Category: 2. Middle East

Donald Trump became the first US president in 25 years to meet a Syrian leader on Wednesday after he offered sanctions relief in hopes of offering a new path to the war-battered country.

Trump, in Riyadh on the first state visit of his second term, met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, an erstwhile Islamist guerrilla turned interim president after the December overthrow of longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad.

The two held brief talks ahead of a larger gathering of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia during…

United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher on Tuesday called on the UN Security Council to take action “to prevent genocide” in Gaza, delivering a scathing account of Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territory.

Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, demanded that Israel lift its aid blockade on Gaza, where its offensive has killed tens of thousands and reduced much of the enclave to rubble.

“For those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence…

United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher on Tuesday called on the UN Security Council to take action “to prevent genocide” in Gaza, delivering a scathing account of Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territory.

Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, demanded that Israel lift its aid blockade on Gaza, where its offensive has killed tens of thousands and reduced much of the enclave to rubble.

“For those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence…

The UN said Israel’s approval of a land registration process in the occupied West Bank risks further “legitimizing” its occupation over Palestinian territory, Anadolu reports.

“We think it’s a dangerous movement in terms of legitimizing the occupation. We believe that the West Bank is part of the occupied Palestinian territory,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

The comments came after reports about the Israeli Cabinet…

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will order the removal of “brutal and crippling” US sanctions on Syria after consultations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other regional leaders, Anadolu reports.

“After discussing the situation in Syria with the crown prince, your crown prince, and also with President Erdogan of Turkey, who called me the other day and asked for a very similar thing, among others, and friends of mine, people that I…

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced Tuesday that the kingdom has signed agreements with the US worth more than $300 billion during US President Donald Trump’s current visit, Anadolu reports.

His remarks came during the 2025 Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, attended by Trump following bilateral talks and the signing of several agreements *** covering various fields, including energy and defense.

“Our countries share a deep economic…

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would lift sanctions on Syria to offer it a chance for “greatness” after Bashar al-Assad’s fall, as he cast himself as a peacemaker in the Middle East.

On a state visit to Saudi Arabia primarily aimed at securing billions of dollars of investment, the billionaire president took aim both at the US left and right who he said had intervened in the region in the guise of “nation builders” but “wrecked far more nations than they built”.

Trump renewed his…