Media Baffled as Trump Asks Ben Carson to Lead Cabinet Meeting in Prayer

By Brandon Showwalter, Christian Post— Some in the media appeared baffled by an “unusual” prayer during a Cabinet meeting that HUD Secretary Ben Carson said at President Trump’s request shortly after Congress finalized a sweeping tax reform bill Wednesday. President Trump asked Carson to begin a Cabinet meeting with a prayer Wednesday morning, inviting journalists…

‘Russia ready to act as impartial mediator in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks’

By Israel Hayom— Russia is ready to act as an impartial mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Vladimir Safronkov said Monday at a U.N. Security Council meeting. Russian media further quoted Safronkov as saying Moscow was willing to host direct talks between the parties. Last week, following U.S.…

Trump: Israel is not the cause of problems in the Middle East

By Associated Press— Prioritizing national sovereignty over alliances, U.S. President Donald Trump is poised to outline a new national security strategy that envisions nations in a perpetual state of competition, reverses Obama-era warnings on climate change, and de-emphasizes multinational agreements that have dominated U.S. foreign policy since the Cold War. The Republican president, who ran…

Saudi academic defends Trump’s Jerusalem move, saying Arabs should accept Israel’s ‘historic right’

By Alaraby— A Saudi academic has defended the controversial US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and called on Arabs to “accept” Israel’s claims to the holy city. Abdulhameed Hakeem, the head of the Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies in Jeddah, made the remarks on US-based al-Hurra Arabic-language TV channel on…