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US Military Conducts Rapid Response Exercise at Embassy in Venezuela

World US Embassy holds emergency and air evacuation drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)

US Military Conducts Rapid Response Exercise at Embassy in Venezuela

The US military conducted a rapid response exercise involving Marines and military aircraft in Venezuela’s capital Saturday, over four months after the ouster…

Asharq Al Awsat
World FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump leaves Marine One to board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he departs Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, US, May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo

Trump Says Negotiators Are Getting Closer to Iran Deal

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that negotiators for the United States and Iran were "getting a lot closer" to finalizing an agreement to end the war,…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)
World US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS

Rubio Says Progress Made on Iran

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that some progress has been made on Washington's dispute with Iran and that the US might have "something to…

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World Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir during an event in Jerusalem on May 14, 2026 (AFP)

France Bans Israeli Security Minister Ben Gvir from Country

France announced on Saturday it had banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from the country after he posted a video mocking bound activists…

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World People walk past the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Taiwan Security Chief: China Deployed 'Over 100 Vessels' in Regional Waters

Taiwan's security chief said Saturday that China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in regional waters stretching from the Yellow…

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World FILE - Cars pass in front of the federal building housing the US District Court in Honolulu on March 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, File)

Magnitude 6 Quake Strikes Hawaii’s Big Island

An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck near Honaunau-Napoopoo on the Big Island of Hawaii late on Friday and the state's volcano observatory was assessing the…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)
World 22 May 2026, Ukraine, Starobelsk: Emergency workers search through the rubble of the dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College, part of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University, which was hit and destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Starobelsk. Photo: Alexander Reka/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa

Governor: 10 Dead in Ukrainian Strike on College in Russian-occupied Town

The death toll from a Ukrainian strike on a college in a Russian-occupied town in eastern Ukraine has risen to 10, local Moscow-backed authorities said on…

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World FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives to attend an informal European leaders' summit in Ayia Napa, Cyprus April 23, 2026. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo

Ukraine's Zelenskiy: Proposal of Associate EU Membership 'Unfair'

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a letter to EU leaders that a German proposal to grant Ukraine "associate" membership of the European Union was "unfair"…

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World Garden Grove police direct evacuees towards a shelter after a chemical leak from a large storage tank threatened residents in Garden Grove, California on May 22, 2026. (Photo by Blake Fagan / AFP)

Thousands Ordered to Evacuate Around Leaking California Chemical Tank

Tens of thousands of people were ordered to leave their homes in California on Friday after a huge chemical tank began to leak, sending toxic fumes over a…

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World FILE PHOTO: People walk past a billboard about the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran Weighs Peace Proposal, Accuses US of 'Excessive Demands'

Tehran accused the United States of "excessive demands,” Iranian media said on Saturday, as US media reports raised the prospect that Washington was mulling…

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World This photo released by Xinhua News Agency, shows a scene at the rescue site of the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi city, China's Shanxi Province, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Cao Yang/Xinhua via AP)

Death Toll Jumps to at Least 90 in China Coal Mine Blast

The death toll from a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China's Shanxi province has jumped to at least 90, state media Xinhua reported on Saturday. …

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World FILE - Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, July 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Gabbard Resigns as Trump's Top US Intelligence Official

Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday she was resigning from her job as President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence, saying her husband had been…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)
World  Italian members of the Global Sumud Flotilla arrive at the Fiumicino Airport in Rome on Thursday, May 21, 2026, after they were released and deported by the Israeli government after attempting to reach Gaza. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

Freed Gaza Flotilla Activists Allege Israeli Abuse Including Rape

Activists released from Israeli custody after being detained on a flotilla trying to bring aid to Gaza were subjected to abuse, organizers said on Friday, with…

World Medical staff wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) are seen at the hospital in Rwampara on May 21, 2026. (AFP)

Ebola Risk Now at Highest Level in DR Congo, Says WHO

The risk from the deadly Ebola outbreak has been raised to the highest level for the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday,…

World 22 May 2026, Ukraine, Starobelsk: Emergency workers search through the rubble of the dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College, part of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University, which was hit and destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Starobelsk. (Alexander Reka/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa)

Ukraine Hits College in Russian-Occupied Town, Killing 6

Ukrainian drones struck a college dormitory in the Russian-occupied region of Lugansk early Friday, killing six people and wounding dozens of others, Russian…

World  French President Emmanuel Macron waves as he waits Quebec Premier Christine Frechette before a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP)

French Investigators Searched Presidential Palace in Graft Probe

French investigators have searched the Elysee presidential palace as part of a probe into alleged favoritism and corruption, prosecutors said Friday, after a…

World Traffic through Hormuz, a vital global shipping conduit, has come under Iranian control since the outbreak of war with Israel and the United States on February 28. (Photo by AFP) /

EU Moves to Sanction Iran over Hormuz Blockade

European Union nations moved Friday towards imposing sanctions on Iranian officials and others responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the EU said. …

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World United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a signing ceremony on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS

Rubio Reports ‘Slight Progress’ in Iran Talks as Pakistan Army Chief Renews Mediation Efforts

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that “slight progress” was made during talks with Iran as Pakistan's army chief traveled to Tehran in a renewed…

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World The Neve Yaakov settlement north of East Jerusalem, with the Israeli wall visible separating the Palestinian neighborhood of al-Ram in the West Bank (AFP). 

Netherlands to Ban Imports from Israel's Jewish Settlements

The Dutch government has agreed to impose a ban on imports of goods produced in Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, Dutch Prime…

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World A view of the new Jewish settlers’ outpost erected on the outskirts of the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 12, 2026.(Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

Italy, France, UK, Germany Urge Israel to End Settlement Expansion

Italy, France, Britain and Germany urged Israel Friday to stop expanding its settlements in the West Bank, saying the government was "undermining stability"…

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World President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Trump Pledges Extra Troops for Poland

US President Donald Trump surprised NATO allies by pledging to send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, only hours before Secretary of State Marco Rubio was…

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World The police force on the front lines as Hungary prepares to enact new rules the government says will bring a halt to the illegal flow of migrants. (Reuters)

Explosion at Hungary Petrochemical Plant Kills 1, Injures 7

An explosion at a petrochemical plant in Hungary on Friday killed one person and injured several others, according to a statement by Hungarian energy company…

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World President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech at Dolmabahce palace in Istanbul, Türkiye, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Erdogan Shuts Liberal Istanbul University

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday ordered a top independent university with liberal leanings in Istanbul to shut in the middle of the school…

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World (FILES) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 5, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP)

Rubio Doubtful of Diplomacy with Cuba as Trump Raises New Threat of Military Action

President Donald Trump and America's top diplomat on Thursday again raised the specter of US military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on…

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World FILE PHOTO: People walk past a billboard about the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Pakistan Seeks Breakthrough in US-Iran Peace Talks

Iran's foreign minister met his Pakistani counterpart on Friday to discuss proposals to end the US-Israeli war, Iranian media reported, with Tehran and…

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World FILED - 25 June 2025, Netherlands, The Hague: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and US President Donald Trump give remarks to the press on the sidelines of the 2025 NATO Summit. Photo: Martijn Beekman/NATO/dpa

NATO's Rutte Welcomes Trump Sending Troops to Poland

NATO's chief Mark Rutte said on Friday he welcomed US President Donald Trump's announcement to send 5,000 troops to Poland, through ‌he added the &zwnj…

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World Taiwan-based Thunder Tiger Group's Papa Delta drone is displayed during a media tour in Taichung, Taiwan April 21, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Ben Blanchard

US Navy Official Says Taiwan Arms Sales on 'Pause' over Iran War

The acting US Navy secretary said Thursday that arms sales to Taiwan had been put on "pause" to ensure that the American military had sufficient munitions for…

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World (FILES) The US flag flutters at the US embassy in Caracas on March 14, 2026, ten days after the restoration of diplomatic relations following the capture of ousted leader Nicolas Maduro in a US military raid. (Photo by Maryorin Mendez / AFP)

Venezuela Approves US Military Flyover Drill

Venezuela said Thursday it had authorized the United States to perform a flyover of Caracas as part of an embassy evacuation drill -- a highly symbolic move…

Asharq Al Awsat (Caracas)
World A woman walks next to a banner with a picture of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, May 8, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Motjaba Khamenei Sets ‘Red Line’ on Sending Enriched Uranium Abroad

Iran's Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country's near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters…

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