iran Probe Finds Raisi Helicopter Crash Caused by Weather

Iran's investigation into the May helicopter crash that killed former President Ebrahim Raisi has found it was caused by bad weather and overloading, Iranian media said on Wednesday, citing an official. The helicopter carrying 63-year-old Raisi and his entourage came down on a fog-shrouded mountainside in northern Iran, killing the president and ...

Iran Lawmakers Approve New President's Cabinet
Iran Lawmakers Approve New President's Cabinet

Iran's conservative-dominated Parliament on Wednesday approved reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian's proposed cabinet, which includes one woman and a foreign minister open to dialogue with the West. Lawmakers voted in favor of all 19 ministers picked by Pezeshkian – who was inaugurated in July after his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi died in a ...

Human Rights Watch Condemns Surge in Iranian Executions
Human Rights Watch Condemns Surge in Iranian Executions

Iran executed at least 87 people in the month after the recent presidential elections, reports Human Rights Watch (HRW). HRW reports that on August 7 alone, authorities carried out a mass execution of 29 prisoners. In the report, HRW condemned the surge, stating, “Human Rights Watch opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances ...

Merchant Ship off Yemen Coast Attacked
Merchant Ship off Yemen Coast Attacked

Three projectiles hit a merchant vessel off Yemen's Houthi-held port city of Hodeida on Wednesday, limiting the ship's ability to manoeuvre, British maritime security agency UKMTO said. The ship initially exchanged fire with two small vessels, one with three to five people onboard while the second carried around 10, the United Kingdom Maritime ...

Australia Approves Plans for World's Largest Solar Farm
Australia Approves Plans for World's Largest Solar Farm

Australia approved on Wednesday plans for a massive solar and battery farm that would export energy to Singapore, a project billed as the "largest solar precinct in the world." Authorities announced environmental approvals for SunCable's US$24 billion project in Australia's remote north that is slated to power three million homes. The project, ...

Obama Says 'Torch Has Been Passed' to Harris at DNC
Obama Says 'Torch Has Been Passed' to Harris at DNC

Barack Obama told fellow Democrats in Chicago on Tuesday that "the torch has been passed" to Kamala Harris and that the United States was ready for her to become president. Former President Obama, who was greeted with rapturous applause and cheers at the packed arena hosting the party's nominating convention, said Vice President Harris would ...

Russia Repels 'Largest' Attack Ever Drone on Moscow
Russia Repels 'Largest' Attack Ever Drone on Moscow

Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow, "one of the largest" such strikes ever against the capital, officials said on Wednesday. "Eleven drones were destroyed" over Moscow and its surrounding region, the Defense Ministry said. "This is one of the largest ever attempts to attack Moscow with drones," Moscow Mayor ...

European-British Security Cooperation: Undefined Areas
European-British Security Cooperation: Undefined Areas

In addition to the significant economic challenge posed by Brexit, the security dimension was equally, if not more, crucial from a strategic perspective, given its serious implications for both Europe and Britain. The United Kingdom's departure from the European Union deprived it of access to shared European security and intelligence systems, ...

Blinken Arrives in Qatar for Gaza Truce Push
Blinken Arrives in Qatar for Gaza Truce Push

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Qatar on Tuesday as part of a Middle East tour to push forward talks aimed at ending the 10-month-old Gaza war. A US senior official traveling with Blinken in the Middle East criticized "maximalist" remarks attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on maintaining control of ...

Ukraine MPs Vote to Ban Russia-Linked Orthodox Church
Ukraine MPs Vote to Ban Russia-Linked Orthodox Church

Ukraine's parliament voted Tuesday to ban the Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a move Kyiv says strengthens its independence as the country cuts ties with institutions it considers aligned with Moscow. Kyiv has been trying to curb spiritual links with Russia for years—a process accelerated by Moscow's 2022 invasion, which the powerful ...

Iran Shuts German Cultural Centers
Iran Shuts German Cultural Centers

Iran shut two offices linked to Germany's government on Tuesday, the judiciary said, nearly a month after the closure of a religious center in Germany over ties to the Islamic republic. "Two branches of illegal centers affiliated with the German government, which violated Iran laws and committed numerous illegal acts and extensive financial ...

World's Oldest Person Dies at Age 117
World's Oldest Person Dies at Age 117

The world's oldest living person, Spain's Maria Branyas Morera, who was born in the United States and lived through two world wars, has died at the age of 117, her family said on Tuesday. "Maria Branyas has left us. She died as she wished: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain," her family wrote on her account on social network X. "We will ...