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April 28, 2026

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting.

US seeks to train Lebanon army units to disarm Hezbollah: What to know

Funding for such a program remains unclear, though the Pentagon has requested $36 million for fiscal year 2027 to support Lebanon’s army.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Despite Trump pressure to limit Israel's Lebanon attacks, Aoun-Netanyahu meeting still unlikely

As President Donald Trump pressures Israel to limit its strikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah is taking advantage of the situation.

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

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.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

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

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

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

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

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)

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 and Supporting Editor

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

Paul J. Saunders

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

U.S. special envoy for Syria and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Jim Jeffrey speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi - RC28BD9QFAZ9

Intel: US sanctions squeezing Iranian forces in Syria, says US envoy

Cash-strapped Iran is reining in some of its forces in Syria as a result of American sanctions, US envoy James Jeffrey said today.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Israeli Public security Minister Gilad Erdan during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem April 10, 2016. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool/File photo - RC17175E03C0

Netanyahu appoints senior Likud member as his right-hand man in US

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, appointed to be Israel’s new envoy to both the United States and the UN, is a true Likud ideologist and ardent supporter of annexation.

Iraqi-Syrian desert border area key amid geopolitical tensions

Recent security incidents indicate that the Islamic State continues to operate in the Iraqi-Syrian border area despite reduced capabilities.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MAY 06: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY √¢ MANDATORY CREDIT - "IRAQI PARLIAMENT/ HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Iraqi PM-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi who is at the parliament for vote of confidence in Baghdad, Iraq makes a speech on May 06, 2020. Only 15 out of 22 ministers from cabinet of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi receive vote of confidence from Iraq√¢s parliament. (Photo by Iraqi Parliament / Handout/Anadolu Agency via

Intel: Trump congratulates Iraq’s new Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi

President Donald Trump has congratulated Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on his confirmation by Iraq’s Council of Representatives.

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden smiles as he speaks with his wife Jill at his side during a primary night news conference at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RC2EHF9E1P51

Intel: Biden adviser says Iran deal supporters, detractors both wrong on sanctions' effectiveness

A longtime foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden argued on Monday that President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal has proven both the accord’s supporters and detractors wrong “about a critical thing.”

Nurses receive training on using ventilators, recently provided by the World Health Organization at the intensive care ward of a hospital allocated for novel coronavirus patients in preparation for any possible spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Sanaa, Yemen April 8, 2020. Picture taken April 8, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RC231G9K4EXG

Intel: WHO suspends Yemen staff activity over 'credible threats' in Houthi-held territory

The World Health Organization has suspended its staff activity in certain areas throughout Houthi-controlled territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inaugurate a monument dedicated to the victims of Leningrad Siege during the Second World War, in Jerusalem, January 23, 2020. Amit Shabi/Pool via REUTERS - RC2OLE9I7X3F

Netanyahu needs Trump on Syria, Iran, but he needs Putin, too

On the anniversary of the end of World War 2 and less than a week before the visit in Israel of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Brine water flows into the Mediterranean Sea after passing through a desalination plant in the coastal city of Hadera May 16, 2010. An Israeli consortium unveiled the world's largest reverse osmosis desalination plant on Sunday in Hadera, hoping to help alleviate the arid country's water shortage. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: ENVIRONMENT POLITICS BUSINESS) - GM1E65G1TIX01

Pompeo to warn Israel over Chinese involvement in water plant

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to warn Israel on his Wednesday visit against letting a Chinese firm build and operate the biggest seawater desalination plant in the world.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MAY 06: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY √¢ MANDATORY CREDIT - "IRAQI PARLIAMENT/ HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Iraqi PM-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi who is at the parliament for vote of confidence in Baghdad, Iraq makes a speech on May 06, 2020. Only 15 out of 22 ministers from cabinet of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi receive vote of confidence from Iraq√¢s parliament. (Photo by Iraqi Parliament / Handout/Anadolu Agency via

Five priorities for the US-Iraq strategic dialogue include recognizing regional role for Iraq

US diplomacy during Iraqi transition sets tone for relationship.

An Iraqi soldier wears a protective face mask as he stands guard at a check point, enforcing a curfew imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Baghdad, Iraq May 3, 2020.REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RC26HG9KD5MD

Pentagon waiting out coronavirus to invite allies back to Iraq

The US commander of Operation Inherent Resolve hopes allied forces will return to Iraq once the COVID-19 crisis subsides.

A Palestinian woman sits outside her home in Jabalia refugee camp, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the northern Gaza Strip May 5, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RC2CIG93IB6K

Intel: Amid US funding gap, UN Palestinian refugee agency seeks $93M in coronavirus aid

As the coronavirus continues its spread through the impoverished West Bank and Gaza Strip, the United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians is seeking emergency funding to help with what it calls the worst financial crisis in the organization’s 70-year history.

A member of Libyan National Army (LNA) commanded by Khalifa Haftar, points his gun to the image of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan hanged on a Turkish military armored vehicle, which LNA said they confiscated during Tripoli clashes, in Benghazi, Libya January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori - RC25PE9CSRRF

Intel: Trump administration singles out Russia’s role in Libya war

The Donald Trump administration stepped up its criticism of Russia’s role in Libya’s civil war on Thursday.