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Politics & Security

President Donald Trump gives a speech during the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn on April 28, 2026, in Washington.

Trump speaks with Netanyahu, Putin as Iran pressure campaign escalates

President Donald Trump spoke by phone separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the situation in Iran and the possibility of extending the ceasefire.

This aerial photograph shows Turkey's first floating natural gas production platform, "Osman Gazi," passing through the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, on May 29, 2025.

Turkey advances gas pipeline plan to northern Cyprus as East Med rivalry grows

The Turkish energy minister said the country's oil and natural gas pipeline operator, BOTAS, has started the engineering work for the pipeline.

In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, Two F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 3, 2026 in the Mediterranean Sea.

Breaking | Last Updated: April 29, 2026, 2:24 pm

Pentagon: Iran war has cost US estimated $25B so far

A supplemental request won’t be delivered to Congress until the Pentagon fully assesses the war’s cost, a top budget official told House lawmakers.

Displaced Palestinian people look at paintings at an open-air art exhibition at the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on April 28, 2026. The majority of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced, often multiple times, by the war that began with Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. With displaced families living in tented camps, with serious concerns raised about their living conditions. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP via Getty Images) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDI

Analysis

Why Abbas' win in Gaza remains 'symbolic,' not rejection of Hamas

Affiliates of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas performed relatively well in the municipal elections, though the vote was marred by complications relating to the war and the exclusion of Hamas.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Latest News

Analysis

How long can Iran's economy withstand Trump's naval blockade?

The Ateela 2 oil tanker boat navigates the sea on April 28, 2026, on Qeshm Island, Iran, in the Strait of Hormuz.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Meet Ali al-Zaidi, businessman and Iraq's new prime minister-designate

Prime Minister Mohammed S. al-Sudani met with Prime Minister-designate Ali Faleh al-Zaidi on April 28, 2026.

In first, Libya’s rival armies to join drill in Turkey: What to know

Cadets of the Saiqa Force (Special Forces) of the self-styled Libyan National Army affiliated with eastern strongman Khalifa Hifter take part in a graduation ceremony in tribute to the force's late commander, Wanis Bukhamada, in the eastern city of Benghazi, on Jan. 20, 2022.

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

Iranian security forces intensify raids on girls' schools

Parents outraged by latest actions to suppress protests, as students heckle government official.

Burak Kara/Getty Images

Orthodox schism shakes Turkish Riviera

A major rift in Orthodox Christianity compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven a wedge into a growing Orthodox community on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

Peoples' Democratic Party's Zuleyha Gulum holds a banner "Truths cannot be obscured."

Turkey ramps up pressure on Kurdish journalists with mass detentions

The detentions are part of a campaign against journalists working for outlets that report on rights abuses, particularly in the Kurdish-majority southeast.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Two-state solution shrinks as campaigning wraps up in Israel

Even Prime Minister Yair Lapid, commended internationally for supporting the two-state solution at the UN, has stopped championing the issue on the campaign trail.

Afghan women hold placards as they take part in a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in Kabul on Sept. 29, 2022.

As Iran protests enter sixth week, women take to Afghanistan's streets

Some of the largest protests led by women started after a Sept. 30 suicide attack on an educational center in Kabul in which 53 Hazara girls were killed.

Israeli security forces deploy in the Deir Sharaf area, near the Israeli settlement of Shavei Shomron, west of Nablus, following a reported attack, West Bank, Oct. 11, 2022.

Israel destroys Lion’s Den explosive factory in Nablus

A week before the Nov. 1 elections, Israel Defense Forces raided an explosive factory of the Palestinian Lion’s Den terrorist group and killed one of its founders.

This picture taken on March 24, 2019, shows a discarded Islamic State flag.

Syrian man sentenced in Turkey for burning two alive under Islamic State

A Turkish court has sentenced a Syrian man for ordering the burning executions of two Turkish nationals in 2016, but many aspects of the grisly murder remain in the dark.

IRGC members seen patrolling Zahedan in an image uploaded to Twitter on Oct. 24, 2022.

Iran maintains silence on 'massacre' in Sunni-majority city

Iranian authorities were accused of covering up the killing of over 90 Balouch minority civilians in what activists are mourning as "the bloody Friday."

A worker carries a bale of wheat during the harvest in the village of Bamha near al-Ayyat in Egypt's Giza province.

Egypt to plant wheat in Congo amid water shortage

Egypt plans to cultivate 20,000 hectares of land in Mossendjo city in the Republic of Congo with strategic crops such as wheat.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley holds a photo of a victim of the 2013 Syrian Ghouta chemical attack.

US blacklists Syrian military officials over 2013 chemical attack

Three Syrian military officers were designated for their alleged participation in the August 2013 sarin gas attack on Ghouta.

Hannibal Hanschke/Getty Images

Ukraine's Zelenskyy calls on Israel to act against Russia-Iran alliance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Israel to take action against the emerging Russia-Iran alliance and supply his country with missile defense systems.

A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran, reportedly shows a motorcycle on fire in Tehran, on Oct. 8, 2022.

Iran protests continue in universities

Protests in Iran have continued to spread to universities, presenting a new challenge to the Islamic Republic.