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Trump delivers remarks after announcing Sudan will normalize relations with Israel

President Donald Trump announced Friday that Sudan will start to normalize ties with Israel, making it the third Arab state to do so as part of U.S.-brokered deals in the run-up to Election Day. The deal, which would deepen Sudan’s engagement with the West, follows Trump's conditional agreement this week to remove the North African nation from the list of state sponsors of terrorism if it pays compensation to American victims of terror attacks. It also delivers a foreign policy achievement for Trump just days before the U.S. election and boosts his embattled ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Recently,...

Sudan is to normalise relations with Israel, US President Donald Trump says - the latest in a series of Arab League countries to do so. There had been growing speculation Sudan would announce ties in return for being removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. Sudan had been a foe of Israel since the latter's founding in 1948. It comes weeks after similar moves by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. The two Gulf states became the first in the Middle East to recognise Israel in 26 years. Jordan signed a peace deal with Israel in...

President Donald J. Trump has informed Congress of his intent to formally rescind Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.  This follows on Sudan’s recent agreement to resolve certain claims of United States victims of terror and their families.  Yesterday, in fulfillment of that agreement, the transitional government of Sudan transferred $335 million into an escrow account for these victims and their families.By finally serving justice for the American people, President Trump was able to achieve what previous presidents could not – the resolution of longstanding claims of victims of the East Africa embassy bombings, the attack on...

Israel's minister of regional cooperation said Wednesday that he expects normalize relations with another Arab state before the U.S. elections. Reuters reported that Ofir Akunis, who is also a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, told Army Radio that the announcement would come before Nov. 3. "I have a reasonable basis to believe that the announcement will come before November 3 - that, if you'll permit me, is what I understand from my sources," he said, according to the news service. "I will be very happy if the announcement will happen - and before the elections in the United States,"...

...The two attacks on opposite sides of Africa are among the scores of violent episodes to shake the continent in what experts are calling a breakout year for extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. .... The spike in terrorist attacks mirrors a steady, if less dramatic, increase in Islamist violence in parts of Syria and Iraq, driven by Islamic State fighters who slipped away after the caliphate’s defeat and have now regrouped.... The resurgence threatens to undermine one facet of President Trump’s reelection pitch to voters: his oft-repeated claim of victory over the Islamic State. ...The rise...

US President Donald Trump announced Monday that Sudan would be removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in exchange for paying compensation to families of American terror victims. "GREAT news! New government of Sudan, which is making great progress, agreed to pay $335 MILLION to U.S. terror victims and families. Once deposited, I will lift Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. At long last, JUSTICE for the American people and BIG step for Sudan!" Trump wrote on Twitter. The Sudanese government has sought to be de-listed as a state sponsor of terror since former President...

Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, one of the most widely recognized and respected Saudi officials in the world, gave a three-part interview to the government-controlled Al Arabiya news network and proceeded to tear down 70 years of myths about the leadership of the Palestinian national movement. Bandar spent 22 years as a Saudi ambassador to the U.S. and is known to speak for the government. It was an extraordinary series of interviews — a brutal assessment of the numerous self-inflicted wounds by Palestinian leaders going all the way back to the 1930s. It was broadcast in Arabic with English subtitles...

For the first time in two decades Sunday, Tom Wibberley set foot on the vessel where his son, Seaman Craig Bryan Wibberley, lost his life. Tom Wibberley said the last time he stepped on the USS Cole was the day before it left port, and while he has had an opportunity to tour it again since, Sunday was the first time he did. He and his wife joined other Gold Star families over the weekend who were able to tour the USS Cole ahead of the Navy's Monday remembrance on the 20th anniversary of an attack that took the lives...

CAIRO: The announcement that Egypt’s population is now 101 million means that it has increased by 1 million in less than 8 months. The Population Clock of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics said it passed the 100 million mark on Feb. 11, 2020. Amr Hassan, the former reporter of the National Population Council, said that the population is a major concern for the Egyptian government, as it puts great pressure on natural resources and is a burden on the state budget. ...

A spokesperson for the EU responded today (Thursday) to the report according to which the European Union links aid to PA to financial ties with Israel. According to the report, European Union leaders told the Palestinian Authority that they will refuse to provide financial aid as long as it refuses to accept tax revenues collected by Israel. "The EU and its Member States are and continue to be the largest international financial supporter of Palestinians. The EU is a firm supporter of the Palestinian Authority", the spokesperson said to Arutz Sheva. "The EU and many partners in the international community...

“To the people of Lebanon, Israel means you no harm. But Iran does.” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the annual forum of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. In his speech from Jerusalem (due to Covid-19, worldwide leaders delivered their speeches via videos, not in person in New York City), he devoted the lion’s share of the time to the threat Iran poses to the international community and especially in the Middle East. He said that, “Iran is the greatest enemy of peace.” He also pointed out on a large map, the location in Beirut where...

“The Arab world now says that relations with Israel is more important than the Palestinian issue, which cannot be solved by Abu Mazen, for the foreseeable future.” The constellations of moderate Sunni Arab states which are on track to normalize relations with Israel view Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as irrelevant, a former top Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) official has told The Jerusalem Post. Former head of the counter-terrorism division for Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria Arik “Harris” Barbing told the Post on Sunday that, “the Palestinian issue is not a focus of the Arab states.” Harris said that, “Abu...

Senior editor of Saudi online paper Arab News, Siraj Wahab, has just tweeted that Egyptian ships forced Iranian retreat from Bab Al-Mandab strait near the Port of Aden. A statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated that Egypt is coordinating with Saudi Arabia, together with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the participation of its Air Force, Navy, and ground forces, should it prove necessary. However, it should be noted that Iran threatened Saudi Arabia today (Thursday), announcing that its foray into Yemen would end up costing it dearly.

KHARTOUM — Sudanese officials will discuss the removal of their country from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terror with U.S. officials during a visit to the United Arab Emirates this week, the ruling council said on Sunday. Sudan's transitional government, in charge since the toppling of Omar al-Bashir last year, has been pushing to get off the U.S. list, which hinders its ability to access foreign loans to tackle an economic crisis. In August, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised the issue of Sudan establishing ties with Israel during a visit. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok told him...

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is King of Saudi Arabia He is 84 years old and said to be in ill health. Social media mill grinding out the rumours he is in critical condition. https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1307847955639083008

Call it a new 'Great Game' or war for hearts and minds, or just influence peddling, but Iran and Turkey are now engaged in greater efforts to expand their role in Africa. This comes as Russia and China are also extending networks on the continent. It is important to understand that this is in the context of the US generally reducing its global role and comes around 60 years after European colonialism was rolled back. The increasing footprint of Iran and Turkey have caused concern for other states that view their role as belligerent. That means that Gulf media is...

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates minister of state for foreign affairs said on Saturday that Turkey should stop interfering in Arab affairs, criticizing comments on Libya made by Turkey’s defense minister. Turkish media had reported the Turkish minister making remarks critical of the UAE’s actions over Libya. The UAE, alongside Egypt and Russia, backs eastern Libya commander Khalifa Haftar, whose fighters have been battling the forces of the internationally recognized government in Tripoli. Turkey has stepped up support for the Tripoli government. “Relations are not managed by threats and there is no place for colonialist delusions in this day and...

U.S. Africa Command says that at least two MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets, possibly piloted by shadowy Russian mercenaries, have crashed in Libya. Jared Szuba, the Pentagon correspondent for AI-Monitor, Tweeted out that one of the jets was apparently lost on June 28, while the other went down on September 7, 2020. This information had come in a statement from Rear Admiral Heidi Berg, U.S. Africa Command's (AFRICOM) director of intelligence. Another tweet indicates that Berg believes that "Russian fighter aircraft," presumably MiG-29s too, but potentially also Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft, have conducted airstrikes in Libya. AI-Monitor's Szuba follows that up...

Good indications for continued progress toward peace in the middle-east. President Trump has called for a 2:00pm press conference (not previously scheduled) following an oval office meeting with Amir Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of the State of Kuwait. This could be yet another partner announcement in the normalization of relations with Israel. CTH predicted Kuwait would be next. It would make sense for Kuwait, Oman and Sudan to come next in the process before the heavy -and more complex- nations (Qatar & Saudi). Protocols and pageantry are culturally very important to the Arab nations and they have a...