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Assad's Fall Opens Path for US Strikes on ISIS

Bashar al-Assad's overthrow has cleared the way for US strikes against the Islamic State group in areas previously shielded by Syrian and Russian air defenses – but the jihadists may also try to exploit the vacuum left by his fall. The militant group,often referred to as ISIS or IS, rose out of the chaos of the Syrian civil war to seize swathes ...

Zelensky and NATO Leaders Discuss Next Steps in Brussels

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets Wednesday with NATO chief Mark Rutte and key European leaders in Brussels to discuss "next steps" on Russia's war as Donald Trump prepares to take office in the United States. The gathering due in the evening was set to bring together German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish leader Donald Tusk, Italian ...

Lagarde says ECB will continue to cut interest rates

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said Monday eurozone policymakers would keep cutting interest rates and warned that higher US tariffs under President-elect Donald Trump could hit growth in the bloc. "Even though we are not there yet, we are close to achieving our target" of two-percent inflation, Lagarde said in a speech at the Bank ...

Trump Taps Truth Social CEO to Lead Intelligence Advisory Board

US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named loyalist Devin Nunes, who heads his social media platform Truth Social, to serve as chairman of a White House intelligence advisory board. Nunes is a Republican ex-congressman from California who led the US House intelligence committee during the start of Trump's first presidential term. He has ...

RFK Jr. Revives JFK Conspiracy Debates in the Trump Era

More than 60 years later, the assassination of U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy continues to fuel conspiracy theories. The arrival of his nephew, Robert Kennedy Jr, as a minister under Donald Trump could now bring these theories as far as the White House. For a time, he was a candidate in November’s presidential election, but “RFK ...

'Maximum Pressure 2.0' on Iran: The First Step Toward the Regime's Collapse?

For several months now, international political discourse has largely centered around one key issue: Iran. More specifically, the repeated statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President-elect Donald Trump suggest that the main focus of the two allies is to apply maximum pressure on the Iranian regime. On one side, Trump ...

Asian Markets Retreat as China Pledges Fail to Spark Excitement

Asian markets fell Friday as China's latest vows to boost the beleaguered economy failed to stir much excitement, while traders looked ahead to a key Federal Reserve policy meeting next week. A tepid week was on course for a damp finish, with Wall Street offering a negative lead after fresh data pointing to a pick-up in inflation. Hong Kong and ...

Trump Reaffirms Solving Ukraine Crisis his Top Priority

Donald Trump has reaffirmed that solving the Ukraine crisis would be his top priority once he assumes office next month, describing the Middle East as a "less difficult situation." "I think we have to solve the Ukraine problem with Russia," the US president-elect told French magazine Paris Match in an interview recorded on Saturday and released ...

Assad Exit Puts US at Perilous Crossroads in Syria

For more than a decade, the United States has sought to keep out of Syria's political debacle, seeing no viable partner. Islamist rebels' toppling of strongman Bashar al-Assad has forced a change of tune and a debate over just what US interests are. Donald Trump, who returns to the White House in little more than a month, on the eve of Assad's ...

Change in Syria Jeopardizes Presidential Election Session on Jan. 9

On December 8, 2024, a historic shift reshaped Syria as Bashar al-Assad's regime fell to the opposition in just ten days. This seismic event reverberated through Damascus and the wider region, drawing attention to the Middle East’s uncertain future at a particularly delicate time, with Israel’s war on Hamas and the conflict with Hezbollah in ...

What Political Governance for Post-Assad Syria? (2/2)

Now that Bashar al-Assad's dictatorial regime has been overthrown, imagining what the “day after” might look like remains a challenge. Even more uncertain is the model of governance that could take shape in a post-Assad Syria. The rebel factions, collectively referred to as the “opposition forces,” form a disparate, profoundly ...

Global Reactions to Assad's Fall: World Powers Call for Stability

World powers vowed to work for stability in Syria and the surrounding region after Islamist-led rebels on Sunday toppled its longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Here is a round-up of key reactions: High alert: Russia Assad's ally Moscow said Russian troops in Syria were on high alert but that the rebels had "guaranteed" the security ...