Ethan Bronner Bloomberg

Hours after 100 Israeli warplanes swooped over southern Lebanon, taking out thousands of Hezbollah missile launchers in what was called a preemptive strike, the Middle East braced for an expanded conflagration.

Iran's weekend attack on Israel with more than 300 missiles and drones marks a perilous turn for a fragile region. It was an unprecedented action, the first strike on the Jewish state from Iranian soil. Iran declared it a massive success.

A top Hamas police commander met in mid-March with the heads of a Gaza clan who'd been commandeering aid meant for hungry Palestinians. He told them to stop taking the shipments or they'd be killed. A week later, that commander was killed.

The almost-daily phone calls stopped months ago. Now the tensions between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's war on Hamas have burst into the open as the two leaders bicker publicly.

As Israel has waged its war in the Gaza Strip, officials across the world are united in trying to figure out how to restore order when all the fighting stops. There's little agreement, however, and even less optimism.

Five years ago, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, scrawled a note on a document that he knew Egyptian intermediaries would hand to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since it went to war with Hamas early last month, Israel has stepped up strikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria who have moved close to the Israeli border.

Jordan's Queen Rania Al Abdullah was offered a chance to express horror at the October 7 Hamas killing and abduction of Israelis. How did she feel, she was asked in a CNN interview, "as an Arab, as a Palestinian, a human being, a mother?"

Jordan's Queen Rania Al Abdullah was offered a chance to express horror at the Oct. 7 Hamas killing and abduction of Israelis.

After US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh Sunday, both posted a similar photo - but with contrasting descriptions.

For 16 years, Israeli governments worked to manage the Hamas leaders in Gaza, not topple them. The Islamist group rejected Israel's existence and engaged in violence, but kept order over the territory. Better Hamas than chaos.

The normally bustling streets of Tel Aviv are empty, schools shut, flights canceled and a major gas field closed. Men of all ages are getting called to their reserve units, hundreds of thousands throwing on uniforms.

A surprise multifront attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas will likely lead to a massive military retaliation on Gaza and possibly to a wider conflagration with repercussions beyond the Middle East.

Pakistan is looking to China and two other developing nations for support in avoiding tough financial sanctions, amid signs it is running out of time to meet global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards, according to people familiar with the matter.

At a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna last September, word spread that Saudi Arabia had identified a handful of countries that could build two nuclear reactors in the kingdom. The U.S. wasn't among them -- until Energy Secretary Rick Perry buttonholed the Saudi delegates and told them America wanted in.

Hours after 100 Israeli warplanes swooped over southern Lebanon, taking out thousands of Hezbollah missile launchers in what was called a preemptive strike, the Middle East braced for an expanded conflagration.

Iran's weekend attack on Israel with more than 300 missiles and drones marks a perilous turn for a fragile region. It was an unprecedented action, the first strike on the Jewish state from Iranian soil. Iran declared it a massive success.

A top Hamas police commander met in mid-March with the heads of a Gaza clan who'd been commandeering aid meant for hungry Palestinians. He told them to stop taking the shipments or they'd be killed. A week later, that commander was killed.

The almost-daily phone calls stopped months ago. Now the tensions between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's war on Hamas have burst into the open as the two leaders bicker publicly.

As Israel has waged its war in the Gaza Strip, officials across the world are united in trying to figure out how to restore order when all the fighting stops. There's little agreement, however, and even less optimism.

Five years ago, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, scrawled a note on a document that he knew Egyptian intermediaries would hand to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since it went to war with Hamas early last month, Israel has stepped up strikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria who have moved close to the Israeli border.

Jordan's Queen Rania Al Abdullah was offered a chance to express horror at the October 7 Hamas killing and abduction of Israelis. How did she feel, she was asked in a CNN interview, "as an Arab, as a Palestinian, a human being, a mother?"

Jordan's Queen Rania Al Abdullah was offered a chance to express horror at the Oct. 7 Hamas killing and abduction of Israelis.

After US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh Sunday, both posted a similar photo - but with contrasting descriptions.

For 16 years, Israeli governments worked to manage the Hamas leaders in Gaza, not topple them. The Islamist group rejected Israel's existence and engaged in violence, but kept order over the territory. Better Hamas than chaos.

The normally bustling streets of Tel Aviv are empty, schools shut, flights canceled and a major gas field closed. Men of all ages are getting called to their reserve units, hundreds of thousands throwing on uniforms.

A surprise multifront attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas will likely lead to a massive military retaliation on Gaza and possibly to a wider conflagration with repercussions beyond the Middle East.

Pakistan is looking to China and two other developing nations for support in avoiding tough financial sanctions, amid signs it is running out of time to meet global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards, according to people familiar with the matter.

At a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna last September, word spread that Saudi Arabia had identified a handful of countries that could build two nuclear reactors in the kingdom. The U.S. wasn't among them -- until Energy Secretary Rick Perry buttonholed the Saudi delegates and told them America wanted in.