Headline

Trump Names In-law, Massad Boulos, As Middle East Advisor

Published

12 months ago

December 2, 2024

US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday named Lebanese-American businessman, Massad Boulos, as his senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

“I am proud to announce that Massad Boulos will serve as Senior Advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs,” Trump posted on Truth Social of the appointment, which puts his daughter Tiffany’s father-in-law in a major White House position.

Boulos was a key emissary for the Trump campaign, helping to mobilize Arab American and Muslim voters, many of whom were angry over President Joe Biden’s steadfast support for Israel in the Gaza war even as the civilian death toll rose into the tens of thousands.

The businessman will take over a difficult portfolio, with Israel’s war still raging in Gaza, a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon seeing early violations, and rebel forces in Syria making advances against the government of Bashar al-Assad.

Boulos’s son, Michael, is married to Trump’s daughter Tiffany. He is the latest family member to be appointed to a key position.

On Saturday, Trump named real estate executive Charles Kushner — the father of his son-in-law Jared — as his pick to be the US ambassador to France, the latest case of Trump eschewing experience or expertise as the criterion for joining his team.

“Massad is an accomplished lawyer and a highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the International scene,” said Trump of his appointment to the Middle East advisor job.

“He has been a longtime proponent of Republican and Conservative values, an asset to my Campaign, and was instrumental in building tremendous new coalitions with the Arab American Community.”

The Republican referred to Boulos as “a dealmaker.”

Boulos’s son, Michael, is married to Trump’s daughter Tiffany.

‘Finish it quickly’

Trump often promised on the campaign trail to bring a swift end to the wars in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere, without specifying how he would do so.

Speaking to UK-based broadcaster Sky News in October, Boulos said it was important to finish the war “quickly.”

“What do we mean by finishing it quickly is, I mean, you have some military targets that you have to accomplish, which is to get rid of the Hamas infrastructure and ability to launch new attacks and so on,” he said.

“Let’s move to peace, and let’s move to rebuilding Gaza and rebuilding Lebanon,” he added.

“We want Gaza to be prosperous. We want the Palestinian people to be prosperous, to live in peace, to live in harmony, side by side with the Israelis and full security on both sides.”

Boulos’s family operates at least two automotive parts distribution companies in Nigeria.

The businessman, a member of the Christian Maronite community, has in the past run in vain for a seat in the Lebanese parliament.

Controversial picks

Trump has come under fire for a series of controversial picks for important posts in his incoming White House administration.

His choices have shown a pattern, so far, of selecting people, often wealthy, who are close to his family or of proven loyalty — rather than exhibiting experience or expertise in a given field.

The elder Kushner, who is also a lawyer, served time in a federal prison for tax evasion. Trump pardoned him in 2020 towards the end of his first term.

On Saturday, Trump named loyalist Kash Patel as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a move that would replace the agency’s current leader before the end of his term.

A fierce defender of the incoming president, Patel supports the Republican hardliner notion of an anti-Trump “deep state” of allegedly biased government bureaucrats working to stifle Trump from behind the scenes, even having written a book on the subject.
PUNCH

Headline

FULL LIST: US To Review Green Cards From 19 ‘Countries Of Concern’ After Washington Shooting

Published

8 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it will review the immigration status of all permanent residents, or “Green Card” holders, from Afghanistan and 18 other countries following the attack on National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.

U.S. officials identified the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting as a 29-year-old Afghan national who previously worked alongside American forces in Afghanistan.

The individual was granted asylum earlier this year, not permanent residency, according to AfghanEvac, an organisation that assists Afghans resettled in the United States after the Taliban takeover in 2021.

“I have directed a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” said Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), on X.

The review follows a June executive order from President Trump classifying 19 countries as “of Identified Concern.”

The order banned entry for nearly all nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan. The full list of these countries is:

Afghanistan

Myanmar

Chad

Congo-Brazzaville

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Haiti

Iran

Libya

Somalia

Sudan

Yemen

A partial travel ban applies to seven additional countries, though some temporary work visas remain allowed: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

Headline

Romanian Defence Minister Quits After Admitting Error In Academic Record

Published

8 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Romania’s defence minister resigned on Friday after saying he made a “mistake” on his CV about his university education, as controversy swirled over alleged lies on his resume.

Ionut Mosteanu – who has admitted to writing on his CV that he graduated from a university he never attended – said he did not want the row “to distract” the NATO member at a time when it and Europe are “under attack from Russia”.

Romania has repeatedly seen drone fragments fall on its soil since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and reported a number of drone incursions.

On Tuesday, a drone crashed in eastern Romania, which borders Ukraine.

Romania has also accused Moscow of “hybrid attacks”, including meddling in presidential elections last year that were subsequently annulled.

“Today, I resigned from my position as minister of national defence,” Mosteanu said in a Facebook post, adding he wanted the country to be focused on its “difficult mission”.

“Romania and Europe are under attack from Russia. Our national security must be defended at all costs,” he added.

Mosteanu had come under pressure after a media investigation published on Thursday revealed that he wrote in a CV that he graduated from a university which he did not actually attend.

That same day he apologised for what he called “a mistake”.

“In a CV I quickly put together in 2016 using a template I found online, there is a mistake that I admit embarrasses me. I didn’t pay much attention to these details at the time,” he said on Facebook.

Mosteanu was appointed defence minister in June of this year, when a new pro-European government was formed after months of political turmoil.

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said in a press release that he would propose economy and tourism minister Radu Miruta take over the defence portfolio in the interim.

AFP

Headline

Russia Insists Ukraine Must Cede Land Or Face Continued Military Push

Published

2 days ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own — otherwise his army would take it by force.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.

Washington has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hopes to finalise through upcoming talks with Moscow and Kyiv.

“If Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations,” Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. “If they don’t, then we will achieve it by military means.”

Russia controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. The issue of occupied land, which Kyiv has said it will never cede, is among the biggest stumbling blocks in the peace process.

Another important issue in the talks are Western security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv says are needed to prevent Moscow from invading again in the future.

Washington’s original plan — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

The US pared back the original plan over the weekend following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but has not yet released the new version.

Putin, who has seen the new plan, said it could be a negotiation starter.

“Overall, we agree that it could form the basis for future agreements,” he said of the latest draft, which the US is thought to have shortened to about 20 points.

US negotiator Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow next week to discuss the revised document, Putin said.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meanwhile due to visit Kyiv later this week, Ukraine’s top presidential aide Andriy Yermak said.

– ‘Little can be done’ –

In his remarks Thursday, Putin repeated the claim that Russia had encircled the Ukrainian army in Pokrovsk and Myrnograd in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region — the most fiercely embattled area and a key target for Moscow’s forces.

“Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov are completely surrounded,” he said, using the Russian names for the cities.

Moscow was also advancing in Vovchansk and Siversk, as well as approaching the important logistic hub of Guliaipole, he added.

The Russian offensive “is practically impossible to hold back, so there is little that can be done about it”, Putin said.

Ukraine has denied Pokrovsk and Myrnograd are encircled, insisting its forces continue to hold the enemy along the front line.

Putin also questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy and said signing any agreement with him would be legally “almost impossible” at the moment, a suggestion that has drawn groans from Kyiv and its allies.

According to data analysed by AFP from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces have conquered an average of 467 square kilometres (180 square miles) each month in 2025 — a step up from 2024.

Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the worst armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.