Lauren Toms is a national security reporter for The Washington Times, covering national security committees on Capitol Hill, foreign affairs, defense, and diplomacy. She began covering politics at CNN during the 2016 presidential election, working closely with the national security and justice teams, and later joined Axios as an editor specializing in international and military coverage. Lauren holds a master's degree in U.S. law from Washington University in St. Louis school of law, and a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications from the George Washington University school of media and public affairs. She can be reached at ltoms@washingtontimes.com.
The daily death toll from coronavirus in Spain dropped to 87 overnight, the lowest it's been since the country enacted a lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic.
The first waiver issued by the Defense Department to allow a service member to serve their country under a specified gender other than that corresponding with their biological sex was granted to a U.S. Navy officer this week.
President Trump on Friday said that a planned "super-duper missile" will eventually have the ability to outpace existing nuclear weapons from China and Russia.
A group of 31 senators from both sides of the aisle on Friday issued a new warning against a recent decision to establish a 5G high-speed information network from Ligado, a Virginia-based satellite communications company, which they say has been "hurried" will be "harmful" to U.S. national security.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan, on Friday said the U.S. remains committed to the Afhgan peace process, despite repeated instances of the Taliban "violating the spirit" of the newly-minted peace deal with the U.S.
ISIS is responsible for the fatal attacks carried out on a maternity ward and a funeral procession in Afghanistan earlier this week, a senior U.S. diplomat said Friday.
Key trade talks between the United Kingdom and the European Union in the wake of Brexit appear to be crumbling after the U.K. on Friday said there has been "very little" progress made.
Lebanon is on total lockdown, Hong Kong is using electronic wristbands to enforce quarantines, and Russia has developed a smartphone app to track and make sure people with symptoms don't leave their homes.
The European Union's European Medicines Agency on Thursday said they are "optimistic" that a coronavirus vaccine would be available at the beginning of next year.
Sen. Richard Burr, North Carolina Republican, will not serve as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during the probe into his stock dealings earlier this year ahead of the coronavirus pandemic.
The State Department on Thursday issued a new advisory to the global maritime industry that highlights shipping practices that Iran, North Korea and Syria use to avoid sanctions.
The U.S. military on Thursday offered condolences to Iran after an Iranian warship accidentally fired a missile on its own support vessel during a training exercise in the Gulf of Oman, killing 19 people on board.
The World Health Organization issued a new warning Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic could cause or worsen existing mental health conditions and spark a crisis among millions of people who are experiencing isolation, poverty, illness or the death of loved ones.
Iran on Thursday dismissed "foolish" claims by the U.S. that it can reimpose all United Nations sanctions if an arms embargo on Tehran is not extended.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel on Wednesday to mark the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem and energize the Trump administration's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan push, despite ongoing regional unease over the coronavirus.
The European Union on Wednesday promised its member nations that it will see a tourist season this summer, despite high coronavirus tallies in some countries.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday said he is directing the military to position into an "offensive" mode in the wake of an attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul that killed 24 women, nurses and newborn babies.