This is WESA Politics, a weekly newsletter by our political reporters providing analysis about Pittsburgh and state politics. If you want it earlier — we’ll deliver it to your inbox on Thursday afternoon — sign up here. Pittsburgh’s mayoral race had to start some time, obviously, but a lot of Democrats wouldn’t have minded putting it…
Starmer says UK strengthening defence partnership with Saudi Arabia Keir Starmer has agreed “a step change in defence partnership with Saudi Arabia today”, Downing Street has said. In a news release, No 10 said this would “pave the way for greater defence industrial cooperation”. It said it would cover “all aspects of the UK-Saudi defence…
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AFP Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani spoke to supporters at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus hours after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani has dropped that nom de guerre associated with his jihadist past, and been using his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in official communiques issued since Thursday, ahead of the fall…
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. CNN — President-elect Donald Trump has for years been railing against the concept of birthright citizenship in the 14th Amendment. During the 2024 presidential campaign, he promised that, on Day One of his…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump said he can’t guarantee that his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won’t raise prices for American consumers and he suggested once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. The president-elect, in a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, also touched on…
Damascus: Syrians woke up on Monday to an uncertain future after rebels seized the capital Damascus, forcing President Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia, ending 13 years of civil war and five decades of iron-fisted Baath rule. The lightning advance of the opposition Islamist alliance, against President Asaad’s forces, marked one of the biggest turning…
Israel’s concern that the instability in Syria could spill over into its territory has led it to major action in the neighboring country, essentially opening an additional front in the multi-front war it has been engaged in for fourteen months. Over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took control of the demilitarized buffer…
This brief was originally published by the Council on Foreign Relations on Dec. 5, 2024. The surprise rebel offensive that has seized Aleppo and threatens other regime-held territories could mark a further weakening of Iran’s regional sway but also spur a new cycle of violence and instability. WATCH: Syrian rebels capture city of Hama, dealing…
BEIRUT (AP) — The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government Sunday brought to a dramatic close his nearly 14-year struggle to hold onto power as his country fragmented amid a brutal civil war that became a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers. Assad’s downfall came as a stark contrast to his first months…