Ukraine is increasingly using balloons in creative ways to strike deeper into Russia. One of the most striking new developments is DART, a guided missile that is not fired from an aircraft or launch pad, but is released from a balloon at the edge of the stratosphere.
On Monday evening around 9pm, an explosion occurred on Rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla in Monaco, near the French border. Three people were injured, including a Ukrainian oligarch and his partner. Both are in critical condition.
According to U.S. media, the United States and Iran have agreed to temporarily halt attacks against each other and to meet again on Tuesday in Doha. According to Axios, the talks will focus specifically on the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, following the recent drone and airstrikes between the two countries. A temporary ceasefire should now give both sides some breathing room for diplomatic talks aimed at reaching a lasting peace agreement.
Bill White, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, has drawn attention ever since his appointment — fittingly, the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States was a grand affair in the heart of Europe. Sunday, however, didn't go entirely smoothly.
Russia has equipped a gas tanker in the Baltic Sea with heavy machine guns. This is evident from photos taken by the Estonian Border Guard and documents reviewed by investigators. According to media reports, the ship, the Marshal Vasilevskiy, is sailing along the coasts of NATO countries in the Baltic region and is also carrying Russian military personnel on board.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Saturday that he will step down within a few weeks. This may bring a quicker end to the current political impasse in Serbia, where massive protests against his policies have been ongoing for a year and a half. At the same time, Vucic said the country will hold early presidential and parliamentary elections.
Russian President Vladimir Putin blames the West for Russia’s problems.
The world will be less peaceful in 2026 than it was a year earlier, but a small group of countries remain remarkably stable. According to the Global Peace Index, the peace situation deteriorated in 99 countries, though Iceland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Slovenia, and Ireland in particular remain at the top of the rankings. This is according to the 2026 Global Peace Index.
Perhaps the biggest secret surrounding North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is his mother. During his fifteen years in power, he has never publicly mentioned her by name. That is certainly no coincidence. After all, her background clashes head-on with the narrative cherished by Pyongyang of the sacred “Paektu bloodline,” the dynastic myth upon which the regime’s legitimacy rests.
U.S. President Donald Trump has once again lashed out at Iran following new U.S. attacks on Iranian targets and reciprocal shelling in the region around the Strait of Hormuz. On his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that the U.S. may reach a point where it will be “forced” to “finish the job militarily,” which he claims has already begun successfully. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist,” he warned.