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Israeli Defense Minister Says No Need for Opposition Approval to Launch Strikes

World 25 June 2024, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. (dpa)

Israeli Defense Minister Says No Need for Opposition Approval to Launch Strikes

Israel's defense minister said Thursday that caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not need opposition permission to order fresh military operations…

World People walk past a television broadcast showing stock indexes and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in Taipei, Taiwan, 13 November 2026. (EPA)

US Lawmakers Summon Nvidia Ex-CEO After Affair with Suspected Spy

US lawmakers have called Jensen Huang, an architect of the artificial intelligence boom, to face their questions in December after the Nvidia ex-CEO quit over…

World Albert K. Barume, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, speaks during a press conference in Sydney on November 13, 2026. (AFP)

Indigenous Rights in Australia ‘Embarrassing’, Says UN Envoy

Cases of Indigenous women shackled while giving birth and growing numbers of children in detention are "embarrassing" to Australia, the UN's special rapporteur…

World  Leftist party La France Insoumise (LFI) candidate in France's 2027 presidential election Jean-Luc Melenchon gestures as he delivers a speech during a campaign rally in La Souterraine on November 11, 2026. (AFP)

Israel Says Will Ban French Hard-Left Leader Melenchon from Entry

Israel said on Thursday it would ban French hard-left presidential contender Jean-Luc Melenchon from visiting after he vowed that if he were elected, French…

World US special envoys Steve Witkoff, right, Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, left, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speak to the media at the airport in Dublin, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026.(AP)

Kushner Says US Working Toward ‘Largest Prisoner Exchange’ of Russia’s War in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner said on Thursday Russia and Ukraine agreed to expand the next round of talks to include European…


World This handout photo released by US Central Command via their X account (@CENTCOM) on April 18, 2026 shows AH-64 Apaches flying above the Strait of Hormuz during a patrol on April 17, 2026. (US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)

Iran Says Final Deal Still Far off as Hormuz Strait Shuttered

The strategic Strait of Hormuz was again closed on Sunday in the stand-off between Iran and the United States, with Iran's powerful parliament speaker…

World People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on April 19, 2026. (AFP)

North Korea Fires Multiple Ballistic Missiles into Sea

North Korea test-fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday, South Korea's military said, the latest in a recent flurry of launches by the nuclear…

World US President Donald Trump ( AFP)

Trump Says Iran Cannot 'Blackmail Us' with Strait of Hormuz

US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Iran not to "blackmail" Washington with its flip-flopping on the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran…

Asharq Al Awsat
World Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to reporters as he attends Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

No Date Set for Next Round of Iran-US Talks, Says Iran Deputy FM

No date has been set for the next round of Iran-US peace talks brokered by Pakistan following the failure of an initial round, Iran's deputy foreign minister…

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World FILED - 08 August 2025, France, Paris: The French flag, also known as the tricolor, flies against a blue sky in central Paris. Photo: Rachel Sommer/dpa

France Blames Hezbollah for French Peacekeeper's Death in Lebanon

A French soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack Saturday on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon that appeared to have been carried out by Hezbollah,…

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World Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Türkiye Says Israel Using Security as Pretext to Acquire 'More Land'

Türkiye's top diplomat on Saturday accused Israel of creating an international "illusion" and using security concerns as a pretext to seize "more land," in the…

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World A satellite image shows the ship movement at the Strait of Hormuz on April 2, 2026, in Space. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS

Iran Command Says Has Closed Hormuz Again over US Blockade

Iran's central military command announced on Saturday it would resume "strict management" of the Strait of Hormuz, reversing a decision to unblock the…

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World Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles (R) listens to Japan's Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (L) during a Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

Australia, Japan Sign Contracts to Start $7 Billion Warship Deal

Australia and Japan signed contracts on Saturday launching their landmark A$10 billion ($7 billion) deal to supply Australia with warships, Tokyo's most…

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World FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran Partially Reopens Airspace

Iran partially reopened its airspace on Saturday to international flights crossing the eastern part of its territory, the country's Civil Aviation Authority…

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World IN FLIGHT - APRIL 17: US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press aboard Air Force One on April 17, 2026 just prior to landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Photo by WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Trump Hints at Resuming Attacks if Ceasefire with Iran Expires Without Deal

US President Donald Trump said the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will remain and attacks will resume if no agreement is reached with Iran, after Tehran said…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)
World  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves after the multinational virtual summit and press conference at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, Friday April 17, 2026 (Tom Nicholson/Pool Photo via AP)

Starmer Rejects Calls to Resign Over Mandelson Appointment as Pressure Builds

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday resisted demands he resign over revelations that his scandal-tainted pick for UK ambassador to Washington was…

World  President Donald Trump arrives for a roundtable event about no tax on tips, Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP)

Trump Says ‘No Sticking Points’ for Iran Deal

US President Donald Trump told AFP on Friday there were "no sticking points" left for a peace deal with Iran, adding that an agreement was "very close." Trump…

World Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Not Pictured) attend a press conference during the summit between Spain and Brazil in Barcelona, Spain, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)

Spain’s Sanchez Says Venezuela’s Machado Declined to Meet Him

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was offered a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his government during her visit to Spain but she…

World The Malta-flagged tanker Agios Fanourios I, an oil tanker that sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, arrives in Iraq’s territorial waters off Basra, Iraq April 17, 2026. (Reuters)

Iran Reopens Strait of Hormuz, but Trump Says Blockade on Iranian Ships and Ports Will Stay in Force

Iran said Friday it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels, but President Donald Trump said the American blockade on Iranian ships and ports…

World Australian SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith (C) is escorted from the Silverwater Correctional Complex after being released on bail in Sydney on April 17, 2026. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

Australia's Most Decorated Veteran Walks Free on Bail on War Crimes Charges

Australia’s most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, walked free on bail from a Sydney prison on Friday, 10 days after he was charged with war crimes…

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World A Police van is parked outside of a warehouse park housing offices of a the Persian-language TV station, Iran International, in Wembley, northwest London on April 16, 2026. (Photo by Henry NICHOLLS / AFP)

3 Charged after Attempted Arson at Iran International Office in London

British police said on Friday they had charged three people over an attempted arson attack on offices linked to television station Iran International in…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
World Ukrainian law enforcement officers inspect fragments of a drone at the site of an air attack in Kharkiv on April 16, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)

Romanian Defense Ministry Says Radars Caught Russian Drone Breaching Air Space

Romanian radar systems caught a drone breaching its national airspace during a Russian overnight attack on ‌neighboring Ukraine ‌before losing &zwnj…

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World Turkish Foreign Minister Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (not seen) after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 09 April 2026.  EPA/NECATI SAVAS

Türkiye Hosts Latest Diplomatic Push on Middle East War

Türkiye hosts a high-stakes forum Friday bringing together the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as Islamabad pushes diplomatic efforts to…

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World 16 April 2026, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, for the start of a trip to Las Vegas and Phoenix. Photo: Andrew Leyden/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Trump Says Iran War Should End 'Soon', Both Sides May Meet at Weekend

US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that an agreement could soon be reached to end the Iran war and urged the Tehran-aligned Hezbollah group to hold…

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World Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks at a news conference at the Capitol on September 5, 2025 (AP)
 

Senate Republicans Again Block Bid to Limit Trump’s Iran War Powers

Washington: Robert Jimison, Megan Mineiro Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked the latest Democratic-led effort to curb President Trump’s authority to…

World The leaders of Germany, Britain and France are expected to be present. Stefan Rousseau / POOL/AFP

Over a Dozen Countries Offer to Play Role in Hormuz Mission, Starmer Says

More than a dozen countries said on Friday they were willing to join an international mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz when conditions…

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World Debris at the site of a helicopter crash in Sekadau regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, April 16, 2026. Picture taken through a window. Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS)/Handout via REUTERS

Helicopter Crash on Indonesia's Borneo Island Kills 8

A helicopter flying between palm oil plantations on Borneo Island crashed, killing the eight people on board, Indonesian officials said Friday. The Airbus…

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World FILE PHOTO: Two F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 3, 2026. US Navy/Handout via REUTERS

US Military Expands Iran Blockade to Include Contraband Shipments

The US Navy said on Thursday the military had expanded a maritime blockade on Iran to include “contraband” shipments, adding that any vessel suspected of…

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