Middle East

Belgium Probes Drone Sightings after Flights Halted Overnight
Belgium Probes Drone Sightings after Flights Halted Overnight

Belgian authorities on Wednesday investigated drone sightings that halted air traffic overnight at several airports, as flights resumed after hundreds of passengers were left stranded. The main airport in Brussels and another in Liege had to suspend arrivals and departures late Tuesday for several hours after suspected drones were spotted ...

Israel Receives Gaza Hostage Body
Israel Receives Gaza Hostage Body

Israel has received the body of a hostage from the Red Cross in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Wednesday night. The captive's coffin, handed over to the military and internal security service, "will be transferred to Israel, where it will be received with a military ceremony" before being ...

Iran: “Hostage Diplomacy,” an Intractable Dilemma for the West
Iran: “Hostage Diplomacy,” an Intractable Dilemma for the West

For researchers, aid workers, and even tourists, Iran’s use of detention to extract concessions has become a serious dilemma for Western governments, which so far have failed to stop the practice. This so-called “hostage diplomacy,” consistently denied by Tehran, re-emerged just after the release on Tuesday of French nationals ...

France Moves to Suspend Shein Website as First Store Opens in Paris
France Moves to Suspend Shein Website as First Store Opens in Paris

Shein opened its first physical store worldwide in Paris under the eye of riot police, as the French government said it was suspending the Asian e-commerce giant's online platform following outrage over its sale of childlike sex dolls. Hundreds of shoppers streamed into Shein's permanent physical store on the sixth floor of the BHV department ...

Putin Says Russia Considers Nuclear Tests Restart after Trump Comments
Putin Says Russia Considers Nuclear Tests Restart after Trump Comments

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia would consider resuming nuclear tests if the United States did so, convening a security council meeting after US President Donald Trump's comments on testing. The statement marks the latest episode of nuclear saber-rattling between the world's two largest atomic powers, after ...

Is the Mamdani Plan the Fastest Way to Ruin New York?
Is the Mamdani Plan the Fastest Way to Ruin New York?

The election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s mayor marks a historic moment. It is the first time a member of the Democratic Socialists of America has taken charge of the nation’s largest city. But behind the wave of activist enthusiasm lies an economic agenda that risks backfiring. According to the Cato Institute, Mamdani’s plan is not ...

Iran Releases New Details on Ismail Haniyeh’s Killing
Iran Releases New Details on Ismail Haniyeh’s Killing

Ismail Haniyeh, the former leader of Hamas, was killed by a missile tracked to his mobile phone, according to Iranian officials. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has rejected claims that internal sabotage facilitated the assassination in Tehran. On November 3, Iran released new details on the death of Ismail Haniyeh, the former Hamas leader killed in ...

The Louvre Heist Explained
VideosThe Louvre Heist Explained

Four thieves broke into the Louvre in under eight minutes and vanished with France’s imperial jewels. Here’s how one of the world’s most daring museum heists unfolded and how it remains unsolved.  

From Baghdad to Russia: A Deadly Bet
VideosFrom Baghdad to Russia: A Deadly Bet

Smiling broadly and clad in military fatigues, young Iraqi Mohammed Imad's last TikTok post was in a field carved up with heavy vehicle tracks in what appeared to be Ukraine. Smoke was rising behind him. "Pray for me," read the caption next to a Russian flag. That was in May. Months went by without a word, only rumors. Mohammed had been taken ...

Man Rams Car Into Pedestrians in France, Wounding 10
Man Rams Car Into Pedestrians in France, Wounding 10

A 35-year-old man Wednesday rammed his car into pedestrians and cyclists on the French Atlantic island of Oleron, wounding 10 people, including four seriously, a prosecutor said. The Oleron resident "deliberately hit several pedestrians and cyclists" along a main road on the scenic island off the western city of La Rochelle, prosecutor Arnaud ...

Attack on Key City in Sudan's Kordofan Region Kills 40
Attack on Key City in Sudan's Kordofan Region Kills 40

An attack on a funeral in the key city of El-Obeid in Sudan's central Kordofan region killed 40 people, the UN said Wednesday, as paramilitaries looked poised to launch an offensive. The United Nations' humanitarian office did not specify when the attack took place or who was behind it but said that the situation in the Kordofan region was ...

Where Things Stand On China-US Trade After Trump and Xi Talk
SpotlightWhere Things Stand On China-US Trade After Trump and Xi Talk

China and the United States have lowered the temperature in their spiraling trade war, bringing a precarious end to months of back-and-forth measures between the economic and technological powerhouses. The détente—reached at last week's meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea—marks a new phase in a fierce ...