Syria claimed Thursday a suicide bomber who killed a security forces member in Aleppo on New Year's Eve was in the Islamic State group (ISIS, ISIL or Daesh), which planned attacks on churches and gatherings.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announced that 2025 marked the worst humanitarian and demographic year for Palestinians, driven by Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and escalating violations in the occupied West Bank.
Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology said the country faced “one of the most complex cyberattacks” globally in recent days, targeting critical infrastructure linked to a domestic telecom operator.
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, said foreign intelligence agencies sabotaged sensitive equipment purchased by Iran in previous years, describing the actions as part of long-standing efforts to hinder the country’s technological progress.
Saudi authorities have executed 356 people in 2025, according to an AFP tally, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the Persian Gulf kingdom in a single year.
China accused Taiwan's president on Thursday of telling "lies" in a speech he gave vowing to defend the island's sovereignty after large-scale military exercices by Beijing, state media reported.
Former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called for a strategic shift in Iran’s domestic and foreign outlook, urging the country to prioritize peace, cooperation, and opportunity over perpetual confrontation and enemy-centered thinking.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian acknowledged public dissatisfaction and said the government bears responsibility for current challenges, urging officials not to blame external actors such as the US.
Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva has warned that normalizing US threats against its nuclear facilities will jeopardize the credibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Palestine was the deadliest place to work as a journalist in 2025, with the Middle East as a whole the most dangerous region for media professionals, according to a report by a global journalist union.
The ceremony marking the beginning of the New Year was held on Thursday morning, January 1, 2026, at the Saint Sarkis Cathedral in Tehran, with the participation of members of Iran’s Armenian community.
The Iranian daily Jomhouri-e Eslami has praised the government for refraining from describing participants in recent protests in several cities in Iran as “rioters,” arguing that such an approach helped prevent deviation from legitimate public demands.
A CIA assessment concluded that Ukraine did not try to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin at his country residence as alleged by the Kremlin, a source with knowledge of the matter has told NBC News.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has vowed to defend the democratic island's sovereignty in a New Year's speech, after China carried out military drills.
A member of Iran’s Basij volunteer force was killed and 13 others were injured during unrest in the city of Kouhdasht, in Lorestan province, according to a statement released by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in the province.
An informed source at Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced the identification and arrest of seven individuals linked to hostile groups in an operation that also led to the seizure of a large cache of smuggled arms.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated his country was "10 percent" away from a peace deal with Russia, but cautioned that the most important issues were still unsolved and that any agreement should not reward Moscow.
Hamas has condemned Israel's decision to ban several aid groups from operating in the Gaza Strip, urging the international community to prevent what it described as a move targeting Palestinians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his New Year’s Eve address on Wednesday that Russia believes it will prevail in Ukraine, where Moscow has been conducting a military offensive for nearly four years.
The Judiciary of Fasa County in Iran's Fars Province has denied reports claiming that one person was killed during an attack on the Fasa Governor’s Office, confirming that four of the attackers have been arrested.
The European Union warned Wednesday that Israel's threat to suspend several aid groups in the Gaza Strip from January would block "life-saving" assistance from reaching the population.
Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Sattar Hashemi says more than 80 percent of the country’s population uses VPNs and circumvention tools.
China announced on Wednesday that it had successfully completed military drills around Taiwan, including live-fire exercises simulating a blockade of key ports and attacks on maritime targets.
Russian Defense Ministry has released a map showing the route of the Ukrainian long-range drones that targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in Novgorod Region days ago.
