Top World News
High-level PLA general purged for opposing Xi, official military newspaper of China says
Feb 4, 2026 - World 
China's official military newspaper disclosed new details on the ouster of the most senior general in the People's Liberation Army, attributing his exit to differences with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Death of New START: U.S., Russia enter uncharted territory as last nuclear arms control deal expires
Feb 4, 2026 - World 
The last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between Washington and Moscow expires Thursday, ending measures that have provided transparency into both nations' arsenals for more than a decade.
Israeli strikes kill at least 21 in Gaza as Rafah patient crossings halted
Feb 4, 2026 - World 
Six children among dead as Israeli agency restricts evacuations two days after crossing to Egypt reopenedIsraeli tank shelling and airstrikes have killed at least 21 people, including six children and seven women, in Gaza, and Israel has halted the evacuation of patients through the Rafah border crossing just two days after it reopened.Among the casualties was a medic who rushed to the scene to assist the wounded and was killed by a second strike on the same location in the southern city of Khan Younis. Tents in al-Mawasi, an encampment of displaced people in Khan Younis, were shredded by the blasts. Continue reading...
Italy averted Russian-linked cyberattacks targeting Winter Olympics websites
Feb 4, 2026 - World 
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani says Italy has foiled a series of cyberattacks targeting some of its foreign ministry offices, including one in Washington, as well as Winter Olympics websites and hotels in Cortina d’Ampezzo
'Trump's next target' in place and president will 'weaponize economy' against it: analysis
Feb 4, 2026 - World 
Donald Trump has set his sights on a post-Greenland target and may use tariffs as a way of hindering the country in question. The president's administration carried out an operation in Venezuela and then shifted tact to Greenland earlier this month. While Trump confirmed the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, his campaign in Greenland was far less successful. The president was met with strong resistance from European nations at the time, and it seems he has not yet given up in subsuming the country into US territory. For now though, The Hill columnist Jose Chalhoub believes the president has already shifted his attention to a European nation which could offer oil reserves like Venezuela. Chalhoub wrote, "In Venezuela, enforcement actions continued, even as headlines faded, disrupting supply to Asia and exposing billions in Chinese investments. Cuba, heavily dependent on those flows, was warned that oil would move only on Washington’s terms. The region became a testing ground for how much pressure energy leverage can exert before governments cave."The Americas, then, are a rehearsal. The real audience is Europe. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine abruptly ended decades of European dependence on its energy. "A costly divorce — roughly $1,500 per person — was unavoidable. American suppliers surged in, such that the U.S. now rivals Norway as the European Union’s main source of oil, and it is also the source of nearly 60 percent of its liquified natural gas."Despite European countries considering the US an ally, it may not stop Trump from using the economy to his advantage, freezing out some nations who do not give in to his demands. Chalhoub added, "Europe reassured itself that America is an ally, bound by mutual restraint and shared values. But that assumption deserves scrutiny. "Trump’s tariffs demonstrated how readily economic ties can be weaponized. As tensions with Denmark and Greenland escalated, Europeans faced a sobering question: If energy becomes leverage, will Trump take a page from Putin’s playbook?"Europe’s vulnerability is structural. Energy is purchased nationally, not collectively. Pressure applied to a few can fracture solidarity among many. Matching coercion with coercion would invite escalation and play to Washington’s strengths."The gravest mistake would be to continue with the delusion that the U.S. will always be a benign partner. Even an imperfect rules-based order is infinitely preferable to a world governed by oil. Should international restraint dissolve, Venezuela will not be an anomaly, but a warning — the opening of chapter of an era in which power is measured by who controls the tap."
