The head of the U.S.-funded Al Hurra Arabic-language television and online news outlet has terminated most of his staff and curtailed TV programming.

The U.

A rare blue diamond was on display Tuesday at an exhibition of $100 million worth of the world’s rarest diamonds in the United Arab Emirates’ capital.

Moroccans have protested Israel’s latest offensive in Gaza and U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to displace Palestinians and clear the territory for development.

The United States has given an initial approval for the energy-rich Mideast nation of Qatar to buy eight armed MQ-9B Predator drones for its military, an estimated purchase worth nearly $2 billion.

A U.S. official says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is beefing up the Navy warship presence in the Middle East, ordering two aircraft carriers to be there next month as the U.S. increases strikes on Yemen-based Houthi rebels.

The truck attack in New Orleans by an Army veteran inspired by the Islamic State group unfolded amid months of warnings by officials about a resurgent terrorism threat.

Political analyst Daniel Cronrath and News4JAX anchor Bruce Hamilton discuss the ripple effects expected in the Middle East after the historic ouster of Syria's Bashar Assad that brought an end to his family's 50 years of brutal rule.

The deputy executive director of the U.N. World Food Program has been on whirlwind visits to hotspots in the Middle East and Sudan to assess dire humanitarian situations and escalating demands for food from millions of people trapped or fleeing conflicts.

The fall of Syria’s authoritarian government at the hands of jihadi militants has set off waves of jubilation, trepidation and alarm around the world.

One of the Middle East’s fastest-growing film festivals opened Thursday in Saudi Arabia, attracting filmmakers and stars from around the world to present over 120 films from 81 countries in Jeddah’s historic Al-Balad district.

One of the Middle East and North Africa’s largest film festivals is openiong in Morocco, drawing actors and directors from throughout the world to present 70 features from 32 countries.

The Biden administration kept incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s administration closely apprised of its efforts to broker the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah that took effect early Wednesday.

The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is sending additional bomber aircraft and Navy warships to the Middle East to bolster the U.S. presence in the region.

Many American voters are concerned that the ongoing situation in the Middle East will escalate into an even broader conflict.

Global oil prices are falling sharply after a retaliatory strike by Israel over the weekend targeted Iranian military sites rather than its energy infrastructure as had been feared.

Israel has unleashed predawn airstrikes against military sites in Iran.

Israel has attacked Iran with pre-dawn airstrikes in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired on Israel earlier this month.

On Path to the Polls this week, News4JAX anchor Bruce Hamilton talks with Nancy Soderberg, a former UN Ambassador and expert on American foreign relations, about tensions in the Middle East, the U.S. policy on Ukraine and more.

Israeli military strikes are targeting Iran’s armed proxies across a nearly 2,000-mile stretch of the Middle East and are threatening Iran itself.

Oil prices climbed this week as unrest in the Middle East escalated.

Wars, a refugee crisis, famine, and artificial intelligence could all be recognized with Nobel Prizes.

Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel, the latest in a series of escalating attacks in a yearslong conflict between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies.

U.S. stocks pulled back from their records after a sharp escalation of tensions in the Middle East raised worries about potential disruptions to the flow of oil.

The Pentagon says is sending a “few thousand” additional troops to the Middle East to bolster security and to be prepared to defend Israel if necessary.

A U.S. Navy replenishment ship operating in the Middle East has sustained damage and the cause is under investigation.

The Pentagon says the U.S. is sending a small number of additional troops to the Middle East in response to a sharp spike in violence between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon that is raising the risk of a greater regional war.

The U.S. is sending several additional Air Force fighter jet squadrons to the Middle East, beefing up what has already been an increased military presence there as the region teeters on the brink of all-out war.

The U.S. has imposed sweeping sanctions against hundreds of firms across Russia, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, accusing them of providing products and services that enable Russia’s war effort and aiding its ability to evade sanctions.

The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area.

Bob Woodward’s next book, continuing a long tradition of election year releases, will focus on the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and their place in American presidential politics.

Top U.S. national security leaders are calling for calm in the Middle East and say they are directly pressing Israel, Iran and others to avoid escalating the conflict.

The Pentagon has announced that the U.S. will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region.

The Pentagon has announced that the U.S. will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region.

The helicopter crash in which Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and other officials were killed is likely to reverberate across the Middle East, where Iran’s influence runs wide and deep.

More than 500 people went to Naval Station Mayport Sunday morning to welcome the heroes aboard the USS Carney who returned after a dangerous and historic seven-month deployment in the Middle East.

The USS Carney will return to Naval Station Mayport on Sunday morning after a dangerous and historic seven-month deployment to the Middle East.

The USS Carney returned to the United States after a dangerous and historic seven-month deployment from Naval Station Mayport to the Middle East.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China this coming week as Washington and Beijing try to keep ties on an even keel despite major differences on a range of issue, from the Middle East to opioids.

Israel’s military chief says Israel will respond to Iran’s weekend missile strike.

Big banks warned of an uncertain year ahead after mixed financial results during the first quarter in an environment of stubbornly high inflation and geopolitical clashes in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere.

Congressional and maritime leaders met in Miami on Friday to discuss port safety, security and infrastructure.

Iran has marked the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel’s continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Conflict in the Middle East is having a global ripple effect in trade and shipping, as the Houthis, a group in Yemen, continue to attack ships moving through the Suez Canal, a major route for transporting goods around the world.

The U.S. and Britain hit dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen this weekend, continuing to strike back after attacks on American and international ships in the region by Iran-backed groups.

After three years of exceptional sales growth, McDonald’s is returning to Earth.

Local servicemembers are increasingly in the line of fire.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is raising concerns over a series of recent U.S. military strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The U.S. Navy’s top Mideast commander says Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels during Israel’s war against Hamas.

Jax is ready: that’s the word from local officials as they gear up for an incredibly busy next couple of days.

Henry Kissinger's legacy in the Mideast is the pursuit of what's possible, not necessarily peace, in one of the world's most intractable conflicts.

Countries in the Middle East that have normalized or are considering normalizing relations with Israel are coming under growing public pressure to cut those ties because of Israel’s war with Hamas.

Russia has issued carefully calibrated criticism of both sides in the war between Israel and Hamas.

The White House is developing “prudent contingency planning” to evacuate Americans from the Middle East in case the Israel-Hamas war spreads into a broad regional conflict.

The Pentagon has sent advisers, including a Marine Corps general versed in urban warfare, to Israel to assist in its plans to conduct a ground assault in Gaza.

Fifty years after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the current crisis in the Middle East has the potential to disrupt global oil supplies and raise prices.

The explosion of Israeli-Palestinian violence has Arab leaders faulting a Biden administration policy that moved away from big U.S. pushes for a broad Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

The final members of a group touring Israel with First Baptist Church Fernandina Beach arrived home safely Sunday night after being stuck in the Middle East amid the ongoing turmoil of the war between Israel and Hamas.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are meeting with national security officials as the Israel-Hamas conflict intensifies, according to the White House.

Numerous people gathered at the University of North Florida Monday night to pray and stand in solidarity with Israel after a surprise attack from Hamas caused carnage in the Middle East.

Several dozen pro-Palestinian people gathered at the Duval County Courthouse Monday to support what they call a Palestinian revolution against Israel.

As we cover the brutal fighting in Israel and the Gaza Strip, we want to take a moment to go over the key names that are dominating headlines across the globe.

Among the ships accompanying the USS Ford will be two ships from Naval Station Mayport: the USS Carney and the USS Thomas Hudner. Both are guided missile destroyers.

Officials in Kuwait and Lebanon have moved to ban “Barbie” as the film is set to open across the Middle East.

Jill Biden will promote women and youth empowerment and plans to attend a royal wedding in Jordan during an upcoming trip to the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan in March 2023.

Economies across the Middle East and Central Asia will likely slow this year as persistently high inflation and rising interest rates bite into their post-pandemic gains.

A rights group says in a new report that security agencies and government officials across several countries in the Middle East and North Africa have been using social media platforms and mobile dating apps to crack down on LGBTQ people.

A Russian arms dealer, his son and a group of front companies across Asia, Europe and the Middle East and their leadership have been targeted for U.S. sanctions in an effort to quell Russia’s access to weapons to continue its invasion of Ukraine.

Patriot missile systems have long been a hot ticket item for the U.S. and allies in contested areas of the world as a coveted shield against incoming missiles.

The U.S. team’s victory over Iran at the World Cup was closely watched across the Middle East.

Polish soldiers have begun laying razor wire along Poland’s border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East boarded a U.S. ballistic missile submarine in the Arabian Sea on Wednesday.

They literally run the country.

The eastern Mediterranean and Middle East are warming almost twice as fast as the global average, with temperatures projected to rise up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century if no action is taken to reverse the trend, a new report says.

The United States military says it flew a pair of nuclear-capable B-52 long-distance bombers over the Middle East in a show of force, the latest such mission in the region as tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran.

Agreements to unblock Ukrainian grain stuck at Black Sea ports for nearly six months of war also gave a boost to Russia's food and fertilizer.

President Joe Biden has wrapped up his four-day visit to the Middle East.

President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East comes as the region is experiencing dramatic changes and struggling to address deep problems.

The World Health Organization says the number of coronavirus cases rose by 18% in the last week, with more than 4.1 million new cases reported globally.

The United Nations says prices for world food commodities like grains and vegetable oils have reached their highest levels ever because of Russia's war in Ukraine.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan — when the faithful fast from dawn to dusk — has begun in much of the Middle East, where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent energy and food prices soaring.

Senior U.S. commanders tell Congress that the complete U.S. military withdrawals from Afghanistan and Somalia last year have made it more difficult for the U.S. to counter terror groups that aspire to attack America and its allies.

The World Health Organization says the number of new coronavirus cases and deaths globally have continued to fall in the past week.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has brought up deep divisions in the Middle East, where Moscow has made itself a key player.

The Saudi foreign minister says his country views Cyprus as a “bridge” between the Middle East and the European Union, helping the 27-nation bloc “understand what’s going on” in the region.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike group to stay in the Mediterranean Sea region rather than move on to the Middle East, amid worries about the buildup of thousands of Russian troops near the Ukraine border.

Officials say that after months of study, the Pentagon has decided no immediate major changes are needed in the global positioning of U.S. forces.

The World Health Organization says the number of coronavirus cases has risen in Europe for the fifth consecutive week, making it the only world region where COVID-19 is still increasing.

A climate change conference will underscore to policymakers in the Middle East and the east Mediterranean that the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is needed urgently because greenhouse gas emissions are helping to drive up regional temperatures faster than in many other inhabited parts of the world.

Among the tear-filled, joyous reunions Saturday when the USS Thomas Hudner returned to Mayport, News4Jax captured a very special meeting between a father and son.

The European Union has promised to help Lithuania cope with an influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa, which the Baltic nation says has been encouraged by authorities in neighboring Belarus as part of their standoff with the West.

A top U.S. commander says that as the United States scales back its military presence across the Middle East to focus on great power competition with China and Russia, it risks giving those two countries a chance to fill the gap and expand their influence around the Gulf.

The top U.S. commander for the Middle East says finding better ways to counter attacks by small drones across the region is a top priority and that the U.S. is still behind the curve on solutions.

Surges in violence and scenes of civilian suffering are testing President Joe Biden’s resolve to wrench America’s foreign policy focus and troops away from the hotspots of the Middle East and Afghanistan.

The top U.S. commander for the Middle East says he will make recommendations to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in early June on how to monitor and fight terrorist groups in Afghanistan from beyond its borders after all American forces withdraw.

Dozens of people protested to free Palestine on Saturday night outside City Hall in Jacksonville.

Economies across the Middle East are recovering from the coronavirus pandemic faster than anticipated.

The Biden administration is moving again to increase U.S. assistance to the Palestinians as it fires up a new Mideast policy that is directly opposite of the one pursued by its predecessor.

The United States says it is giving $15 million to vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a boost to the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority had only secured 10,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and 2,000 shots from Israel for the roughly 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. But in recent weeks, it has inoculated over 100,000 Palestinian laborers in the West Bank who have permits to work inside Israel and its West Bank settlements. Wennesland said the U.N. and its partners will continue to support Palestinian vaccination efforts, expressed appreciation for Israel's essential role in deliveries, and urged support for the Palestinian COVID-19 response. U.S. envoy Thomas-Greenfield announced the $15 million contribution as Israel awaits the final results from Tuesday’s fourth parliamentary elections in two years.