If the sharing of private chats of top United States intelligence officials with a reporter “were a part of an episode of Veep [a satirical US TV series], I wouldn’t have believed it”, former Pentagon official Alex Wagner says. The chats touched on Yemen, Europe, and other foreign and domestic policy concerns. Wagner and military affairs journalist Kevin Baron tell host Steve Clemons that the inadvertent inclusion of the journalist in the Signal group chats indicates a level of “carelessness” that is more insidious than the Trump administration cares to admit.

Shattering months of uneasy calm, Israel bombed Beirut for the first time since November’s truce with Hezbollah. The strike came after rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory — the second such incident in a week. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged the army to arrest those responsible, calling it a threat to national security. With tensions reigniting on both sides, will peace hold in Lebanon?

Could Libya solve its political problems by revisiting a decades-old agreement that once brought its warring tribal factions together in national reconciliation? Since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been in a constant state of turmoil. Now, poet Ahmed al-Terkawi and composer Hanan al-Ruwaie embark on a creative project together to seek inspiration from Libyan history - specifically the 1946 Harabi Charter - to create a musical work of hope for Libya’s future. But first, they meet writers, historians, today’s tribal elders and descendants of the original charter signatories. This enables them to understand the country’s history and how Emir Idris al-Senussi persuaded warring tribes to set aside their differences and come together in an unusual act of reconciliation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to host China's Foreign Minister in Moscow later on Tuesday. Wang Yi is also set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The two countries have strengthened ties in recent years. The war on Ukraine will likely top the agenda.

Israel has carried out an air strike on the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from damaged buildings. At least 3 people have been killed and 4 others injured, that's according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The Israeli military says it struck a Hezbollah target, accusing the group of planning an imminent attack against Israel.

When the Assad regime fell in December 2024, opposition forces opened prison doors across Syria. For many, Assad’s demise was both a shock and a moment of long-awaited freedom. Yet for those who had endured years of torture, the scars – both physical and emotional – remain. How did they survive the unimaginable? On this week’s episode of Now You Know, we talk to Maysaa Al Hassan. She was freed after 11 years in prison. She shares her experience of survival, and why she’s speaking out now: to seek justice for herself and for the countless women who endured Syria’s brutal prison system.

Iran's Supreme Leader has warned of a forceful response if the US or its allies bomb his country. That follows a threat made by US president Donald Trump if there is no deal on Tehran's nuclear programme. How dangerous is this stand-off - and can a solution be found?

A French court has imposed a jail sentence on far-right leader Marine Le Pen and barred her from seeking public office after it found her guilty of embezzling European Union funds. The Paris court ruled on Monday that Le Pen used more than 3 million euros ($3.3m) of European Parliament funds to pay members of her National Rally (RN) party. Le Pen was also given a four-year prison sentence but would not spend any time behind bars. A judge ruled that two years of her sentence would be served under house arrest with an electronic tag, and the remaining two years suspended. Her conviction has thrown the French far-right into disarray and has likely scuppered her 2027 bid to become president.

Jeffrey Nice, the former lead prosecutor of Slobodan Milošević at the UN war crimes tribunal, condemned Israel’s killing of 15 Gaza emergency workers as a ‘shocking event’, dismissing its Hamas camouflage claim as a ‘bare assertion’ given their clear Red Crescent markings. He emphasised that attacking specially protected humanitarian personnel violates international law, noting that Israel failed to prove military proportionality. Nice stressed that firing where civilians are present is prohibited unless justified – a standard unmet here. The incident, he argued, reflects a pattern of ignoring legal obligations toward medics. His analysis exposes the hollowness of Israel’s defence under scrutiny. These remarks come amid escalating scrutiny of Israel’s Gaza conduct. The case underscores the urgent need to enforce protections for aid workers in conflict zones.

Hassan Diab, a Lebanese-Canadian professor, has spent nearly 20 years defending himself against accusations of involvement in a 1980 bombing of the Copernic Street synagogue in Paris. The twists and turns of his case raise serious questions about justice, accountability, and the possibility of a wrongful accusation.