News

After riots in Iraq, the Shiite preacher Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to withdraw. A nationwide curfew was lifted. After two days of violent protests that left more than 37 dead, the first supporters of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr left the government district in Baghdad. In a speech at his headquarters, al-Sadr had previously urged his supporters to evacuate the so-called Green Zone in the center within 60 minutes. If they don't do this, he himself will withdraw from his own movement, al-Sadr said in a televised address. He apologized to the Iraqi people. He had hoped for peaceful protests. The unrest in Iraq broke out after al-Sadr's announcement that he intends to withdraw from politics. He accused rivals of having ignored calls for reforms. His followers then took up arms. Several people were killed in the riots on Monday. Government palace stormed In the heavily secured Green Zone, militias from both sides fought each other. According to the Iraqi securit...

Graham Carey celebrates after putting St Johnstone ahead Lawrence Shankland converts from spot nine minutes from time after Liam Gordon brought down Barrie McKay; Kye Rowles and Liam Boyce had struck after Graham Carey's opener for visitors but Andy Considine levelled; Hearts lost Rowles, Boyce and Nathaniel Atkinson to injury but grabbed win Lawrence Shankland scored a late penalty as Hearts dug deep to defeat St Johnstone 3-2 at Tynecastle in the Scottish Premiership. The victory came at a cost, however, as the Jambos - already without some key players as they try to balance the demands of domestic and European football - lost first-half goalscorers Kye Rowles and Liam Boyce to injury, along with Nathaniel Atkinson. Hearts manager Robbie Neilson made six changes to the side that started Thursday's valiant Europa League play-off defeat by FC Zurich as Alex Cochrane, Jorge Grant, Stephen Kingsley, Shankland, Barrie McKay and Alan Forrest dropped out to be replaced by Peter Hari...

The Russian armed forces are to be increased to more than two million people from 2023. President Vladimir Putin ordered this by decree. Six months after invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his army to be expanded. From 2023, the total army strength should total more than two million people, according to a decree by Putin. An official reason was not given. The number of military alone is to be increased by 137,000 to around 1.15 million. This includes both contract soldiers and conscripts. The paper, signed by Putin, did not say whether the military plans to increase the number of conscripts or increase the number of volunteers, or both. The remaining members of the military are civilian personnel, such as administrative employees. Nuclear Dispute Israel Calls For Nuclear Talks With Iran To Be Halted Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine on February 24. According to the Russian government, everything is going "according to plan" in the war. However, intern...

Israel's government warns of an increase in global terror if the nuclear deal with Iran is reactivated. This is a "bad deal" for the West. Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid has called on the West to end talks with Iran about reviving the nuclear deal. The negotiations must be stopped immediately, the agreement is "a bad deal," said Lapid in Jerusalem. Sanctions relaxation would add billions of dollars to Iran's treasury and allow it to fund terrorist groups like the Palestinian Hamas. Recently there had been movement in the Vienna negotiations on reactivation of the international nuclear agreement with Iran. US officials said Iran had relaxed its blockade of some UN nuclear inspections and was no longer insisting that the US government remove the Revolutionary Guards from its terrorist list. According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the talks could continue this week. Lapid warned the western signatories to the agreement against manipulation by Ira...