Israel retaliates after Hamas attacks, deaths pass 1,100

Israel pounded the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Sunday — killing hundreds of people in retaliation for one of the bloodiest attacks in its history when Islamist group Hamas killed 700 Israelis an...

How Israel was blindsided by Hamas surprise attack

A campaign of deception ensured Israel was caught off guard when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched its attack — enabling a force using bulldozers, hang gliders and motorbikes to take on...

US jet downs Turkish drone as Turkey increases strikes on Syrian Kurd militias

The United States on Thursday shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near its troops in Syria, the Pentagon said — the first time Washington has brought down an aircraft of NATO ally T...

Chinese ship comes within one meter of Philippine Coast Guard in latest South China Sea escalation

The crew of the Philippine coastguard boat watch as a Chinese vessel draws near and cuts off its path — coming within a meter of collision in a vast stretch of open water in the South China Sea. Ta...

Anti-affirmative action group challenges US Naval Academy's admissions policy

The group that successfully challenged race-conscious college admissions policies at the U.S. Supreme Court sued the U.S. Naval Academy on Thursday — its second lawsuit opposing affirmative action ...

Trump backs Jim Jordan for US speaker role, faces Steve Scalise challenge

Donald Trump endorsed Representative Jim Jordan to succeed ousted U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the former president said Friday — as the chamber's fractious Republicans sought to unify in the...

At least 100 killed in drone attack on Syrian military academy, monitor says

At least 100 people were killed Thursday in an attack on a military academy in Syria, a war monitor and an official said, with armed drones bombing the site minutes after Syria's defense minister l...

Germany to send 150 soldiers to Kosovo in April

Germany will send around 150 soldiers to Kosovo in April next year as a contribution to the UN's KFOR mission there, a spokesperson for the defense ministry said in Berlin on Friday. Tap for the fu...

Cocaine and grenades? Nationalist bloggers scorn Putin's Prigozhin plane crash theory

Russian bloggers slammed President Vladimir Putin on Friday — over his intimation that mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane was blown up with hand grenades while those on board were high on co...

Russia plans naval base in Abkhazia, prompting criticism from Georgia

Russia has signed a deal for a permanent naval base on the Black Sea coast of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, the Izvestiya newspaper reported — prompting criticism from Georgia which sa...

US budget fight could create opening for China in the Pacific, analysts say

Analysts and former officials say the 45-day stopgap makes the U.S. allies economically vulnerable — and possibly more receptive to Chinese approaches. Tap for the full brief.

US-led forces reportedly down drone in Syria as Turkey strikes area

U.S.-led forces were reported to have shot down a drone over northern Syria on Thursday — as U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish forces said Turkish attacks had killed eight people, in an escalation prompte...

France to begin withdrawing troops from Niger this week

France will begin withdrawing its troops from coup-hit Niger this week after President Emmanuel Macron said last month he refused to be "held hostage" by the putchists and was ending military coope...

Moldova moves to bar members of banned pro-Russia party from elections

Moldova's parliament began moves Wednesday to prevent members of the banned pro-Russian Shor party running in local elections, for other parties or as independent candidates. Tap for the full brief.

Forest combat kills dozens of Somali troops, Islamist militants

At least 30 pro-government fighters and dozens of al-Shabab militants were killed in Somalia in some of the bloodiest fighting of a year-long offensive against the al Qaeda-linked group, an army of...