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An F-15E Strike Eagle like the one shot down in Iran.

How a group of commandos pulled off risky night mission to extract US airman from deep inside Iran

An air force officer of an F-15E Strike Eagle shot down by Iran spent a day in hostile territory with little more than a pistol for protection.

  • Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper, Greg Jaffe and Julian E. Barnes

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Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro.

‘The Crab’: The Castro who could end communism in Cuba

The grand-nephew of Fidel Castro is shaping up to be the man who could end his family’s decades-long stalemate with the US – and perhaps the Castro dynasty altogether.

  • Benedict Smith
Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran in January, just before the crackdown started.

Israel thought it could spur rebellion inside Iran. That hasn’t happened

Donald Trump’s hopes that an Israeli plan to ignite an internal uprising against Iran’s theocratic government could bring the war to a swift end have so far been dashed.

  • Mark Mazzetti, Julian E. Barnes, Edward Wong and Ronen Bergman
Smoke and flames rising from airstrikes on Tehran on Saturday night (local time).

US ground invasion of Iran may not be enough to oust Iran’s regime: report

The findings of a classified report by the National Intelligence Council have raised doubts about Donald Trump’s stated objective of electing the next supreme leader of Iran.

  • John Hudson and Warren P. Strobel
In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Israel hacked Tehran traffic cameras to spy on Khamenei

Israeli spies spent years watching Iran’s late supreme leader and his entourage on the streets of their own capital city.

  • Allegra Mendelson
A satellite image shows heavy damage to Khamenei’s compound in Tehran.

How the CIA pinpointed – and doomed – a gathering of Iranian leaders

Shortly before the US and Israel were poised to launch an attack on Iran, the US spy agency zeroed in on the location of perhaps the most important target: the country’s supreme leader.

  • Julian E. Barnes, Ronen Bergman, Eric Schmitt and Tyler Pager
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A plane carrying captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro lands at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York.

US plans to ‘run’ Venezuela and tap its oil reserves, Trump says, after operation to oust Maduro

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro spent the night in a New York prison cell after he was captured by US special forces in a brazen military raid.

  • Michael Koziol
At least seven explosions have been reported, while the sound of aircraft could also be heard.

Trump claims US carried out strikes on Venezuela and captured president

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife has been flown out of the country, Donald Trump claimed on his social media platform.

This image made from undated video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, shows a man in camouflage standing by a downed drone at an undisclosed location that it said was one of the Ukrainian drones involved in an alleged attack on a residence of President Vladimir Putin this week

‘Laughable’: Moscow’s claim of drone attack on Putin residence slapped down

US national security officials have found that Ukraine did not target Putin or his Novgorod home, a conclusion backed up by a CIA assessment.

  • Gram Slattery and Jonathan Landay
It's believed that Nanda Devi was hit by multiple avalanches when the group was trying to scale one of the peaks.

How the CIA lost a nuclear device at the top of the world

On a mission to spy on China, a team of hand-picked climbers managed to mislay a plutonium-laden device in the remote Himalayas. It has never been found.

  • Jeffrey Gettleman and Hari Kumar