The American Times News | Economy, Geopolitics, Calculators

The latest Ukraine drone attack on Moscow unfolded alongside Russia's September 18 to 20, 2026 parliamentary elections, creating an unusual overlap between battlefield escalation and domestic politics. On the first day of voting, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 350 Ukrainian drones had been headed toward the Moscow region overnight. Two days later, on September 20, Russian authorities reported a much larger wave, saying more than 1,600 drones had been intercepted across Russia since Saturday, including about 450 directed toward Moscow. The timing gave the attacks an obvious political dimension, but their precise purpose remains a matter of competing claims. Sobyanin said the September 20 operation was designed to disrupt the elections, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described Ukraine's long-range strikes as part of a campaign against Russian oil, logistics and other infrastructure supporting the war effort. What is clearer is the scale. The attack...

  A one-kilometer, two-lane bridge now physically links Russia and North Korea by road for the first time in history. Inaugurated September 7 over the Tumen River, the crossing connects Kashan in Russia with Tumangang in North Korea and is rated for 300 vehicles per day. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song opened it by video link. Cargo trucks get priority first, passenger traffic is expected later in 2026. According to Reuters, it sits next to the old 1959 Friendship rail bridge but adds something new - direct road access. On paper it is trade infrastructure. In reality it lands in the middle of a wartime partnership that has transformed since 2022. Moscow and Pyongyang agreed to build it during President Vladimir Putin's Pyongyang visit in 2024, started construction in April 2025, and finished it just as military cooperation, sanctions disputes, and regional supply chains are all under strain. The name chosen for the bridge underscores ...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s July 28 meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought the Iran and Ukraine crises into a single day of high-level White House diplomacy, but the two discussions produced different immediate priorities. Trump later described both meetings as positive, while the substance centered on Iran policy with Netanyahu and air-defense support and diplomacy with Zelenskyy. Nearly four weeks later, however, neither crisis has produced the major diplomatic breakthrough that the meetings briefly appeared to support. Trump and Netanyahu Focused on Iran Netanyahu traveled to Washington with Iran at the top of his agenda as the U.S.-Iran confrontation remained one of the administration’s most difficult foreign-policy problems. Reuters reported that the two leaders discussed a range of options for dealing with Iran, including diplomacy, economic pressure and possible military action. An Israeli official said milit...