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April 26, 2026

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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.

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

The deal, announced as a nonbinding memorandum of understanding last September, would have seen the PIF inject up to $200 million into the opera institution over the next eight years.

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

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

Some Israelis worry the US president might force them to accept an unsatisfactory agreement driven by his inability to secure a tangible achievement in Iran.

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

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

How are Iran-linked tankers still moving through Hormuz blockade?

At least 19 Iran-linked tankers have passed through the US blockade on the strait to exit the Gulf while at least 15 have entered, according to the cargo-tracking group Vortexa.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel sees chance of US-Iran deal as almost 'non-existent,' readies for war

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

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

US boards Iran-linked tanker in Indian Ocean, vows pursuit of 'ghost fleet'

TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 14: A US Navy Seahawk helicopter takes off from the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan on July 14, 2017 in Townsville, Australia. USS Ronald Reagan is a 1,092- foot aircraft carrier which carries a crew of 4,539 around 60 aircraft. Exercise Talisman Sabre is the largest combined military exercise undertaken in Australia. The biennial exercise is the principal Australian and U.S. military training activity. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Interview

Olmert: Only Israel-Lebanon deal can curb Hezbollah, occupation 'unviable'

Olmert

Trump says Iran deal could happen 'quickly' as Pakistan readies talks: What to know

US Vice President JD Vance (C) walks with Pakistan's Chief of Defense Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir (L), and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar after arriving for talks with Iranian officials on April 11, 2026, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

Bahraini king receives award from Trump

US President Donald Trump reportedly gave the prestigious Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Intel: Biden’s pick for top intelligence official vows to report to Congress on Jamal Khashoggi murder

Avril Haines says the Biden administration will release to lawmakers an unclassified intelligence assessment on who was behind the murder of the Saudi dissident journalist.

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE - JANUARY 16: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an announcement January 16, 2021 at the Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware. President-elect Joe Biden has announced key members of his incoming White House science team. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Iran denies informal talks with Biden team

Tehran claims there have been no informal preliminary talks with the incoming US administration, but signs of economic relief are already appearing in Tehran’s forex market.

Houthi terror designation could set off Yemen’s oil tanker 'time bomb'

Experts say the terrorism label will complicate efforts to secure a decaying oil tanker in the Red Sea that could rupture at any moment and unleash another humanitarian and environmental catastrophe.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wears a face mask against Covid-19, bearing the US and Israeli flags, during a meeting with US special representative for Iran at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on June 30, 2020. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu lays out campaign for US to maintain course on Iran

Israel is hoping that the new US administration will conduct an intimate strategic dialogue with Israel’s allies in the region before making a final decision on the Iran nuclear issue.

Egypt dodges Trump’s ire as White House orders massive last-minute aid cuts

The outgoing president briefly sought to freeze all US military aid to Egypt over its purchase of Russian military hardware, but the White House revised the decision before notifying Congress, Al-Monitor's sources said.

Trump orders US Central Command to include Israel amid strategic shift

The decision caps the outgoing administration's efforts to build a regional defense arrangement to counter Iran.

Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden delivers a foreign policy statement on Iran at Chelsea Piers in New York on January 7, 2020. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

To stop Iran’s advances toward nuclear weapons, restore JCPOA

The best way to de-escalate tensions is for both Washington and Tehran to comply with the Iran nuclear deal — and go from there.

Workers transport food aid provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) before distributing rations to displaced Yemenis in the northern province of Hajjah, on January 12, 2021. (Photo by ESSA AHMED / AFP) (Photo by ESSA AHMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Houthi terror designation 'death sentence' for Yemenis, UN officials warn

United Nations officials took aim at the US plan to label Yemen's Houthis a foreign terrorist organization that relief groups say will imperil aid deliveries to the war-torn country.

Rouhani compares Trump to Shah of Iran

President Hassan Rouhani said in a recent speech that despite all the pressure, US policy toward Iran has failed.

US labels deputy head of Iraq’s PMU a terrorist

The United States accused Abu Fadak of involvement in kidnappings and of attempting to align Iraq's security institution's with Iran's foreign policy.

Iran kicks off naval missile drills in Gulf of Oman, to renew patrols in Red Sea

Iran's Navy will resume patrols in the Red Sea, the Chief of Staff of the armed forces said