World

During a video conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month, President Joe Biden warned that there will be “strong economic and other measures” from the United States and its NATO allies in Europe if Russia invades Ukraine. Michael McFaul, a Russia expert at Stanford University, explained, in some Twitter posts this week, why a recent speech by Putin has him worried.

The 58-year-old McFaul, who served as a U.S. ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama from 2012-2014, noted that he has listened to a lot of Putin speeches — warning that “this speech is something different” and describing Putin’s “threats” as “truly striking and crazy.”

Speaking to CNN Thursday, Natasha Bertrand explained that former President Donald Trump's cavalier attitude toward Saudi Arabia left a vacuum of accountability that led to the country building its own missile system with the help of China.

While the Trump White House, and top aide Jared Kushner, was focused on peace in the Middle East, they apparently missed that the Saudis were using Chinese technology to craft a weapons system. CNN.com posted government satellite photos showing the build-up of ballistic missile manufacturing facilities.

President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Washington's willingness to discuss Russia's security proposals aimed at curbing NATO's eastward expansion was "positive", as fears mount in the West over a major military escalation in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has grown increasingly insistent that the West and NATO are encroaching dangerously close to Russia's borders.

Israeli researchers on Wednesday displayed a Roman-era golden ring with an early Christian symbol for Jesus inscribed in its gemstone, found in a shipwreck off the ancient port of Caesarea.

The thick octagonal gold ring with its green gemstone bore the figure of the "Good Shepherd" in the form of a young shepherd boy in a tunic with a ram or sheep across his shoulders.

The Jerusalem Post has reported that thousands of LGBTQ+ Israelis received text messages saying they "deserve severe punishment, death and deportation" and calling on them to "repent." The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel confirmed the news Monday.

"You are LGBT and an apostate. You deserve severe punishment, death and deportation from Israel," the message read. "Come to Yeshiva Ohr Elhanan in order to repent. We would be glad if you undergo conversion to faith."

The captain and first mate of an oil tanker that crashed into a coral reef off Mauritius, causing the Indian Ocean archipelago's worst-ever environmental disaster, have been convicted of endangering safe navigation.

The MV Wakashio, a Japanese-owned but Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier, ran aground in July 2020, spilling more than 1,000 tonnes of toxic fuel into the pristine waters of Mauritius, coating mangroves, corals and other fragile ecosystems.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday told Americans worried about the rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus variant that the country was "prepared" to fight it, as Israel -- which pioneered the use of Covid vaccine boosters -- announced fourth shots for those over 60 and health workers.

Omicron, now present in dozens of countries, appears to be more infectious than earlier coronavirus strains, despite early indications that it does not cause a more severe form of Covid-19 than the Delta variant.

Scientists on Tuesday announced the discovery of an exquisitely preserved dinosaur embryo from at least 66 million years ago that was preparing to hatch from its egg just like a chicken.

The fossil was discovered in Ganzhou, southern China and belonged to a toothless theropod dinosaur, or oviraptorosaur, which the researchers dubbed "Baby Yingliang."

A defrocked American priest was jailed for 12 years on Tuesday for sexually abusing children at an East Timor shelter, in a case that caused sharp divisions in the deeply Catholic nation.

At least 15 women had accused Richard Daschbach, 84, of sexually abusing them when they were children at his shelter in the enclave of Oecusse, with fears that there may be many more victims.

An American viewed as an insider in the United Kingdom is spreading QAnon-inspired conspiracy theories about Satanists in the government led by her reported former lover, according to a new report.

"On the 21st of October, Jennifer Arcuri hosted a livestream via the encrypted messaging app Telegram to talk about Satanists in the UK government," Vice News reports. "The American entrepreneur, who rose to prominence in the UK over an alleged affair with Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London, announced that she’d had 'a few requests to do some conspiracy discussions.'"

The social media accounts of an influencer known as China's 'livestreaming queen' disappeared on Tuesday, after she was ordered to pay a record $200 million fine for tax evasion.

Huang Wei, known by her username Viya, is one of China's most prominent livestreamers in an e-commerce sector that has accelerated its rapid growth despite the coronavirus pandemic that took hold last year.

New information is coming to light on the arrest of three registered Republicans in The Villages retirement community in Florida.

WKMG-TV obtained new documents on the case from Florida State Attorney Bill Gladson which show an internet user named "Totes Legit Votes" alerted officials in multiple states.