On Thursday, President Biden said one of the goals of his upcoming trip to the Middle East to to “deepen Israel’s integration in the region” as Israel is hoping to form an anti-Iran alliance in the region with Washington’s Arab allies.
Oil-rich countries Saudi Arabia and the UAE cannot radically increase crude production anytime soon, French President Emmanuel Macron was overheard saying to his US counterpart Joe Biden on Monday.
The leaders were contemplating how to curb Russia’s oil revenue without triggering more energy price increases.
The brief conversation between Macron and Biden was filmed by reporters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in southern Germany.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced further dramatic cuts to food aid in Yemen, leaving millions of Yemenis already suffering through war unable to get enough food.
The WFP said on Sunday that it was forced into the rationing as a result of not receiving enough funding, global economic conditions and the continued knock-on effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The White House has confirmed that President Joe Biden will travel to the Middle East in mid-July. He intends to visit Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia. The trip will be used to address outstanding bilateral and multilateral issues, including convincing the Saudis to pump more oil to bring down fuel prices. Among the key topics to be discussed will be the alleged Iran threat, a possible security alliance between Israel and Gulf states backed by Washington, the status of the US Consulate General in Jerusalem, and the future of the Palestinian Authority.
President Biden’s visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia, scheduled for mid-July, is one of those things officials think must go right. The visits emphasize both nations’ respective regional power and influence, and Biden’s support for various positions of both.
Stuart Littlewood highlights the apparent indifference – words without deeds – of the World Council of Churches and church officials to the desperate calls of Palestinian Christians to save the Christian presence in the Israeli-occupied Holy Land. >>
Amira Galal, a specialist in online harmful speech, discusses the role of social media in the Syrian civil war, from fake news and images disseminated by both the opposition groups and the government, to recruitment for the pro- and anti-government militias, to the promotion of sectarianism — the latter often hidden in the comments sections of social media postings. >>
"The office of the Scottish Information Commissioner declared on 22 June that it would investigate the City of Edinburgh Council over its failure to adhere to Freedom of Information (FOI) Legislation on matters pertaining to the council’s Gaza twinning petition.
Amid President Biden’s controversial decision last week to soon meet with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman — a move that appears to be following the lead of prominent Middle East hawks — the Government Accountability Office released a new report finding that the State and Defense Departments
A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman smiling after receiving al-Hussein bin Ali medal, the highest civilian medal in Jordan awarded to heads of state and royalty, at al-Husseiniya Palace in the capital Amman on June 21, 2022. (File photo by AFP)
Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) has been secretly pursuing plans to legalize the ownership of property by Israelis in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a report citing Saudi sources has revealed.