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Syrian president al Sharaa at the White House

Syrian president al Sharaa at the White House

Syrian president, Mohammed al Sharaa met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday (10 November). Trump met with Sharaa in the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to the White House, six months after the two first met in Saudi Arabia, and just days after Washington said that the Syrian leader, who once led an Al-Qaeda affiliate group, was no longer a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist." Washington suspended the imposition of Caesar Act sanctions on Syria in part for 180 days, the Treasury Department said as the meeting took place. The move replaces a previous waiver enacted on 23 May, it said On Friday, the US lifted sanctions on Sharaa and Interior Minister Anas Khattab, a day after the UN Security Council took the same step. Sharaa, 42, took power last year after his fighters launched a lightning offensive from their Idlib and overthrew longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad just days later on December 8. Syria's regional realignment has since moved  away from key allies of the former regime, Iran and Russia, and toward Turkey, the Gulf - and Washington. Syria's presidency said that Sharaa and Trump discussed the bilateral relationship, "the ways to strengthen and develop it, as well as a number of regional and international issues of common interest." After al Sharaa and Trump met in Riyadh in May, Trump announced he would lift all sanctions on Syria.
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UN Secretary-General calls for end to war in Sudan that is ‘spiralling out of control’

UN Secretary-General calls for end to war in Sudan that is ‘spiralling out of control’

The United Nations Secretary-General has warned that the war in Sudan is “spiralling out of control” after a paramilitary force seized the besieged and famine-stricken Darfur city of el-Fasher. Speaking in Qatar during the opening of the World Summit for Social Development on 4th November, Antonio Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire in the two-year conflict that has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

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President Xi warns against 'new Cold War' amid China's fears world democracies are ganging up against it

President Xi warns against 'new Cold War' amid China's fears world democracies are ganging up against it

The Chinese leader’s comments appear to have a least two motives: as a response to President Biden’s assertion that an alliance of democracies needs to work together to combat China’s rise; and as a thinly veiled defence of China’s heavily criticised human rights abuses –  which Xi characterises as “internal affairs” – and sanctions being considered in the West in response to them.
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The East is hot!

The East is hot!

A tense situation is developing in and around the South China Sea as China continues to flex its muscles through the projection of military power, provoking a response from both the United States, as well as other countries in the region. China is likely to try to test early the resolve of the incoming Biden administration to protect allies in the region.
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Analysis: In the Middle East, the Biden presidency will impact five key areas

Analysis: In the Middle East, the Biden presidency will impact five key areas

The demise of the Trump administration and the return of Joe Biden to the White House, this time as president, will have more consequences than usual, with immediate changes expected in both the style and substance of leadership. The incoming administration will have a full in-tray of issues that need to be dealt with urgently. When it comes to the Gulf region and the wider Middle East, there will be five areas where important changes are likely.
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GEU Podcast: What does President Biden mean for the EU-US relationship? – with Dr Dan S. Hamilton

GEU Podcast: What does President Biden mean for the EU-US relationship? – with Dr Dan S. Hamilton

After four years of Donald Trump, the EU and US seem more distant than ever. In this episode of Global Europe Unpacked, Will Murray speaks to Dr Dan S. Hamilton from the Wilson Center in Washington DC, about what the Joe Biden presidency means for the Transatlantic relationship.
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Iran looms large on Biden's Middle East agenda

Iran looms large on Biden's Middle East agenda

A new nuclear deal could address Iran’s aggressive policies in the Middle East, Antony Blinken the Secretary of State designate told his senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday. Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the administration of President-elect Joe Biden would seek a “longer and stronger deal.”