Middle East
Latest stories
Clock is ticking for Iran and US as 60-day deadline for peace deal expires

The deal that U.S. President Donald Trump signed at Versailles in June set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program.

The deadline was Monday, and the two sides are further apart than they were then.

W140 Full Story
Drones launched from Iran attack Iraqi Kurdistan PM's office

Two drones launched from inside Iran targeted the Iraqi Kurdistan prime minister's office and the home of the autonomous region's intelligence chief overnight, authorities said Monday.

"Two Hadid-110 type explosive-laden drones were launched from across the Iranian border toward the private office of the Kurdistan region prime minister and the residence of the Parastin Agency director," the regional Counter-Terrorism Directorate said. "Fortunately, no casualties were reported."

W140 Full Story
US Central Command chief visits aircraft carrier

The top U.S. military commander Adm. Brad Cooper visited the USS Lincoln as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues. The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports. It has spent a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days.

“History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group in a statement released Saturday. Extended deployments of carriers — which can have more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board — have raised concerns.

W140 Full Story
Israel's Ben-Gvir advocates killing '30 to 40' people in Gaza nightly

An extremist Israeli lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition publicly advocated for killing "30 to 40" people in Gaza each night, comments that surfaced Sunday and were quickly shared by Palestinian media.

Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir made the statement while speaking to a former Gaza-held hostage, Rom Braslavski, on Braslavski's podcast. The two were discussing Israel's recovery from the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, when Ben-Gvir criticized Israel's recent drawdown of strikes in Gaza.

W140 Full Story
Kushner to meet Netanyahu after talks with Hamas on Gaza plan

U.S. negotiator and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner held a rare meeting with the Hamas chief on Sunday in a new diplomatic effort to make progress in the stalled Gaza ceasefire. Kushner will meet on Monday with Israel's prime minister, who is under pressure after rejecting the new 15-point, U.S.-backed road map.

The talks aim to salvage the plan for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territory shattered by war.

W140 Full Story
'Everyone lives in fear': Yemenis worry about return to all-out war

Yemen's years-long civil conflict killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions and drove the country to the brink of famine before a 2022 truce restored relative calm. Now, renewed hostilities between the Houthi rebels and the government have many fearing the return of all-out war.

Hodeida native Anwar, a father of two, recalls fleeing the advance of the Iran-backed Houthis, seeking refuge in the city of Mokha.

W140 Full Story
Iran accuses Qatar of thwarting probe into fate of pilots

Iran accused Qatar on Sunday of thwarting efforts to work out what happened to three pilots Tehran says were captured during the Middle East war, though the Gulf state has denied detaining them.

The Islamic republic had previously reported one pilot killed and others missing after a sortie to Qatar in March, but had not claimed at the time that any of them had been captured.

W140 Full Story
UAE state oil company says vessel attacked in Hormuz strait

United Arab Emirates' state-owned oil giant ADNOC said Saturday one of its vessels came under attack in the Hormuz strait, the latest incident in the waterway at the centre of the US-Iran conflict.

W140 Full Story
Iran fires back at Trump's threat to declare Hormuz a US territory

Iran on Saturday fired back at U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory, saying the crucial energy waterway it has blockaded "will remain Iranian".

W140 Full Story
France urges Israel to arrest W. Bank settlers at Qusra

France on Friday called on Israel to arrest and prosecute rogue settlers blockading Palestinian homes at Qusra in the occupied West Bank and to protect the civilian population.

"France strongly condemns the occupation of several Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra in the West Bank by Israeli settlers, as well as the acts of violence committed against Palestinian civilians," the foreign ministry said.

W140 Full Story