Tag: Middle East

Trump holds his last rally before his hush money trial
Money

Trump holds his last rally before his hush money trial

SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Saturday lit into New York prosecutors and the criminal hush money case they brought against him during his last rally before what he called a “communist show trial” begins Monday.“I will be forced to sit fully gagged. I’m not allowed to talk. They want to take away my constitutional right to talk,” said Trump, who has been barred from publicly discussing potential witnesses and jurors but not the judge or prosecutors. “I’m proud to do it for you,” Trump told a crowd in northeast Pennsylvania. “Have a good time watching.”Trump spoke as Israel was fighting off a retaliatory drone attack from Iran that threatened to tip into a regional war in the Middle East. After a short mention of the atta...
Top Hamas Leader Saleh al-Arouri Killed in Suspected Israeli Strike in Beirut
World

Top Hamas Leader Saleh al-Arouri Killed in Suspected Israeli Strike in Beirut

Listen to article(2 minutes)A top Hamas leader was killed Tuesday by a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut, according to two Lebanese security officials, raising the specter of further escalation in Israel’s war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.The blast killed Saleh al-Arouri, a founder of the Hamas military wing and one of its top political leaders, and at least three other people, the officials said. Hamas confirmed Arouri’s death in a statement. The Israeli military declined to comment on the explosion.Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Israel’s Highest Court Strikes Down Controversial Law to Curb Its Power
World

Israel’s Highest Court Strikes Down Controversial Law to Curb Its Power

By Carrie Keller-Lynn and Anat PeledUpdated Jan. 1, 2024 1:36 pm ETTEL AVIV—Israel’s highest court has struck down a controversial judicial overhaul law enacted last year by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would have limited the justices’ power.Israel’s Supreme Court ruled against a central piece of a judicial overhaul that Netanyahu was pushing before the war in Gaza erupted last October. The court struck down a law, which was passed in July and was akin to a constitutional amendment, that would have taken away the court’s powers to abrogate government decisions it deems to be “unreasonable in the extreme.”Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
PGA Tour, Saudi Deadline Passes With No Deal—but Talks Will Continue
World

PGA Tour, Saudi Deadline Passes With No Deal—but Talks Will Continue

The stunning agreement last June between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s Saudi backers came with a deadline to hammer out a deal: the end of 2023. As New Year’s Eve came and went without a pact, the sides now say they are poised to continue negotiations into 2024. In a memo to players Sunday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan wrote that the goal remains to strike a finalized agreement—but it hasn’t happened yet. Instead, he said, there are “active and productive conversations” with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and they are “working to extend our negotiations into next year based on the progress we have made to date.”Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Biden’s ‘Proportionate’ Defense of U.S. Troops Has Failed
World

Biden’s ‘Proportionate’ Defense of U.S. Troops Has Failed

On Christmas Day, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that U.S. military forces conducted “proportionate” strikes against Iraqi militias that attacked and wounded American service members (“Biden Endangers U.S. Troops,” Review & Outlook, Dec. 27). The statement defines the equivocating, timid and wholly unsuccessful strategy of the Biden administration, but also of successive administrations for years.After nearly daily attacks on U.S. forces over months, resulting in dozens of wounded Americans, “proportionate” ought to have been revealed as having no deterrent value. It is past time for the U.S. to signal to those who attack our forces that they will pay disproportionately and severely. Continued attacks will see increasingly robust spankings. In this case, if the Iraqi governm...
U.S. Navy Destroys Boats Controlled by Iran-Backed Militias in Red Sea
World

U.S. Navy Destroys Boats Controlled by Iran-Backed Militias in Red Sea

By Benoit Faucon and Carrie Keller-LynnUpdated Dec. 31, 2023 11:26 am ETListen to article(2 minutes)A U.S. Navy vessel destroyed three boats carrying pro-Iranian Yemeni rebels after they attacked a Danish-owned containership early Sunday, the latest in a string of assaults that have disrupted maritime traffic in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided what they described as a key Hamas command post in Khan Younis on Saturday, gathering intelligence as Israel searches for Hamas leaders and underground tunnels in the militant group’s southern stronghold, currently the focus of Israel’s ground campaign in the Gaza Strip.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
IDF Faces a Harsh Reality in Southern Gaza
Health

IDF Faces a Harsh Reality in Southern Gaza

Khan Younis, GazaWhat is happening in southern Gaza—and as important, what isn’t happening—threatens to leave the Middle East violently unstable for years. The battle for Khan Younis is forcing Israel to face a harsh reality: Hamas likely won’t be totally annihilated. And Israel’s two goals, killing Hamas’s leaders and rescuing all the hostages, are coming into contradiction.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The Ruined Landscape of Gaza After Nearly Three Months of Bombing
World

The Ruined Landscape of Gaza After Nearly Three Months of Bombing

Listen to article(2 minutes)The war in the Gaza Strip is generating destruction comparable in scale to the most devastating urban warfare in the modern record.By mid-December, Israel had dropped 29,000 bombs, munitions and shells on the strip. Nearly 70% of Gaza’s 439,000 homes and about half of its buildings have been damaged or destroyed. The bombing has damaged Byzantine churches and ancient mosques, factories and apartment buildings, shopping malls and luxury hotels, theaters and schools. Much of the water, electrical, communications and healthcare infrastructure that made Gaza function is beyond repair. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8