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September 18, 2026

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Former Assad official sentenced to 60 years in US for torture

Samir Ousman Alsheikh was convicted by a jury in March of three counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to commit torture, visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud.

A US Air Force F-35 fifth-generation jet fighter takes off during the NATO's Ramsteign Flag 2025 exercise at Leeuwarden Air Base on April 8, 2025.

Trump administration approves $24B sale of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia

Trump first announced the planned sale in November 2025, ahead of hosting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House.

UN peacekeepers stand next to an armored vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon, Feb. 22, 2026.

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

Showing its support for Lebanon, Paris is backing Beirut’s request at the UN for a short-term extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, although French sources acknowledge that the chances of the request being approved are slim.

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities, brandish their weapons during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on September 10, 2026. The country relapsed into war in July after years of calm, drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran that began at the end of February. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Lacking deterrence, Israel’s security establishment opposes attacks on Houthis

Senior Israeli intelligence sources told Al-Monitor that Israel seeks to avoid involvement in the conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, despite concerns that Yemen could further unravel and that Iran is backing the group.

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

Latest News

Meet Wesley Hunt, Trump's pick for ambassador to Saudi Arabia

US Republican Representative Wesley Hunt of Texas gestures after speaking during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024.

US hits major Russian bank VTB with Iran-linked sanctions

VTB Bank in Moscow

CENTCOM chief meets Saudi Arabia's MBS amid Houthi gains in Yemen

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Analysis

Why Trump is in no rush to join Yemen war as Houthis seize Bab al-Mandeb

US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Jared Szuba

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

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

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - MARCH 13: Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, talks to journalists about the military response to rocket attacks that killed two U.S. and one U.K. service members in Iraq during a news briefing at the Pentagon March 13, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. Because of the threat of transmission of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Pentagon is exercising social distancing by keeping reporters' chairs four feet apart from each other during briefings. (Pho

US military consolidates footprint in Iraq amid pressure from Baghdad

The Pentagon's top general overseeing forces in the Middle East, Gen. Frank McKenzie, visited Baghdad this week amid a reshuffle of the US troop presence in the country in coordination with plans to bring in more NATO advisers.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 28: Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) speaks about the things she witnessed on a trip to Israel and Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of a bipartisan delegation from the House of Representatives on January 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. The 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau is being remembered this week around the world. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Nita Lowey

House Democrats revive bid to fully restore Palestinian aid

The Democratic-held House is launching another bid to increase Palestinian economic aid while facilitating people-to-people programs with Israel.

TOPSHOT - Mourners carry the coffins of slain Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani and eight others inside the Shrine of Imam Hussein in the holy Iraqi city of Karbala,during a funeral procession on January 4, 2020. - Thousands of Iraqis chanting "Death to America" today as they mourned an Iranian commander and others killed in a US drone attack that sparked fears of a regional proxy war between Washington and Tehran. (Photo by Mohammed SAWAF / AFP) (Pho

UN expert calls US killing of Soleimani 'unlawful'

The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions called the US strike an “arbitrary killing” that threatens to undermine norms of military conflict between countries.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on screen from Israel, during the AIPAC annual meeting in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2019. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: AIPAC rebukes Democrats again for bill to keep US aid out of annexation

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee issued its third rebuke of Democratic lawmakers in as many weeks over their repeated attempts to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from annexing significant portions of the West Bank.

A picture taken on March 12, 2017, shows a view of an oil facility in the Khark Island, on the shore of the Gulf. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran cuts oil production and storage is nearly full amid pandemic, US sanctions

Reuters reported that Iran's onshore storage facilities are nearly full while production is at its lowest point since the Iran-Iraq war.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (L) performs a swearing-in ceremony to re-enlist four troops during his visit to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, on December 14, 2012. The United States will deploy two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey along with 400 troops to help defend its ally against potential threats from neighbouring Syria, US officials said on December 14. AFP PHOTO / POOL / Susan Walsh (Photo credit should read SUSAN WALSH/AFP via Getty Images)

US soldier accused of planning neo-Nazi attack on unit in Turkey pleads not guilty

The soldier allegedly sought to help recruit local jihadists in Turkey carry out an attack on a US military facility.

Iranian security and rescue staff work at the site of an explosion at the Sina At'har health centre in the upmarket northern neighbourhood of Tajrish in the capital Tehran on July 1, 2020. - Iranian police questioned four people as part of investigations into a powerful explosion that killed 19 people at a Tehran clinic the night before, state media reported. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Mysterious explosions escalate Israel, Iran tensions

Ahead of the US presidential elections, and on the backdrop of mysterious explosions, Israel prepares for various escalation scenarios on Iran’s part.

Smoke billows following an airstrike by Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, on June 16, 2020. - Yemen is wracked by a war which has killed tens of thousands of people and led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.
The war between Huthi rebels and pro-government forces escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the rebels who control large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa. (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAM

Congress revives bid to pull US out of Yemen war

The Democratic-held House is taking another stab at ending US support for the Saudi coalition’s war against Yemen’s Houthis.

<<enter caption here>> on March 17, 2017 in Beijing, China.

Has China gained an edge on the US in the Gulf?

China has upped the ante, but the United States holds the winning hand; Oman weighs risks and benefits of Gulf bailout; will migrant workers return to GCC?

TOPSHOT - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting of the new government at Chagall State Hall in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem on May 24, 2020. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Crickets as Netanyahu's annexation date comes and goes

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to admit his annexation plan did not move forward July 1 amid tepid US support and a populace distracted by more pressing issues.

A picture taken during a guided tour organised by Egypt's State Information Service on February 11, 2020, shows an Egyptian policeman near watch towers at Tora prison in the Egyptian capital Cairo. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Working Group on Egypt urges Pompeo to get tough on Sisi

As Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi widens his crackdown on government critics, a bipartisan group of foreign policy experts urged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to call out America's longtime ally for human rights abuses.

This aerial picture taken on June 28, 2020 in Istanbul shows Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul. - Turkey's top court is due on July 2, 2020 to deliver a critical verdict on the status of Istanbul's emblematic landmark church-turned-mosque-turned museum Hagia Sophia, a ruling which could inflame tensions mainly with neighboring Greece.
The sixth-century edifice -- a magnet for tourists worldwide with its stunning architecture -- has been serving as a secular museum since the 1930s which makes it open to believ

Intel: Pompeo warns Turkey against reverting Hagia Sophia to mosque

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo waded into the Turkish debate today over whether the historic Hagia Sophia museum should be made back into a mosque.