Yves here. I am surprised that Bolton has lasted this long. Bolton has two defining personal qualities that are not conducive to long-term survival with Trump: having a huge ego and being way too obvious about not caring about Trump’s agenda (even with the difficulties of having it change all […]
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CAIRO — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid out a new manifesto for American action in the Middle East on Thursday, telling a university audience here that “the age of self-inflicted American shame is over” and that the United States would take a far more activist role in the region, […]
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CAIRO — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo scathingly repudiated President Barack Obama’s approach to the Middle East on Thursday, using a speech in Cairo to reject what he called the previous administration’s timidity toward Islamic extremism and misguided outreach to Iran. A decade after Mr. Obama delivered a landmark speech, […]
Read MorePresident Donald Trump defended his decision to fire his Defense Secretary Gen. Jim Mattis, saying he was not pleased with progress on the war in Afghanistan. “What’s he done for me? How has he done in Afghanistan? Not too good, not too good,” Trump said. “I’m not happy with what he’s done in Afghanistan, and […]
Read MoreAccording to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill, a slim majority of surveyed U.S. voters support President Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from Syria and limit the country’s military presence in Afghanistan. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed stated they back the president’s decision, which shocked the nation when it was announced. […]
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BEIRUT, Lebanon — Turkey is threatening to invade Syria to eradicate Kurdish fighters. Syrian forces are rolling toward territory the Americans will soon abandon. Israel is bombing Iran-backed militias deep inside Syria. And Russia could soon move to crush the last vestige of the Syrian anti-government insurgency. The Syria that […]
Read MoreNBC News and a variety of other media outlets falsely reported that President Donald Trump did not visit U.S. troops in a combat zone during Christmastime. NBC has yet to retract its demonstrably fake headline, and has left the fake story up on its website as of publication of this article. On Wednesday afternoon, White […]
Read MorePresident Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump made a secret Christmas trip to visit the troops in Iraq, the White House revealed Wednesday. The president and the first lady departed late on Christmas night from Andrews Air Force base. The news was confirmed by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Twitter. President Trump […]
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Jim Mattis, as secretary of defense, has done his best to preserve and defend the system of global alliances that the United States spent the last 70 years building and leading. In his resignation letter on Thursday, Mr. Mattis wrote that the United States was the “indispensable nation in the […]
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Yves here. This Real News Network interview with Patrick Cockburn is an antidote to much of what you are seeing and hearing about Trump’s decision to have the US pull out of Syria. BEN NORTON: It’s The Real News Network, and I’m Ben Norton. In a shock to the world, […]
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The arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou produced a market meltdown in the morning, with the Dow down over 700 points, with stock retracing to only small losses for the major indices by the end of the session. However, the US extradition request, which presumably will lead to her being […]
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Yves here. We’ve attempted to be restrained in countering the Bush hagiography, since even though there is a great deal not to like about Bush the Senior’s actions and the revisionist history about them, it still seems a bit mean-sprirted to criticize him so close to his funeral (as in […]
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Yves here. While this piece gives a good summary of the underlying dynamics behind some of the big economic conflicts, it’s less precise on the state of play at some points than I’d like. This section from a new story in DW, China vows quick trade deal as Trump sends […]
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By Michael Kern, a newswriter and editor at Safehaven.com, Oilprice.com, and a writer at Crypto Insider. Originally published at CryptoInsider Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted two bitcoin addresses, announcing that the wallets associated Iranian citizens Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan had been added […]
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By Marshall Auerback, a market analyst and commentator. Produced by the Independent Media Institute Ever since the dollar replaced gold at the center of the global financial system, many outside the U.S. have complained about “dollar hegemony,”and the “exorbitant privilege” conferred on the U.S. by virtue of this hegemony. What […]
Read MoreEarlier this year, it was rumored that Spotify would arrive in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) sometime in Q4 2018. It seems the speculation was true, as Spotify has now launched in a handful of MENA countries — but only to those with invites. Spotify now appears to be live in Lebanon, Jordan, UAE, […]
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WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s new focus on threats from China and Russia after almost two decades of fighting terrorism “too often rests on questionable assumptions and weak analysis,” an independent bipartisan commission concluded in a sharply critical report issued on Wednesday that challenges President Trump’s commitment to supporting a strong […]
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The Trump administration is not ready to admit it, but its Middle East strategy is in deep trouble, now compounded by the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey last month. The administration’s recent pressure on the Saudis to seek a truce in their […]
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By Barkley Rosser, Professor of Economics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Originally published at EconoSpeak A curious coincidence is that the US midterm elections happened one day after the US reimposed its second round of illegal economic sanctions on Iran, with the focus on oil, shipping, and banking, […]
Read MoreEarlier this year, it was rumored that Spotify would arrive in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) sometime in Q4 2018. It seems the speculation was true, as Spotify has now launched in a handful of MENA countries — but only to those with invites. Spotify now appears to be live in Lebanon, Jordan, UAE, […]
Read MoreThis analysis is by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Edmond Christou and Philip Richards. It appeared first on the Bloomberg Terminal. ADCB’s LDR challenges in 4Q may limit gains: Earnings outlook Post-3Q Earnings Outlook: Increasing competition on liquidity among banks in 4Q will further challenge Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s effort to expand its lending capacity and current […]
Read MoreOn Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that if Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi Arabia there should be “all-out sanctions” and everything should be on the table. Graham said that if Saudi Arabia is responsible for Khashoggi’s death, there will be “hell to pay.” He added that this “means […]
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