The U.S. has deployed two of its warships to the Taiwan Strait in a first such mission since the controversial visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei, the Navy said on Saturday. Media reports said: USS Chancellorsville and USS Antietam, guided-missile cruisers, are sailing through international waters in …

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned on Monday that any Israeli military strike on his country’s nuclear program would lead to the destruction of “the Zionist regime.” Raisi said Israel could not protect itself against Palestinian “resistance groups” and would not succeed in stopping Iran’s nuclear program. “Can they keep themselves …

Prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr tweeted on Monday that he has decided to withdraw fully from politics. “I’ve decided not to meddle in political affairs. I therefore announce now my definitive retirement,” he said in his tweet. The announcement comes a month after his followers started a sit at …