NPR's Leila Fadel asks Dania Thafer of the Gulf International Forum whether countries in the Middle East consider the U.S. a reliable ally.

Labour's Andy Burnham, the current mayor of Greater Manchester, has won a special election for a seat in Parliament that puts him in a position to challenge embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer for leadership of the country.

The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 211 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls "narcoterrorists" in early September.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blasts NATO allies as a "paper tiger" while launching a six-month review of U.S. troop deployments in Europe and pressing for Europe to take the lead on its own defense.

The U.S. is allowing ships to enter and exit Iranian ports and coastal areas as the countries move to a new phase of negotiations over the next 60 days.

Here is the text of the memorandum of understanding that was signed Wednesday by President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as Pakistan's prime minister.

Ukraine launched a wave of drone attacks on Russia early Thursday — one of the largest attacks on Russia's capital since the Kremlin ordered the invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.

MIT researchers think they've worked out exactly how Russia's Burevestnik nuclear-powered missile flies. "It's almost certainly a terrible idea," one analyst said. "But it's not an impossible idea."

Ukraine carried out massive drone strikes on Moscow Thursday, in what appears to be its largest attack on Russia yet.

Trump signed a preliminary agreement with Iran yesterday to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. And, the president's approval rating has hit a record low, according to a new NPR poll.