Author: Daily Sabah With Reuters
Three federal judges will consider on Friday whether Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting team known as DOGE will have access to Treasury Department payment systems and potentially sensitive data at U.S. health, consumer protection, labor and education agencies. The Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has swept through federal agencies since Republican Donald Trump became president last month and put the chief executive of carmaker Tesla in charge of rooting out wasteful spending as part of Trump’s dramatic overhaul of government. In Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas will consider a request by Democratic state attorneys general to extend a temporary block…
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday used his speech at the Munich Security Conference to criticize Europe for what he said was censorship of free speech and said the continent faces a “threat from within,” without offering any specifics on ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. At several points in his speech, Vance minimized the risk of political interference by Russia, taking a similar stance to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has railed against claims by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election. “For years, we’ve been told that everything we fund and support…
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio discussed Syria, Gaza, and the Ukraine-Russia war, as well as bilateral issues during their first in-person meeting in Munich on Friday, according to the information released by the Turkish foreign ministry sources. Fidan told Rubio about Türkiye’s views on measures that regional countries in the Middle East can take against Daesh [ISIS], the diplomatic sources said, adding he had also called for the ceasefire in Gaza to be made permanent. The two also “extensively discussed” possible developments on the achievement of peace between Ukraine and Russia, the diplomatic sources said.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday backed a German far-right party as an eligible political partner in remarks rebuffed by Berlin as unwelcome interference in an upcoming election. The anti-immigration AfD, currently polling at around 20% ahead of the February 23 general election, has pariah status among other major political parties in a country with a taboo about far-right politics because of its Nazi past. In a policy dubbed the “firewall”, parties have formed a consensus not to work with the AfD, which is under surveillance by the German domestic intelligence service. In an apparent reference to the catchword,…
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said there were signs that cooperation with the United States on defence could continue but Europe must in any case do everything it can to better guarantee its own security. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio, to be broadcast on Sunday, Scholz said everything must be done to ensure NATO can continue to function, although this “will not be an easy task.” Scholz comments come after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Europe on Thursday against treating America like a “sucker” by making it responsible for its defence.
NATO has agreed on a plan to increase its rapid reaction capabilities, Poland’s defence minister said at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday. “A plan has been adopted to increase rapid-reaction capabilities,” Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters. “In practice, it is an increase in the capabilities of protection, especially of the eastern flank of NATO, especially Poland, by all allied forces.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Tehran’s enemies may be able to strike the country’s nuclear centres but they cannot deprive it of its ability to build new ones. He made his comments after the Washington Post reported that U.S. intelligence believes Israel is likely to launch a pre-emptive attack on Iran’s nuclear programme by the middle of the year. “They threaten us that they will hit nuclear facilities… If you (the enemy) strike a hundred of those we will build a thousand other ones… You can hit the buildings and the places but you cannot hit those…
President Mahmoud Abbas faced criticism from allies and foes alike on Tuesday over a decree overhauling payments to families of Palestinians killed or jailed by Israel, a move to satisfy a U.S. demand that will likely deepen his unpopularity. Palestinian Authority leader Abbas, 89, issued the decree on Monday overturning the system, long condemned by critics as rewarding attacks on Israel but viewed among Palestinians as a vital source of welfare for detainees’ families. The sudden announcement seems aimed at removing a potential source of tension with U.S. President Donald Trump and an attempt to preserve the PA’s role as…
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he hoped to reach a deal on critical minerals with the United States at the Munich Security Conference later this week after a top U.S. official presented him with a first draft agreement in Kyiv on Wednesday. Zelenskiy told a joint news conference that he had a productive and constructive discussion with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He said they did not discuss natural resources in Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia.
Three detainees have been released from detention in Belarus, including one American, U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler told CNN in an interview on Wednesday. “We’ve gotten three detainees out in Belarus,” Boehler said. He did not name the U.S. citizen.