Russia’s brutal ongoing invasion of Ukraine has provided US intelligence services with a rare opening to recruit Kremlin insiders furious with the handling of the war. “Disaffection creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us,” said CIA Director Bill Burns last year during a speech in the United Kingdom. “We’re very much…

China’s support to Russia will extend the war in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, as he called on countries across the Asia-Pacific to join an upcoming peace summit he accused Russia of trying to thwart. Zelensky made the comments in Singapore during a surprise appearance at a meeting of…

Iran’s hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has registered to run for president in the country’s June 28 election, organized after the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month, Iran’s state television reported on Sunday. However he could be barred from the race: the country’s cleric-led Guardian Council will vet…

Taiwan is pursuing independence incrementally and those who support it will “end up in self-destruction,” China’s new defense minister warned Sunday in a wide-ranging speech at a security summit in Singapore where the extent of regional tensions was on stark display. Minister of National Defense Adm. Dong Jun made the…

Removing a long-time defense minister from his post is nothing out of the ordinary. Arresting five of his senior staff, however, is clearly more than just a search for fresh blood — especially in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. After the shock ouster, two weeks ago, of Sergei Shoigu as the minister…

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party is set to fall short of a majority for the first time in 30 years after national elections this week, marking the biggest political shift in the country since the end of apartheid. With counting nearly complete support for the ANC was at just…

Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton – who was convicted of killing six women and confessed to killing dozens more – died after being attacked earlier this month by another inmate, prison authorities said. Pickton is one of the most notorious serial killers in Canadian history, bringing his victims to his…

North Korea has ramped up its trash-balloon operations, with Seoul officials reporting about 600 of the airborne waste deliveries floating into South Korea, littering parts of the country with cigarette butts, paper and scraps of cloth. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said “no substances harmful to safety have been found”…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy arrived in Singapore Saturday for a previously unannounced appearance at a summit of defense chiefs from across the Asia-Pacific as Ukraine’s troops scramble to counter a major Russian advance into its northeast. Zelensky’s surprise attendance at the gathering is a stark illustration of Kyiv’s determination to…