Syria and Russia have reached an agreement that will strip Moscow of exclusive control over two strategic military bases on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, marking a major shift in Russia’s Middle East military presence following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad government.

A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, marking the first criminal conviction against the former dictator since his government collapsed in December 2024.

Russian authorities say at least 13 people were killed and 39 others wounded Monday in Ukrainian drone attacks on an industrial city about 900 kilometers, or 600 miles, east of Moscow. The latest strikes signaled a further escalation of Ukraine’s campaign of air attacks deep inside Russia.

A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia Monday, collapsing buildings, trapping residents beneath rubble, disrupting airports and sending tremors across much of the country and into neighboring Venezuela.

President Donald Trump appears prepared to let Iran’s worsening economic crisis intensify rather than immediately launch another major military offensive, as the Islamic Republic struggles with a collapsing currency, soaring inflation, disrupted trade and growing pressure from a U.S. naval blockade.

Overnight drone and missile strikes killed at least eight people and injured dozens more in Ukraine and Russia on Sunday as both sides stepped up strikes in the more than four-year-long war.

Australian aviation authorities launched an investigation Sunday after a Jetstar passenger plane and a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 narrowly avoided colliding at Sydney Airport, injuring a cabin crew member in the second near-miss at the airport within two weeks, amid mounting concerns about air traffic control staffing and safety.

Europe’s record-breaking heatwaves are exposing vulnerabilities in electricity systems increasingly dependent on weather-driven renewable energy as part of the European Union’s green agenda.

Iran has dramatically expanded its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, demanding that the United States withdraw its forces from the Middle East, lift sanctions, release frozen Iranian assets and fully compensate Tehran for damage suffered during the war.

German authorities were investigating Friday whether a suspected drone bomb discovered near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft at Leipzig Airport was part of a foreign sabotage operation, amid growing concerns over Russia’s hybrid warfare campaign in Europe.

Israel and Lebanon concluded two days of U.S.-brokered negotiations in Rome on Wednesday, reporting progress toward establishing two pilot security zones in southern Lebanon as part of a broader ceasefire framework requiring the disarmament of Hezbollah.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed four Hamas weapons storage facilities in central Gaza overnight and eliminated a senior terrorist commander accused of directing attacks against Israeli troops, the Israeli military announced Thursday.

Germany’s Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament, has approved legislation that would criminalize the public denial of Israel’s right to exist, amid a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday that it killed a Hamas terrorist who helped abduct the bodies of an Israeli brigade commander and two soldiers during the October 7, 2023, massacre.

Israel’s High Court of Justice on Wednesday temporarily froze a newly enacted law shielding tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men from arrest and prosecution for avoiding military service.

Christian leaders and ministries are expressing cautious hope that the removal of Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip could eventually open a long-closed door for the Gospel, even as European and Palestinian officials begin laying plans for the territory’s physical reconstruction.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a blunt warning to Iran on Tuesday, declaring that any renewed attack against Israel would be met with a response far more powerful than the military action Tehran has already witnessed.

President Donald Trump is increasing pressure on Senate Republicans to advance legislation requiring voters to show photo identification and provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

The Senate on Thursday rejected an effort to force an end to U.S. military operations against Iran, blocking the measure only hours after the House of Representatives approved a similar war powers resolution.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has referred former special counsel Jack Smith to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation, accusing him of making false statements to Congress about the scope of his investigation into President Donald Trump.

The House of Representatives approved legislation Wednesday barring members of Congress and their immediate families from purchasing individual stocks while lawmakers remain in office.

The Republican-led House of Representatives narrowly passed a $1.15 trillion defense policy bill Wednesday that incorporates major election integrity provisions championed by President Donald Trump.

Republicans’ blueprint for a third party-line bill passed the U.S. House on a slim two-vote margin Wednesday, despite grumblings from fiscal hawks over the bill’s $95 billion price tag.

President Donald Trump’s senior political advisers gathered in Washington on Tuesday to review polling, messaging, and campaign strategy ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, according to an exclusive report by Axios.

Iranian authorities are moving to confiscate Tehran’s historic St. Peter’s Evangelical Church and evict Christian families from the church compound, marking another escalation in the Islamic Republic’s long campaign to suppress Protestant Christianity and restrict public Christian worship.

A court in Pakistan’s Punjab province has acquitted Dennis Albert, a Christian man who had spent nearly 19 months in custody in a blasphemy case, but concerns remained Wednesday over the safety of Christians in the region after reports that another Christian family’s home was torched in an alleged revenge attack.

More than 70 million Christians from 175 nations are expected to unite in prayer for Israel on October 4, 2026, as Jerusalem hosts the 24th Annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, which organizers say will be the largest prayer gathering for Israel in history.

Chinese underground church leader Ezra Jin Mingri has been released from prison in China and reunited with his family in the United States, less than two months after his incarceration was raised directly by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, Worthy News learned Sunday.

Christian advocates urged Pakistan’s government on Saturday to establish an independent commission to investigate what they describe as the “Blasphemy Business Group” following the death in custody of a Christian facing controversial blasphemy charges.

Indonesia’s military confirmed Friday it had recovered the body of an American mission pilot who was shot dead by separatist rebels in the country’s restive eastern Papua region, as the U.S. government said it was closely monitoring the investigation.

A Muslim mob attacked a Christian prayer house in the Hegarmanah Indah Housing Complex in West Java on June 24, demanding that the gathering place be closed and threatening to burn it down, according to local Christian accounts.