Skip to main content

US-Israel-Iran war boosts Netanyahu, bruises Trump and Gulf states

If the US-Israeli war on Iran ended tomorrow, one verdict is already clear: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would walk away stronger, while President Donald Trump would be left to manage the shock to global markets and Gulf allies who have borne the heaviest costs. For Netanyahu, analysts say, the war has redrawn Israel’s political map on his terms, pivoting attention away from Gaza and toward Iran, where national consensus is strongest and his security and economic credentials resonate most. For Trump, it has done the reverse: trapping him in a conflict with no clear exit, exposing his Gulf Arab allies to spiralling risks, and undercutting the economic storyline that powered his return to office. “There is a clear winner and a clear loser,” said Aaron David Miller, a former US Middle East negotiator. “Netanyahu is by far the key winner. He has demonstrated Israel’s military competence. The Gulf states are by far the biggest losers.” Also Read: IRGC says it 'seriously damaged...
Post a Comment

US judge orders Trump admin to bring VOA employees back to work

A US federal judge ordered the Trump administration to bring more than 1,000 Voice of America employees back to work and resume broadcasts by the government-funded media outlet, AFP reported. District Judge Royce Lamberth's order comes 10 days after he ruled that President Donald Trump's pick to oversee mass layoffs at VOA was unlawfully appointed, rendering the job cuts invalid. Kari Lake, a former TV anchor, slashed jobs and funding after she was appointed by Trump to head the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which runs VOA, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and other stations. Lamberth, an appointee of Republican president Ronald Reagan, ordered the reinstatement by March 23 of 1,042 VOA employees who have been on paid administrative leave for the past year. Read More: After Larijani, Israel claims it killed Iran's intelligence minister The judge also ordered USAGM to come up with a plan by next week to resume international broadcasts. VOA was created in the wake of World War II as a key instrument of American soft power worldwide. Trump frequently attacks media outlets and denounced the editorial firewall at VOA that prevents the government from intervening in its coverage. Three VOA employees who filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse Lake's moves welcomed the judge's ruling. "We are eager to begin repairing the damage Kari Lake has inflicted on our agency and our colleagues, to return to our congressional mandate, and to rebuild the trust of the global audience we have been unable to serve for the past year," they said in a statement. Read More: Iranian projectile hits near Australian base in UAE amid widening Middle East crisis The Trump administration has said it plans to appeal the judge's previous ruling that Lake's appointment was unlawful. Last year in June, the parent agency of VOA had issued termination notices to over 639 more staff, completing an 85% decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda, Reuters had reported. Kari Lake, senior advisor to the US Agency for Global Media, said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump's agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. "Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a long-overdue effort to dismantle a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy," Lake said in a statement. She said the agency had been "riddled with dysfunction, bias, and waste." Lake said the move meant USAGM now operated near its statutory minimum of 81 employees. She said 250 employees would remain across USAGM, Voice of America, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which transmits news into communist-run Cuba. She said none of OCB's 33 employees had been terminated.

from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/Ccfm46W
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

A bridge collapsed at a cobalt mine in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least 32 wildcat miners, a regional government official said Sunday. The bridge came down Saturday onto a flooded zone at the mine in Lualaba province, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the provincial interior minister, told reporters. He said 32 bodies had been recovered and more were being searched for. The DRC produces more than 70 percent of the world supply of cobalt, which is essential for batteries used in electric cars, many laptop computers and mobile phones. More than 200,000 people are estimated to be working in giant illegal cobalt mines in the giant central African country. Local authorities said the bridge collapsed at the Kalando mine, about 42 kilometres (26 miles) southeast of the Lualaba provincial capital, Kolwezi. "Despite a formal ban on access to the site because of the heavy rain and the risk of a landslide, wildcat miners forced their way into the quarry," said Mayonde. He said ...
Post a Comment
Read more

US, Philippines kick off joint military drills in South China Sea with 16,000 troops

Some 16,000 US and Philippine troops kicked off the annual joint military drills on Monday in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), local media reported. WPS is the official designation by Philippines to the parts of the South China Sea that are included in the country's exclusive economic zone. The 19-day exercises, dubbed "Balikatan 2024," will involve around 5,000 Philippine and 11,000 US troops, making it the largest joint military drills between the two allies conducted in decades, local English daily Manila Times reported citing the military. A total of 14 nations, including Japan and India, will take part in the drills as observers amid mounting maritime tensions in the South China Sea. Contingents from the Australian Defence Force and the French Navy will also join the exercise as participants. Read also: China urges US to stop using Philippines as a pawn to destabilise South China Sea France will join the group sail but will only navigate on the edge of the Philippine E...
Post a Comment
Read more

Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity. The construction of the temple, which began after the Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019 more than two decades after a Hindu mob razed a mosque there, triggering deadly riots, fulfils a key campaign promise of Modi and his Hindu nationalist party. Read BJP-promised temple transforms Ayodhya: Muslims, locals feel neglected The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to w...
Post a Comment
Read more