Slovenia, the birthplace of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, held a closely contested parliamentary election Sunday, with populist opposition leader Janez Janša — an ally of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — running neck-and-neck with the ruling liberal party.

Hungary’s election campaign turned increasingly tense over the weekend as an opposition politician was attacked with a knife and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán faced loud protests during a campaign speech, underscoring deep divisions ahead of the April 12 vote.

The confrontation between the United States and Iran escalated sharply this weekend after President Donald Trump issued a stark ultimatum threatening to “obliterate” Iran’s power infrastructure if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours — one of the world’s most critical chokepoints.

Iran escalated its conflict with the United States by launching two long-range missiles at the U.S.-U.K. base on Diego Garcia—its first confirmed use of intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The strike, targeting a base about 2,500 miles away, revealed capabilities far beyond what many analysts had expected.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump used a major conservative gathering in Hungary to endorse Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ahead of a high-stakes April 12 election, as warnings over mass migration and what speakers described as the “Islamization of Europe” dominated the conference.

Human rights activists and senior officials have expressed concern about Russia’s interference in Hungary’s upcoming elections after revelations that a former interpreter of Russian President Vladimir Putin is part of an international observation mission overseeing the April 12 vote.

In a setback to those hoping for regime change in the Islamic Republic, U.S. President Donald J. Trump signaled Friday that he may begin “winding down” military operations against Iran, saying Washington is close to achieving its objectives.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is expected to visit Hungary in a last-minute show of support for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who faces his toughest election since returning to power in 2010, officials familiar with the planning confirmed.

Anti-immigration and local parties made gains in municipal elections in the Netherlands, where concerns over rising migration from mainly Islamic countries, the financial impact of climate policies, and increased defense spending have dominated national and local debates.

European Union leaders condemned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s decision on Thursday to block a 90 billion euro ($98 billion) loan for Ukraine, linking his stance to a dispute with Kyiv over Russian oil supplies.

Israeli police announced Monday they will deploy heavily around the Temple Mount compound throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as Palestinian officials accused Israel of imposing new restrictions at the sensitive Jerusalem site.

A large Second Temple–era stone workshop that supplied Jerusalem’s Jewish population some 2,000 years ago has been uncovered on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Sunday that Israel will not accept any arrangement allowing Hamas to retain weapons, warning that the terror group must fully disarm or face a renewed Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday that countries participating in his Gaza “Board of Peace” have pledged more than $5 billion toward humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip, along with committing thousands of personnel to support new security arrangements in the enclave.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that its advanced David’s Sling air and missile defense system has completed a series of complex modernized tests, a development officials say bolsters the country’s defensive posture as tensions with Iran escalate and the United States prepares military options that could include direct strikes.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has met victims’ families and survivors of Australia’s worst-ever terrorist and antisemitic attack that killed more than a dozen people, amid mounting tensions between the two nations.

Efforts to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure in Gaza are moving forward according to plan, despite tensions surrounding the ceasefire, a senior official involved in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative told Ynet in an exclusive report Wednesday.

Congressional efforts to halt the U.S. military’s operations in Iran have now failed twice, with the U.S. House tanking a War Powers Resolution only a day after it was rejected in the Senate.

The Trump administration has ended federal funding for gender-transition surgeries and cross-sex hormone treatments for transgender inmates in federal prisons, a policy shift officials say will save taxpayers nearly $2 million.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s newly announced 15% global import tariff is expected to take effect sometime this week as the administration moves to rebuild its tariff framework after a recent Supreme Court ruling struck down part of the president’s trade agenda.

President Donald Trump met Wednesday with leaders of major technology companies at the White House as they formally backed a new initiative designed to prevent the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers from driving up electricity prices for American consumers.

Stocks rebounded after a report that Iran made indirect contact with the United States to negotiate an end to the war in the Middle East, boosting hopes that the conflict could be short-lived.

The U.S. State Department on Monday urged Americans to immediately depart more than a dozen Middle Eastern nations as the war with Iran entered its third day and regional security conditions deteriorated.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of plaintiffs in a lawsuit against a California law that allowed public schools to conceal a student’s “gender transitions” from their parents, a policy SCOTUS ruled likely violates the First and Fourteenth amendments.

Nigerian police have confirmed that a large group of Christian worshippers were kidnapped by suspected Muslim gunmen from three churches in a remote area of Nigeria’s northern Kaduna State, reversing an earlier denial that authorities said had been “widely misinterpreted.”

The era of foreign missionaries in Turkey is drawing to a close as authorities increasingly detain, deport, or bar Christian workers from reentering the Muslim-majority nation, according to church leaders and human-rights advocates.

A record 388 million Christians faced persecution and were at risk of violence worldwide over the past year—eight million more than in previous periods—according to new findings by Christian charity Open Doors.

There was mounting concern Monday over the fate of an Egyptian Christian who hosts a channel on the video-sharing platform YouTube, after authorities sentenced him to five years of hard labor for content that rights groups say defended Christianity online.

The wife and daughter of a late Anglican priest who died in captivity have regained their freedom after nearly three months in the hands of kidnappers, as concern mounted Monday over the abductions of more than 150 worshippers in coordinated attacks on churches in northern Nigeria, officials and sources said.

Iran’s Islamic rulers have jailed more Christians amid a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests that a network of Iranian doctors says has killed up to 18,000 people.

A Protestant pastor held in incommunicado detention for almost six months in Nicaragua has been released, Christians confirmed Thursday.