Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he wanted changes to the Ukrainian constitution to give a special status to the Donbass region after the first bilateral talks with his Ukrainian counterpart in Paris. Putin, who said the meeting in Paris had been useful, said he needed more points of ... Read More »
Parliamentary Consultations on New PM Postponed to December 16
The Presidency on Sunday postponed the binding parliamentary consultations for naming a new PM from Monday, Dec. 9 to Monday, Dec. 16, after Dar al-Fatwa told the candidate Samir Khatib that there is Sunni consensus on re-nominating Saad Hariri for the post. “In light of the developments, at the desire ... Read More »
Trump impeachment: Vote on charges to remove president could happen this week, committee chairman says
A vote on impeachment charges against Donald Trump could take place this week, according to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Jerrold Nadler said draft articles were already being prepared based on the evidence heard during the inquiry over the last months. However, a decision on the final charges will ... Read More »
French strike against Macron reforms enters day two
A strike that crippled public transport and closed schools across France entered a second day on Friday, with trade unions saying they planned to keep going until President Emmanuel Macron backs down from a planned reform of pensions. Rail workers voted to extend their strike through Friday, while labor unions ... Read More »
Aoun calls for consultations to designate new PM
President Michel Aoun called for formal consultations on Monday with lawmakers to designate a new prime minister, a statement from the presidency said on Wednesday. Aoun is required to designate the candidate with the greatest support among Lebanon’s 128 lawmakers. The prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim according to ... Read More »
War-ravaged Yemeni children will suffer from hunger for 20 years, new report says
International Rescue Committee report says Yemen war will cost international community as much as $29 billion if it continues Even if the five-year war in Yemen were to end today, it would take two decades for the impoverished country’s children to reach the lesser level of malnutrition they suffered ... Read More »
‘Nasty’, ‘two-faced’, ‘brain dead’: NATO pulls off summit despite insults
NATO leaders set aside public insults ranging from “delinquent” to “brain dead” and “two-faced” on Wednesday, declaring at a 70th anniversary summit they would stand together against a common threat from Russia and prepare for China’s rise. Officials insisted the summit was a success: most notably, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ... Read More »
U.S. military completes pullback from northeast Syria, Esper says
The United States has completed its military pullback in northeastern Syria, settling into a more stable posture of about 600 troops in the rest of the country after repositioning and reducing forces, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. Esper’s remarks in an interview with Reuters could signal the end of a ... Read More »
Xinjiang: US House votes for targeted sanctions against Chinese officials over Muslim human rights abuse
China calls bill a ‘vicious attack’, coming days after Congress passed similar laws over Hong Kong The US House of Representatives has passed a bill calling for “targeted sanctions” against Chinese officials involved in the repression of Uighur Muslims. The bill, which also calls on Donald Trump to speak ... Read More »
‘Very, very nasty’: Trump clashes with Macron before NATO summit
U.S. President Donald Trump and French leader Emmanuel Macron clashed over the future of NATO on Tuesday before a summit intended to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Western military alliance. In sharp exchanges underlining discord in a transatlantic bloc hailed by backers as the most successful military pact in ... Read More »