The USS Ronald Reagan, a key component in bolstering defense ties in the Indo-Pacific, departed its Japanese home port after almost a decade.It will be replaced by another Nimitz-class carrier, the USS George Washington, later this year.Family and friends bid farewell to the USS Ronald Reagan at Yokosuka Naval Base…

Israel plans to deploy additional troops to assist with operations against Hamas in Rafah, Israeli Foreign Minister Yoav Gallant announced Thursday.Gallant said Israeli operations have already successfully destroyed multiple Hamas tunnels in the area. The deployment of troops comes as President Biden has warned that the U.S. will pause military…

A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced several pro-Kurdish politicians to between nine and 42 years in prison over deadly riots in 2014 by Kurds angered by what they perceived to be government inaction against Islamic State group militants who had besieged the Syrian border town of Kobani.The three days of…

South Africa urged the United Nations’ top court on Thursday to order a cease-fire in Gaza during hearings over emergency measures to halt Israel’s military operation in the enclave’s southern city of Rafah.It was the third time the International Court of Justice held hearings on the conflict in Gaza since…

Authorities in Belarus on Thursday announced raids and the seizure of property belonging to 104 opposition activists who have fled the country, the latest step in a crackdown on dissent that has continued unabated for nearly four years.Belarus’ authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, unleashed the crackdown in August 2020, when mass…

Former South African President Jacob Zuma will go on trial for alleged corruption next April, four years after he was formally charged with taking bribes in connection with a multi-billion-dollar arms deal and 20 years after he was first implicated, prosecutors said Thursday.Zuma is charged with multiple counts of corruption…

A U.S.-built pier is in place to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea, but no one will know if the new route will work until a steady stream of deliveries begins reaching starving Palestinians.The trucks that will roll off the pier project installed Thursday will face intensified fighting, Hamas…

The Justice Department announced Thursday multiple arrests in a series of complex stolen identity theft cases that officials say are part of a wide-ranging scheme that generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program.The conspiracy involves thousands of North Korean information technology workers who prosecutors…

Peruvian lawmakers on Thursday began yet another effort to remove President Dina Boluarte from office as authorities continue various investigations against her and her inner circle.The small legislative opposition cited “moral incapacity” as the reason for the removal request they submitted to Parliament. Boluarte has already survived four attempts to…

Russia on Thursday declared Britain’s defense attaché persona non grata and gave the diplomat a week to leave the country in response to London’s decision to expel the Russian defense attaché earlier this month over spying allegations.Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it summoned a representative of the…