United States

Tom Barrack Appointed US Special Envoy for Syria

The Trump administration announced on Friday the appointment of Tom Barrack, the current US ambassador to Turkey and a longtime ally of the president, as the new Special Envoy for Syria. The announcement marks a significant shift in US engagement in the Middle East following the fall of the Assad regime. Barrack is a billionaire real estate ...

Alleged US Killer of Israel Embassy Staff Charged With Murder

The suspect accused of gunning down two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington was charged Thursday with murder, as international tensions over anti-Semitism erupted over the attack. Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted "Free Palestine" as he was taken away by police after the shooting late Wednesday outside the Capital ...

Several Dead in Fiery Plane Crash on California Neighborhood

Several people were killed when a small plane crashed in a California neighborhood before dawn Thursday, destroying a home and setting more than a dozen cars on fire. At least 10 houses were hit by debris and vehicles on both sides of a street went up in flames when the Cessna 550 slammed into the ground, spewing burning jet fuel in a part of San ...

Iran Says 'Fundamental Differences' Remain With U.S. Ahead of Nuclear Talks

Iran warned it would hold the United States responsible if Israel attacks its nuclear facilities, but President Donald Trump's administration voiced optimism for a peaceful solution Thursday before new talks. Trump spoke about his diplomacy on Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, in a telephone call ...

The Trump Administration Withdraws Harvard University's Right to Host International Students

Donald Trump's administration on Thursday revoked Harvard's right to enroll foreign students -- more than a quarter of its annual enrollment -- in a major escalation of the president's fight with one of the world's most storied universities. Trump is furious at Harvard -- which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners -- for rejecting his demand that ...

Iran Says Will Hold US Responsible For Any Israeli Attack On its Nuclear Sites

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would hold the United States responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities, after US media reported that Israel was preparing for a strike. The report came even as Iran and the United States were set to meet in Rome on Friday for a fifth round of Omani-mediated nuclear talks. "We ...

Lines in the Sand: Syria on the Brink, and Lebanon’s Vanishing Moment

If you want to understand the Middle East in 2025, don’t look at the maps. Look at the fault lines. They’re not drawn in ink – they’re drawn in fear, legacy and a deep unease that this time, the region isn’t just shifting, it’s splintering. This week, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio sounded an alarm loud enough to rattle ...

Trump Ambushes South African President Over ‘Genocide’ Accusation

President Donald Trump ambushed South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday by playing him a video that he claimed proved genocide is being committed against white people, driving farmers to flee to the United States. The extraordinary stunt turned the usually staid diplomatic setting of the Oval Office into a stage for Trump's ...

Iran-US Nuclear Talks Set for Friday in Rome

Iran and the United States will hold the next round of talks on the Islamic republic's nuclear program in Rome later this week, Tehran and mediator Oman said Wednesday. The arch-foes have held four rounds of nuclear talks since April 12, the highest-level contact between them since US President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal ...

US Accepts Boeing Jet from Qatar for Use as Air Force One

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted the Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to President Donald Trump for use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Qatar's offer of the jet -- which is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars -- has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security ...

Rubio Sees More Arab States Normalizing with Israel this Year

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested Wednesday that more Arab nations could forge ties with Israel this year, as Washington presses hard for relations to normalize with Saudi Arabia. President Donald Trump, near the end of his first term, led the so-called Abraham Accords in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco became the ...