by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Russia and the United States edged closer to confrontation after U.S. forces seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic, prompting sharp protests from Moscow and assertive statements from senior U.S. officials. Russian state broadcaster RT released grainy images showing a helicopter approaching the tanker, while Reuters, citing U.S. officials, confirmed that American forces boarded and seized the vessel under a U.S. court warrant linked to sanctions enforcement. The tanker, identified as the Marinera (also known as Bella 1), had been traveling from Iran toward Venezuela … Read more

Iranian security forces confronted large demonstrations at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on Tuesday with tear gas and a heavy police presence, as nationwide protests entered a second week and the country’s currency plunged to a historic low.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers during a closed briefing Monday that recent White House rhetoric about Greenland does not signal an imminent U.S. invasion, emphasizing instead that the administration’s preferred goal is to purchase the island from Denmark, according to people familiar with the discussion.

Britain and France, both members of the NATO military alliance, have agreed to prepare for the deployment of troops to Ukraine if the war-torn country reaches a peace deal with neighboring Russia.

Venezuela’s remaining power structure has launched a sweeping security crackdown following the dramatic U.S. operation that captured former leader Nicolás Maduro, arresting journalists, restricting media coverage, and deploying armed paramilitary groups to suppress any public reaction to his removal.

A Dutch court has sentenced the father and two brothers of 18-year-old Ryan Al Najjar to decades-long prison terms for killing the young woman because she allegedly “dishonored” their strict Islamic family.

Recovery crews began stabilizing the remains of Amsterdam’s historic Vondelkerk after a massive blaze tore through the neo-Gothic landmark shortly after the New Year began, forcing evacuations but causing no reported injuries, authorities said.

Senior officials in Iran have acknowledged the Islamic Republic has been “thrust into survival mode” as the country faces its largest and most violent wave of protests in three years, with unrest spreading across most provinces and mounting international pressure on the regime.

At least 41 young men have died in South Africa from complications linked to circumcision procedures performed during annual traditional initiation rites, authorities said, reigniting debate over the practice.

As Switzerland was plunged into mourning, Swiss prosecutors said Saturday they have placed under criminal investigation the two managers of a bar where a blaze on New Year’s Day killed at least 40 people.

Israel, Syria and the United States have agreed to establish a new “joint fusion mechanism” aimed at enhancing security coordination, intelligence sharing and military de-escalation, marking the most significant formal cooperation between Jerusalem and Damascus in decades.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel and the United States are in full agreement on how to confront Iran, describing his relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump as a strategic partnership that will drive continued Israeli security successes in 2026.

Senior Israeli and Syrian officials are set to resume high-level negotiations this week in talks mediated by the United States, marking a renewed diplomatic push after months of stalled progress, according to reports by i24NEWS and Axios.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump has been “unequivocal” that Hamas must fully disarm as a non-negotiable condition for advancing Trump’s proposed 20-point peace plan.

U.S. President Donald Trump has given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approval to take action against Hezbollah if the Lebanese state fails to disarm the Iran-backed terror group, according to a Jerusalem Post exclusive citing a source familiar with the talks.

Israel absorbed approximately 21,900 new immigrants in 2025, marking a sharp decline of about one-third from the previous year, according to data released Monday by the Immigration and Absorption Ministry. The drop was driven largely by a steep fall in arrivals from Russia, following the surge that accompanied Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Israel said Tuesday it has begun enforcing new registration regulations for international nongovernmental organizations, moving to bar 37 groups from operating in Gaza and the West Bank after they failed to comply with requirements introduced earlier this year.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Tuesday that a federal crime crackdown in the nation’s capital has led to dramatic reductions in violent crime, crediting the effort to President Donald Trump’s public safety initiative.

The White House marked the fifth anniversary of the January 6, 2021, Capitol breach by launching a new website aimed at challenging what it says is a Democrat-driven distortion of events and years of politically motivated prosecutions against Americans who participated in protests that day.

A federal appeals court has handed a key win to religious liberty advocates, allowing the Union Gospel Mission of Yakima to move forward with its constitutional challenge against Washington state’s hiring restrictions.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has dramatically expanded the use of mobile facial-recognition technology during President Donald Trump’s second term, allowing agents to identify suspected illegal immigrants within seconds and accelerating enforcement operations, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Democrats are facing renewed accusations of political hypocrisy after sharply condemning President Donald Trump for authorizing a U.S. operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan dictator and accused narco-terrorist Nicolás Maduro, despite years of publicly calling for his removal and criticizing Trump during his first term for failing to act decisively.

Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani took the reins of the nation’s most populous city in a midnight ceremony Thursday.

President Donald Trump announced Dec. 31 that he will withdraw federally controlled National Guard troops from Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, ending months of contentious deployments tied to civil unrest and immigration enforcement.

At least 11 Christians were killed and 18 others seriously wounded when a drone operated by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) struck civilians traveling to Christmas celebrations in South Kordofan state on Dec. 25, according to local sources.

A Christian pastor was seriously injured after being attacked by a group of Muslim assailants wielding sharp objects in eastern Uganda, according to an exclusive report by Morning Star News.

Tensions remained high Monday in southern Laos after villagers armed with hammers and knives destroyed Christian homes and local authorities tied a pastor to a pole for preaching the Gospel, Christians said.

Tens of thousands of Christians have been celebrating Christmas and the New Year in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, defying concerns about rising Islamic extremism in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

A 14-year-old Christian girl is recovering after being abducted and raped in Pakistan’s Punjab province, according to family members and police.

The murder of a Pakistani pastor has taken a dramatic turn, with police saying his wife and her alleged lover were the “masterminds” behind the killing, which investigators say was carried out by hired assassins.

Christians in Indonesia’s West Java province were weighing their options Sunday after Muslims reportedly formed a human wall to block members of a Protestant church from reaching their Christmas worship service, in an incident that has underscored concerns about Islamic extremism in the Asian country.