Kamala Harris will shatter one of the highest glass ceilings Wednesday when she takes the oath of office as America’s first woman vice president, blazing a trail in the most diverse White House ever. As running mate to incoming president Joe Biden, she helped bring Donald Trump’s turbulent rule to an end, rapping him during the campaign…
FOREIGN
UN Experts Seek End To Mass Executions In Iraq
UN human rights experts on Friday voiced alarm at reports that a further 50 terror convicts were facing execution in Iraq on Monday, as they urged Baghdad to halt all “mass executions”. Some 4,000 prisoners, most of them charged with terror-related offences, are reportedly on death row in Iraq, said a trio of experts who…
Biden Denounces ‘Irresponsible’ Trump Fight To Reverse Election
US President-elect Joe Biden accused Donald Trump of brazenly damaging democracy, as the incumbent’s campaign to reverse his election loss through fraud claims was dealt another blow with a recount in Georgia. Trump was behind “incredibly damaging messages being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions,” Biden told reporters in his…
Biden Speaks To Trump Allies Netanyahu, Modi
US President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday held his first talks since his victory with the prime ministers of Israel and India, allies of Donald Trump who has not conceded defeat. Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a notoriously rocky relationship with the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, that he was determined “to…
Ethiopian army accuses WHO chief of backing rebel forces
Ethiopia’s army chief on Thursday accused World Health Organisation boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – the country’s highest-profile Tigrayan abroad – of lobbying to send arms and support to leaders in the dissident region. Gen Birhanu Jula told reporters on Wednesday that the WHO director-general had urged unnamed neighbours to “oppose the war and for [the…
Israel Air Strikes Hit Iran Sites In Syria Killing 10
Israeli warplanes struck Syria Wednesday, hitting Iranian targets and killing 10 Syrian and foreign fighters in what the Israeli army called a retaliatory attack after explosive devices were found near one of its bases on the occupied Golan Heights. The airstrikes came hours before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was to land in Israel…
US To Slash Troop Levels In Afghanistan, Iraq
The US will slash troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq to their lowest levels in nearly 20 years of war after President Donald Trump pledged to end conflicts abroad, the Pentagon announced Tuesday. Rejecting concerns that precipitous drawdowns could give up all the US has fought for, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said around 2,000 troops would…
UK PM under fire over comments on power devolution
Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom Prime Minister, is under Fire for reportedly saying devolution had been a “disaster north of the border” and introducing it Tony Blair’s “biggest mistake” as prime minister. The remarks – first reported in the Sun – were made during a video call with Conservative MPs on Monday. First Minister and…
Israel to send first delegation to Sudan next week – Report
Israel is reportedly planning to send its first delegation to Sudan next week for talks between the two countries on the normalization deal establishing diplomatic relations announced last month. Quoting a source briefed on the provisional itinerary of the trip, Reuters reported that the delegation will leave Israel for Khartoum on Sunday. A report on…
UAE diplomat: Talks with US on F-35s began after normalization deal was signed
The Emirati ambassador to the United States said that talks with the US on sales of advanced jets to the UAE began only after Abu Dhabi and Jerusalem signed a normalization agreement in Washington in September. The Trump administration formally notified Congress on Tuesday that it intends to sell 50 stealth F-35 fighter jets to the UAE as…