USA

Iran denounces new US sanctions as 'sign of hostility'

Iran on Wednesday condemned a new round of US sanctions as a "clear sign of hostility" after Washington blacklisted more than 30 people and vessels linked to its oil trade. Washington announced the measures on Monday, targeting the head of the national oil company and others accused of brokering oil sales. It was the second wave of sanctions in ...

Macron and Trump Rekindle Le Bromance with a Touch of Tension

They hugged, they gripped hands, they touched knees and they backslapped. But they did not agree on everything. French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump rekindled the most touchy-feely bromance in world politics as they met on Monday for talks on Ukraine. The pair have a long history of public displays of affection dating ...

Palestinians Have Some Soul-Searching To Do

United States President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate the Gaza Strip and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East” has sparked widespread debate. Whether his plan is feasible remains to be seen. Regardless, Palestinians need a new modus operandi if they are to survive. They must recognize that leaders in the Middle East now ...

German Vote Winner Merz Faces Tough Talks to Build Govt

Germany's conservative election winner Friedrich Merz vowed to get to work Monday on the arduous task of building a new coalition government, warning "the world isn't waiting for us". Merz has warned against more paralysis in Berlin at a time US President Donald Trump is driving head-spinning change, the German economy is in ...

Senator Ronny Jackson Calls for a Security Monopoly by the Lebanese Army

A delegation from the US Congress, led by Senator Ronny Jackson, met on Saturday with the President of the Republic, Joseph Aoun, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, in the presence of the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson. At the end of the meeting, Jackson expressed the United States’ desire to see a new phase of peace and stability in ...

Trump Says Wants Musk to Be 'More Aggressive' in Federal Cuts

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would like his billionaire advisor Elon Musk to get "more aggressive" in implementing his reform agenda, cutting back the federal government. "Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Remember, we have ...

What Should America Do About Syria?

While Lebanese are focused intently on developments in Syria, the topic is absent in Washington. Yet what is happening there is one of the landmark geo-strategic developments of the Middle East of our times, the demise of a long-standing problematic regime for America and its friends and part and parcel of the reversal of fortunes of a major ...

Macron to Tell Trump: "You Can't Be Weak with Putin" Ahead of US Visit

President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France was entering a "new era" and that he planned to tell US President Donald Trump he could not "be weak" with Vladimir Putin. Macron spoke to the French ahead of a planned visit to the White House to meet Trump next week, as Europe scrambles to respond to his Ukraine war ...

Exclusive: Dr. Matthew Levitt: A Majority of Lebanese Are Annoyed by Hezbollah's Entry into War with Israel

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Matthew Levitt, the Director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explained how the Lebanese Army exceeded Washington’s expectations in its deployment in South Lebanon. He also explained that Lebanon and Israel should start discussing peace ...

US Appeals Court Keeps Lock on Trump's Birthright Order

An appeals court upheld an order on Wednesday blocking President Donald Trump from ending birthright citizenship for children whose parents are in the United States illegally. The emergency request was filed by the Justice Department in an attempt to clear the path for Trump's executive order, which has been blocked by judges in lower district ...

G20 Foreign Ministers Meet in South Africa Without US on Board

Top diplomats from the Group of 20 major economies will convene in South Africa on Thursday for a meeting dominated by a packed global agenda but overshadowed by a snub by the top US envoy. As a curtain-raiser to the G20 summit in November, the foreign ministers will gather for talks over two days, held for the first time in Africa. South ...

Trump’s Art of the Deal: Ukraine, Russia, and the $500 Billion Power Play

If you think diplomacy is about treaties and handshakes, you haven’t been paying attention. In the world of Donald J. Trump, geopolitics is just another business deal. And in his latest playbook for Ukraine, he’s offering a trade deal that sounds more like a corporate takeover than a peace agreement. Here’s the pitch: Ukraine, battered by ...