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Politics & Security

ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

Israel tightens election safeguards as public distrust surges: What to know

Israelis have lost trust in the government and in its ability or willingness to conduct free and fair elections.

A Turkish soldier from the 1st Border Regiment Command looks out over the border wall to Syria during alert drills at a military outpost on the Turkey/Syria border on March 2, 2017 in Kilis, Turkey.

Analysis

Why Turkey sees Israeli strikes in Syria as warning over its military role, Mecca Pact

Ankara views Israel’s latest strikes in Syria as part of a broader effort to curb Turkey’s military influence in Damascus and a challenge to its regional defense partnerships.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey/Syria border

Analysis

Turkey bets on US deconfliction as Israel widens Syria red lines

As Washington pushes a new deconfliction mechanism between Turkey and Israel, the Jewish state shows little incentive to accept tighter constraints on its freedom of action in Syria, experts say.

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist

People shop at a store in the Grand Reza Bazaar near the shrine of Imam Reza following the funeral of slain Iranian leader Ali Khamenei and his family members in Mashhad on July 10, 2026.

Analysis

Can Trump's economic war ultimately force Iran to compromise?

President Trump's new economic offensive comes as Iran is grappling with war damage, tighter oil restrictions and a shrinking ability to absorb another major shock.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Latest News

Tunisia’s water, power crisis fuels growing protests against Saied: What to know

Members and supporters of the Nafas movement take part in an anti-government protest against Tunisian President Kais Saied, chanting "Degage" and calling for political change, in Tunis,Tunisia on August 20,2026. (Photo by Imen Ben Youssef / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq’s Zaidi doubles down on militia disarmament, boosting oil exports

Zaidi

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 7: U.S. President Donald Trump (L)shakes hands with with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a formal arrival at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Emrah Gurel - Pool/Getty Images)

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

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

Iranians gather at the site where a 10-story building collapsed.

After protests over building collapse, Iran vows to take measures against developers

Iranian officials have vowed to take measures after the death toll of a tower collapse reached 34.

A view of the platform of the Leviathan natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.

Could Turkey-Israel rapprochement lead to gas agreement?

The Cyprus conflict stands as a major stumbling block before potential plans to carry Israeli gas to Europe via Turkey.

Israel Africa

Abraham Accords accelerate Israel-Africa rapprochement

Israeli and African diplomats are engaged in expanding bilateral relations and taking them much further then ever before in many fields.

Erdogan

Erdogan announces military operations in Syria's Manbij, Tal Rifaat

The Turkish president said operations in northern Syria will expand "step by step" and that Ankara will keep an eye on “who supports these legitimate steps" and "who hinders them.”

A picture taken from the E1 corridor, a super-sensitive area of the occupied West Bank, shows the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the background on June 30, 2020.

Tensions rise between Israel, Palestinians ahead of Biden visit

While tensions are escalating on the diplomatic level, IDF troops continue Operation Break the Wave to curb spiraling violence in the West Bank and Israel.

BIROL BEBEK/AFP via Getty Images

Blinken says US fighter jet sales to Turkey 'separate' from NATO demands

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said he will meet with Turkish, Swedish and Finnish officials to discuss Ankara's demands.

A Turkish Special Forces Police officer is seen standing watch during a press tour at a border outpost in front of a section of the new Iran - Turkey border wall on Sept. 27, 2021 in Caldiran, Turkey.

Traffickers use refugees to smuggle drugs from Iran to Turkey

There are growing claims and indications that refugees illegally crossing the Iranian-Turkish border, the route of an exodus from Afghanistan to the West, are forced to smuggle drugs by their traffickers.

Members of the "Martyr Abu Ammar Brigades" (alias of Yasser Arafat), part of Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades faction affiliated with the Fateh movement, stand with small arms during the funeral of Islamic Jihad militant Chas Kamamji in his home village of Kafr Dan, west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, on April 14, 2022.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad ramps up capabilities in West Bank

Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, announced the formation of a new Nablus Brigade following the Flag Day marches.

This picture taken on March 26, 2022, shows a view of the exterior of Iraq's Council of Representatives.

Iraq's parliament passes anti-normalization law

Iraq's lawmakers further criminalize relations with Israel.

Iraq crops

Climate crisis worsens desertification in Iraq

The Iraqi authorities are warning of the high rate of desertification in the country amid other environmental and economic problems.

The sign of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is pictured in front of the headquarters, photographed in Vienna on Dec. 17, 2021.

Iran criticizes nuclear watchdog's 'unfair' report

A new IAEA report underlined Tehran's failure to come clean on its undeclared nuclear sites and fears are growing that the assessment may further complicate a revival of the Iran nuclear deal.

Demonstrators gather with Israeli flags at the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem on May 29, 2022, during the Israeli 'flags march' to mark "Jerusalem Day".

Hamas refrains from rocket response to controversial Jerusalem march

Hamas has refrained from responding and even foiled attempts by other factions to launch rockets from Gaza toward Israel.