United States

US President Donald Trump said he would support the peace agreement that Israel and Palestinians “like the best” in a joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu . When asked about the Israeli-Palestinian peace proces, Trump “I’m looking at two state and one state. And I like the one that both parties like” He did however call on Israeli Prime Minister to pause settlement expansion in order to reach a peace deal. “I’d like to see you hold off on settlements for a little bit,” he told Netanyahu.

The much anticipated meeting between President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu did not provide significant insight into the new administration's policies vis-a-vis Israel and the middle east. While Trump expressed optimism in a "great peace deal", he urged his Israeli colleague to "hold back on the settlements a little bit", and while reiterating his support for a move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, he was non-committal: "we'll see what happens."

With a Russian ship sailing in very close proximity to the primary east coast submarine base, and tensions between the US - and perhaps the Trump administration - and Russia, once again rising it seems like an odd moment to organize a meeting between the top US military general and his Russian counterpart on Thursday in Azerbaijan, the first such meeting between the two since military cooperation between the two nations was suspended in 2014 following the hostilities in Ukraine.

As previewed yesterday, of the three men mentioned as Michael Flynn's national security advisor replacements, one stood out: the former deputy commander of the US Central Command and current CEO for Lockheed Martin in the UAE, Robard Harward. Moments ago, Reuters confirmed that as expected, Trump has offered the National Security Advisor job to Robert Harward.

Beijing has warned Washington against any actions which would challenge China’s “sovereignty and security” The warning was in response to reports that the US was planning fresh naval patrols in the disputed South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that tensions in the waters have stabilized due to the hard work of Beijing and Southeast Asia countries.