Author: AFP
Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter has antagonized both sides of the US political divide, with Republicans crying hypocrisy and Democrats warning it undermines efforts to rein in Donald Trump. Biden’s announcement shocked Washington, after he entered the White House in 2021 vowing to restore the “integrity” of a justice system that Democrats said had been corrupted by Trump — and because he had specifically vowed not to reprieve his son. The president instead issued a “full and unconditional” pardon on Sunday, absolving 54-year-old Hunter Biden of any wrongdoing over the last decade, charged or otherwise, just ahead of…
Egypt’s foreign minister said Monday rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas were in Cairo for talks seeking to bring post-war Gaza under the full control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Hamas has been locked in a deadly conflict with Israel in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking massive retaliation. Gaza has been under the authority of Hamas since it used force to take the territory in 2007 from the Fatah movement, which currently rules over parts of the occupied West Bank under the PA. The two groups…
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “alarmed” by the escalation of violence in Syria and is calling for an immediate end to fighting, his spokesman said Monday. “All parties must do their utmost to protect civilians and civilian objects, including by allowing safe passage to civilians who are fleeing hostilities,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. “Syrians have endured the conflict for nearly 14 years. They deserve a political horizon that will deliver a peaceful future, not more bloodshed,” he added. Syria has been at war since President Bashar al-Assad cracked down on democracy protests in 2011, with subsequent fighting…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that an invitation to join the NATO military alliance was needed for his country’s survival as it struggles to fight Russian forces. “An invitation for Ukraine to join NATO is a necessary thing for our survival,” Zelensky said after talks with EU leaders in Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that his country needed security guarantees from NATO and more weapons to defend itself before any talks with Russia. “Only when we have all these items and we are strong, after that, we have to make the very important… agenda of meeting with one or another of the killers,” Zelensky said after talks with EU chiefs in Kyiv.
The White House is working on a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza but is “not there yet,” the US National Security Advisor told NBC on Sunday, with fighting in the conflict raging on as Arab leaders meet in Cairo to discuss the crisis. “We are working actively to try to make it happen. We are engaged deeply with the key players in the region, and there is activity even today,” said Jake Sullivan, according to a transcript released by the broadcaster. “There will be further conversations and consultations, and our hope is that we can generate a ceasefire…
Israel has no excuse for hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, a top German diplomat said on Sunday ahead of a conference in Cairo on the subject next week. The country must “at last keep its promises to fluidify humanitarian aid into Gaza and to allow sufficient humanitarian access at any moment”, said Tobias Lindner, the deputy foreign affairs minister, in a statement published ahead of his trip to Egypt. “There is no excuse for that. Israel’s right to legitimate self-defence finds its limits in international humanitarian rights.” Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said something similar…
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Sunday accused Serbia of employing so-called “Russian methods”, as the premier doubled down on accusations that Belgrade had masterminded an explosion targeting its infrastructure. “Serbia is copying Russian methods to threaten Kosovo and our region in general. Despite this, this effort is also destined to fail, as Kosovo is based on Western democratic values,” Kurti said during a press conference, after a blast Friday damaged a canal supplying the country’s two main power plants.
The UN nuclear agency has confirmed that Iran plans to install around 6,000 new centrifuges to enrich uranium, according to a report seen by AFP on Friday. “Iran informed the Agency that it intended to feed” around 6,000 centrifuges at its sites in Fordo and Natanz to enrich uranium to up to five percent, higher than the 3.67 percent limit Tehran had agreed to in 2015.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday ruled out a trade war with the United States after speaking with President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened stiff tariffs to halt illegal immigration. “There will not be a potential tariff war,” Sheinbaum, who has been scrambling to head off threatened tariffs of 25 percent on Mexican goods, told a daily news conference. She was speaking a day after a telephone call with Trump, who has threatened to slap tariffs on Canada and China in addition to Mexico over illegal immigration and drug trafficking. After their call, Sheinbaum and Trump offered differing accounts of…