Russia and China advanced long-stalled plans for the massive Power of Siberia-2 natural gas pipeline on Monday, signing a legally binding memorandum to construct the project. But the absence of key commercial terms underscored how Beijing now holds decisive leverage in its energy dealings with Moscow.

Chinese President Xi Jinping used the opening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on Monday to call for a new global security and economic order that elevates the “Global South” and directly challenges U.S. influence. Joined by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Xi framed the SCO as a model for “a new type of international relations” capable of reshaping global governance.

Indonesia faces tragedy abroad and turmoil at home after one of its diplomats was shot dead in Peru’s capital, Lima, while days of protests over parliamentary perks and inequality killed at least 10 people across the Southeast Asian nation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warmly embraced Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, pledging closer cooperation in defiance of U.S. sanctions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro warned Monday that he would “constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if U.S. forces launched an attack, as Washington bolsters its naval presence in the Caribbean to counter Latin American drug cartels.

The Trump administration has approved an $825 million arms sale to Ukraine, delivering long-range strike capabilities to Kyiv as peace negotiations with Moscow remain stalled.

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of India on Sept. 1, dismissing New Delhi’s offer to cut tariffs on American products to zero as “too late” and blasting decades of what he called a “one-sided disaster” in trade.

Student-led crowds burned tires at rallies in Medan, a vital trade and commerce hub, and in other Indonesian cities in defiance of a possible military crackdown after protests left at least eight people dead in the worst violence to hit the Southeast Asian nation in more than two decades.

Authorities in Afghanistan say a powerful earthquake has devastated the east of the country near the Pakistan border, killing more than 800 people and injuring over 2,500, as concerns grow about restricted access for international aid and the plight of the country’s tiny Christian minority.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Saturday that it killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi and several members of his Cabinet in a precision airstrike on the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, marking the most significant blow yet to the Iran-backed rebel leadership.

Israeli air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels early Wednesday, marking the second consecutive night and fourth attack in a week targeting central Israel in an escalating near-nightly pattern. The same day, the Houthis also launched a drone that crashed in an open area near Ashkelon in southern Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Foreign investments reportedly increased in Israel despite the Jewish nation’s multifront war in Gaza and Lebanon as well its confrontations with Iran and groups in Syria and Yemen.

Two ex-senior agents of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service have, for the first time, revealed details about a deadly operation that targeted thousands of “Hezbollah terrorists” in Lebanon and Syria using exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.

Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have reportedly agreed to cease actions against Israel, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it successfully intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward central Israel in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The projectile, which triggered sirens across central and southern Israel, was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace, preventing any potential damage or casualties.

Israel lashed out at Pope Francis for condemning Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and suggesting the world should investigate whether Israel’s military offensive there constitutes a “genocide” after dozens of Palestinians, including children, allegedly died in weekend attacks.

The U.S. military says it has conducted airstrikes targeting a missile storage facility and a command-and-control post operated by Houthis in Yemen after the Iran-backed group struck Israel, injuring dozens of people.

A federal judge has denied an attempt by President Donald J. Trump’s administration to ban transgender people from joining the military.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has condemned The Atlantic magazine’s chief editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, for sharing details of an upcoming military strike in Yemen targeting Houthi rebels.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requiring proof of citizenship to vote and mandating that all ballots be received by Election Day, fulfilling a key campaign promise to protect and strengthen election integrity.

One of the largest human smuggling operations in U.S. history has been dismantled by federal and local law enforcement officers.

President Donald Trump unveiled a next-generation stealth fighter that can fly alongside drones.

In an ongoing effort to identify and cut wasteful spending at the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the latest round of cuts total more than $580 million.

The Pentagon is working toward deeper cuts to its civilian workforce after about 21,000 civilian employees volunteered for a federal Deferred Resignation Program.

Answering their leaders’ recent call to kill Christians “where you find them,” members of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) executed three Christian youths in Nigeria’s Borno state last week, Christian Today (CT) reports.

Council authorities in India’s Chhattisgarh state have denied basic human necessities to 15 Christian families who refuse to renounce Christ and worship a local Hindu god, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Two major Christian organizations working in jails have agreed to “share the Gospel” of Christ with hundreds of thousands of prisoners and their families.

Christians in Plateau state, Nigeria are devastated after Fulani terrorists murdered an Assemblies of God pastor, his wife, and three other church members less than one week after Christian Irigwe and Muslim Fulani leaders met to discuss an end to the decades-long slaughter of believers by radicalized Islamic militants.

A 74-year-old Christian man in Punjab Province, Pakistan, has succumbed to the injuries he sustained during a May 25 attack by a mob of Muslims who falsely believed he had desecrated the Quran, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Nazir Gill, a resident of the predominantly Christian community in Sargodha, suffered severe head trauma and died at a military hospital near Islamabad on Monday.

Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, is working to provide printed Bibles for Christians in 13 language groups across North Africa and the Middle East.

Jon Britton Hancock, an American missionary to Nicaragua with the US-based Mountain Gate ministry remains wrongfully charged by the authoritarian communist Nicaraguan regime of fraud but, as he was able to return home to the United States, will face trial in his absence, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.