International Affairs

"These biased investigations cannot deny the fact that a crime against humanity has occurred in Baghuz," Syria's United Nations mission told Newsweek.

The main problem with Washington's relations with Riyadh isn't the fact that the U.S. is engaging with the kingdom—it's that Washington too often makes the mistake of equating U.S. interests with Saudi interests.

"My message to the United States would be that Pakistan is ready to engage with the United States," Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said.

"India has stepped up its game in crisis-hit Sri Lanka at a time when China has hesitated to provide debt relief," Overseas Development Institute's Ganeshan Wignaraja told Newsweek.

On Thursday, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö vowed to "commit to Turkey's security" should his country's NATO application be approved.

Maria Vorontsova allegedly took part in discussions on Telegram, according to an unconfirmed report by Dmitry Kolezev, editor-in-chief of the website Republic.

As Congress evaluates antitrust legislation aimed at Big Tech, legislators should not overlook the virtues of free and open U.S.-based information platforms.

Mikhail Khodaryonok gave a rosier take of Russia's campaign in Ukraine on the program 60 Minutes, after a clip of him criticizing Russian forces went viral.

Yang Jiechi's message for Jake Sullivan included renewed warnings about the U.S.'s close ties with Taiwan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

South Korean President Yoon's "priorities are very much in line with Biden's own," The Wilson Center's Sue Mi Terry told Newsweek.

A senior Biden administration official said that it is allowing Chevron Corporation to negotiate with Venezuela's state oil company at the behest of the opposition.

Left out of December's Summit for Democracy, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungary's Viktor Orbán would need to approve Finland and Sweden's NATO bids.

A senior Biden administration official told Newsweek that the moves sought to both "hold the regime accountable and to support the Cuban people."

A senior administration official said that less than 500 troops would pursue "persistent" engagement in Somalia, reversing an "irrational" policy by former President Donald Trump.

As if the erosion of democratic institutions since the pandemic was not enough, the war in Ukraine represented a further boost to the region's autocracy.

Residents are stocking up on food and preparing for a potential conflict with Russia, which shares a more than 800-mile border with the Nordic country.

Russia said it had repelled Ukrainian efforts to retake the island - and yet, hours later, Ukraine claimed a small victory over the Russian Black Sea fleet.

WHO Representative to North Korea Edwin Salvador told Newsweek the agency "is yet to receive an official report" confirming the country's first COVID-19 case.

The programme's guest claimed that Ukraine President Zelensky posted a photo on Russia's Victory Day of a Ukrainian soldier wearing a Nazi symbol.

Vladimir Solovyov said that "the people are ready" if Vladimir Putin stepped up the war in Ukraine.

Finland said it plans to join NATO, and Sweden is expected to make a similar announcement soon.

Russian envoy Anatoly Antonov told Newsweek that "even during the Cold War, our nations continued cultural, educational and scientific contacts," as these ties are now cut.

"The balance in the Middle East is too delicate just to ruin it because of Ukraine," retired Soviet and Russian lieutenant-general Evgeny Buzinshkiy told Newsweek.

In an interview with Newsweek, former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says a "division of the world into two camps, an autocratic and democratic camp, is inevitable."

The coming days could define Sri Lanka's future.

A retired Russian lieutenant-general tells Newsweek the conflict is "not a war between Russia and Ukraine," but "a hybrid war between Russia and the West."

The Russian president is likely to "desire to have a symbolic success in Ukraine" before the upcoming May 9 Victory Day commemorations, the U.K. said.

Russia's envoy told Newsweek Moscow is "compelled to warn of the emerging risks associated with the intervention of NATO states into the Russian special military operation."

"I believe that France has made considerable mistakes in its foreign policy in the Sahel and fails to look it in the mirror," former Malian Foreign Minister Kamissa Camara told Newsweek.

The spokesperson for Iraq's Hezbollah Al-Nujaba Movement told Newsweek that the group "has strong relations and high coordination with the Lebanese resistance and the Palestinian resistance movements."