International

Kabul Strikes Back: Taliban Drones Hit Pakistan as the Border War Deepens

World Politics

The war between Afghanistan and Pakistan has crossed a threshold. On July 1, Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced that its air force had struck what it called Islamic State centers inside Pakistan — in Saranan, a town in Balochistan’s Pishin district, and at sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa…

Iran Buries Khamenei: A Dayslong Funeral, a Contested Succession, and a Pause in Talks With Washington

World Politics  

Iran on Friday began a dayslong state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who ruled the Islamic Republic for nearly four decades before he was killed in a joint US-Israeli air campaign in late February. The ceremonies—expected to draw millions across Iran and into Iraq…

Russia's Deadliest Kyiv Strike of the Year Kills Dozens and Rattles NATO's Eastern Flank

World Politics 

Russia this week carried out one of the deadliest attacks on Kyiv since the start of its full-scale invasion, unleashing a combined missile and drone barrage in the early hours of Thursday that killed dozens of civilians, wounded more than ninety, and damaged over a hundred residential…

Fragile US-Iran Diplomacy Stalls in Doha Over Frozen Billions and the Strait of Hormuz as Iran Prepares to Bury Its Slain Supreme Leader

Daily World Politics 

Four months after a devastating war that reshaped the Middle East, the United States and Iran are engaged in a wary, halting attempt at diplomacy — and this week that effort ran into some of its hardest limits. Negotiators from both sides concluded two days of indirect talks in Doha on…

Russia Unleashes Its Largest Aerial Assault of the War on Kyiv

570 drones and missiles pound Ukraine’s capital hours after Zelensky’s warning, killing over a dozen and rattling NATO’s eastern flank

Background
Russia’s war on Ukraine entered its fifth year in 2026, and the summer has brought no sign of the conflict winding down despite months of on-…

US and Iran Resume Fragile Doha Talks as Israel Warns War Could Reignite Within Days

Technical negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions, and Iran's nuclear program continue under a shaky ceasefire, four months after the killing of Ali Khamenei

Background
The war that has consumed Iran and its regional rivals since late February traces back to a rapid escalation rooted in…