Deep Dive: When Allies Disagree Inside the US-Israel-Iran Triangle

An in-depth look at the shifting dynamics in the Middle East as Washington pursues a new deal with Tehran, leaving Jerusalem worried about what's next.

The Middle East has been on edge for weeks now, and this week's episode of The Deep Dive is diving straight into the chaos. Here's the big news: the United States and Iran are apparently putting pen to paper on a new agreement one that, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, effectively shuts Israel out of the conversation entirely.

That's a pretty stark position for a country that's been Washington's closest ally in the region to hear, especially after everything that's happened over the past few years.

USA: "I Had No Right To Overturn The Election"

Former US Vice President Mike Pence has publicly attacked Donald Trump for the first time. He described his statements on the storming of the Capitol as "un-American".

Former US Vice President Mike Pence has publicly contradicted ex-President Donald Trump for the first time. "I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. President Trump is wrong, I had no right to overturn the election," Pence said during an appearance in Florida.

The idea that one person could elect the President of the United States is "un-American". The Bible-believing Republican was loyal to Trump for four years, but has distanced himself since the Capitol attack. He has long been said to have ambitions for a presidential candidacy.

Ukraine conflict: US Concerned About Russian Troop Deployments To Belarus

The US government has announced that Russia has transferred soldiers to Ukraine's neighboring country. Complicity by the regime there in an attack is "unacceptable".

The US government has expressed concern that Russia transferred Russian soldiers to Belarus over the weekend. "The timing is remarkable and of course it raises concerns that Russia may intend to deploy troops in Belarus under the guise of joint maneuvers with a view to possibly attacking Ukraine from the north," said a senior US official.

The number of Russian soldiers is above the number that would be expected in a "normal military exercise". She stressed that Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko's "complicity" in such an attack would be "completely unacceptable".

NATO Is Also Preparing For The Failure Of The Talks With Russia

"The risk of a conflict is real": NATO signals readiness for dialogue with Russia. Thousands of Russian soldiers had been drawn together near the Ukraine.

The NATO has its readiness for dialogue with Russia emphasized. At the same time, the alliance will be prepared for the failure of the talks, said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after a crisis meeting with the foreign ministers of the member states.  

NATO will exchange ideas with Russia in good faith and in substance

But we also have to be prepared for the possibility that diplomacy will fail

Ukraine Conflict: Talk And Arm...The Cat's Table

Putin and Biden are negotiating over the heads of the Europeans. That doesn't have to be any harm for the EU.

If it were in his power, Vladimir Putin would turn the clock back in history to 1991. He saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union thirty years ago as a humiliation. For him it was the fall of an empire in which Russia found greatness and security. He never got over this shame.

That is why he intervened in 2008 in Georgia, which had turned to the west. That is why he annexed Crimea in 2014 and has been supporting the separatists in eastern Ukraine since they broke away from the government in Kiev.

Now Putin is again deploying troops. At no cost should Ukraine switch to the western camp. Ukrainians and Russians, for Putin they are "one people".

Biden Assures Ukraine's President That The US "Will Respond Decisively" If Russia Invades

Some 100,000 Russian troops are concentrated near the country's border, where Putin already seized the Crimea region in 2014, and is accused of fomenting a pro-Russian separatist war that broke out that same year in the east.

US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodimir Zelenski on Sunday that Washington and its allies "will respond decisively" if Russia acts to invade its pro-Western neighbor, the White House reported.

Reporting on the phone chat between the two, White House press secretary Jen Psaki also said the Biden expressed support for the diplomatic efforts, including high-level talks between Russian and US officials scheduled for January 9-10. in Geneva.

Putin And Biden Ease The Tension

The telephone conversation between the two is considered the prelude to the meetings between Russia and the United States in Geneva on January 10.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart, Joe Biden, that Russia wants security "guarantees" and that if it continues to deploy missiles in Central Europe, Moscow will react the same way Washington would if it did offensive weapons. were placed near its borders.

According to Russian government media published last night, Yuri Ushakov, Putin's international relations adviser, said after the meeting that "President Biden clearly stated that the United States has no intention of deploying strategic offensive weapons [missiles] in Ukraine."

Biden Warns Putin Of Harsh Sanctions

The Ukraine conflict has recently seemed to be more and more threatening. Now US President Biden and Russian President Putin want to speak directly about the conflict.

In the event of further military intervention in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden wants to threaten Russian President Vladimir Putin with harsh sanctions. A senior White House representative said that Biden would campaign for a diplomatic solution in a phone call with Putin this Thursday, but also emphasize the willingness to take tough punitive measures.

We have coordinated with our allies to impose tough sanctions on the Russian economy and the financial system - much more than what was implemented in 2014

said the US government representative on Wednesday. At that time, Russia had annexed the Crimean peninsula and began to support separatists in eastern Ukraine.

China: Nicaragua Breaks Off Diplomatic Relations With Taiwan

Taiwan is losing another ally in Latin America: Nicaragua has ended diplomatic relations and embraced Beijing's one-China doctrine.

Nicaragua has surprisingly broken off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and now recognizes the People's Republic of China. Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said: "The People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government that represents all of China and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory". The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry responded with "pain and regret from the bottom of its heart" to the loss of one of its last international allies, according to the announcement.

US House of Representatives Adopts Import Ban On China & The 'Democracy Summit' Begins In USA

Democrats and Republicans launch new sanctions over human rights violations in China. No products are to be imported from Xinjiang in the future.

The USA wants to initiate further sanctions against China because of the oppression of the Muslim Uighur minority. The US House of Representatives passed a law banning imports from China's Xinjiang region for forced labor. The House of Representatives approved the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act with an overwhelming 428-1 vote.

USA Impose New Sanctions On Iran

In the midst of talks about a new version of the nuclear agreement, the US announced new punitive measures. The reason is "clear violations of human rights".

The US has imposed new sanctions on around a dozen organizations and individual leaders in Iran. The Treasury Department in Washington said the sanctions responded to "clear violations of human rights". Among other things, you will meet Iranian special forces from the security services or counter-terrorism. The management of Iranian prisons is also affected by the sanctions, it said in Washington.

Beijing Winter Olympics: Boris Johnson Is Considering Boycotting The Olympics In China

After the USA, the British government is also considering not sending diplomats to the games. They wants to demonstrate against human rights violations.

After the USA, Great Britain is now considering diplomatically boycotting the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. This was reported by the Times on Saturday. According to the report, the British government is advising whether it will only send its ambassador to China to the games in February, but not British ministers. US President Joe Biden confirmed on Thursday that his government is also considering a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games in Beijing.

China's Dominance In International Institutions Should Be Examined, US Think Tank

The US think tank says China has increased its influence over global institutions over the past few decades, prompting calls for an inquiry.

International media reported that Chinese firms have dominated the agreements of the World Bank and Beijing has extended its support to $ 66 billion in these institutions Center for Global Development's (C GD) said in a report Japan is the second largest donor after the United States.

Storm On US Capitol: "QAnon Shaman" Sentenced To Three And A Half Years In Prison

Conspiracy theorist Jacob Chansley became one of the most recognizable faces of the forcible storming of the US Capitol on January 6th. Now he has to go to jail.

Jacob Chansley, who became known as the "QAnon Shaman" during the attack on the US Capitol in January, has been sentenced to just under three and a half years in prison. A federal judge in the US capital Washington sentenced the 34-year-old to a 41-month prison term. That equates to three years and five months in prison.

USA-China Summit: Biden Warns Of A Confrontation Between World Powers

So far, US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping have only talked on the phone. Now they have met for the first time by video - and admonished each other.

US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping started their eagerly awaited video summit with mutual reminders. Biden warned of a confrontation between the world's two largest economies. It is their mutual responsibility "to ensure that competition between our countries does not degenerate into conflict, whether intentional or unintentional," he said. It takes "common sense guidelines," Biden said.

Storm On US Capitol: Steve Bannon Charged With Contempt Of US Congress

Donald Trump's former chief strategist should testify about the storming of the US Capitol and refuses. For his loyalty to the ex-president he is now facing a prison sentence.

Stephen Bannon, former President Donald Trump's chief strategist, has been charged with disregarding the US Congress. The US Department of Justice said Bannon had defied a subpoena from a congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. 

He is also accused of failing to provide the panel with requested documents. If convicted, Bannon could face a prison sentence of at least 30 days and up to a year per charge.

Storming Of The US Capitol | Federal Court Approves Handover Of Donald Trump's Secret Files

The former US president suffered a legal defeat in coming to terms with the storming of the Capitol. A committee is given access to files against Trump's will.

A US federal court approved the release of the files on the storming of the Washington Capitol earlier this year. As indicated in court documents, the documents may be submitted to a parliamentary committee of inquiry of Congress. Former US President Donald Trump, whose supporters stormed the Capitol in January, has filed a lawsuit against the release of the documents.

Today Top Stories || An Indonesian Passenger Plane Crashed | Bomb Blast In Kabul | A Second Impeachment, Pressured Donald Trump

A private airliner with 62 passengers on board has gone missing in Indonesia. According to local media, the plane of the private airline lost contact after take off, the plane was going from Jakarta to the western province. The plane was carrying 62 people, including six crew members. The Boeing 737 of the local airline disappeared from the radar four minutes after takeoff and at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Indonesia's transport minister has expressed fears that the plane may have crashed. The plane lost contact 4 minutes after takeoff. Before it went missing, the plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet. The plane lost contact after 2 pm local time. Indonesian officials say they have found the black box of a Boeing 737 passenger plane that crashed into the sea near Jakarta on Saturday. Search teams are hopeful that they will soon be able to obtain vital information from devices that will help determine the cause of the crash.

North Korea | Send raining fire over the US

North Korean chancellor Ri Yong-ho

Has warned that the country's will is to "send raining fire" over the US in response to the belligerent words of US President Donald Trump, who threatened the UN with destroying North Korea. The North Korean foreign minister spoke in this way when he received a delegation from the Russian news agency Tass that has visited Pyongyang, state media reported. "It is the firm will of all the military personnel and people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, the official name of the country) to make it rain on the US, which called for the total destruction of the DPRK," said Ri, according to a statement from the KCNA agency. Ri also said that the North Korean nuclear program is the "precious fruit of the bloody struggle of the Korean people to defend the destiny and the sovereignty of the country before the prolonged nuclear threat of the American imperialists, and a valuable sword justice." The North Korean chancellor attended the regular session of the United Nations General Assembly last September, in which Trump threatened in his speech to "completely destroy North Korea" for its continuing weapons tests, including its latest nuclear test, made on 3 September. These tests and the dialectical escalation between Washington and Pyongyang have raised regional tension over the past year to unprecedented levels since the end of the Korean War (1950-1953).

The delegation of Russian journalists to North Korea came shortly after a group of Russian MPs traveled to the hermetic Asian country. One of them explained after their visit that the North Korean authorities assured them that they are preparing the next test launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with real capacity to reach the US West Coast. Experts speculate that Pyongyang could make this launch coincide with the Chinese Communist Party Congress, which starts on October 18, or in the face of Trump's visit to the region, which will take place from November 2 to 14.