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Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi delivers a speech during the vote on the new government at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, May 7, 2020 (photo credit: IRAQI PARLIAMENT MEDIA OFFICE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS) Advertisement Admit it or not, US President Donald Trump knows he is in the final phase of his period in office and, like most departing presidents, is working hard on his legacy. His final weeks are likely to be marked by a fair number of newsworthy announcements. An early example is his decision to bring home some of the American troops serving overseas. On November 17, acting US Secretary of Defense Christoph Miller announced that the US troop presence in Afghanistan and Iraq would be reduced to 2,500 each by January 15, 2021, that is just a few days before Trump leaves the White House. Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Iraq’s prime minister, who took office only in May, must have received the news with some disquiet, but not with much surprise.  When he met with the US preside

TURKISH PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives for a meeting in Brussels in March. (photo credit: YVES HERMAN / REUTERS) In a telling move, French Minister of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune recently brought up possible economic sanctions targeting certain sectors the European Union would impose on  Turkey  on account of its hostile actions on the fringes of Europe. The minister pointed out sanctions as a “possibility.” Yet it might be too little, too late. President  Recep Tayyip Erdogan  has already put the EU at a disadvantage, as the Turkish sultan has continued to use the Syrian refugee issue to pressure and blackmail the EU into giving more money to prevent the big influx of refugees onto European shores. Erdogan’s Turkey is also multiplying provocations against some EU countries, such as Greece. In late October, the European Union castigated Ankara’s provocations as “totally unacceptable.” However, decision-makers agreed to postpone any decision on sanctions against Tu

Residents in northern Texas are picking up the pieces after severe thunderstorms and a tornado blew through the region. According to reports Wednesday, the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in the city of Arlington late Tuesday. This came as a line of thunderstorms moved through the region in the evening hours, prompting severe weather watches and tornado warnings. Power lines, trees and buildings were knocked over with “significant damage” reported to several structures. The National Weather Service said it’s sending out a storm survey crew to determine the strength of the storm. The American Red Cross is also assisting more than 80 families displaced after their apartment complexes were damaged in the storms. Follow us on twitter (ajuede.com) or on Instagram (ajuedeman) for details of the global situation presently.

Freshly cut stacks of $100 bills make their way down the line at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth, Texas. (LM Otero/AP) Republican and Democratic lawmakers have reached an agreement on spending levels for the annual spending bill needed to keep the government open after current funding runs out Dec. 11, according to two congressional aides in both parties. The deal between Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, and House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, increases the chances that a giant $1.4 trillion bill to fund the government can pass Congress before the deadline. The agreement encompasses top-line amounts for all 12 parts of an omnibus appropriations package as well as the level for emergency spending above the $1.4 trillion budget cap set in law in 2019. The White House had been trying to force Congress to adopt $7 billion in cuts to domestic spending by preventing $12.5 billion in

Australia’s prime minister may not want to admit his country’s guilt. Australia’s defence force chief may not want to admit his country’s guilt. Australians may not want to admit their country’s guilt. But admit it, they must. The evidence of Australia’s guilt is beyond dispute. It can be found in a just released report written by the military’s inspector general which took four years to produce and which details atrocities committed by scores of Australian terrorists dressed as soldiers who murdered scores of Afghans. These home-grown terrorists in battle fatigues were recruited by Australia. They were trained by Australia. They were paid by Australia. They were sent to Afghanistan by Australia. They murdered civilians, including children, in Australia’s name. The barbarity committed by Australia’s terrorists in battle fatigues – mostly, I suspect, white, Christian men – had one aim: to terrorise non-white, non-Christian Afghans. Aussie “soldiers” murdered people not to achieve a “str