Human rights

Monica Schipper/Getty Images

Oscar-winning Palestinian director freed from Israeli detention after night in custody

Hamdan Ballal, a co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land," was assaulted by Israeli settlers and later detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank as the Israeli army continues its raids in the Palestinian territory.

A Department of Homeland Security officer stands guard at 26 Federal Plaza as protestors gather to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil on March 10, 2025, in New York City.

Hearing delayed after Lebanese doctor with US visa deported: What to know

A Lebanese citizen is the latest in a string of detentions, visa revocations and deportations conducted by the Trump administration.

A voter holds his proof of Kuwaiti citizenship upon arriving at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Kuwait City on June 6, 2023.

Kuwait revokes citizenship of 464 as restrictions tighten under new emir

Over 35,000 Kuwaitis have lost their citizenship since the government enforced amendments to its citizenship law in September of last year.

SHADI AL-DUBAISI/AFP via Getty Images

Canceled Syrian justice workshop sparks repression fears: What to know

Syrian civil society organizations condemned the sudden cancelation of a planned workshop on transitional justice in Damascus, calling it an act of oppression reminiscent of the Assad era.

Latest News

Turkey slaps travel ban on 2 businessmen for criticizing dissident crackdown

TUSAID chair

Analysis

Can Hamas defy Trump's ultimatum as Gaza ceasefire teeters?

Israeli hostages stand on stage flanked by Hamas militants during the official handover in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on February 8, 2025. Hamas hands over three Israeli hostages to the Red Cross as part of ongoing negotiations. (Photo by Youssef Alzanoun / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by YOUSSEF ALZANOUN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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

Analysis

US aid freeze threatens Sudan’s lifeline as USAID support hangs in balance

“CLOSE IT DOWN!” Mr. Trump wrote of U.S.A.I.D. on Truth Social,

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

'Death itself could not get us out of here!' Gazans reject Trump’s proposal

People in Jabalia erect tents amid the rubble of destroyed buildings as displaced Palestinians return to northern Gaza during a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, Jan. 23, 2025.

Journalists carrying placards "No to the censorship law" and "We are journalists" take part in a protest in front of the Constitutional Court in Ankara on Nov. 8, 2023, regarding the law discussed by the Constitutional Court and known to the public as the Censorship Law.

Turkey’s top court upholds controversial media law as EU laments 'democratic backsliding'

The ruling coincided with the release of the EU Commission's annual report which noted “continued deterioration” in the country’s democratic standards, the rule of law, and the independence of the judiciary.

MOHAMMAD ZANOUN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

One month into Israel-Hamas war, more than 10,000 killed in Gaza, almost 1.5 million displaced

The war in Gaza has killed more than 10,000 people and injured more than 25,000 since Oct. 7 as prospects of cease-fire appear remote.

Israeli war cabinet

Israeli minister who called to nuke Gaza votes in cabinet meeting, despite suspension

Asked on the radio if Israel should throw a nuclear bomb at Gaza, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu responded, "that’s one option."

A woman holds a poster of Israeli hostage Omer Neutra during a memorial vigil for the Israeli people killed by Hamas during the October 7 attack, in New York City on November 1, 2023. Thousands of civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis, have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip entered southern Israel in an unprecedented attack triggering a war declared by Israel on Hamas with retaliatory bombings on Gaza. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEI

Analysis

Families of Israeli hostages frustrated with Netanyahu government, urge talks

The families of kidnapped Israelis and foreign nationals worry that the Israeli government's dual goals of the Gaza operation — eliminating Hamas and rescuing all the hostages — are incompatible with one another.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

People demonstrate in support of Palestinians in Cali, Colombia, on Oct. 19, 2023.

Chile, Colombia, Jordan recall Israel ambassadors after Bolivia cuts ties

Bolivia became the first country to end its diplomatic ties with Israel over the war in Gaza.

Palestinians search for survivors in the rubble of a building in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip on October 31, 2023, amid relentless Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian enclave. Thousands of civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis, have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip entered southern Israel in an unprecedented attack triggering a war declared by Israel on Hamas with retaliatory bombings on Gaza. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP) (P

'Total blindness': Gaza paramedics recount horror during Israel's blackout

Gazans recount the 34 hours of internet and communications blackout during intense Israeli bombardment cutting off the enclave from the rest of the world.

Jordan's Queen Rania and Spain's Queen Letizia (R) arrive for an official luncheon at the Royal Palace in Madrid, on June 19, 2023. (Photo by Paul White / POOL / AFP) (Photo by PAUL WHITE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Day 19 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Oct. 25

President Joe Biden speaks on the terrorist attacks in Israel.

At least 11 Americans dead in Hamas attack on Israel, Biden says

Other Americans are still missing and could be among the scores of hostages taken into Gaza, the White House said.

Narges Mohammadi has not seen her children for eight years

Iran's jailed women's activist Narges Mohammadi wins Nobel peace prize

Agence France-Presse

09/17/2023 Shiraz, Iran. An Iranian young girl in a car shows a victory sign from the window on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's murder. (Photo by Amir / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by AMIR/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran's security arrests mother of Armita Garawand as teen still lies in coma

Just days after her daughter fell into a coma after reportedly being attacked by morality police officers, Shahin Ahmadi was arrested by security forces and taken to an unknown location.

(D-NY)

Breaking | Last Updated: September 29, 2023, 7:05 pm

Meeks urges pause on US military aid to Egypt in wake of Menendez indictment

Rep. Gregory Meeks on Friday sought a hold on more than $200 million in Egypt's military financing over human rights concerns.

Poster featuring jailed businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala.

Turkey’s appeals court upholds life sentence for Osman Kavala, four others

The trial and ensuing sentences have turned into a symbol of Turkey’s democratic backsliding and erosion of judiciary independence.