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Politics & Security

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, speaks during a press conference

Explainer

Who will lead Congress? Democrats weigh Schumer alternatives, Jeffries bid

A number of contenders have emerged as challengers to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, including strong critics of the Iran war and US support to Israel.

Tump

Can Trump turn midterm defeat into Iran breakthrough?

Although Iran may have contributed to Republican losses in midterms, the Trump administration still has a historic opportunity in the Middle East.

Manon Roca / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon files charges against 2 Hezbollah members as UNIFIL prepares to withdraw

The move comes amid growing security concerns in the south less than two months before the UNIFIL mandate expires.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkey will now decide the scope of military support for Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Iran-backed Houthi attacks on the kingdom.

Latest News

Explainer

Arab parties' backing gives Eisenkot edge over Netanyahu for PM: What to know

Tomer Neuberg / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Massie renews Hegseth impeachment push as GOP blames Iran war for midterm losses

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, on July 21, 2026, in Washington.

Jared Szuba

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

Can Erdogan’s Baku visit fix Turkey-Azerbaijan rift?

TOFIK BABAYEV/AFP via Getty Images

Russia to provide Iran with 90 missile launchers as military ties grow: Reports

Russian Mil Mi-8 military helicopters fly over a joint Russian and Turkish convoy, northeastern Hasakeh province, Syria, Feb. 4, 2021.

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

Pakistani and Iranian flags flutter on the closed Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan on February 25, 2020 as fears over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus escalate following an outbreak in neighbouring Iran. - The Iranian outbreak where at least 15 people have already died -- the highest death toll in any country outside of China -- has aggravated already frayed nerves in neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Photo by Banaras KHAN / AFP) (Photo by BANARAS KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran-Pakistan tensions simmer after strikes, IRGC officer killed in southeast

Iran is seeking to contain the damage to its relationship with Pakistan following a deadly Iranian military strike in Pakistani territory targeting a dissident group.

A meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on May 7, 2023.

Alarmed over Ethiopia-Somaliland deal, Arab FMs rally behind Somalia, Egypt

Somalia denied entry to an Ethiopian flight heading to Somaliland, as a controversial deal signed between the latter and Ethiopia continues to be a source of concern in the region.

Houthi soldiers attend a military parade marking the ninth anniversary of the Houthi takeover of the capital Sanaa on Sept. 21, 2023.

US redesignates Yemen’s Houthis as terror group amid Red Sea attacks

The Biden administration stopped short of branding the Houthis with the more severe Foreign Terrorist Organization label, which aid agencies warned would hinder their life-saving work in Yemen.

ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

West Bank violence peaks with 344 killed, nearly 6,000 arrested amid Gaza war

Hundreds have been killed in the West Bank since Israel stepped up its raids and arrests in the territory in conjunction with the war in Gaza.

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq, KRG leaders cancel meetings with Iran's FM at Davos over missile row

Tensions between Baghdad and Tehran have flared since the Monday attack, which Tehran claimed targeted an Israeli "spy cell" in the city.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) speaks with Foreign Affairs columnist Thomas Friedman during a meeting as part of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on January 17, 2024.

Davos 2024: Blinken says Palestinian statehood could help isolate Iran

The US secretary of state called former President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal "a big mistake."

Protesters hold a banner and Kurdish flags during a demonstration outside the United Nations (UN) office, a day after several areas in the city were hit by a missile attack launched by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region early on Jan. 16, 2024.

How Iran chose easy targets in Iraq's Erbil to avoid Israeli reprisal

As the Islamic Republic and its hardcore loyalists chanted in triumph, debates heated up as to whether the attack was meant only for domestic propaganda and flexing about a promised "revenge" that seemed to have been exacted on the wrong, easy target.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses a press conference in Tel Aviv on Jan. 9, 2024, during his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions across the Middle East.

Blinken says stay on the job as federal employees protest Gaza

The organizers behind Tuesday’s “Day of Mourning” said federal employees at more than two dozen agencies planned to take off work to protest the administration's handling of the Gaza war.

This handout screen grab captured from a video shows Yemen's Houthi fighters' takeover of the Galaxy Leader Cargo in the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, on Nov. 20, 2023.

Davos 2024: Red Sea attacks ‘a crisis whole world needs to respond to,’ says US

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that since mid-November, 50 nations have been impacted by nearly 30 attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by the Iran-aligned Houthi militants.

Turkey-backed Syrian fighter sits at a position on the outskirts of the town of Marea.

Turkey's operation in Syria could happen in 'upcoming months': Erdogan

The Turkish president’s comments come after the top Turkish diplomat leveled rare public criticism at Russia.

This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adayseh during Israeli bombardment, Jan. 14, 2024.

War looms for Lebanon as border escalation intensifies

Cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah have been escalating in recent days amid fear of a full-blown war.

Houthi soldiers stand guard on a missile carrier during an official military parade marking the ninth anniversary of the Houthi takeover of the capital, Sanaa, on Sept. 21, 2023.

US launches new strikes on Houthi missile sites in Yemen as deterrence falters

The US military struck Houthi ballistic missiles on the ground, as the Yemeni faction defied previous allied strikes designed to cripple their ability to attack ships in the Red Sea.