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Politics & Security

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026.

Why US, Israel are freezing France out of Lebanon talks

With talks between Israel and Lebanon being held in Washington, Paris still insists that it must be involved to balance possible American bias and to protect Beirut’s interests.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the margins of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, on April 17, 2026.

Analysis

Why Saudi Arabia, Egypt are wary of Turkey’s proposed 4-way defense pact with Pakistan

The proposed framework faces major hurdles and fault lines, ranging from NATO constraints to Israeli opposition and weak military integration.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

An elections employee tapes a poster with instructions to voters ahead of the upcoming municipal elections in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026.

Feature

Gazans show cautious hope ahead of first local elections in 20 years

The city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza is set to hold municipal elections for the first time in nearly two decades.

Rasha Abou Jalal

By Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (L) disembarks from an airplane upon his arrival at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Jan. 23, 2025.

In Lebanon, Saudi Arabia pursues quiet diplomacy as Trump pushes Israel normalization

Saudi Arabia has been engaged in intense diplomacy in Lebanon in recent days, leading up to the extension of a ceasefire with Israel.

Latest News

Syria arrests Amjad Youssef, Tadamoun massacre perpetrator: What to know

A young man stands in the entrance of tunnels that were used by the ISIS and the Assad's regime for fighting. Tadamon, Syria, February 7, 2025. (Photo by Raghed Waked / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by RAGHED WAKED/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s Baykar tests K2 swarm kamikaze drones for first time: What to know

CORLU, TURKEY- MARCH 2: A B model of Bayraktar AKINCI TİHA (Assault Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in the sky on March 2, 2022 in Corlu, Turkey. (Photo by Baykar Press Office/dia images via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (R) holds a signed "Make America Great Again" hat while (L-R) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanon Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad listen to US President Donald Trump speak during a meeting with Lebanon Ambassador to the US and Israel Ambassador to the US, at the White House in Washington, DC on April 23, 2026. US President Donald Trump met Lebanese and Israeli envoys at a new round of peace talks Thursday, with Beirut seeking a one-month extension of a

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

Kuwait acquits journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin after 7 weeks in detention

Ahmed Shihab‑Eldin attends the Opening Night during the Doha Film Festival 2025 on Nov. 20, 2025 in Doha, Qatar.

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

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) drill held by the Iranian army in Semnan, Iran, on Jan. 5, 2021.

US defense intelligence confirms Iran’s drone use in Ukraine

The Pentagon report comes a day after the UK government turned over weapons and other evidence to the United Nations that Iran had attempted to ship to Yemen's Houthi rebels in violation of international law.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

Explainer: Why Syria’s Assad opened two border crossings for earthquake aid

Aid has reached both Syrian government and rebel territory in response to the disaster, but the situation remains dire.

Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan delivers a joint press conference with his German counterpart at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, on Feb. 7, 2023.

Top Armenian diplomat heads to Turkey for landmark visit

Top Armenian diplomat will pay a rare visit to Turkey after two killer earthquakes.

A rescue dog searches for victims and survivors, in the regime-controlled town of Jableh in the province of Latakia, northwest of the Syrian capital, on Feb. 12, 2023, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake.

Hero canines warm hearts as Turkey's earthquake rescue operations drop off

Some 400 search and rescue dogs are still working to find survivors in Turkey, though such operations are winding down.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) walks during a hearing at the Magistrate's Court in Rishon Lezion, Israel, Jan. 23, 2023.

Analysis

Is Israel's Netanyahu losing control of judicial overhaul battle?

The coming days will tell whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is controlling the push for the judicial overhaul, or whether is he being controlled by the more extremist elements within his coalition.

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

President Xi Jinping held talks with President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran on his state visit to China on Feb. 14, 2023.

As sanctions bite, Iran's Raisi talks business in China

The trip came at a moment of increasing international isolation, which has left Iran with fewer options than ever before in selling its lifeline oil.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

In Turkey, Israel's foreign minister meets Erdogan, promises earthquake aid

Meeting with Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged and thanked Jerusalem for its assistance to the victims of the recent earthquakes.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) speaks with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Sde Boker, Israel on March 28, 2022. - Blinken and the top diplomats of Israel and four Arab states held a landmark meeting to discuss issues from the Iran nuclear negotiations to the global shockwaves of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JACQUELYN MARTIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE's Abdullah bin Zayed visits US, days after meeting Assad

Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed will meet with US Secretary of State Blinken at the State Department on Tuesday.

US sailors recover part of a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Feb. 5.

US general reveals Chinese balloons have flown over the Middle East

A senior CENTCOM official said the high-altitude balloons have posed no threat to troops, and he expressed interest in obtaining similar ones to fill gaps in the United States' intelligence collection.

Jared Szuba

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

Nurse anaesthetist Abdelbaset Khalil (2nd L) stands with others on the rubble of his house following a deadly earthquake, near the hospital in the town of Harim, in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province at the border with Turkey, on February 11, 2023. - Following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria on February 6, toppling hundreds of buildings and leaving a death toll of at least 3,581 in Syria, supplies have been slow to arrive in the war-torn country where years of conflict have

Did US pressure force Turkey to let Syrian-Kurdish earthquake aid into rebel-held northwest?

Ankara relents, allowing the first humanitarian aid and disaster relief to enter devastated northwest Syria from the country's Kurdish-run northeast.

US special envoy to Iran Robert Malley.

Pentagon, State Department officials in Saudi Arabia to talk Iran strategy

Like its predecessors, the Biden administration wants Gulf Cooperation Council states to share air defense intel to defuse potential attacks by Iran, but will they work together?

Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, visits the affected neighbourhoods in the city of Aleppo on February 13, 2023 following a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Arab states, militias pour aid into Syria as earthquake death toll exceeds 5,000

The Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces are among the militias that delivered aid to Syria.