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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.

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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

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.

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

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.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey's infamous Diyarbakir prison empties for museum makeover

Diyarbakir prison, a symbol of torture and oppression for decades in Turkey, has finally closed to be made into a museum, but some activists see whitewashing on its bloodstained walls.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Next British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's views on Middle East

The Conservative statesman has expressed fairly mainstream views on Israel, Iran and other regional issues.

Erdogan economy

Can Erdogan pull up his sagging support?

Unlike previous polls that suggest steady decrease for Erdogan and his ruling party, a recent poll shows the tide may have been turned.

Israeli settlers walk with batons as they cross a street during clashes in which Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian residents and shops in the town of Huwara, West Bank, Oct. 13, 2022.

Settler violence ramps up as Israeli elections near

Alongside growing tensions in the West Bank and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, the number of violent clashes between settlers and Palestinians keeps growing rapidly.

People walk past the Zara store in a shopping mall, Modiin, Israel, Feb. 21, 2021.

Arab Israelis boycott Zara over ties with Jewish ultranationalist

The street-initiated boycott against Zara shops in Israel demonstrates the force of the young Israeli Arab generation, seeking to bring about a change through social media.

ISIS convoy

Islamic State regains momentum in Syria's Kurdish areas

The Islamic State has launched several attacks against the Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria amid lax security by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Military vehicles of a joint Russian-Turkish patrol pass through the M4 highway, which links the northern Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Latakia, near Ariha in the rebel-held northwestern Idlib province, Syria, June 10, 2020.

Russia oversees Syrian forces’ military exercises in northwest Syria

Russia is testing the readiness of the Syrian government forces in their area of deployment on the outskirts of Idlib, in what some fear is a prelude to a wide-scale military operation to uproot the opposition in northwest Syria.

Turkish troops are pictured in the area of Kafr Jannah on the outskirts of the Syrian town of Afrin on Oct. 18, 2022.

Syrian jihadist group HTS, armed groups agree to uneasy truce

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has seized several cities and towns in areas under the control of the Turkish-backed factions after days of clashes between rival factions.

This picture taken on March 7, 2021, shows a view of Egypt's new parliament headquarters, some 45 kilometers east of Cairo.

More prisoners released in Egypt ahead of national dialogue

A number of political detainees have been released in preparation for the start of a comprehensive dialogue between the government and the opposition.

Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, commander of the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group (circled in red) with a Chechen fighting unit, Oct. 15, 2022.

Chechen fighters leave Syria to battle Russians in Ukraine

Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, a veteran of the Chechen-Russian war in the 1990s and commander of the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group fighting Syrian government forces in Latakia, arrived in Ukraine with a group of Chechen fighters to battle Russian forces.

ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

Israel accuses Hamas of sponsoring 'Lion's Den' group

The loosely organized Lions' Den group says Israel is trying to discredit it through association with Hamas.