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United States

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

Antony Blinken

Blinken vows ‘collective response’ for ship attack blamed on Iran

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States is confident that Iran carried out the attack on the Israeli-linked oil tanker.

A Syrian man walks walks in between election campaign posters bearing portraits of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a candidate for the upcoming presidential election, in the capital Damascus on May 18, 2021.

US unveils Syria sanctions targeting regime prisons, rebel group

The wave of sanctions targets eight military prisons, including the notorious Saydnaya prison outside the capital Damascus that rights groups have described as a “human slaughterhouse.”

US President Joe Biden meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, July 26, 2021.

Biden announces end to US combat mission in Iraq

Following a White House meeting today between US President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the two side announced an agreement that the US combat mission in Iraq will end by Dec. 31, 2021.

A Tunisian protester lifts a national flag at an anti-government rally as security forces block off the road in front of the Parliament in the capital Tunis on July 25, 2021.

US 'concerned' by Tunisia turmoil, no determination if 'coup' underway

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the administration will wait for the State Department to conduct a legal analysis before determining whether the situation in Tunisia constitutes a coup.

This handout picture released by the US Army shows US Army Paratroopers at Pope Army Airfield in North Carolina, Jan. 1, 2020. Paratroopers from 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division were activated and deployed to the US Central Command area of operations in Iraq.

Intel: US to announce agreement to pull 'combat troops' from Iraq

Security will be at top of agenda for US-Iraq Strategic Dialogue today, and when US President Joe Biden hosts Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on July 26.

A Russian S400b4 anti-aircraft rocket system rolls past during the second night of rehearsals in preparation for the WWII Victory Parade in front of a banner informing of a national vote on constitutional changes in Moscow. Russia, June 18, 2020.

US reaffirms stance on Turkey’s S-400, support for Syria’s Kurds

The White House has maintained the previous administration's demands that Ankara dispose of the Russian missile defense system.

Victoria Nuland

US senator says Turkish actions against pro-Kurdish party like ‘if Biden banned the Republican Party’

Democratic and Republican senators voiced heavy criticism of the Turkish government to a State Department official during a Wednesday hearing. The lawmakers accused Ankara of abusing the international police system, being an “aggressor” toward Greece, and much more.

US President Joe Biden (R) and Jordan's King Abdullah II smile during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 19, 2021.

The Takeaway: Biden-Abdullah White House summit key to Israel-Jordan reset

Jordan-Israel ties had hit rock bottom under Netanyahu; Also: Will Zarif pick up Raisi’s road map on the Iran deal?; Israel prepares Raisi file; Egypt, Ethiopia compete for power partnerships; Saudi-Ethiopian ties strained by Nile dam dispute; Russia’s vaccine diplomacy stumbles; the latest Pharaonic parade.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Biden administration transfers first Guantanamo detainee to Morocco

A government panel cleared Abdul Latif Nasir for release in 2016, but the Moroccan detainee remained at the US prison during the Trump administration.

Jen Psaki

US says nuclear talks to continue, despite alleged Iran kidnapping plot

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington is "ready to go" ahead with talks, after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the task of renegotiating the deal had been handed over to the next administration.

Michael McCaul

Republicans in Congress criticize Iran nuclear talks following alleged Iranian kidnap plot

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul says, “President Biden should not enter into any deals with Iran without an end to these assaults on our citizens.”

Anbar attack aftermath

Biden's airstrikes fail to halt cycle of militia violence in Iraq

The Pentagon says it is taking a recent spate of drone and rocket attacks "deadly seriously."