Iran’s exiled crown prince pledged Thursday that a “free Iran” would immediately recognize Israel if protesters manage to topple the Islamic Republic’s regime.

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake rocked southern Israel early Thursday, including the Dead Sea and parts of the Negev area, and residents were urged to rush to safety, experts and officials said.

By the slimmest of margins, the U.S. Senate successfully derailed a resolution that would have curtailed the Trump administration’s power to continue military action in Venezuela.

In a bipartisan vote Wednesday, the U.S. House passed a minibus containing two more full-year federal funding bills, sending the package to the Senate for final approval.

Hungary is entering a decisive political season as parliamentary elections are set for April 12, 2026, and the progressive mayor of Budapest receives a prestigious Dutch human rights award for defying Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and defending democratic freedoms.

President Donald Trump highlighted new government data Tuesday showing inflation remained steady in December, calling the figures “great (LOW!) inflation numbers for the USA.”

U.S. Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff announced Wednesday the launch of Phase II of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza Peace Plan, marking a transition from a fragile ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and large-scale reconstruction of the war-ravaged enclave.

The United States has begun evacuating some military personnel from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, as President Donald Trump considers potential military action against Iran amid escalating regional tensions and a deepening internal crisis inside the Islamic Republic.

A senior official of the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah has warned Lebanon’s government that expanding efforts to disarm the group across the country would plunge the nation into chaos and could spark a new civil war, according to comments circulated by Hezbollah on Wednesday.

The death toll of a train derailment in Thailand rose to at least scores of people on Wednesday, officials said, as rescue efforts continued.