Courts and the law

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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.

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on Aug. 18, 2026, shows Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan (C) during the sentencing of Wassim al-Assad.

In first, Lebanon to hand over former Syrian general to Sharaa government

The decision comes as Syria's new authorities move to prosecute former regime figures over alleged crimes committed during the country's civil war.

US sanctions International Criminal Court president, top lawyer

The sanctions come a month after Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to dismantle the court "brick by brick."

FADEL itani / AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

Who benefits from Lebanon’s amnesty law and why it is controversial

The law, initially intended to ease prison overcrowding, could see the release of Islamists accused of killing soldiers and allow Lebanese exiled to Israel return to the country.

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Culture

Lebanon becomes first Arab country to abolish death penalty

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Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad, brother to death for war crimes

Bashar Al Assad

Analysis

How Turkey's PKK amnesty law entwines Kurds' hopes with Erdogan's ambitions

Fighters with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) line up to put their weapons into a pit during a ceremony in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on July 11, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Lebanon’s Riad Salameh hospitalized as arrest roils Beirut: What to know

JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As envoys recalled, what's driving Israel-South Africa rupture?

South Africa has expelled the Israeli charge d'affaires, deepening the diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

A member of the Alawite community pastes on a wall, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli , on December 6, 2007, pictures of Syrian opposition leader Rifaat al-Assad (R) and his son Ribal.

Rifaat al-Assad, perpetrator of Syria's 1982 Hama massacre, dies at 88

Known for his role in the 1982 Hama massacre, the late member of Syria’s former ruling family oversaw the killing of tens of thousands of civilians.

Pedestrians make their way along a path at Tehran Grand Bazaar, on Jan. 18, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

Iran blackout enters 12th day as filtered internet reveals crackdown

Nearly 4,000 people have been killed in the protests in Iran, as videos emerging amid limited access to internet show the scale of the crackdown launched by security forces.

People cross a street next to a billboard bearing the portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a quote that reads "Sing Oh Iran" in Tehran on July, 9, 2025.

IRGC to Majlis: Who are central players in Iran's regime?

Iran’s political system concentrates ultimate authority in the supreme leader and a network of loyal institutions.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Erdogan denies Turkey informed of US exile offer for Maduro prior to capture

While denying knowledge of a US exile plan for Nicolas Maduro, the Turkish president has been reluctant to directly criticize Washington over the Venezuelan leader’s capture.

Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Europe’s top court moves to fast-track Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala's case: What to know

The new move is expected to speed up review of Osman Kavala’s continued imprisonment and Turkey’s repeated failures to release him.

People shop in a market on June 17, 2025 in Damascus, Syria.

Senate vote paves way for Trump to repeal Syria’s Caesar sanctions

President Trump is poised to sign bipartisan legislation scrapping the sanctions that are seen as a major obstacle to Syria's economic recovery.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with US special envoy Tom Barrack, Jerusalem, Dec. 15 2

Analysis

Trump's Syria envoy Barrack tests Israel's patience as Netanyahu pushes back

The struggle between the Israeli prime minister and the envoy is an acknowledgment by Israeli leaders that "what will happen is what Trump wants to happen."

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

Jasmine

Culture

Turkey launches probe into HBO series citing ‘moral’ values: What to know

The probe into the TV series has fueled debate over censorship and artistic freedom in the country.

Security personnel from the Syrian Ministry of Interior stand outside the Justice Palace ahead of the first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year, in Aleppo on November 18, 2025. The first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year began on November 18, an AFP journalist in the courtroom said. The massacres in March, whic

Feature

A year since Assad’s fall, Aleppo trial tests Syria’s transitional justice

Syria recently launched its first open trial on the deadly sectarian violence in March, but questions about judicial independence and political influence make the upcoming hearings a major test of accountability in post-Assad Syria as the first anniversary of Assad’s fall approaches.

Alessandra Bajec

By Alessandra Bajec

In this handout by the Israeli Government Press Office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) looks on as military chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz (R) adjusts the epaulettes of Brig. Gen. Eyal Zamir for his swearing in as military secretary, Tel Aviv, Nov. 26, 2012.

Analysis

Why Netanyahu seeks to remove Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir

Despite the army's achievements and the challenges it now faces, the Israeli prime minister is doing everything in his power to persuade military chief Eyal Zamir to quit.

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

Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli is pictured in this undated image.

Turkey sentences journalist over 4 years in jail for threatening Erdogan

Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli was sentenced to over four years in prison in a trial government critics say aimed at silencing one of Turkey's most influential journalists and intended to intimidate journalists nationwide.