North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter fired pistols during an inspection of a light munitions factory, state media photos showed Thursday, as he pushes to modernize conventional forces after years of focus on nuclear weapons. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim visited a factory producing pistols and other light arms a day earlier and reviewed a new pistol that recently entered production. After testing the weapon at a shooting range, Kim rated it “excellent,” the agency said. The agency did not mention the presence of Kim’s daughter in its text report, but its...
South Africa Summons New U.S. Ambassador Over Criticism As Rift Deepens
The new U.S. ambassador to South Africa has been summoned to explain his criticism, the country’s foreign minister said Wednesday, as a diplomatic rift continues over foreign policy that the Trump administration describes as anti-American and domestic policies it calls anti-white. Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III was summoned after speaking at a meeting of business leaders on Tuesday, where he challenged the South African government over its diplomatic ties with Iran and its affirmative action laws that advance opportunities for Black people ahead of other races. The rift has grown between the former allies since President Donald Trump returned to...
US Defends Israel Against South Africa’s Allegation Of Genocide Filed To Top UN Court
The United States will intervene in the genocide case against Israel brought at the United Nations’ highest court by South Africa, arguing that the accusations are false and warning that a ruling against Israel could undermine international law. The International Court of Justice is considering whether Israel’s military operation in Gaza to crush Hamas amounts to genocide under a treaty drawn up after World War II. Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has vehemently denied the allegations. In a filing obtained on Thursday by The Associated Press, the U.S. says that the accusations are part of...
Utah Judge In Charlie Kirk Killing Case Weighs Media Access
The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus is due back in court Friday as a state judge weighs whether certain documents and proceedings should be open to the public. The outcome will set the stage for an April hearing in which attorneys for Tyler Robinson will make their case to exclude TV cameras, microphones and photographers from the courtroom. Judge Tony Graf has been weighing the public’s right to know details about the case against concerns by defense attorneys that the media attention could undermine Robinson’s right to a fair trial. Prosecutors, Kirk’s widow and...
Venezuela And Colombia Abruptly Cancel Planned Presidents’ Meeting, Citing ‘Force Majeure’
The governments of Venezuela and Colombia on Thursday announced the cancellation of a highly anticipated meeting between their presidents planned for the following day at their shared border. The talks were to be Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s first official meeting with a Latin American leader since she was sworn in January following the U.S. military operation to capture then-President Nicolás Maduro. Rodríguez and Colombian President Gustavo Petro were expected to address shared interests in border security, due to the presence of illegal armed groups associated with drug trafficking and the potential for Colombia to import Venezuelan natural gas. In...
Australian Jury Convicts Sydney Business Consultant Over Deals With Suspected Chinese Spies
A Sydney business consultant was convicted Friday of breaking Australia’s foreign interference laws by providing reports to two people he should have suspected were Chinese spies. Alexander Csergo, 59, is only the second person to be convicted under Australian laws against covert interference and espionage that angered China when they were legislated in 2018. The jury that heard the trial in New South Wales District Court in Sydney found Csergo should have suspected that a man and woman he knew only as Ken and Evelyn were working for China’s ministry of state security. He was found guilty of the charge...
Afghanistan Accuses Pakistan Of Targeting Homes In Airstrikes That Kill At Least 4 Civilians
Afghanistan’s Taliban government early Friday accused Pakistan’s military of targeting homes in overnight airstrikes in Kabul and the southern province of Kandahar, saying at least four civilians were killed as fighting between the neighbors entered its third week. Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on X that Pakistan’s aircraft also struck fuel depots belonging to the private airline Kam Air near Kandahar airport. “This company supplies fuel to civilian airlines as well as to United Nations aircraft,” he said. Pakistan’s military and government did not immediately comment. Pakistan and Afghanistan have been targeting each other’s military installations since late February, when...
19 People Convicted Over Deadly Moscow Concert Hall Attack Claimed By ISIS Faction
A court in Moscow on Thursday convicted 19 people of involvement in the 2024 shooting rampage in a Moscow concert hall that killed 149 people and wounded over 600 in one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in years. A faction of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the March 22, 2024, massacre at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in which four gunmen shot people who were waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set the building on fire. All 19 defendants were handed lengthy prison terms: 15 were sentenced to life in...
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, At A Press Conference Says Israel ‘Roar,’ Against Iran Establishes The Nation ‘As A Power That Is Stronger Than Ever.’
Benjamin Netanyahu: “Citizens of Israel, my brothers and sisters, We are in historic days, days that will be recorded in the annals of Israel. In Operation Roaring Lion, our roar is growing stronger. We are crushing the terrorist regime in Iran. We are striking and crushing its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon. Through an unprecedented partnership between Israel and the U.S., we achieved enormous accomplishments that are changing the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond. These achievements are establishing Israel’s status as a power that is stronger than ever. This dramatic shift in our power relative to the...