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News
US lifts sanctions against Syria and urges normalised relations with Israel
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US lifts sanctions against Syria and urges normalised relations with Israel

15 May 2025
US President Donald Trump met with Syria's president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and urged him to normalise ties with longtime enemy Israel, after an announcement that US would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government. Trump met the Syrian president before a summit between the United States and Gulf Arab countries. They shook hands in the presence of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
commonspace.eu
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News
President Trump signs $142 billion arms package during visit to Saudi Arabia
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President Trump signs $142 billion arms package during visit to Saudi Arabia

14 May 2025
The US has agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142 billion, according to a White House fact sheet that called it "the largest defence cooperation agreement" Washington has ever done. The agreement, signed during US President Donald Trump's visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh, covers deals with more than a dozen U.S. defence companies in areas including air and missile defence, air force and space advancement, maritime security and communications, the fact sheet said. Saudi Arabia is the largest customer of U.S. arms.
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Editor's choice
News
Slow progress in Yemen despite "rare international consensus"
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Slow progress in Yemen despite "rare international consensus"

24 August 2021
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths warned on Monday (23 August) at a Security Council session that 5 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine. The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called the Houthis to accept a ceasefire without pre-conditions. 
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Opinion
Opinion: China may end up being the biggest beneficiary of the Taliban power-grab in Afghanistan
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Opinion: China may end up being the biggest beneficiary of the Taliban power-grab in Afghanistan

24 August 2021
Beijing can turn the situation in Afghanistan to its own advantage, argues Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed. Afghanistan has significant minerals, including rare earth metals, which China will be glad to import. Beijing  could also include Afghanistan in the “Belt and Road initiative” and use it as another land route towards Iran and the Central Asian republics via Pakistan, and through Iran via Turkey or via Armenia-Georgia-Black Sea route to Europe.
Benyamin Poghosyan
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Commentary
Commentary: State-building cannot be imposed from outside; the EU and others must learn lessons from Afghanistan
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Commentary: State-building cannot be imposed from outside; the EU and others must learn lessons from Afghanistan

23 August 2021
A state cannot be built from outside, with a foreign army standing on top of it to supervise the process, argues Dennis Sammut in this commentary. As the EU expands its global ambitions, it must be aware of the risks of "mission creep" and make sure the mistakes in Afghanistan are not repeated.
Dennis Sammut
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News
Taliban say victory over the Americans was a divine blessing
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Taliban say victory over the Americans was a divine blessing

19 August 2021
In a statement marking Afghan independence day, the Taliban said that "Fortunately, today we are celebrating the anniversary of independence from Britain. We at the same time as a result of our jihadi resistance forced another arrogant power of the world, the United States, to fail and retreat from our holy territory of Afghanistan".
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News
The Taliban settle in
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The Taliban settle in

18 August 2021
Whilst Taliban fighters made themselves at home at the presidential office in Kabul, and in other government offices across the capital, the leadership of the Taliban appears to be still concentrated in the city of Kandahar, in the South of the country, the power base of this mainly Pashtun movement. It was to there that the Taliban’s co-founder and political leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, flew to from Doha on Tuesday as the militants pledged peaceful relations with other countries and respect for the rights of women.
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