adviser

US has spent $12bn on Iran war, White House economic chief says, as Pentagon signals escalation Kevin Hassett gives latest cost since Feb. 28 joint US-Israel strikes; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says bombing of Iran is “about to surge dramatically” Standfirst: The Trump administration faces growing questions over the war’s price tag and purpose. Markets remain on edge over possible Strait of Hormuz disruptions, while Senate Democrats warn of “mission creep.” The United States has spent $12bn on its war against Iran since…

Morgan McSweeney, the strategist who engineered Labour’s turn from activism to authority and shepherded Keir Starmer to Downing Street, is facing the most bruising test of his quiet power. The prime minister’s chief of staff has been pulled into the fallout from the appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to the United States, a decision now tainted by Mandelson’s continued association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Starmer has apologized to Epstein’s victims and for “believing lies,” while insisting…

Trump aide denies claims of Davos meeting with North Western State of Somalia president WASHINGTON — A spokesperson for Eric Trump, the son of U.S. President Donald Trump, has denied reports that he met Abdirahman Cirro — identified by some accounts as the president of Somalia’s northwestern regional administration — during a dinner event on the sidelines of the Davos meetings in Switzerland. Kimberly Benza, a spokesperson for Eric Trump, said no talks took place and no political or economic topics were discussed at the…

On Thursday, Tunisian President Kais Saied asked Ridha Gharsallaoui, a former national security adviser to the presidency, to temporarily take charge of the Interior Ministry until a new government can be formed. The…

Honoré Ngbanda, former head of intelligence for Mobutu Sese Seko, died in Morocco (as Mobutu). He was 74 years old. The former special adviser to the president had left the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997 a few days before the fall of Marshal Mobutu, who at the time had ruled with the iron fist of the DRC, aka Zaire from 1965 to 1997. He was former president Mobutu Sese Seko's master spy. Honoré Ngbanda has been a staunch supporter of the former Congolese head of state until the end. Born in Lisala, like Mobutu, in…

Who negotiated the discharge of 4 hostages, together with Soumaïla Cissé and Sophie Pétronin, two weeks in the past in northern Mali? Among the many names circulating is the Mauritanian Moustapha Chafi, who for a very long time was the particular adviser to Burkinabé President Blaise Compaoré. Final Sunday, after 11 years of exile, Moustapha Chafi returned to his nation. On this event, he provides some confidentiality about his work as a…