Courts and the law

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on Aug. 18, 2026, shows Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan (C) during the sentencing of Wassim al-Assad.

In first, Lebanon to hand over former Syrian general to Sharaa government

The decision comes as Syria's new authorities move to prosecute former regime figures over alleged crimes committed during the country's civil war.

US sanctions International Criminal Court president, top lawyer

The sanctions come a month after Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to dismantle the court "brick by brick."

FADEL itani / AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

Who benefits from Lebanon’s amnesty law and why it is controversial

The law, initially intended to ease prison overcrowding, could see the release of Islamists accused of killing soldiers and allow Lebanese exiled to Israel return to the country.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Culture

Lebanon becomes first Arab country to abolish death penalty

Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc walked out of Tuesday’s session in protest of the measure.

Latest News

Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad, brother to death for war crimes

Bashar Al Assad

Analysis

How Turkey's PKK amnesty law entwines Kurds' hopes with Erdogan's ambitions

Fighters with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) line up to put their weapons into a pit during a ceremony in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on July 11, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Lebanon’s Riad Salameh hospitalized as arrest roils Beirut: What to know

JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

Iran hangs 2 over alleged Mossad ties as executions mount: What to know

This photograph shows a banner featuring photos of Iranian protesters allegedly killed by the regime during a demonstration at the Ergife Palace Hotel to condemn the silence of Western governments in the face of the growing wave of Iranian political executions, in Rome, on July 16, 2026.

Shikma Bressler, an Israeli physicist and one of the leaders of the protest against the government's judicial overhaul.

Interview

Can protests in Israel halt Netanyahu's second attempt at judicial overhaul?

After two years of focusing on the battle to release the hostages, Israelis are now once again demonstrating against the government’s judicial overhaul plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump (not pictured) in the State Dining Room at the White House, on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington.

Analysis

After Trump’s pardon letter to Herzog, 4 scenarios emerge for Netanyahu’s trial

President Donald Trump again asked Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been on trial for over five years.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Antonio Brown #84 of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates a touchdown during the second half against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Dec. 23, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

NFL star Antonio Brown extradited from Dubai: What to know

The US and the UAE do not have an extradition treaty, a factor that affected the proceedings against Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.

United Arab Emirates

Former Director General of Lafarge Bruno Lafont (C) and French lawyer Jacqueline Laffont arrive on the opening day of the trial.

French cement giant Lafarge on trial for ‘funding terrorism’ in Syria: What to know

The French company is accused of funneling millions of dollars via its subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria to jihadi groups and intermediaries to keep its cement plant operating in northern Syria.

A man holds a portrait of Selahattin Demirtas during a gathering of Turkish Kurds for Nowruz celebrations marking the New Year of the Persian calendar and the first day of spring, Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, March 21, 2025.

Erdogan's top ally calls for release of Kurdish leader amid speculation of rift

The nationalist leader has also pushed back against rift speculations between him and the Turkish president amid ongoing peace talks with the Kurdish militants.

Mohmed Ali, left, and a alleged co-conspirator are seen at a gun store on Sept. 25, 2025, according to a criminal complaint. Part of this image has been obscured by the source.

Prosecutors charge two Michigan men in alleged ISIS-inspired plot: What to know

The two men charged, both under 21, allegedly bought firearms and more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition, practiced shooting at gun ranges and scouted potential targets before the FBI intervened.

A large Syrian flag flutters above Tishreen Park in Damascus on June 4, 2025.

Feature

Inside Congress' battle to repeal Syria's Caesar sanctions

Five months after President Trump pledged to lift sanctions on Syria, the harshest penalties remain on the books.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Wife of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti appeals to Trump for his release

Barghouti has been imprisoned in Israel since 2002, after being convicted of planning attacks that killed five people, and he has been held in solitary confinement since October 2023.

Leader of Turkey's main opposition party, Republican Peoples Party (CHP), Ozgur Ozel addresses the media at the party headquarters after a hearing on corruption charges against the party, in Ankara on October 24, 2025. An Ankara court on October 24, 2025 threw out a graft case against Turkey's main opposition CHP on grounds it had no substance, an AFP journalist at the hearing said. The case, which centred on alleged vote buying at a Republican People's Party (CHP) primary in 2023, was rejected by the judge

Turkey's main opposition survives court challenge amid legal crackdown

The court ruling ended months of political uncertainty over the Republican People’s Party's leadership, fueling concerns over democratic backsliding amid a broader crackdown.

Iran International broadcast

Iran's state TV doxxes journalists in Israel as post-war spy hunt intensifies

Since its June war with Israel, Iran has executed at least 9 people on charges of espionage.

TOPSHOT - Palestinians stand near a burning car reportedly set alight by Israeli settlers attempting to disrupt them harvesting olives near the occupied West Bank village of Turmos Ayya near Ramallah on October 19, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's West Bank police chief condemns settler's 'cruel' beating of Palestinian woman

The attack, filmed in Turmus Ayya, comes amid a surge in settler assaults on Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.

MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images

After decade in jail, Gadhafi’s son granted $11B bail in disappeared imam case

The lengthy detainment of Hannibal Gadhafi, the son of late Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, over the 1978 disappearance of Shiite cleric Musa al-Sadr has long been a source of controversy in Lebanon.