Why Iran’s Supreme Leader Came Around to Nuclear Talks With Trump

[ad_1] It was a closely held, urgent meeting. Iran was pondering a response to President Trump’s letter seeking nuclear negotiations. So the country’s president, as well as the heads of the judiciary and Parliament huddled with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, last month, according to two senior Iranian officials familiar with the meeting. Mr. … Read more

Ukraine Questions Value of Black Sea Truce With Russia

[ad_1] The Ukrainian Navy patrol boat zipped across the Black Sea, its double-barreled, 25-millimeter machine gun locked on the horizon. The enemy, Russia, was nowhere in sight, yet ever-present. In the command room, Captain Mykhailo and his crew scanned screens showing color-coded zones marking Russian mine-laden waters and red arrows tracking drones prowling the area. … Read more

Russia Executes P.O.W.s Without Caring Who Watches, Ukraine Says

[ad_1] On a Monday morning last fall, Ukrainian drone pilots watched what had become a familiar scene unfold on a drone’s live feed: Russian soldiers pointed their guns at two Ukrainians, who seemingly surrendered. Then, the footage showed, the Russians shot them point blank. The video, provided by a pilot who said he had witnessed … Read more

Hello From a French Village That Recalls the U.S. as a Staunch Ally

[ad_1] More than a century after the fighting stopped, the U.S. Army’s First Division has not fully faded from memory in Cantigny, the tiny hilltop village in northern France that it helped to save in World War I. In the woods, there is the trench that was once the unit’s muddy forward position. In a … Read more

China’s New Barges Reveal How it Might Try to Seize Taiwan

[ad_1] In recent weeks, China has been practicing unusual maneuvers off its southern coast involving three special barges. The vessels have linked up one behind another, forming a long bridge that extends from deeper waters onto the beach. That feat has been a warning to Taiwan. The vessels’ debut suggests that China’s People’s Liberation Army … Read more

A NATO Plane Tracks and Dodges Russia in the Baltic Sea

[ad_1] The French naval patrol plane descended rapidly through the clouds, leveling off at 900 feet above the Baltic Sea, practically skimming the waves. The target was a Russian warship, which came into view off the plane’s port side, dark gray against a light gray horizon. The aircraft, an Atlantique 2 of the French Navy, … Read more

How Trump Supercharged Distrust, Driving U.S. Allies Away

[ad_1] The F-35, a fifth-generation fighter, was developed in partnership with eight countries, making it a model of international cooperation. When President Trump introduced its successor, the F-47, he praised its strengths — and said the version sold to allies would be deliberately downgraded. That made sense, Mr. Trump said last week, “because someday, maybe … Read more

How Oscar-Nominated ‘I’m Still Here’ May Hold Brazil’s Military Accountable

[ad_1] “I’m Still Here” — the Oscar best picture nominee about the murder of a Brazilian congressman by the country’s military dictatorship — concludes with a single sentence that delivers a gut punch of historical reality: The five soldiers charged in the killing were never punished because of laws granting them amnesty. Now the film … Read more