author

 
 

Meta

Samia Nakhoul
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a G20 summit in Japan on June 28, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2025
Prospects of Saudi ties to Israel elusive as Trump seeks $1 trillion bonanza
Supporters of normalizing relations say it would bring stability and prosperity to the region, while countering Iran's influence.
Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of hostage Edan Alexander, points at the portrait of her grandson at Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel on April 20.
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2025
Hamas says it will release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander
Israeli officials said that their offensive will continue until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is demilitarized.
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in which Trump announced nuclear talks with Iran, in Washington on April 7.
WORLD
May 3, 2025
How Trump blindsided Netanyahu with his Iran nuclear gamble
In just three weeks, the U.S. and Iran have held three rounds of talks aimed at preventing Tehran from building a nuclear weapon in return for sanctions relief.
A Russian military vehicle heads toward Hmeimim air base in Latakia, Syria, on Dec. 15.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 3, 2025
Russia gambles to keep military bases in post-Assad Syria
Syria's interim president wants to renegotiate the 49-year lease for one base and an indefinite lease for the other to secure better terms.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a ceremony for military combat officers at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, on Oct. 31.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 23, 2024
Israel's Netanyahu eyes Iran after triumphs over Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had a succession of monumental wins that include the top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah being eliminated.
A damaged poster of Syria's ousted leader, Bashar Assad, in Aleppo on Nov. 30
WORLD / FOCUS
Dec 15, 2024
Assad's final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight
Hours before he fled to Moscow, Assad assured army and security chiefs that Russian support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold out.
U.S. President Joe Biden with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in July 2022.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 30, 2024
Saudi Arabia abandons pursuit of U.S. defense treaty over Israel stalemate
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has again made recognition of Israel conditional on it taking concrete steps to create a Palestinian state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on July 25.
WORLD / FOCUS
Oct 19, 2024
With Sinwar dead, Israel aims to lock in strategic gains before U.S. election
Goals include reshaping the regional landscape in Israel's favor and shielding its borders from any future attacks, according to sources.
Former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal speaks during an interview in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 8, 2024
Hamas will rise 'like a phoenix' from the ashes, leader-in-exile says
Khaled Meshaal, who was overall Hamas leader from 1996 to 2017, said the group is still recruiting fighters and continues to manufacture weapons.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar looks on during an anti-Israel rally in Gaza City on Oct. 1, 2022.
WORLD
Oct 5, 2024
Hunted yet unrepentant: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar remains committed to Israel's destruction
For Sinwar, architect of the cross-border raids a year ago, armed struggle with Israel remains the only way to force the creation of a Palestinian nation.
Students hold posters of Hassan Nasrallah, the assassinated chief of Lebanon's Hezbollah, during a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Oct 3, 2024
Iran's Khamenei warned Nasrallah of Israeli plot to kill him, sources say
Iran is now deeply worried about Israeli infiltration of senior government ranks in Tehran, three Iranian sources said.
Hezbollah fighters take part in a funeral procession for one of the movement's commanders who was killed in an Israeli strike, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2024
Nasrallah's killing reveals depth of Israel's penetration of Hezbollah
The Hezbollah leader had been even more cautious than usual since the Sept. 17 pager blasts, out of concern Israel would try to kill him.
A screen displays Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, as he delivers an address in Baalbek, Lebanon, in May 2018. In 32 years in charge of Hezbollah, Nasrallah, 64, has built the Iranian-backed militia into an influential force in Lebanon and a potent adversary of Israel.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Sep 28, 2024
Hezbollah reckons with future amid Beirut strikes
Killing or incapacitating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah would deal a significant blow to the group he has led for 32 years, analysts say.
Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh delivers a speech in Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip, in 2017.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2024
Tough-talking Ismail Haniyeh was seen as Hamas' more moderate face
Hamas' political leader, who was killed in Iran, was the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group's international diplomacy.
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip in January.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 8, 2024
Diminished Hamas switches to full insurgent mode in Gaza
The militant group has been reduced to between 9,000 and 12,000 fighters, according U.S. officials familiar with battlefield developments.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with senior editors from international news agencies at Lakhta Centre business tower in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2024
Putin says West wrong to think Russia would never use nuclear weapons
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow's nuclear doctrine allows the use of such weapons if the country's territorial integrity or sovereignty was threatened.
Demonstrators carry flags and banners during a protest in Amman, Jordan, on May 3 in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2024
Jordan foils arms plot as kingdom gets caught in Iran-Israel shadow war
The weapons were sent by Iranian-backed militias in Syria to a Muslim Brotherhood cell in Jordan that has links to Palestinian group Hamas.
People walk past a mural depicting Iranian missiles in Tehran on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 20, 2024
Israel's Iran attack carefully calibrated after internal splits and U.S. pressure
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war Cabinet had initially approved plans for a strike on Monday night, but held back at the last-minute.
Smoke rises during an Israeli ground operation in Khan Younis, as seen from a tent camp sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2024
Hamas issues cease-fire proposal detailing exchange of hostages and prisoners
Hamas said the initial release of Israelis would include women, children, elderly, and ill hostages.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) fist bumps U.S. President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Al Salman Palace, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 8, 2024
Saudi Arabia pushes for U.S. defense pact ahead of presidential election
Such a major regional deal would face numerous political and diplomatic obstacles, not least the uncertainty over how the Gaza conflict will unfold.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?