World

A South Korean court ruled Wednesday that a 14th century Korean Buddhist statue should be sent back to a Japanese temple from where it was stolen in 2012. The statue’s return had been put on hold for years after a South Korean temple claimed ownership of it, insisting that it …

A tanker transporting liquefied natural gas broke down in the Suez Canal on Wednesday but traffic in the global waterway was unaffected, a canal spokesperson said. The Bahamas-flagged Grace Emilia suffered a malfunction of its rudder and tugboats pulled it to the side of the canal to allow other vessels …

A cluster of rockets targeted a Turkish military base in northern Iraq on Wednesday, officials from northern Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region said. An Iranian-backed militia promptly claimed responsibility for the attack. A Turkish defense ministry official said there was no damage or injury at the base but did not provide …

Governments may have to reserve drugs and vaccines for the World Health Organization to distribute in poorer countries to avoid a repeat of the “catastrophic failure” during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an early draft of a global pandemic agreement. One of the most concrete proposals in the draft accord …

The U.S. has seized thousands of rifles and nearly two dozen anti-tank missiles originating from Iran and transported via shipping routes. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported Tuesday that CENTCOM officials — in cooperation with international naval partners — successfully intercepted the transport of over 3,000 rifles from Iran to Yemen. …

Afghanistan’s deputy minister of intelligence bragged on national television about his role in a 2018 suicide bombing in Kabul that killed over 100 people.  During an appearance on TOLONews Jan. 28, Taj Mir Jawad took credit for directing the attack, along with other attacks, including car and suicide bombings.  The …

Iran and Russia signed an agreement Sunday to integrate their banking systems to help them skirt Western sanctions.  Mohen Karimi, the Central Bank of Iran’s deputy governor, signed a memorandum of understanding with his Russian counterpart in Tehran Sunday.  FILE: An exchange shop displays rates for various currencies, in downtown …

You Si-kun, the speaker of Taiwan’s Parliament, spoke at the International Religious Freedom Summit on Wednesday and voiced why it is important that free nations protect Taiwan. “If Taiwan falls into the sphere of influence of CCP (Chinese Communist Party), then the beacon of democracy will be destroyed. And China …

Russia on Wednesday took aim at Israel and warned it not to get involved in the war in Ukraine by providing arms to Kyiv, claiming such a move would “lead to an escalation of this crisis.” “We say that all countries that supply weapons should understand that we will consider …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Sweden Wednesday to “don’t even bother” with trying to join NATO as long as the European country allows protests desecrating Islam’s holy book.  Erdogan made the remark in a speech to his ruling party’s legislators as Turkey remains infuriated by a series of demonstrations in …