❌

Reading view

First Protestant march in Catholic area in nearly 30 years

Tensions are running high in Northern Ireland after the High Court in Belfast approved a controversial parade. Around 2,000 protesters have blocked the route into a Catholic area where the Protestant march was due to pass. It is the first time in nearly 30 years that the Orange Order has been allowed to march along this route, which was a notorious flashpoint before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement largely brought an end to the bloodshed of the Troubles. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has appealed for calm on all sides, saying he does not want to see Northern Ireland “go backwards.”

  •  

Northern Ireland court allows Orange Order march through Catholic area

A court in Northern Ireland has allowed a Protestant parade to proceed through a controversial route in a Catholic area for the first time in nearly 30 years. The legal dispute ended in the early hours of Sunday, with counterprotests now underway and police working to keep marchers and protesters apart. The Drumcree parade dispute dates back to the mid-1990s, when tensions over the route led to riots, roadblocks and murders, threatening Northern Ireland’s peace process. Hervé Amoric reports from Portadown.

  •  

CNN removed from Trump press pool despite judge order to reinstate White House access

US news outlet CNN has been removed from a press pool that is accompanying President Donald Trump on a trip to Tennessee on Saturday. Last week, the Trump administration barred CNN, along with MS NOW and Politico, from accessing the White House. A judge then ordered their access temporarily restored, saying the move was likely unconstitutional.

  •  

US Supreme Court allows Trump to use controversial voter 'verification' system

The US Supreme Court on Friday ruled the Trump administration can use a controversial new federal database that would ostensibly verify voter citizenship in November’s elections. Critics argue the administration is exaggerating the threat of non-citizen voters – an extreme rarity in US elections – to implement policies that would disenfranchise likely Democratic voters.

  •  

Donald Trump courts Xi Jinping during high-profile White House visit

President Donald Trump rolled out an unusually lavish welcome for Chinese President Xi Jinping, praising their personal friendship throughout a White House state dinner and other ceremonial events. While both leaders said they held frank discussions behind closed doors, the visit produced no major breakthroughs, prompting criticism from Democratic lawmakers who argued the pageantry overshadowed pressing issues including Iran, Taiwan, AI and trade.

  •  

Live: Iran's President says US ‘must choose’ whether to end war

It is for the United States to choose whether to end its war in Iran as Tehran does not wish to continue fighting, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday. Pezeshkian took a defiant stand at the UN Wednesday, for which he travelled to New York, telling the world that Iran would not "bend at the knee" to Washington Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.  

  •  

Israeli policies threaten 'life and existence' of Palestinians, Abbas tells UN

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly on Thursday by video after being denied a visa to the United States for the second year in a row. In his prerecorded speech, he denounced Israeli policies that he said threatened Palestinians with a new Nakba and vowed that his people would remain “on their land”.  

  •  

'Trump views US-China relations as a personal friendship: Xi views US as an adversary to be managed'

Erin Ogunkeye is pleased to welcome Henrietta Levin, Senior Fellow with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The US remains a powerful actor in its relationship with China. But power on paper is not the same thing as leverage at the negotiating table. Levin warns that President Trump’s highly personalized approach to Xi Jinping offers Beijing opportunities that China can easily exploit. Xi does not approach the relationship in the same way. Au contraire, he sees the United States as an adversary to be managed while China pursues its domestic priorities and strategic objectives in Asia, including on Taiwan. 

  •  

Trump hosts lavish dinner for Xi, hails ‘great friendship’ with Chinese leader

President Donald Trump hosted a lavish state dinner for China’s Xi Jinping on Thursday night that was attended by top business leaders, including tech titans. Trump hailed his “great friendship” with Xi and pulled out all the stops for a ceremony that attempted to mask the tensions between the two rival powers.

  •  

Donald Trump startled by the sound of a fighter jet

🇺🇸 🇨🇳 As Donald #Trump welcomed his Chinese counterpart Xi #Jinping for a state visit on the tarmac of an airport near #Washington, the sound of a fighter jet during the military ceremony caught the US president off guard, prompting a series of startled facial expressions.

  •  
❌