US President Donald Trump has threatened ‘economic D-Day’ on any countries that help or do business with Iran
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi as a presidential adviser, state media said on Friday, days after Abdi announced the dissolution of his Kurdish forces under an integration deal with Damascus. "Mustafa Khalil Abdi is appointed as adviser to the presidency of the republic," announced the decree, signed by Sharaa and published by state news agency SANA
Stocks mostly rose Friday ahead of a closely watched speech by Federal Reserve boss Kevin Warsh that investors will be parsing for clues about the outlook for interest rates amid elevated inflation and no sign of an end to the Middle East crisis. With the euphoria following Nvidia's blistering earnings report petering out, the attention is back on the economy as debate surrounds if or when the US central bank will tighten monetary policy
Negotiators representing the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have agreed to a roadmap for peace. The US State Department, a mediator, released a joint statement
The high representative for Gaza in US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace warned Wednesday of a "point of no return" if the Israel-Hamas ceasefire breaks down. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing a tough re-election fight, earlier this month publicly rejected the latest part of a US plan aimed at ending the devastating Gaza war
Aug 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department is preparing to return diplomats to embassies in the Middle East that were evacuated before and during the war with Iran, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing an internal State Department document. The return of Foreign Service officers and the scaling back of emergency measures at U.S. missions in the region could begin as early as this week, the report said. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report. The U.S. Department of State could not immediately be reached for comment outside regular business hours
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dawoud Abu Alkas CAIRO/GAZA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Palestinians in Gaza said on Monday Donald Trump's touting of a deal aimed at disarming Hamas and ending the war was out of touch with their worsening reality, after Israel killed 18 people in one of the deadliest days since a ceasefire last year. The U.S. president on Thursday declared "a major milestone" towards implementing the Gaza peace plan agreed last October, saying that Hamas would disarm and Israel would withdraw in phases
The Pentagon announced a $22.9 billion contract with Raytheon on Monday for Tomahawk missiles amid reports of a shortfall due to the war with Iran. Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the contract will "accelerate Tomahawk missile delivery to our warfighters at unprecedented speed." "Guaranteeing our naval and joint forces have the lethal firepower they need to deter aggression and protect the homeland is paramount," Cao said in a statement. "The Department is utilizing every available tool to meet the demands of our current operations."
By Pesha Magid QUSRA, West Bank, Aug 17 (Reuters) - He watched from thousands of miles away on a security camera feed as militant Israeli settlers encircled his West Bank house, fearing he could lose his home forever amid increasing Israeli seizures of Palestinian property in the occupied territory. Loui Ridi, a Palestinian American living in Toledo, Ohio, owns one of three homes that have been under Israeli settler siege for nearly a week in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, a case that has drawn U.S. condemnation
The Trump administration is expected to rescind the label on Monday, a US official said
A federal judge in Manhattan ruled against the State Department's suspension of immigrant visas
UN inspectors this week visited several undeclared Assad-era Syrian nuclear sites for the first time — including some used to store nuclear material. Why it matters: The inspections by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi and his team came after diplomatic efforts by the Trump administration, first reported by Axios, that produced understandings with both Syria and Israel. It marked the first time the IAEA was given full access to suspicious nuclear sites in Syria. Flashback: The Assad regime had developed a secret nuclear program centered on the clandestine Al-Kibar reactor. After Israel bombed the reactor in 2007, the Syrian nuclear program was mostly destroyed. But several research-and-development and storage sites remained, though they were mostly inactive.After the fall of the Assad regime, the IAEA signed an agreement with the new Syrian government giving it access to Al-Kibar and several other sites connected to Syria's past nuclear activity.One facility that Israel and the U.S. have been closely monitoring the past two years is known as "Site 99."Two Israeli officials said the Assad regime stored nuclear material there that was part of the Al-Kibar nuclear reactor project. Driving the news: At a press conference with Grossi on Tuesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said his government sent a letter to the IAEA on July 17 disclosing the nuclear material and inviting UN inspectors to visit the site. Grossi said IAEA inspectors visited the Al-Kibar nuclear reactor site in Deir Ez-Zor and "observed ongoing excavation activities" taking place in coordination with the IAEA. Grossi said he and his team visited an undeclared location outside Damascus where "several tons of natural uranium metal" were stored. They also visited a location "where large quantities of graphite are stored," material that is also related to past nuclear activities at Al-Kibar. What they're saying: "We agreed with the Syrian government that th