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Politics & Security

Ahmed al-Alwani in an undated photo

Ex-Iraqi MP Ahmed Alwani found dead in Lebanon: What to know

Ahmed al-Alwani was a prominent leader of anti-government protests by Iraqi Sunnis in 2013, and was released from prison last year.

Iranian-made Zolfaghar missiles

Iran unveils new underground 'missile city': What to know

Iran has moved much of its missile stockpile underground as the threat of a new war looms.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey bars MP’s wife from travel after his fund scandal criticism: What to know

Opposition politicians and rights advocates described Yonca Verdioglu Sik’s brief detention as an attempt to intimidate her husband, opposition lawmaker Ahmet Sik, over his criticism of the government.

ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images

GCC to build military command center in Kuwait as region simmers: What to know

GCC countries have stepped up their joint defense efforts with the announcement of a new forward command center to be headquartered in Kuwait, as tensions between Iran and the US continue to escalate.

Latest News

Hegseth strikes defiant tone, calls House impeachment process 'farce'

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Jared Szuba

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

Explainer

From Oct. 7 inquiry to blocking Netanyahu: Eisenkot's bloc maps out Knesset agenda

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) casts his ballot, next to his wife Sara

Slotkin, Van Hollen emerge as potential challengers to Schumer’s Senate leadership

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 23: U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) speaks at a press conference on China AI export controls at the U.S. Capitol on September 23, 2026 in Washington, DC. Slotkin, joined by fellow Senate Democrats, urged Senate Republican's and the Trump administration to enact stronger export controls on AI technology and computer chips to China. The Democrats also call for a vote on bipartisan export control legislation, including the AI OVERWATCH Act, the MATCH Act, and the Chip Security Act. (

Massie introduces impeachment articles against Hegseth over Iran war

SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

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

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Lawmakers call for probe as arms purchasers target US-based dissidents

Democratic lawmakers are seeking a congressional watchdog study on how the State Department is tracking extraterritorial harassment by countries that benefit from US security assistance or arms, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the US Congress by video to plead for support as his country is besieged by Russian forces, at the US Capitol, Washington, March 16, 2022.

Zelenskyy to give Zoom speech to Israeli Knesset Sunday

With the Knesset on recess and many parliamentarians on vacation, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said they will both attend the Zoom-delivered address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy March 20.

Iraq politics

Iraq's parliament sets date for selecting president from Kurdish ranks

The selection of Iraqi president have been delayed because of the sharp division between the two main Kurdish parties over which candidate should fill the role reserved for their group.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Analysis

The Takeaway: Done deal? Iran nuclear talks appear back on track

Putin opens door to Syrian fighters in Ukraine; Egyptian students’ harrowing escape from Ukraine; Hamas keeps quiet on Ukraine while building mega-mosques; Lebanon’s cancer crisis; and more … in about 1,300 words.

Andrew Parasiliti

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Joe Snell

By Andrew Parasiliti , Elizabeth Hagedorn , Joe Snell

Children play on a swing on the first day of Eid al-Adha, in the opposition-held southern city of Daraa, Syria, Aug. 21, 2018.

Child kidnappings haunt civilians in Syria’s Daraa

Civilians in Syria’s southern province of Daraa are living in constant fear amid increasing cases of kidnappings.

Demonstrators carry placards during a gathering by cancer patients to protest against the shortage of medicine that is threatening the treatment of tens of thousands of patients, outside the headquarters of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 26, 2021.

In Lebanon, deterioration of health system endangers cancer patients' lives

Faced with the shortage of medication and the increase in hospital costs, cancer patients in Lebanon are finding it increasingly difficult or impossible to afford treatment.

Erdogan Putin

Will Erdogan draw lessons from Putin's Ukraine mistakes?

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan watches Russian forces flounder in Ukraine, he may be rethinking his own ambitions — or concluding that Turkey is in a better spot than ever.

Russian rapper Oxxxymiron

In Istanbul, fleeing Russians mull next step of self-exile

Thousands of Russians fearing the political and economic fallout of the Ukraine war have fled to Istanbul, with most planning to travel on to Europe or former Soviet republics.

RONEN ZVULUN/AFP via Getty Images

Mixed feelings in Israel over Bennett’s mediation efforts on Ukraine

The Israeli opposition is criticizing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as overeager to drag Israel into the Russia-Ukraine quagmire.

Saudi drones

Middle East struggles against drones, despite billions in defense spending

Military unmanned aircraft, both custom-designed and retrofitted, pose an increasing threat to security in the region, and states' defense capabilities have not kept up with advances in attack technology.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo

By Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo

Richard Ratcliffe protests outside the Foreign Office while on hunger strike, part of an effort to lobby the UK foreign secretary to bring his wife home from detention in Iran, on Oct. 25, 2021 in London, England.

Iran releases Iranian-British citizens as nuclear talks wrap up

Two Iranian-British citizens are on the way home after the United Kingdom settled a decades-old debt to Iran.

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey’s pro-Western policy reversal reveals Erdogan’s dilemma

Turkey's position over the Russian invasion of Ukraine has resonated as a pro-Western shift in Ankara’s foreign policy, but Erdogan needs to go the extra mile.