Courts and the law

A print house worker produces a campaign poster showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Analysis

Corruption trial, ICC warrant: Why Netanyahu will stay in politics even if he loses

Netanyahu stands to lose more than the premiership. His criminal corruption trial and the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against him are also at stake.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

People and security forces gather outside a Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hammoud in Jordan's Karak governorate following a shooting on October 23, 2026.

Jordan’s King Abdullah calls church shooting ‘terror attack,’ at least 7 killed: What to know

Jordan has experienced sporadic violence targeting the Christian community, though attacks of this kind are relatively rare in the kingdom.

In this stock image, a female embryologist demonstrates freezing straws with embryos and sperm in real IVF laboratory.

Culture

Turkey egg donor scam allegedly sold clients on promise of blond babies

An investigation triggered by a husband’s tip has led to at least 45 arrests in an alleged network that sold Turkish donor eggs to foreign clients seeking Scandinavian ancestry.

Abdulrahman Alfozan in an undated photo

Who is Abdulrahman Alfozan, Saudi national charged in bugging OpenAI meetings?

The Saudi national who was arrested for allegedly planting a covert listening device at OpenAI’s offices has extensive experience working at leading technology companies in the US and serves as a venture partner at a Saudi venture capital firm.

Latest News

Explainer

PKK pulls out of Metina in northern Iraq amid Turkey peace process

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters arrive in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk on May 14, 2013, after leaving Turkey as part of a peace drive with Ankara.

Erdogan aide named suspect in Turkey financial scandal

Turkey's Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya speaks to media after arriving at the Ataturk International airport on March 12, 2017, in Istanbul.

Culture

Syria's Kurds, Arabs find common cause in battle for language rights

Youths play the daf, an Iranian frame drum, during a protest demanding the right to education in the Kurdish language in Al-Qamishli, Syria, on September 22, 2026. The demonstrations follow a decision by the Syrian Interim Government to allocate only Kurdish language classes in schools. (Photo by Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Former Assad official sentenced to 60 years in US for torture

Mario Tama/Getty Images

A member of the Alawite community pastes on a wall, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli , on December 6, 2007, pictures of Syrian opposition leader Rifaat al-Assad (R) and his son Ribal.

Rifaat al-Assad, perpetrator of Syria's 1982 Hama massacre, dies at 88

Known for his role in the 1982 Hama massacre, the late member of Syria’s former ruling family oversaw the killing of tens of thousands of civilians.

Pedestrians make their way along a path at Tehran Grand Bazaar, on Jan. 18, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

Iran blackout enters 12th day as filtered internet reveals crackdown

Nearly 4,000 people have been killed in the protests in Iran, as videos emerging amid limited access to internet show the scale of the crackdown launched by security forces.

People cross a street next to a billboard bearing the portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a quote that reads "Sing Oh Iran" in Tehran on July, 9, 2025.

IRGC to Majlis: Who are central players in Iran's regime?

Iran’s political system concentrates ultimate authority in the supreme leader and a network of loyal institutions.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Erdogan denies Turkey informed of US exile offer for Maduro prior to capture

While denying knowledge of a US exile plan for Nicolas Maduro, the Turkish president has been reluctant to directly criticize Washington over the Venezuelan leader’s capture.

Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Europe’s top court moves to fast-track Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala's case: What to know

The new move is expected to speed up review of Osman Kavala’s continued imprisonment and Turkey’s repeated failures to release him.

People shop in a market on June 17, 2025 in Damascus, Syria.

Senate vote paves way for Trump to repeal Syria’s Caesar sanctions

President Trump is poised to sign bipartisan legislation scrapping the sanctions that are seen as a major obstacle to Syria's economic recovery.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with US special envoy Tom Barrack, Jerusalem, Dec. 15 2

Analysis

Trump's Syria envoy Barrack tests Israel's patience as Netanyahu pushes back

The struggle between the Israeli prime minister and the envoy is an acknowledgment by Israeli leaders that "what will happen is what Trump wants to happen."

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Jasmine

Culture

Turkey launches probe into HBO series citing ‘moral’ values: What to know

The probe into the TV series has fueled debate over censorship and artistic freedom in the country.

Security personnel from the Syrian Ministry of Interior stand outside the Justice Palace ahead of the first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year, in Aleppo on November 18, 2025. The first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year began on November 18, an AFP journalist in the courtroom said. The massacres in March, whic

Feature

A year since Assad’s fall, Aleppo trial tests Syria’s transitional justice

Syria recently launched its first open trial on the deadly sectarian violence in March, but questions about judicial independence and political influence make the upcoming hearings a major test of accountability in post-Assad Syria as the first anniversary of Assad’s fall approaches.

Alessandra Bajec

By Alessandra Bajec

In this handout by the Israeli Government Press Office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) looks on as military chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz (R) adjusts the epaulettes of Brig. Gen. Eyal Zamir for his swearing in as military secretary, Tel Aviv, Nov. 26, 2012.

Analysis

Why Netanyahu seeks to remove Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir

Despite the army's achievements and the challenges it now faces, the Israeli prime minister is doing everything in his power to persuade military chief Eyal Zamir to quit.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli is pictured in this undated image.

Turkey sentences journalist over 4 years in jail for threatening Erdogan

Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli was sentenced to over four years in prison in a trial government critics say aimed at silencing one of Turkey's most influential journalists and intended to intimidate journalists nationwide.

Bassam Hammoud the vice president of the Jamaa Islamiya in Lebanon, brandishes a rifle as he delivers a speech during a demonstration in Sidon in southern Lebanon on July 19, 2024, a day after an Israeli strike in the Bekaa region killed Mohammed Hamed Jabara, the commander of the Hamas-allied group in Lebanon. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Lebanon's Jamaa Islamiya in spotlight as US moves to designate Muslim Brotherhood

The Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, is a major Sunni political party in the country. But its armed wing has repeatedly attacked Israel during the war with Hezbollah, putting the group under US scrutiny.

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict