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Politics & Security

BEIJING, CHINA - MAY 14: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shake hands with Omar Seddik, Sudan's newly appointed foreign minister before their meeting during the China-CELAC Forum at Diaoyutai State Guest House on May 14, 2025 in Beijing, China. The summit includes China's key Latin American trade partners, and comes as Beijing and Washington work on defusing a trade war. (Photo by Florence Lo - Pool/Getty Images)

Explainer

China expands Sudan footprint through ports, debt relief, mining

Reports have emerged of a potential $300 million copper mining deal between the Sudanese government and a Chinese company.

A view of the B1 bridge is pictured, a day after it was destroyed by a strike in Karaj, around 20miles (35kms) southwest of Tehran, April 3, 2026.

Analysis

Why Iran is making infrastructure next front in Mideast conflict

Tehran appears to be codifying a pattern that emerged during the recent conflict, increasingly floating attacks on economic infrastructure as an integral part of the conflict's equation.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) welcomes France's President Emmanuel Macron for a joint press conference in Damascus on July 7, 2026.

Explainer

How Macron seeks to carve out France's role in new Syria

French President Emmanuel Macron became the first Western leader to visit Syria since the fall of the Assad regime, showcasing Paris' support for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa while seeking to secure a share of the country's emerging reconstruction market.

Latest News

Analysis

As US-Iran fighting resumes, Israel weighs 3 options with restraint winning, for now

Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images

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

Lebanese PM Salam in Turkey as Erdogan seeks wider regional role

Israel warns US of new Iran plot to assassinate Trump: What to know

US President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One as he departs Bismarck Municipal Airport on July 01, 2026 in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Demonstrators against the war in Gaza rally in support of Palestinians on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on April 25, 2024.

Gaza protests spread to over 25 US universities with hundreds arrested

The Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia University has sparked similar protests throughout the country.

GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/AFP via Getty Images

Iran, Russia enhance security cooperation in Kazakhstan meeting

Long-friendly Iran and Russia are growing closer amid the Gaza war and sanctions on both countries.

Israeli soldiers of the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox battalion "Netzah Yehuda" take part in their annual unit training in the Israeli annexed Golan Heights, near the Syrian border on May 19, 2014. The Netzah Yehuda Battalion is a battalion in the Kfir Brigade of the Israel military which was created to allow religious Israelis to serve in the army in an atmosphere respecting their religious convictions. AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

As pressure mounts, US delays plan to withhold aid from Israeli military unit

The State Department's plan to block a notoriously violent Israeli military unit from receiving US security assistance could help address what some say is a failure to hold Israel to the same standards as other US arms recipients.

Israeli police cordon off the site of a car accident, where Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was lightly hurt after his car was involved in an accident, in Ramla south of Tel Aviv, on April 26, 2024.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir injured in car accident near suspected attack scene

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was hospitalized after the car he was sitting in was involved in an accident.

US President Joe Biden (R) and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold bilateral talks the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11, 2023. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey postpones Erdogan's White House visit

Sources familiar with the planning of Erdogan’s program suggested to Al-Monitor that the real issue was the lack of clarity from Washington on the visit.

US special envoy to the region Amos Hochstein (R) meets with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at Israeli Defense Ministry headquarters, Tel Aviv, Jan. 4, 2024.

In Israel, US envoy Hochstein talks Lebanon border tensions with Gallant

US special envoy Amos Hochstein met with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and is set to speak with President Isaac Herzog as the Israel-Lebanon border remains tense.

Jade Gao/Getty Images

China hosts Hamas, Fatah delegations for reconciliation talks

The meeting follows a Hamas official's statement that the movement was ready to join the PLO.

Pro-Palestinian protesters set up a tent encampment during a demonstration in front of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus on April 22, 2024, in Berkeley, California.

Over 20 US universities join in Gaza protests: What we know

A pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University has sparked similar protests throughout the United States, as well as France, eliciting both praise and condemnation as authorities in some areas attempt to disperse the crowds.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2-R) arrives for group photo with (L-R) Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

Israel war cabinet meets as Egypt proposes three-phase Gaza cease-fire plan

Reports suggest that Egypt has taken the lead on a new round of talks with Hamas and has presented Israel with a fresh proposal for a hostage-release and truce deal.

People rush to landing humanitarian aid packages dropped over the northern Gaza Strip on April 23, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

US military begins construction on humanitarian aid pier off Gaza

Mortar shells rained down on a section of Gaza’s coast on Thursday, underscoring the risks inherent in the Pentagon’s plan to rely on the Israeli military to provide security for humanitarian pier as the US seeks to stave off famine.

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Hamas official says group ready to disarm as US sees 'avenue' for deal

Hamas has declared its willingness to accept a five-year truce an disarm if a Palestinian state is established based on the 1967 borders.

Steinmeier Kabob

Erdogan and Germany's Steinmeier chuckle over doner kebab as ties grow

The German president’s visit, marking the centennial of diplomatic ties between Turkey and Germany, came during a challenging time for Ankara-Berlin relations, given the wide gap over the Israel-Hamas war.