Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: Trump is leaving Friday for his first foreign trip, to the Mideast and beyond, and aides had hoped the disarray at home would have been calmed if not resolved by takeoff time.
President Donald Trump will use his first visit to the Middle East to call for unity in the fight against radicalism in the Muslim world, casting the challenge as a "battle between good and evil" and urging Arab leaders to "drive out the terrorists from your places of worship," according to a draft of the speech obtained by The Associated Press. Abandoning some of the harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric of his presidential campaign, the draft of the speech, slated to be delivered in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, envisions new partnerships with America's traditional allies in the Middle East.
The FBI is now involved in the investigation of an "unprovoked" college campus killing. Early Saturday morning, a black student from Bowie State Univers... -- In his first high-stakes speech abroad on Sunday, President Donald Trump called on Middle Eastern nations to "drive out" extremists.&ldqu... The Ag Secretary made a trip to the ranch of Senator Deb Fischer to meet with those in agriculture.
In this Sept. 7, 2016, file photo, Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi-funded lobbying campaign involving U.S. military veterans that targeted a new law allowing Sept. 11 victims' families to sue the Middle Eastern country in U.S. courts saw some organizers disclose their activities late or vaguely, stymieing public knowledge of the scale of foreign influence in the campaign.
Gulf Arab oil producers have reached an agreement about a possible extension of output cuts beyond June to reduce stockpiles of crude, Oman's oil minister said. His Saudi Arabian counterpart confirmed that producers arrived at an initial deal on prolonging the cuts.
UNITED STATES President Donald Trump is slated to make his maiden official visit to the Philippines to attend the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit this November, says a Filipino official. Responding to a question fielded by a reporter during a press conference on Wednesday, the Asean 2017 National Organizing Council director-general for operations Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr, said Trump had "verbally" confirmed his attendance for the summit.
A group of U.S. lawmakers said on Monday they had requested more information from President Donald Trump's administration about the potential sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, expressing concern about civilian casualties in Riyadh's campaign in Yemen that delayed the deal last year. Thirty mostly Democratic lawmakers signed the letter to U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, citing expectations that the administration plans to go ahead with the sale.
Saudi Arabia and Israel both called on Sunday for a new push against Iran, signaling a growing alignment in their interests, while US lawmakers promised to seek new sanctions on the Shi'ite Muslim power. Turkey also joined the de facto united front against Tehran as Saudi and Israeli ministers rejected an appeal from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for Sunni Gulf Arab states to work with Tehran to reduce violence across the region.
The King of Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi agreed with President Donald Trump's request to support safe zones for refugees in the Middle East, the White House announced Sunday. A White House readout of the call between President Trump and Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abd Al-Aziz Al Saud said that the King agreed to "support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, as well as supporting other ideas to help the many refugees who are displaced by the ongoing conflicts."
WASHINGTON, Nov 29 The U.S. lawmakers who helped bring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into being rose to defend it on Tuesday, urging the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review a ruling that poses an existential threat to the agency.
Donald Trump challenged Hillary Clinton to return the tens of millions of dollars she has accepted from Saudi Arabian donors, and called again for a special prosecutor to look into her alleged crimes as Secretary of State. The hacked emails released by Wikileaks "make more clear than ever just how much is at stake come November 8. Such an important day.
The Pentagon announced on August 9 that the State Department had approved the potential sale of more than 130 Abrams battle tanks, 20 armored recovery vehicles and other equipment to Saudi Arabia... There are Republicans and Democrats-a bipartisan coalition, however great or small their numbers-who reject America's longstanding foreign policy consensus and seek a more sober look at national security and foreign affairs. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that would have blocked a $1.15 billion proposed sale of tanks and other weapons.
A U.S. law allowing lawsuits against Saudi Arabia over the Sept. 11 attacks met a stony silence from Riyadh on Thursday but some Saudis bristled, saying the kingdom could curb business and security ties in response to an ally's perceived affront.
"The United States is at war in Yemen today," said Sen. Chris Murphy during a Senate debate this morning over a bipartisan resolution seeking to block a $1.15 billion arms dea l that would supply Saudi Arabia with Abrams tanks and an assortment other weaponry. While the resolution was voted down, 71 to 21, it marked the first time that members of Congress have publicly debated the wisdom of the United States' role in a conflict that's left thousands of civilians dead and millions on the verge of starvation.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he would oppose an effort in Congress to pass a measure that seeks to block the sale of $1.15 billion in Abrams tanks and other military equipment to Saudi Arabia. The Republican lawmaker told a weekly news conference that Saudi Arabia had been a good ally of the United States for many years and it was important to maintain as strong a relationship as possible with Riyadh.
A top Saudi Arabian official visiting Washington gave his full backing Friday to State Department officials protesting the White House's refusal to directly confront the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir spoke a day after 51 State Department staff involved in Mideast issues sharply criticized the Obama administration's Syria policy in a formal, classified memo as ineffective and urged a tougher stance, including airstrikes against the Syrian regime.
The anticipated release of classified sections of a US congressional report will show that Saudi Arabia had no part in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington, CIA chief John Brennan said early Sunday.