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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

AFP via Getty Images

Russian referendums strain Egypt-Ukraine ties

Egypt denies sending observers to monitor the Russian referendums on illegally annexing four regions in Ukraine.

Iran ukraine drones

Analysis

The Takeaway: Iranian drones in Ukraine send message to West

Closer Iran-Russia ties are another thing to worry about; Israel won't send missile defenses to Ukraine; Lebanon-Israel agreement still needs details filled in; and why the region may need nuclear energy to meet climate goals.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Andrew Parasiliti

By Elizabeth Hagedorn , Andrew Parasiliti

drone attack

US military eyes counter-drone experimentation in Saudi Arabia

US Central Command is moving ahead with plans to help enable shared air and missile defense across the Middle East.

A Tunisian prostitute works in a brothel in the district of Abdallah Guech in Tunis on Feb. 19, 2011.

Tunisia's sex workers want their brothels back

The crackdown on legal brothels in Tunisia puts its sex workers at risk of further harm.

HDP MP Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu holds a photograph depicting censorship.

Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, writers reject Turkey’s new 'censorship' bill

Turkey’s main opposition has taken the newly enacted bill to the Constitutional Court for annulment, while Erdogan described the law he swiftly ratified as “a pressing necessity.”

Iron Dome

Israel won’t supply Ukraine with missile-defense systems

Defense Minister Benny Gantz continues to refuse requests by Kyiv to supply Ukraine with the Israel-US-developed Iron Dome or other anti-missile systems.

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi authorities find nearly 4 million amphetamine pills hidden in peppers

One recent think tank report suggested Saudi Arabia needs to focus more on curtailing demand for such drugs among its population.

Israeli soldiers search an area for Palestinian assailants who fled after they carried out an attack on an Israeli checkpoint with an explosive device and gunfire, in the village of Till, near Nablus, West Bank, Oct. 16, 2022.

Israel resorts to besieging West Bank cities as tensions mount

Israel is implementing a policy of besieging the West Bank cities and towns, as resistance operations are increasing and expanding across the West Bank.

ERdogan Flake

US dismisses Turkish criticism of imbalance in Mediterranean

The US ambassador to Turkey stated that America is focusing on the Russian invasion of Ukraine amid simmering tensions between Turkey and Greece.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli far-right lawmaker and leader of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish power) party, attends a campaign event in the northern Israel Kibbutz of Ayelet Hashahar on Oct. 6, 2022.

Israeli Knesset member waves gun in east Jerusalem

Ultranationalist Itamar Ben Gvir is exploiting an incident in which he brandished a gun in the east Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood ahead of the Nov. 1 elections.

YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish mine disaster sends blame flying

In the wake of an explosion that killed 41 miners, several Turkish bodies are trading blame for safety failures in the coal industry.

A protester holds a banner with the image of Mahsa Amini as demonstrators gather in front of the Brandenburg Gate to march in solidarity with protesters in Iran, Berlin, Germany, Oct. 15, 2022.

Iran to 'reciprocate' new EU sanctions amid continued unrest

EU sanctions over Iran's clampdown on dissent unsettled Iranian authorities, which are grappling with one of the biggest domestic challenges they have faced since the 1979 revolution.