US policies under President Donald Trump are becoming more “confrontational and unpredictable,” Mario Draghi has warned US President Donald Trump’s increasingly “confrontational and unpredictable” policies have left Europe “truly alone together” and unable to rely on Washington as its main security guarantor, former Italian prime minister and ex-ECB chief Mario Draghi has warned. Draghi made the remarks in Aachen, Germany, on Thursday while receiving the Charlemagne Prize for his “historic services” to European integration and competitiveness. Using his speech to outline how Europe can survive the “new realities,” Draghi warned the bloc could no longer depend on the US. “The world that once helped Europe generate prosperity no longer exists. It has become harder, more fragmented and more mercantilist… The central external fact of our t...
Posts
Beijing has used the conflict to reach out to the Gulf and Indo-Pacific nations while gaining a better understanding of the US military, the newspaper says The US-Israeli war against Iran has handed China a strategic opening to chip away at US influence on every major front, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a classified intelligence analysis. Two US officials familiar with the matter told the newspaper that the document was produced by the Joint Staff’s intelligence directorate for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine. It is said to focus on four main dimensions: Diplomatic, informational, military, and economic. This comes ahead of US President Donald Trump’s high-stakes talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing. Since the US and Israel started the war in late February, China has reportedly sold weapons to Persian Gulf countries, which...
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reportedly struck militia targets after attacks linked to the Iran conflict Saudi Arabia and Kuwait conducted covert strikes on targets in Iraq linked to Iranian-backed paramilitary groups during the Middle East war, Reuters reported on Wednesday. According to the outlet, the strikes marked an independent response to attacks on Gulf states’ territory amid fading trust in the US security umbrella. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia – both hosting major US military bases – came under missile and drone attacks as Iran retaliated against the US-Israeli campaign launched in late February. However, hundreds of the drones targeting the nations reportedly originated from Iraq , including from Kataib Hezbollah – a Tehran-linked paramilitary group operating in the south of the country. Saudi fighter jets struck Iranian-linked militia targets in Iraq in the run-up to the US-Iran ...
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina has announced her resignation amid the threat of a no-confidence vote Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina has announced her resignation amid a government crisis caused by an incident involving Ukrainian kamikaze drones hitting an oil depot near the Russian border. Silina announced the decision at a press briefing on Thursday. Just hours earlier, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis, a member of Silina’s liberal-conservative Unity party, stated that the prime minister has no intention of leaving office. Meanwhile, the opposition was planning a procedural maneuver to circumvent the five-day pause required under Latvian law before a request for a no-confidence vote is granted. The crisis in the Baltic state was triggered by an incident last week in which two Ukrainian long-range kamikaze drones hit an empty oil depot near the town of Rezekne, around 40 km from the Russi...
A standoff over the island could put the two nations into “a very dangerous situation,” the Chinese leader has said Chinese leader Xi Jinping has warned US President Donald Trump that a standoff over Taiwan could push the two countries into “a very dangerous situation,” describing it as the single most important issue in bilateral relations. Xi made the remarks on Thursday during a meeting with Trump at the Great Hall of the People – the first US presidential visit to China in nearly nine years. The trip is expected to revolve around the Iran war, trade disputes, AI rivalry, and tensions around Taiwan, a self-ruled island which China deems part of its sovereign territory. “The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said. “If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries may ...
Kuwait has claimed four men linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards tried to enter Bubiyan Island by sea Kuwait has accused Iran of attempting to infiltrate the strategic Bubiyan Island after authorities arrested four men suspected of belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Bubiyan, Kuwait’s largest island, lies at the northern edge of the Gulf near the Iraqi border and is considered strategically important because of its proximity to shipping routes and northern oilfields. The island also hosts a US military base. Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that four men were arrested after attempting to enter the country by sea and allegedly clashing with security forces, wounding a Kuwaiti soldier. The incident took place on May 1, the ministry said, adding that the suspects were detained aboard what it described as a fishing boat chartered for “hostile actions” ag...