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June 16, 2026

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Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa is welcomed by Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides in Nicosia on April 24, 2026, on the sidelines of a European summit.

Analysis

Why Trump’s push for Syria to confront Hezbollah is an unlikely bid

Trump’s proposal faces resistance from Damascus, skepticism from experts and opposition across Lebanon’s political spectrum.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Orthodox Patriarch of Bartholomew at the presidential complex, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2026.

Culture

Turkey’s Erdogan meets Orthodox patriarch amid push for reopening Halki Seminary

The meeting comes ahead of US President Trump’s expected attendance at next month's NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey, after Trump personally urged his Turkish counterpart to reopen the Halki Seminary.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

President Donald Trump insisted he has a great relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but criticized the scale of Israel’s strikes in Lebanon.

Latest News

Analysis

'He knew it was over': Inside Netanyahu’s response to Trump’s Iran deal as Israel recalibrates

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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

Analysis

Squeezed by Trump and Iran war, how vulnerable is Netanyahu in polls?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House, Washington, DC, July 7, 2025.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

US strikes on Indian-crewed tankers spark tensions with New Delhi

Punit PARANJPE / AFP via Getty Images

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

How North Korea nuke crisis affects Israel

Israeli intelligence believes that North Korea, Syria and Iran are collaborating on the development of missile systems and nuclear programs.

Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks at a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism hearing about Russian election interference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein - RTX316TR

Egypt ripped at Senate foreign aid hearing

Senators urged to rethink $1.5 billion annual US aid package to Egypt as the country fails to progress in human rights.

Members of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), stand in the village of Umm al-Dhiban, northern Iraq, April 29, 2016. They share little more than an enemy and struggle to communicate on the battlefield, but together two relatively obscure groups have opened up a new front against Islamic State militants in a remote corner of Iraq. The unlikely alliance between the Sinjar Resistance Units, an offshoot of a leftist Kurdish organisation, and Abdulkhal

Kurds call on US to set up no-fly zone after Turkish attacks

Expect US-Turkey tensions to rise after the Turkish air force attacked Kurdish militants in Iraq’s Sinjar region and northeastern Syria just as the US-led coalition presses its offensive against IS in Raqqa.

Can Erdogan juggle Trump and Putin at the same time?

Erdogan’s expectations from the United States and Russia are high, but his hopes may be misplaced again.

Abbas versus Barghouti, Round 2

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is furious at Fatah activists who called for a Day of Rage five days before he is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump.

A worshipper holds crosses inside the Church of Holy Sepulchre during a Good Friday procession in Jerusalem's Old City April 14, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX35J9I

Congress-mandated panel accused of whitewashing Israeli discrimination against Christians

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom is under fire from one of its own.

Will Riyadh’s new DC ambassador draw US deeper into Yemen war?

While the new Saudi ambassador to Washington, Khaled bin Salman, wants to convince the Trump administration to get more involved in the war in Yemen, history may deter the US administration.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTS12NRL

Does Erdogan expect Trump to ditch Syrian Kurds?

US and Turkish presidents talk, agree to meeting in Washington; Saudi-Iraqi ties hit Iranian ceiling; Turkey sees al-Bab as safe haven for displaced Syrians.

Foreign Ministers, Sergei Lavrov (C) of Russia, Walid al-Muallem (L) of Syria and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia, April 14, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RTX35J4R

Russia steps up its game in Mideast diplomacy

The heavy traffic between Moscow and the Middle East after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Russia last week signals that Russia is looking to quickly solidify its relationships with regional partners.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stands on podium during a reception ceremony at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX332HR

How Abbas is prepping for expected surge in nationalist sentiment

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is pinning his hopes on Egyptian and Jordanian pressure on the Trump administration to engage in a two-state solution process within a regional framework.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis departs from Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Egypt April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTS135HK

Mattis' Mideast trip holds promise, reality check for Israel

The US defense secretary's visit to Israel is expected to strengthen an already solid relationship while making sure both parties are on the same page.

Palestinian members of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, take part in an anti-Israel parade in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip July 13, 2015. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

- RTX1K8RX

Another Hamas leader added to US terror list

Ahmed Ghandour recently became the fifth Hamas leader to be added to the US State Department's terrorist list in a continuation of a long-established US policy being enforced by the Trump administration.