Seven members of the United Kingdom’s left-wing Labour party have announced that they are leaving the party, owing, they said, to widespread anti-Semitic sentiment within the party. One of the departing MPs, Luciana Berger, told reporters that she could not “remain in the party that I … [Read More...]
Jared Kushner will unveil Trump’s Middle East (economic) peace plan
For foreign policy watchers, President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Speech was missing some crucial talking points, among them: His long-promised Middle East peace plan. There was some expectation that he might unveil it during the U.N. General Assembly in September. That didn’t happen. Nor … [Read More...]
Trump administration’s claim that new sanctions won’t hurt ordinary Venezuelans is ‘just a lie’
President Donald Trump’s administration, which supports opposition leader and self-proclaimed President Juan Guaidó, has increased pressure on Venezuela’s embattled President Nicolás Maduro by adding sanctions and the possibility of a troop deployment to neighboring Colombia to the mix. Mondays’ announcement of new sanctions on Venezuelan oil came … [Read More...]
U.S. hoping to sell Afghan president on risky Taliban peace talks
U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad left Qatar for Afghanistan on Sunday with a tough mission: To get Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s assurance that his government will cooperate with whatever deal the U.S. is hammering out with the Taliban over the past week. But Ghani — whose government … [Read More...]
What you need to know about the mess in Venezuela
The turmoil in Venezuela showed no signs of abating over the weekend as President Nicolás Maduro relented on his demand that American diplomats leave his country. The temporary concession came shortly after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking before the U.N. Security Council, on Saturday implored the nations of … [Read More...]
With reports of an attempted coup, military defections, is the end near for Venezuela’s Maduro?
Fresh protests have hit Venezuela, triggered by a shortage of goods and the continuing rise in prices for basic food and medical supplies. Other protests on Monday were triggered by the arrest of around two dozen National Guardsman who reportedly tried to overthrow the president, according to the Associated Press. … [Read More...]
Another year, another round of Saudi ‘reforms’ that aim to consolidate power
In the wake of a disastrous year, Saudi Arabia has embarked on yet another set of “reforms” that essentially amount to a reshuffling of cabinet ministers and (further) solidifying Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s grip on power. The most notable change is the removal of the country’s … [Read More...]
Trump’s Christmas visit to the troops was not the PR coup he was hoping for
In the shadow of the government shutdown and news that yet another migrant child had died in U.S. custody, President Donald Trump made his first visit to a war zone on Wednesday. Along with First Lady Melania Trump, the president, who has been in office for nearly two years … [Read More...]
Trump tweets support for Green Beret charged with killing unarmed Afghan man
President Donald Trump weighed in Sunday on the case of a former Green Beret charged with murdering a man while on deployment in Afghanistan in 2010. “At the request of many,” the president tweeted, “I will be reviewing the case of a ‘U.S. Military hero,’ … [Read More...]
Rebuking Trump’s policies, Senate to vote on ending U.S. support for war in Yemen
The Senate is set to vote late Wednesday or early Thursday on a resolution to end the United States’ support for the Saudi-led coalition that is responsible for thousands of civilian deaths in Yemen’s civil war. A largely symbolic vote at this point, joint resolution 54 (the shortened monicker of … [Read More...]
Sick, hungry, and cold: The dire situation migrants are facing at the U.S.-Mexico border
Several thousand Central American migrants are stuck in a dirty, cramped sports facility in Tijuana under conditions that are beginning to mirror refugee camps in Afghanistan. Reuters reports that in the roughly three weeks since the migrants have been there — many of them families with young children — they … [Read More...]
Saudi Arabia accused of torturing women’s rights activists with electric shocks and flogging
President Donald Trump’s emphatic statement of support for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday — following the CIA’s report that the Saudi Crown Prince almost certainly ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — barely had time to air out before fresh stories of Saudi transgressions made headlines. Amnesty International … [Read More...]
Botched Gaza raid triggers deadly fighting as Egypt steps in to broker ceasefire
In the worst violence since the 2014 hostilities between Palestinians and Israelis, Israel on Sunday and Monday launched ferocious air attacks on Gaza, which responded with rocket fire. As of Tuesday afternoon, Riyad Mansour, who represents the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and not the Hamas party, told the media … [Read More...]
After Khashoggi killing, US rethinks cooperation on Saudi nuclear plans and Yemen
As Turkish authorities continue to release new details on how dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, U.S. lawmakers and members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet are taking another look the administration’s close ties with Saudi Arabia. … [Read More...]
Despite diverted attention, ‘ongoing genocide’ of Rohingya happening in Myanmar
Read entire story. Source: ThinkProgress