A 29-year-old Russian woman was arrested in Washington and charged with conspiring to act as an unregistered Russian agent, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.

Japan and the U.S. have extended their nuclear pact as Tokyo pledged to work to reduce its plutonium stockpile to address Washington’s concern.

The NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan on Tuesday rejected reports its commander General John Nicholson had said the United States was ready to join direct negotiations with the Taliban, saying his comments were “mischaracterized.”

Russian prosecutors are pushing to question U.S. intelligence agents and a former ambassador to Moscow in their investigation of an influential foe of Vladimir Putin.

The International Court of Justice has confirmed that Iran has filed a lawsuit against the United States over the reimposition of sanctions against Tehran by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, claiming the move violates the nuclear treaty Tehran signed with the United States and five other world powers.

More from WPR: The Dangerous Assumptions Behind Trump’s Iran Deal Withdrawal

A U.S. federal judge has temporarily halted deportations of immigrant families who were recently reunited after being separated earlier this year at the U.S.-Mexico border.

More from WPR: Behind the Aquarius and Family Separation, a Decade of Policy Failures on Immigration

Both Trump and Putin are now locked into narratives about what did (or did not) happen that prevent this issue from being dealt with—and this holds the entire rest of the bilateral agenda hostage.

Standing next to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump openly questioned his own intelligence agencies’ conclusions that Moscow was to blame for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election to Trump’s benefit and seemed to accept Putin’s insistence that Russia’s hands were clean.

The Trump administration has told its top diplomats to seek direct talks with the Taliban, a significant shift in American policy in Afghanistan, done in the hope of jump-starting negotiations to end the 17-year war.

President Trump on Sunday spent the eve of his first summit meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia finding fault with allies, Barack Obama and the news media while refraining from condemning Moscow for its meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The United States launched five separate World Trade Organization dispute actions on Monday challenging retaliatory tariffs imposed by China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and Turkey following U.S. duties on steel and aluminum.

More from WPR: What Is the Endgame for the Trump Trade Wars?

China is saddling poor nations with unsustainable debt through large-scale infrastructure projects that are not economically viable, the head of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation said on Monday.

The U.S. president’s departure from the established principles of American foreign policy is so radical that many of his critics dismiss his ideas as simply the product of a disordered mind. But that is a mistake. There is an emerging Trump doctrine that makes internal sense. There are four broad principles underpinning this approach.

Police and authorities in Nicaragua have killed and imprisoned people without due process and committed torture, the U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday, calling for an end to violence in which an estimated 280 people have died since April.

More from WPR: Nicaragua Is Teetering on the Edge of a Civil War

A former rebel leader recently elected to Colombia’s Senate said Monday he’s refusing to take office out of protest. Ivan Marquez said that the government has yet to meet terms of a peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

More from WPR: Elections, a First for the FARC, Will Test Colombia’s Democracy and Its Peace Deal

Nicaraguan national police and armed pro-government civilians laid siege Tuesday to a symbolically important neighborhood that has recently become a center of resistance to President Daniel Ortega’s government.

Cuba is planning a series of potentially far-reaching changes, with a new constitution set to recognize the free market and private property, while dividing political powers between a president and a prime minister.

The U.S. is putting an additional $6 million into health and nutrition programs in Colombia to aid some of the estimated 70,000 Venezuelans that cross the border daily—some for the long term and others seeking food or medicine before returning to their homes.

The tragic—and totally avoidable—self-destruction of one of the world’s richest oil economies.

Nicaraguan police and paramilitary groups loyal to President Daniel Ortega killed at least 10 people on Sunday, a human rights association said, as the death toll from violent clashes in the Central American country continues to rise.

More from WPR: Nicaragua Is Teetering on the Edge of a Civil War

Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned Saturday amid calls for him to step down over his handling of a failed plan to raise fuel prices that set off a wave of deadly protests.

Venezuela is in a state of “economic collapse” with hyperinflation not seen since the middle of the last century, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.

More from WPR: Hyperinflation Is Crippling Venezuela, but Maduro Has No Interest in Fixing It

Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos asked his American counterpart Donald Trump to urge Russian leader Vladimir Putin to stop supporting Venezuela’s government.

Human Rights Minister for Brazil, Gustavo Rocha, traveled to the United States on Saturday on an official mission to assess what is being done to reunite the nearly fifty Brazilian minors with their parents.

More from WPR: Behind the Aquarius and Family Separation, a Decade of Policy Failures on Immigration

From Mexico to Venezuela, countries are facing instability—but that doesn’t mean Washington should take extreme measures.

Since President Trump took office almost 18 months ago, commentators have remarked on his apparent affinity for strongmen. There is, however, one glaring exception to this troubling pattern: Mr. Trump cannot seem to abide strongmen when it comes to Latin America.

An Algerian-born man twice convicted in France on terror charges and for years a high-profile figure in the underground world of terrorism has been expelled to stand trial in his homeland.

The European Union and Japan signed a landmark deal on Tuesday that will eliminate nearly all tariffs on products they trade.

British Prime Minister Theresa May won a series of votes in parliament on Monday, keeping her over-arching strategy to leave the European Union just about on track after bowing to pressure from Brexit supporters in her party.

More from WPR: As the Reality of Brexit Sinks In, There Are No Good Options for the U.K.

The European Union’s enlargement commissioner has arrived in Macedonia to formally announce the start of preparations for the Balkan country to open accession talks with the bloc next year.

More from WPR: It’s Too Early to Call Greece and Macedonia’s Name Agreement a Done Deal

Slovenia faced the prospect of early elections after the conservative New Slovenia party pulled out of coalition talks late on Monday, blaming divisions between the six movements taking part.

U.S.-based defense contractor Raytheon says it remains committed to its operations in Britain, even as other manufacturers warn that they may curtail investment because of delays in negotiations over the country’s departure from the European Union.

Denmark has become the poster child for analysts arguing that America’s favored metric of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense is ill-considered, and what matters is contributing effectively to coalition operations when asked.

A senior European official on Monday urged U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and China to work with Europe to avoid trade wars and prevent conflict and chaos.

The United States has rejected a European request for some of its key businesses to be exempt from U.S. sanctions on Iran.

More from WPR: How the Sweeping U.S. Demands on Iran Will Roil Its Domestic Politics

Remain-supporting Justine Greening wrote in The Times newspaper on Monday that a second Brexit referendum was “the only way” to resolve the ongoing parliamentary stalemate over how the U.K. plans to extricate itself from the 28-member bloc.

More from WPR: As the Reality of Brexit Sinks In, There Are No Good Options for the U.K.

The homes of former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and another prominent member of the Northern Ireland party were attacked with explosive devices, officials said Saturday. No one was injured.

Britain unveiled a model of a sleek proposed fighter jet named Tempest on Monday, raising questions about the future of European defense cooperation, given that Germany and France launched their own fighter jet program a year ago.

To land in Kiev is to reach ground zero of today’s confrontation between Russia and the West. The start of the Ukraine conflict is, depending on one’s chronology, the defining moment of their crisis.

About 20 Nigerian soldiers are missing after a clash with Boko Haram militants in the northeast of the country, security sources said on Monday, though the military denied reports that some troops could not be found.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama is set to make his highest-profile speech since leaving office, urging people around the world to respect human rights and other values under threat in an address marking the 100th anniversary of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela’s birth.

Liberian President George Weah said on Monday he would take measures to tackle rampant inflation and poverty, including injecting $25 million into the forex market and taking steps to bring more local cash into the formal banking system.

A migrant aid group has accused Libya’s coast guard of abandoning three people in the Mediterranean Sea, including a woman and a toddler who died, after intercepting 160 Europe-bound migrants near the shores of the North African nation.

Uganda’s finance ministry has revised the controversial mobile money taxes, adopting the reduction of the levy from 1 percent to 0.5 percent, adding that it will only be levied on withdrawals only and not ‘sending, receiving and depositing’ money as earlier passed by the country’s parliament.

More from WPR: A Tax on Twitter Is Sending Ugandans Into the Streets

Nearly 300 Malian civilians have been killed in fighting between rival militias this year, the U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday, as surging inter-communal violence across the country threatens a presidential election due later this month.

Officials from Saudi Arabia will take part in an investment summit in October in South Africa when they are expected to give more detail about the planned spending.

The cold war between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea once seemed irresolvable. An uneasy stalemate had endured since 2000, when a U.N.-brokered peace agreement ended two years of trench warfare that claimed about 80,000 lives and displaced more than half a million. So why, on July 8, did the two sides make peace?

Eritrea reopened its embassy in Ethiopia on Monday in further evidence of a rapid thaw between two countries that a week ago ended two decades of military stalemate over a border war in which tens of thousands died.

Congo’s President Joseph Kabila has appointed a new army chief who is under international sanctions for the violent repression of dissent, raising fears of an imminent crackdown.

More from WPR: ‘Kabila Must Go’: How Gridlock in Kinshasa Is Driving Violence in Eastern Congo

While observers have avoided saying outright that the campaign season has not been “free and fair,” human rights organizations and opposition groups are compiling an ever-growing number of reports of electoral malpractice, including death threats to opposition candidates, forced attendance at rallies and the distribution of government handouts to Mnangagwa supporters.

More from WPR: The Race Is On to Rule the New Zimbabwe

Algeria has deported nearly 400 African migrants trying to reach Europe, sending them back over the Sahara desert into neighboring Niger, the U.N. migration agency and Niger said on Sunday.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Morocco’s capital Rabat on Sunday to demonstrate against the jailing of leaders of a protest movement in the predominantly Berber region of Rif.

More from WPR: Verdict Against Moroccan Protest Leaders Sparks Outcry in Rif and Beyond

Tunisia’s president called on Sunday for Prime Minister Youssef Chahed to step down or seek a confidence quote if the country’s political and economic crisis continues, withdrawing his support for the premier, who has clashed with the president’s son.

Congolese politician Jean-Pierre Bemba, weeks after his conviction for war crimes was quashed at The Hague, was nominated by his party on Friday for December’s presidential vote, in what could be the stiffest challenge to President Joseph Kabila’s ruling coalition.

More from WPR: Momentum Is Building for Elections in Congo. But Will Kabila Really Leave?

Former U.S. President Barack Obama urged Kenya’s leaders on Monday to turn their backs on the divisive ethnic politics that have frequently spilled over into violence and to stamp down on corruption.

Last month, the Democratic Republic of the Congo triggered international outrage when it confirmed that it was considering opening up two of its national parks to oil exploration. It said a committee would put together plans to declassify parts of Salonga and Virunga in a bid to increase oil production.

Israel placed new restrictions on its only cargo crossing with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to continued Hamas hostilities, even after it agreed to a cease-fire ending 24 hours of intense fighting.

Yemeni officials and witnesses say heavy fighting between pro-government forces and Shiite rebels has killed more than 30 civilians, including women and children, in the last two weeks.

More from WPR: Taking Out Yemen’s Houthi Leaders Is No Path to Peace

Security forces in southwest Iran have arrested four suspected Islamic State operatives who were planning attacks, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi was cited as saying by the Tasnim news agency on Tuesday.

Iraqi police wielded batons and rubber hoses to disperse about 250 protesters gathered at the main entrance to the Zubair oilfield near Basra on Tuesday as unrest across southern cities over poor basic services gathered pace.

Russia’s Defense Ministry says it’s ready to boost cooperation with the U.S. military in Syria, following talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Egyptian authorities on Tuesday reportedly closed the Rafah border crossing, which links the blockaded Gaza Strip to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, “until further notice.”

Russia and Kazakhstan are cutting back sales of hot-rolled steel coils to Iran in part because of new U.S. sanctions on Tehran, steel traders said.

More from WPR: How the Sweeping U.S. Demands on Iran Will Roil Its Domestic Politics

A new law before the Israeli parliament would demote Arabic as an official language—and undermine equality.

Widespread unrest is engulfing southern Iraq as Iraqis frustrated by shortages of electricity, water and jobs vent their anger, setting fire to political offices, attacking government infrastructure and deepening uncertainty about the country’s shaky political future.

The government says the bill will merely enshrine into law Israel’s existing character. But critics say it excludes the 20 percent Arab minority population.

Egypt’s parliament has passed three controversial draft bills regulating the press and media. The draft bills, which won the parliament’s approval on Monday, will also regulate the Supreme Media Regulatory Council, the National Press Authority and the National Media Authority.

The political arm of the Syrian Democratic Forces militia said on Monday it would work to set up a unified administration for areas it controls, a step that would consolidate its authority in northern and eastern Syria.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited a southern Israeli town bordering Gaza on Monday that was pummeled with rockets from the strip over the weekend and told community leaders there that Israel is engaged in a “lengthy battle.”

For many months, Saudi Arabia’s young tyro Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has given the impression he is a very different kind of Saudi leader: more dynamic, more decisive, and, most importantly of all, more transformative than his predecessors. But what if the great Saudi reform push he leads is coming to a grinding, stuttering halt?

Hong Kong police on Tuesday launched action to shut down a pro-independence party that promotes secession from China.

Police official says Islamic State suicide bomber kills 20 in northern Afghanistan, including Taliban commander.

Pakistani police say a Norwegian journalist who was arrested last week during clashes between police and supporters of ex-premier Nawaz Sharif has been freed on bail.

More from WPR: The Two ‘Red Lines’ Restricting Pakistan’s Brave and Pugnacious Press

A candidate running for a seat in Pakistan’s parliament from former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political party escaped an assassination attempt in eastern Punjab province, police said Tuesday.

More from WPR: Why Youth Matters in Pakistan’s Upcoming Elections

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has blasted local officials over a delayed construction project, state media reported Tuesday, his second such rebuke over the economy in recent weeks.

India’s highest court on Tuesday asked the federal government to consider enacting a law to deal with an increase in lynchings and mob violence fueled mostly by rumors that the victims either belonged to members of child kidnapping gangs or were beef eaters and cow slaughterers.

A rethink of military strategy, one that looks to buttress deterrence even in the absence of military dominance, is urgently required.

Pakistani authorities have opened a criminal investigation into leaders of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political party under an anti-terrorism law, 10 days before a hotly contested general election, according to police documents.

Malaysian lawmakers took their oath in Parliament on Monday, including former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has been charged in a massive corruption scandal that led to his coalition’s electoral defeat.

A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday near the American University, killing at least five people outside a government building where 17 people were killed in a similar attack last month.

A committee set up by South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited one of Pyongyang’s special economic zones over the weekend to examine opportunities for economic cooperation with North Korea.

Pakistan’s independent Human Rights Commission warned Monday of “blatant, aggressive and unabashed” attempts to manipulate the results of elections set for later this month, with prominent activist I.A. Rehman calling it “the dirtiest election” in the country’s troubled relationship with democratic rule.

More from WPR: Why Youth Matters in Pakistan’s Upcoming Elections

Outspoken and profane rhetoric is a hallmark of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. But when he called God “stupid” and a “son of a bitch” in a speech last month, that was a step too far for many in the devout Catholic country.

Elections might change governments, but the feudal and punitive power structures in Pakistan’s countryside don’t change.