Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will step up efforts to isolate Iran economically as he hosts G20 counterparts next week, a US official said Thursday, in a gathering clouded by war and trade tensions. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major
By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights office said on Thursday the Trump administration's designation of the Palestine Action group as a terrorist organization was "a disproportionate and unnecessary restriction" on free speech rights that
Aug 27 (Reuters) - Iran is preparing a list of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz after mediators asked Tehran to set them out, said Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, adding that ending the regional war was among them. Rezaei said
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi as a presidential adviser, state media said on Friday, days after Abdi announced the dissolution of his Kurdish forces under an integration deal with Damascus. The education ministry also published a
Mazloum Abdi, who has been appointed as adviser to Syria's presidency, is shifting into politics after years as a Kurdish military leader heading internationally backed fighters who battled Islamic State group jihadists in Syria. From joining the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
U.S. officials told mediators the administration has no interest in reviving the June agreement, according to the Wall Street Journal, opting instead to wait for extreme economic sanctions to take effect
The Islamic Republic has withstood war and sanctions, but this time it faces a complete blockade of oil exports, and that strikes at the heart of the regime's power
BRUSSELS, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The Pentagon’s policy chief told NATO members on Thursday that the alliance must adapt and that he wants to hear from allies as part of a review of U.S. forces in Europe he said was meant to enable a more European-led defence of the continent.
DUBAI, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Iran's Security Chief Mohsen Rezaei said a report about a potential plot to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son is a lie, in an interview broadcast by Lebanon's Al Manar TV on Thursday. The U.S. Secret Service said on Tuesday that it
The IDF said the attacks were in response to a Hezbollah explosive drone attack against its troops in southern Lebanon. One of the drones was reportedly intercepted, yet contact with the second drone was lost
Iran has recently signaled a desire to re-engage with the US but is hampered by internal divisions, said one expert.
WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States is not talking with Iran as Washington focuses on punishing Tehran economically, vowing to penalize countries thatdo business with the Islamic Republic. "We don't want to speak to
Piracy off the Horn of Africa has reached its highest levels since 2013, according to an AFP analysis based on data from the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The Palestinian Authority announced elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council in November, with Dahlan and Barghouti leading in polls. Abbas will have to decide if he seeks reconciliation, as uncertainty pervades regarding the voting process
Iran has executed over 500 people so far this year after a new surge in hangings in recent days, despite President Donald Trump urging the Islamic republic to halt executions, a rights group said on Thursday. At least 511 people have been executed so far in 2026, according to
An Emirati business delegation signed the agreements in Beirut and met with President Joseph Aoun, indicating the UAE's interest in deepening economic ties with Lebanon.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, will go on trial before a US military court in June 2028, an official said Thursday. The long-awaited trial of Mohammed and three other accused 9/11 plotters is scheduled to
Visa and Mastercard announced Wednesday that their networks can now be used to make international card payments in Syria.
Iran's top diplomat met his Qatari counterpart on Thursday in Tehran for talks on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, as a US naval blockade squeezes oil supplies to Iran amid a domestic shortfall. The visit by Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani
By Samia Nakhoul BEIRUT, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The Iran war has reached its endgame: a costly stalemate. Six months after U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader and maiming his son and successor, the Iranian government is under economic siege, but it
Ziva Sharp said her Jewish faith motivated her to travel from Jerusalem to the West Bank to stand up for Palestinians -- a commitment that led to her being set upon by fellow Israelis also professing to be driven by Judaism. Sharp and around 30 other activists are part of a
Israelis prefer former defense minister over the current prime minister to lead country, while the religious-nationalist People of Israel party is projected to win six Knesset seats.
WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Six months after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the war that President Donald Trump has called a "little excursion" has become a deeply unpopular stalemate that threatens to derail his presidency. Iran has not surrendered,
By Simon Lewis, Trevor Hunnicutt, Idrees Ali and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Six months after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the war that President Donald Trump has called a "little excursion" has become a deeply unpopular stalemate
By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A Pentagon review of U.S. troop deployments in Europe will create at least four sets of options for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by November 6, well ahead of a December deadline for the review's completion, according to a
SINGAPORE, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Shipping traffic at the Strait of Hormuz rose slightly even as a standoff persisted between the United States and Iran, data showed on Thursday, while the market monitored Iran-Oman talks about the waterway. Visible commodity vessel transits at