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YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The leader of Armenia on Wednesday declared his intention to pull out of a Russia-dominated security alliance of several ex-Soviet nations as tensions rise between the two allies. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government will decide later when to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, a grouping that includes Russia and the former Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Amid the widening rift with Russia, Armenia earlier froze its participation in the alliance, canceled its involvement in joint military drills and snubbed CSTO summits. Pashinyan said Wednesday for the...

Western leaders rejected Vladimir Putin’s framework for a ceasefire while backing Ukraine’s demands that Russia return all occupied territories as the basis for any potential peace agreement. The “first annual Global Peace Summit” held in the luxury Swiss resort of Burgenstock, which did not include any representatives from Moscow, concluded with the status quo essentially remaining the same, with Ukraine continuing to demand that Russia cede territory in the East and Crimea as a prerequisite for actual peace talks to begin, a likely non-starter for Vladimir Putin.

KYIV, Ukraine — (AP) — Several hundred LGBTQ Ukrainian servicemen and their supporters marched in central Kyiv Sunday to demand more rights and highlight their service to their country in its war with Russia. They argue that an improvement in gay rights would create a further distinction between Ukraine and Russia, where LGBTQ rights are severely restricted. Staff from the U.S. Embassy and several European embassies attended the pride rally.

Kyiv will hold peace talks with Russia tomorrow if Moscow pulls out of all Ukrainian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. But speaking at the close of a summit for peace in Switzerland, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not end the war and had to be stopped "in any way we can", whether by military or diplomatic means. Western aid was not enough to win the war, he added, but the summit had shown that international support for Ukraine was not weakening. The meeting concluded with dozens of countries committing to Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Joe Biden has logged yet another foreign policy disaster under his belt after the Pentagon announced the "Gaza pier" will be dismantled due to damage. Some press reports describe the move as "temporary," though it's questionable whether the project will ever resume after being completely torn down and towed away. This marks the latest in a string of logistical issues involving the president's prized pier. For context, the pier has been in place for less than a month, and it's already suffered multiple shutdowns related to moderate seas overtaking it. Here's the full timeline illustrating just how absurd this idea...

Climate change deniers have found a new champion in Kenyan farmer Jusper Machogu. On social media, he has become known as a flagbearer for fossil fuels in Africa, but there is more to his campaign than meets the eye. Since he began posting debunked theories about climate change, he has received thousands of dollars in donations – some of which came from individuals in Western countries linked to fossil-fuel interests. Mr Machogu insists this has not influenced his views, saying they are genuinely held. Scientists have proven that the Earth is heating up because of greenhouse gases that are emitted...

Every day is a Charlottesville now, but hardly anyone notices. The small central Virginia city is a metonymy for the 2017 white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally that created national shock waves and rocked the presidency of Donald J. Trump. The antisemitic rhetoric and menacing nature of that event — in a different, left-wing form — are being replicated all over the country in openly hateful pro-Hamas protests. Outside the White House last weekend, anti-Israel protesters wore terrorist headbands; chanted for Hamas and Hezbollah to “kill another solider now” and “kill another Zionist now”; held up signs urging another “intifada,”...

A boat carrying nine Chinese nationals was turned back by Australian Border Force officials forcing the passengers to return to their point of departure in Indonesia. The human cargo of intended illegal immigrants were found by fishermen off Southern Java after claiming they were denied landing and forced back by Australian authorities, the Sydney Daily Telegraph reports. The Chinese passengers, along with three Indonesian crew members, were sent back to the port town of Pelabuhan Ratu as part of Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders which officially enforces a “turn back the boats” policy without exception.

Former President Donald Trump described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as being “maybe the greatest salesman of any politician.” While speaking at Turning Point Action’s “People’s Conference,” in Detroit, Michigan, on Saturday, Trump criticized President Joe Biden for “wasting money at levels never seen before” and putting money into the Green New Deal. The former president continued to add that Zelensky might be “the greatest salesman of any politician” to ever live, noting how “every time” he comes to the United States, he leaves with “$60 billion.”

The House of Representatives on June 14 passed its annual defense policy bill with GOP-approved culture war amendments that are certain to put the House on a collision course with the Democrat-controlled Senate.The final tally on the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) vote was 217–199, with six Democrats voting in favor and three Republicans voting against.The $883.7 billion bill, which has more than 1,000 pages, provides continued funding for military aircraft, ships, vehicles, and weapons programs. It also includes a 4.5 percent pay raise for U.S. service members and about 15 percent in additional pay for some junior enlisted...

It’s not like this is a shocking survey. We’ve known that for years, the Palestinian people, the so-called innocent civilians, support Hamas. They voted them into power back in 2005 and have allowed the terror group to rule the Gaza Strip for nearly a generation. The international community thinks Hamas can be reasoned with—are they taking hits from Hunter Biden’s crack pipe? You cannot if anything has shown us over the past few weeks and months. They’ve rejected every ceasefire proposal because civilian casualties are not a byproduct of their operations; it’s their agenda. And the people here, for the...

Members of a small far-right group advocating the annexation and settlement of southern Lebanon are set to hold a video conference on Monday, claiming their approach is the “only solution” to the ongoing clashes with Hezbollah amid increasingly vocal calls for Israel to invade its northern neighbor. “More assassinations in Lebanon, more firing of missiles, more alarms in the northern settlements, and no real change is visible on the horizon,” the Uri Tzafon organization said in a statement last week decrying the current escalation in the north. As an alternative, it invited the public to participate in what it is...

Pro-Palestinian protesters reportedly firebombed “the side of a building” on the University of California Berkeley (UCB) campus and claimed that students had been “attacked” on another campus. In a post on Instagram on Thursday, Palestine Action in the United States shared a post from an anonymous user who claimed responsibility for firebombing the side of Koshland Hall, a building at UCB that houses “labs from the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology.”

The Ukrainian air force’s Dolgintsevo air base is one of the most vulnerable bases in Ukraine. Situated near Kryvyi Rih just 45 miles from the front line in southern Ukraine, the base is within range of Russia’s best Lancet drones. Since the extended-range version of the Lancet—the so-called “Product 53”—debuted in August, the drones have attacked Dolgintsevo every few weeks, aiming for any warplanes parked in the open at the base’s tarmacs. In nine months, Lancets have struck at least four jets at Dolgintsevo: two Mikoyan MiG-29s and two Sukhoi Su-25s. The first two strikes, last fall, took the Ukrainian...

Vice President Harris lauded the Biden administration’s moves to protect recipients under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program Saturday, the 12th anniversary of the Obama-era policy. “The story of Dreamers is a story of America. Dreamers across our Nation serve in our military, teach in our classrooms, and lead our small businesses as entrepreneurs. They are our neighbors, classmates, and loved ones,” she wrote in a statement. “Their ambition and aspiration power our communities, economy, and country – and they deserve our protection.”

Former French President François Hollande said he will run as a candidate in the snap legislative elections after throwing his support behind the far-left-led “New Popular Front” alliance. Seven years after leaving office from a presidency mired by Islamic terrorism and economic hardship, François Hollande has returned to the frontlines of French politics, throwing his hat in the ring to once again serve as a deputy in the National Assembly. Hollande, a longtime member of the Socialist Party, was nominated by the leftist party to represent the so-called “New Popular Front” in the constituency of Corrèze, Le Figaro reports. “In...

During Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher warned that Democrats were headed for an election loss in November if they did not improve their position on immigration. According to the HBO host, a pattern had emerged in Europe that he blamed on unfettered immigration. Maher said the pattern would repeat itself in the United States. “By reviving Trump’s asylum ban, Biden has undermined American values,” he said. “And then they all stand back and go, ‘We don’t want to be called a racist. So we will not make a move on to immigration.’ It’s going to get...

It's not clear who knew about an embarrassing double-date for Canada's HMCS Margaret BrookeCanadian navy patrol boat HMCS Margaret Brooke passes by Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine Kazan and frigate Admiral Gorshkov as it enters Havana's bay in Cuba on June 14, 2024. (Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)The Royal Canadian Navy now finds itself in the unusual position of both shadowing Russian warships as a threat in the Caribbean and sharing an anchorage with them as a guest in the port of Havana — because Canada accepted an invitation to send a patrol ship to Cuba while the Russian navy is in town....

The current visit to Cuba and the Caribbean by a contingent of Russian naval war vessels and submarines indicates Russia’s growing displeasure with the U.S. military policy and support for Ukraine.Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested this week that Moscow could take asymmetrical steps if Western countries were to supply Ukraine with weapons that were then used on Russian soil.In addition, these types of trips show support and solidarity for friendly countries and familiarize the crews with the ports and Caribbean waters. The Russians have been conducting these types of trips periodically.For a second consecutive year, prominent Russian military and security...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iran and Sweden carried out a prisoner swap Saturday that saw Tehran release a European Union diplomat and another man for an Iranian convicted in Stockholm of committing war crimes over his part in 1988 mass executions in the Islamic Republic. The arrest of Hamid Nouri by Sweden in 2019 as he traveled there as a tourist likely sparked the detentions of the two Swedes, part of a long-running strategy by Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution to use those with ties abroad as chip in negotiations with the West.