Archives for February, 2026

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing' summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

US, Ukraine, Russia delegations agree to exchange 314 prisoners, Witkoff says

Reuters

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS

Kremlin dismisses Western claims that Epstein was Russian intelligence asset

Reuters

Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, attends the Human Rights Council at the UN European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, September 8, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

UN rights chief appeals for $400 million as crises mount and funding shrinks

Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Russia's top economic negotiator Kirill Dmitriev attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (both not pictured) at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on August 7, 2025. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Russia's Dmitriev says progress made on Ukraine peace deal

Reuters

Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council Rustem Umerov and other members of the Ukrainian delegation attend the second round of trilateral talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 4, 2026. UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via REUTERS

Ukraine, Russia start second day of peace talks in Abu Dhabi

Reuters

Herzog has been invited to a four-day visit to Australia to meet with the Jewish community after the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah festival in Sydney killed 15 people

Australia dodges call for arrest of visiting Israel president

Agence France-Presse

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Ferris Pirro gestures as she speaks about Elias Rodriguez, suspected of fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staff members outside the Capital Jewish Museum, at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 7, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

US charges suspect with terrorism in killing of two Israeli diplomats

Reuters

A man holds a placard during a protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's upcoming visit to Australia, at Hyde Park, in Sydney, Australia, February 1, 2026. REUTERS/Flavio Brancaleone

Australia charges teenager over alleged death threats to Israeli President Herzog

Reuters

U.S. first lady Melania Trump looks on as she meets with freed American-Israeli couple Keith and Aviva Siegel (not pictured), who were abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon

Melania Trump says talks with Putin team continue to free Ukrainian kids

Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump listens as U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during the signing ceremony for the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Trump has attacked pillars of democracy, says Human Rights Watch

Reuters

Iran's and U.S.' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Iran-U.S. talks to take place in Oman on Friday, U.S. official confirms

Reuters

US President Donald Trump warned Iran's supreme leader should be 'very worried'

Iran-US talks back on, as Trump warns supreme leader

Agence France-Presse

A man exits the Washington Post office building in Washington, DC, on Feb. 4, 2026.

Washington Post cuts 30% of staff, guts foreign desk, Mideast team: What to know

Foreign correspondents from the Post have extensively covered wars in Gaza, Ukraine and other global conflict zones.

Telegram's Durov says Spanish social media plans weaponise safety

Reuters

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press about a critical minerals stockpile with $12 billion in initial funding, as Washington seeks to lower reliance on China for rare earths and other resources, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Feb. 2, 2026.

Trump says Iran's Khamenei should be 'very worried'

The comments came as planned US-Iran talks appeared in jeopardy after Tehran demanded to move the location, narrow the agenda and exclude regional partners.

Members of Syrian security forces at the entrance of the al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakah province which holds around 24,000 people, including some 6,200 women and children from around 40 nationalities on Jan. 21, 2026 in Al Hasakah, Syria.

Feature

Syrian Kurds say US ignored pleas for help as ISIS detainees turned on them in al-Hol

Chaos at al-Hol during clashes between Kurdish forces and Damascus underscored the widening security vacuum amid Kurdish claims of US abandonment.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture