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. By Ben Caspit In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense
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. Israel
Analysis Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps Some Israelis worry the US president might force them to accept an unsatisfactory agreement driven by his inability to secure a tangible achievement in Iran. By Ben Caspit In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense
Trump says Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended by three weeks President Trump said the second meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese envoys went "very well." Lebanon
Analysis As Iran's power struggle deepens, US talks stall, who’s calling the shots in Tehran? By A correspondent in Tehran In Tehran, reporting on politics
Congress on verge of passing long-stalled Assad sanctions package Congress is on the brink of sanctioning Syria’s Bashar al-Assad government after three years of struggling to get the legislation approved. Syria
Intel: How Iranian influence operations are receiving new scrutiny in Washington The Senate is poised to follow the House lead in passing legislation to create a center to monitor Iranian, Russian, Chinese and North Korean efforts to sway US public opinion. Congress
Senate recognizes Armenian genocide in latest black eye for Turkey The Senate unanimously recognized the Armenian genocide today, the latest in a string of major blows against Turkey within a week. Turkey
Pentagon: Saudi military students can still enter US despite shooting The Defense Department plans to establish new vetting policies for all foreign military students who enter the United States as a result of the fatal shooting of US sailors by a Saudi air force member at a US base in Florida. Saudi Arabia
US set to lean on Saudi Arabia in Florida shooting probe The FBI will rely on Riyadh as it looks into last week's deadly shooting at a naval base. Saudi Arabia
Trump says Iran prisoner swap shows deal can be made A successful US-Iran prisoner swap is a confidence building measure but it remains to be seen whether it could be a prelude to negotiations on broader US-Iran tensions. United States
Erdogan in NATO: Russia’s ‘Trojan horse’? President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned from London to Ankara as a “loser” who failed to achieve anything at the NATO summit. Turkey
White House whips Senate allies to block Armenian genocide resolution The White House has so far succeeded in keeping the Senate from passing a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide, but the Trump administration is slowly running out of options. Turkey
Intel: Here’s how many US troops Trump wants to keep in Syria After months of uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding US troop levels in Syria as part of President Donald Trump’s mission to secure the war-torn country’s northeast oil fields, the Pentagon is finally disclosing a number. Syria
Democratic leader pours cold water on Tulsi Gabbard’s bid to force Syria withdrawal The House’s No. 2 Democrat dealt a major blow to Tulsi Gabbard’s effort to force President Donald Trump to pull the remaining US troops out of Syria. Syria
Iran's Rouhani open for Trump meeting if sanctions lifted The Iranian president has signaled readiness for talks with his US counterpart if the latter removes economic sanctions he reimposed on the Islamic Republic. United States
Turkey seeks to refresh NATO ties to balance Russia Turkey seems to have failed to get all it wanted from the NATO summit in London, but even an incomplete outcome meets its purpose of balancing ties with Russia by refreshing ties with NATO. Syria
