united states

Trump Signs Order to Close Education Department

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order aimed at shutting down the Department of Education, a decades-long goal on the US right that objects to federal involvement in school systems run by individual states. "We're gonna shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible. It's doing us no good. We want to return our ...

Taliban and U.S. Officials Meet in Kabul to Discuss Detainees and Future Relations

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi held a rare meeting on Thursday with U.S. officials in Kabul, where they discussed detainees, his office said. "Bilateral relations, the release of prisoners, and consular services for Afghans in the United States" were among the topics discussed in the meeting between Muttaqi and U.S. official Adam ...

Iran FM Says Trump's Nuclear Talks Letter 'More of a Threat'

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that a recent letter sent by US President Donald Trump calling for new nuclear talks was "actually more of a threat", and that Tehran would respond soon. Araghchi told Iranian state television that while the letter purported to offer up opportunities, it was "actually more of a threat", ...

Houthi Media Reports New US Strikes on Yemen

Houthi media reported multiple US strikes on Wednesday in areas around Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, as the US military said its campaign against the Iran-backed insurgents was ongoing. According to the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV, "an American attack targeted the capital Sanaa... and the area of the town of Saada" in the north, later adding ...

EU Skewers Google, Apple over Tech Rules Despite Trump Threats

The European Union defied US threats of retaliation Wednesday by accusing Google of violating its digital rules -- which could trigger hefty fines -- and ordering Apple to make its iPhone interact better with rivals' devices. The moves risk opening up a new front in the already fraught relationship between the EU and President Donald Trump, who ...

Making Sense of Trump 2.0 and The Middle East

Elections matter. Only a few months ago, the Biden Administration struggled to assert its relevance amidst dramatic events in the Middle East. It had plenty to say, much of it contradictory, as it attempted to deal with the Democratic Party's split personality on Israel and the Palestinians while losing an election. The fragile ceasefires that ...

Zelensky Accuses Russia of New Strikes on Ukraine

Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of effectively rejecting a US-backed ceasefire proposal, reporting a barrage of strikes on civilian infrastructure hours after Moscow agreed only to pause attacks on the energy grid. Washington has been pushing for a full, 30-day ceasefire as a first step towards a wider settlement of the grinding ...

Houthi Media Reports US Strikes on Stronghold City Saada

The media channels of Yemen's Houthis reported late Tuesday strikes by the United States on the city of Saada, the birthplace of their movement in the country's north. "A strike by the US aggression" targeted the Saada governorate, said the Iran-backed Houthis' Saba news agency and Al-Masira TV, while witnesses told AFP there were three strikes ...

Zelensky Backs Energy Truce, But Needs 'Details' from Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said Ukraine was favorable to a US-proposed truce on strikes against energy infrastructure endorsed by Russia, but needed more "details" from Washington first. Speaking after a call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky also warned in an online briefing ...

Putin and Trump Agree on Halt to Ukraine Energy Attacks But No Ceasefire

Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday in a call with Donald Trump to halt attacks against Ukrainian energy targets but would not accept an immediate full ceasefire and insisted that the West halt all military aid for Kyiv. The US and Russian leaders spoke for more than an hour and a half and both expressed hopes for repairing relations wrecked by ...

Trump Veers Towards Courts Clash Over Migrant Flights

US President Donald Trump barreled towards a showdown with the courts Monday after his administration expelled alleged members of a Venezuelan gang under little-used, centuries-old wartime legislation. Trump, already pushing the law to its limits on several fronts, also claimed he had annulled pardons issued by Joe Biden on the grounds that his ...