Israel Strikes Near Damascus to Protect Druze as Sectarian Violence Escalates

The Israel Defense Forces’ Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held a discreet weekend visit to Washington, meeting senior U.S. defense officials amid rising tensions with Iran and uncertainty over a possible American strike.

President Donald Trump’s promised U.S. military “armada” has now arrived in the Middle East, led by the aircraft carrier strike group centered on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Yet despite the high-profile deployment of naval power and advanced fighter aircraft, U.S. officials say a major American response against Iran may be delayed as the Pentagon focuses on fortifying air defenses across the region, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. Senate sent a $1.2 trillion government funding package back to the House for approval Friday night, ensuring a partial government shutdown over the weekend.

As the 2026 midterm elections approach, state legislatures have grappled with fierce mid-decade redistricting efforts in an attempt to give an advantage to their political party. Based on current map projections, Republicans could flip three more seats than Democrats. Republicans currently have a slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Suspected armed bandits attacked a community in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State, police said, burning a police station, torching part of a church, and abducting several residents.

A prominent Christian lawyer has urged Pakistan’s government to intervene as a man accused of brutally assaulting a Christian woman and tearing her clothes in a Punjab province market was released within just 30 minutes of police detention, apparently due to his “contacts” with authorities, Christians said.

Rebel authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed Saturday that more than 200 people have died after a landslide collapsed several mines at a major coltan mining site in the troubled east of the war-torn African nation.