ROBBIE Williams looks specs-tacular in glasses weeks after saying he fears fat jabs are ruining his eyesight.
The Rock DJ singer, 51, wore chunky white frames at a London club on Thursday.
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Robbie Williams has been spotted in chunky-framed glasses weeks after saying he fears fat jabs are ruining his eyesightCredit: SplashRobbie was out with wife Ayda Field, 46, and daughter Teddy, 13Credit: PA
Robbie, whose debut solo album was called Life Thru A Lens, was out with wife Ayda Field, 46, and daughter Teddy, 13.
She is the eldest of their four kids, and they were out in town after the premiere of festive filmTinsel Town in Leicester Square.
“It’s been blurry for a while now, and it’s only getting worse.
“I don’t believe it’s age; I believe it’s the jabs.”
His comments come after a study revealed a link between Semaglutide, the active ingredient in some fat jabs, and an eye condition which causes blindness.
“I went to anAmerican footballgame the other night and the players were just blobs on a green field in front of me.
BELLA Hadid brims with confidence as she anticipates the sweet smell of success from her new perfume.
The US supermodel, 29, wore a large titfer as she fronted up in a plunging white top and no bra to launch her fifth fragrance for her own brand, Orebella.
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Bella Hadid wore a large titfer as she fronted up in a plunging white top and no braCredit: InstagramBella also posed almost topless while clutching the golden bottle containing her new productCredit: Instagram
And it was hat’s off as she posed almost topless while clutching the golden bottle containing her new product.
She’s not short of naked ambition.
Her cowboy boyfriend Adan Banuelos, 37, would approve.
US president says second National Guard member is ‘fighting for his life’ after the attack a day earlier in Washington, DC.
Published On 28 Nov 202528 Nov 2025
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United States President Donald Trump said that one of the two National Guard troops shot a day earlier near the White House has died, while the other soldier is “fighting for his life”.
Trump said on Thursday evening that West Virginia National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom died from wounds following the double shooting on Wednesday, a short distance from the White House.
The president hailed Beckstrom as a “highly respected, young, magnificent person” and said the second member of the National Guard targeted in the gun attack was critical.
“He’s in very bad shape,” Trump said as he addressed troops in a video call to mark the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow soon.
HOLLY Valance stunned as she posed for snaps after her recent split from billionaire husband Nick Candy.
The Aussie beauty showed her ex what he was missing on a rare night out, after The Sun revealed he has been dating a Swedish socialite who looks just like her.
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Holly Valance wore a white brocade minidress with diamonds with skyscrapper heels on a night out in LondonCredit: GettyThe singer dazzled in white as she was snapped on her first night out since the breakdown of her marriage after 13 yearsCredit: GettyShe posed with Australian fashion designer and friend Rebecca VallanceCredit: GettyHolly rubbed shoulders with other celebs at Aki restaurant including Sharon and Kelly OsbourneCredit: Getty
Singer and actress Holly, 42, wore a white brocade minidress and was dripping in diamonds at Aki restaurant in London tonight.
She flashed a huge smile as she posed with her friend, Australian fashion designer Rebecca Vallance, who hosted the event.
Holly’s dazzling accessories included a diamond necklace, statement diamond earrings, a delicate bracelet and glittering gold heels.
The newly single star rubbed shoulders with Sharon and Kelly Osbourne at the swanky bash held in London’s posh Cavendish Square.
Ex-Neighbours actress Holly was pictured on a night out for the first time since The Sun revealed in June the wealthy couple had filed for divorce.
Property tycoon and Reform UK treasurer Nick, 52, was later spotted smooching Swedish socialite Camilla Ferrero, 33, at an airport as they went public with their romance.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: “Nick has blindsided Holly and left her and his inner circle stunned about the romance.
“Nick didn’t tell anyone he had met someone else and then started heading off on trips abroad.
“So his close friends started suspecting he was seeing someone else.
“He perhaps kept it under wraps to protect both Camilla and Holly.
“But there is now a slight feeling of surprise that he’s met someone else so soon — and particularly someone who’s a dead ringer for Holly.
“It will be pretty tough for her seeing him with Camilla.
“Camilla is from Sweden but now based in the UK and she and Nick are spending all their time together.”
It is understood Nick and Holly signed a pre-nuptial agreement before they tied the knot in 2012 in a lavish £3million wedding.
Another source told The Sun: “Holly is incredibly upset.
“Her main concern is, and always will be, for their two daughters.
“But when it comes to the divorce, she’s made it clear she wants what she’s owed and will take Nick for every penny.
“She insists that she is the injured party in this.”
Holly and Nick were together for 13 yearsCredit: GettyHolly seen arriving in London in June without her wedding ring on, after The Sun revealed their break-upNick, 52, has been dating 33-year-old Swedish socialite Camilla FerreroCredit: Getty
Watch: How the shooting of two National Guard members unfolded
Two National Guard soldiers are critically injured after being gunned down in Washington DC, less than two blocks from the White House, in what the city’s mayor called a “targeted shooting”.
Police said a lone suspect opened fire on two National Guard members from West Virginia on Wednesday afternoon, before being subdued by other National Guard nearby who had heard the gunfire.
President Donald Trump, who was in Florida at the time, said the alleged gunman was an Afghan national who entered the US in September 2021.
He vowed that his administration would ensure the suspect “pays the steepest possible price” for the “act of terror”.
Getty Images
Multiple law enforcement sources earlier identified the alleged gunman to the BBC’s US partner CBS as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national.
“We must now re-examine every alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under [former President Joe] Biden,” said Trump in a live address on Wednesday night.
A statement from Joint Task Force DC, which is overseeing the National Guard deployments to the nation’s capital, said the attack took place at around 14:15 EST (17:15 GMT) on Wednesday near the Farragut Square Metro Station.
The soldiers were on a high-visibility patrol near the corner of 17th and I streets, a busy lunch spot for office workers.
FBI Director Kash Patel – whose agency is leading the investigation – told a news conference the soldiers were “brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence”.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Jeff Carroll said the suspect “came around the corner” and “immediately started firing a firearm”.
He said the soldiers had been “ambushed”.
Other National Guard members nearby heard the gunfire and responded, he said.
“They actually were able to intervene and to kind of hold down the suspect, after he had been shot, on the ground until law enforcement got there within moments,” Carroll said.
The suspect was shot four times, law enforcement sources told CBS.
It is unclear what weapon was used in the assault. Nor was a motive immediately clear.
The suspect was not co-operating with authorities, law enforcement sources told CBS on Wednesday night.
President Trump – who is at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach – vowed to punish the attacker.
“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement,” he added.
US Vice-President JD Vance, who was addressing troops in Kentucky at the time of the attack, urged “everybody who’s a person of faith” to pray for the victims.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said in a post on X that both victims were members of his state’s National Guard and had died from their injuries.
But he soon posted a second statement that cited “conflicting reports” about their condition. He issued another statement later calling the at
The attack prompted the White House to briefly go into lockdown and a temporary flight stoppage at the city’s main airport on the eve of Thanksgiving.
Flights through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were briefly grounded after the attack, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
At the scene, glass from a bus stop lay shattered on the pavement.
The intersection was full of police cars, armed security personnel and National Guard troops.
Watch: Trump calls for 500 more guardsmen in DC after shooting, says Hegseth
One witness told the BBC he heard two gunshots, followed by three more.
People ran in panic, some trying to take shelter in a liquor store.
Another witness who was in his car close to the metro station showed the BBC footage he took of the two soldiers lying on the street in their uniforms while being treated by medics.
A third person, apparently the alleged gunman, was also on the pavement being treated.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the president had asked him to send 500 more National Guard members to Washington DC, following the attack.
“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington DC safe and beautiful,” the Pentagon chief said.
There are currently nearly 2,200 National Guard troops in Washington DC.
The force includes contingents from the District of Columbia as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama.
They are a reservist force that can be activated to serve as military troops, but have limited power as they cannot enforce the law or make arrests.
The National Guard were deployed to Washington DC in August to tackle what Trump called “out of control” crime.
EPA
Overall crime in the nation’s capital has fallen since the force was sent, though it’s unclear how much of the decline can be credited to the presence of the troops on the streets.
Washington DC police figures show 62 homicides (a category that includes murder) between 25 May and 25 November this year.
That compares with 107 homicides recorded in the same period last year.
Nearly 6,500 offences have been recorded by police since 12 August, down from about 9,500 in the same period in 2024.
Trump, a Republican, has sent the National Guard to Democratic-led US cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Memphis.
He argues the deployments were needed to tackle crime, but opponents legally challenged the moves, accusing the White House of overreach.
The incoming NYC mayor says he still believes the US president is a fascist, two days after they had a friendly meeting.
Published On 23 Nov 202523 Nov 2025
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New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says he still believes United States President Donald Trump is a fascist, despite a surprisingly warm meeting between the two politically polarised men at the White House this week.
“That’s something that I’ve said in the past; I say it today,” Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, said about the Republican president in an interview aired on NBC News on Sunday.
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Mamdani’s comments came two days after he met with Trump, setting aside months of mutual recriminations and promising to cooperate on the city’s future.
Trump, who grew up in New York, called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” in a social media post following the incoming mayor’s election victory, and Mamdani has said Trump was attacking democracy.
During their meeting, Trump, who had previously suggested the Ugandan-born New Yorker should be deported, even came to his rescue as the two addressed reporters at the White House.
When a journalist asked Mamdani if he continued to view Trump as a fascist, the president stepped in.
“That’s OK. You can just say it. That’s easier,” Trump told Mamdani. “It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”
Mamdani elaborated his stand further in the NBC interview.
“[What] I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that have brought us to this moment,” he said.
“I found the meeting that I had with the president a productive one and a meeting that came back again and again to the central themes of the campaign that we ran: the cost of housing, cost of childcare, the cost of groceries, the cost of utilities.”
After threatening to cut federal funding to the US’s biggest city and to send in the US National Guard, Trump praised Mamdani’s historic election win during their meeting, saying he could do a “great job”.
“We’ve just had a great … very productive meeting. We have one thing in common: we want this city of ours that we love to do very well,” he said later. “We are going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true: having a strong and very safe New York.”
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said on the CNN news programme State of the Union that Trump wants to work with everybody who cares about the future of the American people.
“We’re at times disagreeing about policies,” Hassett said, “but I think that the objective of making life better for everybody is something that a lot of people share on the Democratic and Republican side.”
CHEAP cocktails, mango sticky rice for £1.65 and trained monkeys picking coconuts – Koh Samui is nothing like the White Lotus fantasy I expected.
And that’s what makes it so brilliant.
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The Big Buddha statue dominates the skylineCredit: GettyThe island’s secret beaches are a delightCredit: GettySnorkeling through school of Indo-pacific sergeant fish in the ocean in Ko Samui, ThailandCredit: Getty
Sure, there are luxury resorts and picture-perfect beaches, but the real Thailand is in the busy beach bars flogging happy-hour deals, tiny restaurants with garish tablecloths, and the constant thump of Thai boxing promotions from crackling loudspeakers.
I stayed at the Anantara Lawana — where The White Lotus cast filmed bar scenes in its Singing Bird Lounge.
The hotel has a grand entrance with a gong that you hit upon entering, a private beach scattered with sunbeds, an infinity pool and a peaceful spa.
Some rooms have swim-up pools and I admit I’ve become partial to an outdoor shower — as long as it isn’t raining. In a hotel this perfect, with everything at your fingertips, it could be tempting not to leave.
My guide, Nong, called it “coconut island” — the island produces 200 million a year, many plucked by trained monkeys.
Over the next few days, he made sure I saw as much of the island as possible, though the furry labourers remained elusive.
Nong told me there are around 25 temples on the island — some are big tourist draws, others are tucked away in smaller communities where locals worship.
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Cheerful Buddha
We travelled all over Koh Samui hunting down these brightly coloured shrines.
At Wat Phra Yai sits the Big Buddha — a 40ft statue built in 1972 that dominates the skyline and can be seen from miles away.
Close by is the beautiful Wat Plai Laem complex, which has the 18-armed Guanyin and a cheerful Buddha statue.
Koh Samui is Thailand’s second-largest island, and you can drive around the ring road in about an hour — though you’d be rushing past some of the best bits.
We made lots of stops along the tour to take in the views.
The beaches lived up to expectations — Chaweng is one of the most popular — but there are many pockets of coast where you’ll find secret sandy spots and likely be the only people around.
We also visited the Elephant Kingdom Sanctuary, where 16 rescued elephants live out their days in comfort.
From a skywalk, I watched them splash in pools and demolish piles of bananas.
The Sun’s Alice Penwill loved the mango riceCredit: SuppliedTucked away along the streets are places serving up pad Thai and spicy tom yum soup, with cocktails for £2Credit: Supplied
Koh Samui also works as a jumping-off point for the surrounding islands.
We took a speedboat to Koh Nangyuan, a tiny protected marine park about 45 minutes away, where white sand connects three little peaks.
While most claimed their patch of beach, I went straight into the water.
The shallows are packed with coral, rainbow parrotfish and bright yellow butterflyfish — it’s the kind of place that justifies getting up early for a boat ride.
I also paid a visit to the northern side of the island , for a cooking class in Bo Phut.
I’m a disaster in the kitchen, so I was wary to get stuck in.
Pay a visit to the rescued elephantsCredit: GettyWalton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood in The White LotusCredit: Alamy
But Chef Lat was enthusiastic and welcoming, and soon had me chopping lemongrass and frying prawns.
He demonstrated how to create a chicken and ginger curry, stir-fried prawns with yellow curry and a sweet, spicy papaya salad.
My new favourite, though is a massaman chicken curry. You eat everything you make, too.
Our days exploring the island were brilliant, but it was the street food that kept pulling me away from the White Lotus life back at the resort.
Tucked away along the streets are places serving up pad Thai and spicy tom yum soup, with cocktails for £2.
As for sweet treats, mango sticky rice is a revelation and, at £1.65 from street vendors, you’d be mad to miss it.
When the humidity becomes unbearable, coconut ice cream is a girl’s best friend.
When everything tastes this good and costs this little, the infinity pool can wait.
GO: KOH SAMUI
GETTING/STAYING THERE: Seven nights’ B&B at Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort in a Deluxe Lawana room starts from £1,236pp, including return flights from Gatwick on November 3 via Singapore with Singapore Airlines. See expedia.co.uk. OUT & ABOUT: All activities can be booked through the Expedia app. A six-hour private island tour is £68.94pp, the Samui Elephant Kingdom Ethical Sanctuary and Skywalk Tour is £65.20pp, a day trip to Koh Nangyuan and Koh Tao by speedboat starts at £48.13pp and the Thai cooking class is from £56.01pp.
Nov. 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, from different political spectrums, found common ground while meeting at the White House on Friday afternoon.
Trump and Mamdani met for a half hour in the Oval Office before fielding questions from reporters for another 30 minutes, during which the president said that they have more shared priorities than expected, including cost of living, housing and crime.
“I met with a man who’s a very rational person,” Trump said from his desk as Mandani stood next to him.
“I met with a man who really wants to see New York be great again,” he added. “I’ll really be cheering for him.”
Trump, whose legal residence now is in Palm Beach, Fla., said he would feel “very, very comfortable being in New York” with Mamdani as mayor.
The president said he “OK” with some New Yorkers voting for both of them.
Mamdani said his motivation for meeting with the president is to “leave no stone unturned” in his effort to make New York City more affordable for its residents.
“I have many disagreements with the president,” Mamdani said, but called it his “opportunity to make my case.”
“We should be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that can make our city affordable for every single New Yorker,” Mamdani added.
“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” Trump said when asked about cutting federal funding as he has previously mentioned.
Trump said he is fine with Mamdani referring to him as a fascist.
Mamdani affirmed he is a democratic socialist when asked by a reporter while in the Oval Office though Trump previously called him a “communist,” CNN reported.
The president said the meeting between the two was “really good, very productive” and that they both “want this city of ours that we both love to do very well.”
Trump was born and raised in New York City, and said he and Mamdani talked about making housing more accessible and lowering food prices.
“I think you’re going to have a really great mayor,” Trump said of Mamdani. “The better he does, the happier I am.”
Mamdani is likely to “surprise some conservative people” and “some very liberal people,” he added.
The mayor-elect likewise said the meeting between the two was productive.
“We spoke about rent. We spoke about groceries, [and] we spoke about utilities,” Mamdani told reporters. “We spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out.”
He said he “appreciated the time with the president” and “I look forward to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers.”
Mamdani is scheduled to be sworn in as New York City’s mayor shortly after midnight on Jan. 1.
President Donald Trump meets with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Friday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
The leaders of the UK, France and Germany met Zelensky in Kyiv earlier this year
Ukraine’s allies will seek to “strengthen” a US plan to end the war with Russia when they meet at the G20 summit in South Africa, UK PM Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The summit begins a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Ukraine faced “one of the most difficult moments in our history” over pressure to accept the plan – leaked details of which have been seen as favourable to Moscow.
Zelensky held phone talks with Sir Keir and the leaders of France and Germany on Friday. Afterwards, the PM said Ukraine’s “friends and partners” remained committed to securing a “lasting peace once and for all”.
Neither US President Donald Trump nor Russian President Vladimir Putin are attending the G20.
The widely leaked US peace plan includes proposals that Kyiv had previously ruled out, including ceding eastern areas it currently controls.
Washington has been pressing Kyiv to accept and sent senior Pentagon officials to the Ukraine earlier this week to discuss the proposals.
But there is nervousness in Europe over what has been perceived as a set of terms heavily slanted in Moscow’s favour. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the prospect of it being adopted a “very dangerous moment”.
According to news agency Reuters, she told reporters: “We all want this war to end, but how it ends matters. Russia has no legal right whatsoever to any concessions from the country it invaded, ultimately the terms of any agreement are for Ukraine to decide.”
Ahead of the talks at the G20, Sir Keir said gathered leaders would “discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of President Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
He continued: “Not a day has passed in this war where Ukraine hasn’t called for Russia to end its illegal invasion, roll back its tanks and lay down its guns.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage.
“That is why we must all work together, with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all.”
As part of the White House’s plan, Ukraine would be obliged to cut the size of its army and pledge not to join the Nato military alliance, a long-held Kremlin demand.
Trump warned on Friday that Ukraine would lose more territory to Russia “in a short amount of time” and that Zelensky “is going to have to approve” the plan.
The US president said he had given Ukraine until Thursday to agree to the plan – Thanksgiving in the US – which he described as an “appropriate” deadline.
Russian troops have been making slow advances along the vast front line, despite reported heavy losses.
Ukraine relies on deliveries of US-manufactured advances weaponry to arms its forces, including air defence systems.
Kyiv has also been dependent on intelligence provided by Washington since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
During a meeting with his security cabinet on Friday, Putin confirmed the US had presented its proposed peace plan, and said it could be the “basis” for a settlement – though added detailed talks on its terms had not yet been held in the Kremlin.
He said Russia was willing to “show flexibility” but was also prepared to fight on.
In a 10-minute address in front of the presidential office in Kyiv, Zelensky warned that Ukraine would face “a lot of pressure… to weaken us, to divide us”.
“We’re not making loud statements,” he went on, “we’ll be calmly working with America and all the partners… offering alternatives” to the proposed peace plan.
Zelensky has had to strike a careful balance between Kyiv’s interests and maintaining cordial ties with Trump, with whom he had a public falling out with at the White House earlier this year and who has appeared at times frustrated at the lack of progress in peace talks.
His reaction to the US plan has been measuredly worded – though he did admit on Friday that Ukraine “might face a very difficult choice: either losing dignity, or risk losing a key partner”.
The White House has pushed back on claims that Ukraine was frozen out of the drafting of the proposal.
An unnamed US official told CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner, that the plan was drawn up “immediately” following discussions with Ukraine’s top security official Rustem Umerov, who agreed to the majority of it.
EPA
A Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Ternopil this week killed at least 31 people
The leaked draft proposes Ukrainian troops’ withdrawal from the part of the eastern Donetsk region that they currently control, giving Russia de facto control of Donetsk, as well as the neighbouring Luhansk region and the southern Crimea peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.
Russia currently controls around 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Kyiv would receive “reliable security guarantees”, the plan says, though no details have been given.
The document says “it is expected” that Russia will not invade its neighbours and that Nato will not expand further.
The draft also suggests Russia will be “reintegrated into the global economy”, through the lifting of sanctions and by inviting Russia to rejoin the G7 group of the world’s most powerful countries – making it the G8 again.
Nov. 20 (UPI) — President Donald Trump announced he will meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday.
Trump made the announcement on his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday.
“Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting. We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st,” Trump said in the brief statement.
Mamdani was elected mayor Nov. 4, besting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, historically a Democrat who ran as an independent with Trump’s endorsement, after losing the Democratic nomination to Mamdani.
Trump has been a vocal critic of Mamdani, and warned ahead of the election that if Mamdani won he would throttle federal funding to the city, calling him a “Communist Lunatic” who is “going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great city.”
Trump also threatened to arrest Mamdani if he interfered with his federal immigration crackdown in New York City.
During the campaign, Mamdani positioned himself as someone who would stand up to Trump. A self-described social democrat, Mamdani has warned Trump against threatening to impose punitive measures against the city.
In his victory speech, Mamdani addressed Trump directly: “Hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed in a statement that the meeting had been scheduled.
“As is customary for an incoming mayoral administration, the Mayor-elect plans to meet with the President in Washington to discuss public safety, economic security and the affordability agenda that over 1 million New Yorkers voted for just two weeks ago,” Pekec said.
In a Wednesday night interview with MS NOW, Mamdani said they did “reach out” to the White House to speak with Trump about fulfilling the campaign pledges he made to New Yorkers.
“I want to just speak plainly to the president about what it means to actually stand up for new Yorkers and the way in which New Yorkers are struggling to afford this city,” he said.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters that the White House was working on arranging a meeting with Mamdani.
“We’ll work something out,” Trump said. “We want to see everything work out well for New York.”
Trump thanks Ronaldo as football superstar makes surprise appearance alongside Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the surprise guests at a lavish White House dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump for the visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The famous footballer was among the last guests to be seated before Prince Mohammed, known as MBS, took his place at the table on Tuesday.
Here’s what you need to know about his presence at the White House:
Why did Ronaldo attend the White House dinner?
Ronaldo plays for the Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr after signing with them following the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
He spent two decades playing for European clubs and signed a two-year extension in June with Al Nassr. The 40-year-old has indicated he is ready to hang up his boots soon, making Saudi Arabia the last stop in his glittering career.
Over four seasons with Al Nassr, Ronaldo has scored 83 goals with 17 assists in 84 starts.
Since his 2023 signing for the Riyadh-based club – majority owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that the crown prince chairs – Ronaldo has been the face of the Saudi league and has featured in promotional videos for the Saudi Tourism Authority.
In a recent interview, Ronaldo referred to MBS as “our boss [in Saudi Arabia]”.
Ronaldo was seated near the front of the East Room, not far from where the president and crown prince gave remarks to officials from both nations, along with major business leaders such as Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla founder Elon Musk.
Trump, in his speech, made a point of recognising Ronaldo, who he said he introduced to his teenage son.
Trump thanked the athlete for attending. He said that his youngest son, Barron, is a “big fan” of Ronaldo and the 19-year-old was impressed that he got to meet the player.
“I think he respects his father a little bit more now, just the fact that I introduced you,” the president said.
What has Ronaldo said about Trump?
Ronaldo has recently said that Trump is “one of the guys who can help change the world”.
“[Trump is] one of the guys I want to meet. I think he can make things happen, and I like people like that,” the football icon said in an interview with media host Piers Morgan.
However, Ronaldo was quick to boast that he was more famous than Trump.
“People know me more than him. In the world, nobody’s more famous than me.”
No, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has previously featured at events with Trump, was also among the guests.
Infantino was making another appearance at the White House ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which the US is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, after meeting Trump at his residence two days earlier.
The FIFA chief will also be present when the US hosts the draw for the World Cup on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, where Trump is likely to oversee the event.
Will Ronaldo play in the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the US?
Ronaldo said earlier this month that the next World Cup will be his last.
He hasn’t played in the US since August of 2014, when he was a substitute for Real Madrid in their exhibition match against Manchester United in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
US President Donald Trump welcomed Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to the White House, declaring the Kingdom a major non-NATO ally and signaling a push to deepen US-Saudi ties. Here’s what we know about what they agreed on.
Give thanks, NFL fans, the headliners are set for this year’s Thanksgiving Day halftime shows.
Jack White will kick off the Turkey Day performances at the Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers game in Detroit. Later, Post Malone will take the stage as the Dallas Cowboys, playing at home, face off against the Kansas City Chiefs, and Lil Jon will perform at the Baltimore Ravens-Cincinnati Bengals matchup in Baltimore.
White and Malone shared the news in a pair of promo videos shared Sunday on Instagram, while Lil Jon’s appearance at M&T Bank Stadium was confirmed by the Ravens last week.
White’s Instagram reel was filmed at the White Stripes frontman’s Third Man Pressing Plant in Detroit, where an electric blue record “hot off the press” announces his Ford Field appearance.
Meanwhile, in Malone’s teaser, the “Circles” singer drives along a Texas highway as a voice on the radio advertises “the biggest matchup and one of the biggest artists of our time.”
“Bigger is always better. You know what I mean?” Malone asks Cowboys mascot Rowdy, riding shotgun, as the two haul a giant Salvation Army bucket in a big rig to AT&T Stadium. Once they arrive, they crash into a sign in general manager Jerry Jones’ parking spot and have a run-in with Cowboys place kicker Brandon Aubrey. Last year, Aubrey famously signed Malone’s jersey before a game against the New York Giants. The show will kick off the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign.
Malone’s slot is fitting, given that the Grammy-nominated artist came of age in Texas and his father once managed concessions for the Cowboys.
Malone previously had a cameo in “Beyoncé Bowl,” last year’s Emmy-winning NFL Christmas Day Halftime Show, joining Queen Bey for their duet “Levii’s Jeans.”
Nov. 14 (UPI) — The White House announced new “trade framework agreements” with Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala, all governed by administrations aligned with president Donald Trump, with the goal of reducing certain tariffs, eliminating non-tariff barriers and expanding access for U.S. products in those markets.
According to a statement issued by Washington on Thursday, the agreements establish reciprocal commitments.
The Latin American countries will eliminate or ease requirements and licenses that restrict the entry of U.S. goods — including agricultural products, medical devices, machinery and automobiles — while the U.S. government will reduce or waive tariffs on some key exports from those countries, as long as the products are not produced in sufficient quantities domestically.
“These agreements will help American farmers, ranchers, fishermen, small businesses and manufacturers increase U.S. exports and expand trade opportunities with these partners,” the White House said.
The commitments agreed to range from the acceptance of U.S. standards for vehicles, auto parts, medical devices and pharmaceuticals in El Salvador’s case to preferential access in Argentina for machinery, technology products, chemicals and agricultural goods, along with reforms to its intellectual property regime.
Guatemala agreed to ensure a favorable framework for digital trade, including free data transfers and a pledge not to impose taxes on U.S. digital services, while also strengthening its labor rules to prohibit goods linked to forced labor.
Ecuador assumed stricter environmental obligations, such as improving forest governance and combating illegal logging, as well as fully complying with international rules on fisheries subsidies.
On the trade front, it will eliminate or reduce tariffs on key products — fruits, nuts, legumes, wheat, wine and spirits — and dismantle its variable agricultural tariff system, opening significant access for U.S. exports.
The governments of all four countries welcomed the initiative as an opportunity to boost their exports, attract foreign investment and strengthen their competitiveness.
Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on X that the agreement “creates the conditions to increase U.S. investment in Argentina” and includes tariff reductions for key industries.
In a statement, the government of Javier Milei said that as part of this understanding, the two countries agreed to significantly expand access for Argentine beef in the U.S. market and to work together to eliminate non-tariff barriers to bilateral agrifood trade.
It added that the United States will eliminate tariffs on products it does not produce, while Argentina will grant tariff preferences to facilitate the entry of capital goods and intermediate inputs.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and Economy Minister Gabriela García said on social media that more than 70% of the products the country exports to the United States will now enter tariff-free. They added that most remaining products will face a 10% tariff, Prensa Libre reported.
In Ecuador’s case, as Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Danilo Palacios had previously indicated, among the products that will no longer pay the 15% tariff imposed by the United States in August are bananas and cacao, two of the main goods in Ecuador’s export basket, the newspaper Primicias reported.
While Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele reposted the White House’s official statement on X with the caption “Friends” alongside both countries’ flags, the Salvadoran Association of Industrialists said the agreement is a “unique opportunity” for exports and for attracting investment.
The Trump administration’s announcement remains at the framework stage, and the agreements are expected to be formalized in the coming weeks.
However, they do not amount to full free trade agreements, but are designed as specific market-access and regulatory commitments, including a guarantee not to impose digital taxes on U.S. companies.
United States President Donald Trump is committed to providing Americans with $2,000 cheques using money that has come into government coffers from Trump’s tariffs.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump’s staff is exploring how to go about making the plan a reality.
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The president proposed the idea on his Truth Social media platform on Sunday, five days after his Republican Party lost elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere largely because of voter discontent with his economic stewardship — specifically, the high cost of living.
A new AP-NORC poll finds that 67 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 33 percent approve.
The tariffs are bringing in so much money, the president posted, that “a dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.’’
“Trump has taken to his favorite policymaking forum, Truth Social, to make yet another guarantee that Americans are going to receive dividend [cheques] from the revenues collected by tariffs,” Alex Jacquez, who served on the National Economic Council under former US President Joe Biden, said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.
“It’s interesting that Trump’s arguments—which he has been pushing forward for several months now on Truth Social—do not match the arguments that his lawyers are making in court. It seems he is trying to pressure the Justices by implying that this will be some massive economic disaster if they rule against the tariffs.”
Budget experts have scoffed at Trump’s tariff dividend plan, which conjured memories of the Trump administration’s short-lived plan for Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) dividend cheques financed by billionaire Elon Musk’s federal budget cuts.
“The numbers just don’t check out,″ Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, told the Associated Press.
Details are scarce, including what the income limits would be and whether payments would go to children.
Even Trump’s US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, sounded a bit blindsided by the audacious dividend plan.
Appearing on Sunday on the ABC News programme This Week, Bessent said he hadn’t discussed the dividend with the president and suggested that it might not mean that Americans would get a cheque from the government. Instead, Bessent said, the rebate might take the form of tax cuts.
The tariffs are certainly raising money — $195bn in the budget year that ended September 30, up 153 percent from $77bn in fiscal 2024. But they still account for less than four percent of federal revenue, and have done little to dent the federal budget deficit, a staggering $1.8 trillion in fiscal 2025.
Budget wonks say Trump’s dividend math doesn’t work.
John Ricco, an analyst with the Budget Lab at Yale University, reckons that Trump’s tariffs will bring in $200bn to $300bn a year in revenue. But a $2,000 dividend — if it went to all Americans, including children — would cost $600bn. “It’s clear that the revenue coming in would not be adequate,” Ricco said.
The analyst also noted that Trump couldn’t just pay the dividends on his own. That would require legislation from Congress.
Legal challenges
Moreover, the centrepiece of Trump’s protectionist trade policies — double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country in the world — may not survive a legal challenge that has reached the US Supreme Court.
In a hearing last week, the court’s justices sounded sceptical about the Trump administration’s assertion of sweeping power to declare national emergencies to justify the tariffs. Trump has bypassed Congress, which has authority under the US Constitution to levy taxes, including tariffs.
If the court strikes down the tariffs, the Trump administration may be refunding money to the importers who paid them, not sending dividend cheques to American families. Trump could find other ways to impose tariffs, even if he loses at the Supreme Court, but it could be cumbersome and time-consuming.
Mainstream economists and budget analysts note that tariffs are paid by US importers who then generally try to pass along the cost to their customers through higher prices.
The dividend plan “misses the mark,” the Tax Foundation’s York said. “If the goal is relief for Americans, just get rid of the tariffs.”
WE’VE all dreamt of having a white Christmas, and there are a number of places within three hours from the UK where it will most likely be snowy this festive period.
Festive films always show snowy destinations with pretty markets and twinkling lights.
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Europe is home to many destinations where you can expect snow this Christmas such as InnsbruckCredit: Alamy
And whilst the UK can be very pretty at Christmas, we don’t often get snow.
So here are the top places in Europe you can expect snow this Christmas with flights that take less than or around three hours from the UK.
Innsbruck, Austria
Innsbruck in Austria is the capital of the Tyrol region and at Christmas transforms into a living fairytale, according to Innsbruck Tourismus.
On November 15, the Old Town and Market Squares launch with oversized fairytale figures lining many of the medieval alleyways.
At the markets, kids can enjoy a vintage carousel, puppet shows and even a virtual sleigh ride.
Visitors should also visit Wiltener Platzl, where you can experience traditional Tyrolean culture with local food and handmade goods.
Then from November 25, there will be the Maria-Theresien-Strasse Market with lots of stalls selling decorative trinkets and handcrafted gifts.
December temperatures: Highs of 4C and lows of -1C.
Snowfall: The average snowfall in Innsbruck in December is 73cm, with an average base depth of 12cm.
Return flights in December cost as little as £39 per person from Birmingham Airport to Innsbruck and each way takes around two hours.
Salzburg, Austria
The Austrian city of Salzburg sits on the border of Germany and has views of the Eastern Alps.
And over the festive season, the city is home to a brilliant Christmas market.
The Salzburger Christkindlmarkt hosts everything you’d expect of a normal Christmas market and more, including Mozart concerts and a parade.
The market is even one of the oldest in the world and is a great spot to enjoy seasonal foods.
December temperatures: Highs of 5C and lows of -2C.
Snowfall: The average snowfall in Salzburg in December is 8cm.
Return flights in December cost as little as £33 per person from London Stansted to Salzburg and each way takes around two hours.
Salzburg sits on the border of Germany and has views of the Eastern AlpsCredit: Alamy
Tallinn, Estonia
The capital of Estonia, Tallinn, is home to one of Europe‘s oldest Christmas markets which is often compared to Disney fairytale cities.
Located in Old Town’s Town Hall Square, visitors can explore a number of wooden chalets selling gifts and food and see a giant Christmas tree.
For the duration of the market, visitors can also catch a glimpse of street performers, glowing lights and carollers.
Make sure to try some traditional Estonian Christmas food such as blood sausage and roasted potatoes.
December temperatures: Highs of 1C and lows of -5C.
Snowfall: The average snowfall in Tallinn in December is 13.2cm.
Return flights in December cost as little as £35 per person from London Stansted or London Luton to Tallinn and each way takes around two hours and 45 minutes.
Tallinn gets about 13.2cm snow in DecemberCredit: Alamy
Vilnius, Lithuania
Lithuania‘s capital, Vilnius, is full of baroque architecture and has a quaint Old Town.
And when Christmas comes, this area feels like a festive village.
In the Cathedral Square, visitors will find a unique Christmas tree surrounded by a bustling market that includes ice sculptures and folk performances.
Then throughout the town there are light installations to find.
The town’s ancient streets and squares then come alive with lights and stalls selling handcrafted gifts and seasonal treats such as hot spiced wine.
December temperatures: Highs of 7C and lows of 0C.
Snowfall: The average snowfall in Chambery in December is 3.3cm.
Return flights in December cost as little as £62 per person from Edinburgh to Chambery and each way takes around two hours and 40 minutes.
Chambery features ancient streets and squares then come alive with lights and stalls selling handcrafted giftsCredit: Getty
Reykjavik, Iceland
Reykjavik sits on the coast of Iceland and is both the country’s capital and largest city.
For festive things to do in the city, head to Reykjavík Northern Lights Market, which is near Grotta Lighthouse.
The market is set in a great spot to catch the Northern Lights whilst also having a wander around a number of stalls selling local crafts and geothermal footbaths.
The market also boasts street food, live storytelling and music by the fire.
Another cosy spot to head to in the city is the Bookstore Bar, which looks like a library on the inside.
December temperatures: Highs of 3C and lows of -2C.
Snowfall: The average snowfall in Reykjavik in December is 5cm.
Return flights in December cost as little as £53 per person from Bristol Airport to Innsbruck and each way takes just under three hours.
At Reykjavík’s Northern Lights Market, you might catch the Northern LightsCredit: Alamy
Helsinki, Finland
Finland‘s southern capital, Helsinki, is known for its architecture as well as being a business hub.
And at Christmas, the city becomes a wonderland of festive cheer.
The city’s main Christmas market is called Tuomaan Markkinat and is located in Senate Square.
It features a number of different attractions including a historic carousel for children.
Seasonal foods at the market include reindeer meat and mulled wine served with almonds and raisins.
And for something a little more luxurious, Helsinki has a lot of saunas that are open throughout the holidays.
December temperatures: Highs of 1C and lows of -4C.
Snowfall: The average snowfall in Helsinki in December is 6cm.
Return flights in December cost as little as £81 per person from London Stansted to Helsinki and it takes about two hours and 50 minutes to get there.
The flight back takes just over three hours, at three hours and five minutes.
The average snowfall in Helsinki in December is 6cmCredit: Alamy
Rovaniemi, Finland
According to travel booking platform Omio, the most magical market to experience this Christmas season is Finland‘s ‘Christmas Village’, also known as ‘Santa Claus Village’.
Located in Rovaniemi, the village includes visits from Santa himself, letter writing, crafting opportunities, rides, attractions and even the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights.
December temperatures: Highs of -4C and lows of -11C.
Snowfall: The average snowfall in Rovaniemi in December is 52 cm, with an average base depth of 20 to 40 cm.
Return flights in December cost as little as £51 per person from Birmingham Airport to Rovaniemi and each way spills just over three hours, coming in at around three hours and 15 minutes.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — President Trump says that his government will boycott the Group of 20 summit this month in South Africa over his claims that a white minority group there is being violently persecuted. Those claims have been widely rejected.
Trump announced Friday on social media that no U.S. government official will attend the Nov. 22-23 summit in Johannesburg “as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.” South Africa’s Black-led government has been a regular target for Trump since he returned to office.
In February, Trump issued an executive order stopping U.S. financial assistance to South Africa, citing its treatment of the Afrikaner white minority. His administration has also prioritized Afrikaners for refugee status in the U.S. and says they will be given most of the 7,500 places available this fiscal year.
The South African government — and some Afrikaners themselves — say Trump’s claims of persecution are baseless.
Descendants of European settlers
Afrikaners are South Africans who are descended mainly from Dutch but also French and German colonial settlers who first came to the country in the 17th century.
Afrikaners were at the heart of the apartheid system of white minority rule from 1948-94, leading to decades of hostility between them and South Africa’s Black majority. But Afrikaners are not a homogenous group, and some fought against apartheid. There are an estimated 2.7 million Afrikaners in South Africa’s population of 62 million.
Afrikaners are divided over Trump’s claims. Some say they face discrimination, but a group of leading Afrikaner business figures and academics said in an open letter last month that “the narrative that casts Afrikaners as victims of racial persecution in post-apartheid South Africa” is misleading.
Afrikaners’ Dutch-derived language is widely spoken in South Africa and is one of the country’s 12 official languages. Afrikaners are represented in every aspect of society. Afrikaners are some of South Africa’s richest entrepreneurs and some of its most successful sports stars, and also serve in government. Most are largely committed to South Africa’s multiracial democracy.
Trump claims they’re being ‘killed and slaughtered’
Trump asserted that Afrikaners “are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.” The president’s comments are in reference to a relatively small number of attacks on Afrikaner farmers that he and others claim are racially motivated.
Trump has also pointed to a highly contentious law introduced by the South African government that allows land to be appropriated from private owners without compensation. Some Afrikaners fear that law is aimed at removing them from their land in favor of South Africa’s poor Black majority. Many South Africans, including opposition parties, have criticized the law, but it hasn’t led to land confiscations.
Trump first made baseless claims of widespread killing of white South African farmers and land seizures during his first term in response to allegations aired on conservative media personality Tucker Carlson’s former show on Fox News. Trump ordered then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to look into the allegations, but nothing came of any investigation.
South Africa rejects the claims
The South African government said in response to Trump’s social media post that his claims were “not substantiated by fact.” It has said that Trump’s criticism of South Africa over Afrikaners is a result of misinformation because it misses the context that Black farmers and farmworkers are also killed in rural attacks, which make up a tiny percentage of the country’s high violent crime rate.
There were more than 26,000 homicides in South Africa in 2024. Of those, 37 were farm murders, according to an Afrikaner lobby group that tracks them. Experts on rural attacks in South Africa have said the overriding motive for the violent farm invasions is robbery, not race.
Other pressure on South Africa
Trump said it is a “total disgrace” that the G-20 summit — a meeting of the leaders of the 19 top rich and developing economies, the European Union and the African Union — is being held in South Africa. He had already said he wouldn’t attend, and Vice President JD Vance was due to go in his place. The U.S. will take on the rotating presidency of the G-20 after South Africa.
Trump also said in a speech last week that South Africa should be thrown out of the G-20.
Trump’s criticism of Africa’s most developed economy has gone beyond the issue of Afrikaners. His executive order in February said South Africa had taken “aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies,” specifically with its decision to accuse Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza at the United Nations’ top court.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio boycotted a G-20 foreign ministers meeting in South Africa in February after deriding the host country’s G-20 slogan of “solidarity, equality and sustainability” as “DEI and climate change.”
WASHINGTON — President Trump hosted Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, welcoming his once-pariah state into a U.S.-led global coalition to fight the Islamic State group.
Al-Sharaa arrived at the White House around 11:30 a.m. and shortly after began his Oval Office meeting, which remained closed to the press. The Syrian president entered the building through West Executive Avenue, adjacent to the White House, rather than on the West Wing driveway normally used for foreign leaders’ arrivals. He left the White House about two hours later and greeted a throng of supporters gathered outside before getting into his motorcade.
“We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful because that’s part of the Middle East,” Trump told reporters later Monday. The U.S. president said of Al-Sharaa that “I have confidence that he’ll be able to do the job.”
Syria’s foreign ministry, in a statement, described the meeting as “friendly and constructive.”
Trump “affirmed the readiness of the United States to provide the support that the Syrian leadership needs to ensure the success of the reconstruction and development process,” the statement said.
It added that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had then met with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who arrived in Washington on Monday, and that they agreed to proceed with implementing an agreement reached in March between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the SDF into the new Syrian army. Implementation of the deal has repeatedly stalled amid tensions between the two sides. It was unclear what concrete steps were agreed upon in Monday’s meeting.
The statement said the “American side also affirmed its support for reaching a security agreement with Israel,” but it did not say how Syria had responded.
Al-Sharaa’s visit was the first to the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946 and comes after the U.S. lifted sanctions imposed on Syria during the decades the country was ruled by the Assad family. Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad last December and was named the country’s interim leader in January.
Trump and Al-Sharaa — who once had ties to Al Qaeda and had a $10-million U.S. bounty on his head — first met in May in Saudi Arabia. At the time, the U.S. president described Al-Sharaa as a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past, very strong past. Fighter.” It was the first official encounter between the U.S. and Syria since 2000, when then-President Clinton met with Hafez Assad, the father of Bashar Assad.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday’s visit is “part of the president’s efforts in diplomacy to meet with anyone around the world in the pursuit of peace.”
One official with knowledge of the administration’s plans said Syria’s entry into the global coalition fighting Islamic State will allow it to work more closely with U.S. forces, although the new Syrian military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the country’s northeast had already been fighting the group.
Before Al-Sharaa’s arrival in the U.S., the United Nations Security Council voted to lift sanctions on the Syrian president and other government officials in a move that the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, said was a strong sign that Syria is in a new era since the fall of Assad.
Al-Sharaa came to the meeting with his own priorities. He wants a permanent repeal of sanctions that punished Syria for widespread allegations of human rights abuses by Assad’s government and security forces. While the Caesar Act sanctions are currently waived by Trump, a permanent repeal would require Congress to act.
One option is a proposal from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that would end the sanctions without any conditions. The other was drafted by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a hawkish Trump ally who wants to set conditions for a sanctions repeal that would be reviewed every six months.
But advocates argue that any repeal with conditions would prevent companies from investing in Syria because they would fear potentially being sanctioned. Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, likened it to a “hanging shadow that paralyzes any initiatives for our country.”
The Treasury Department said Monday that the Caesar Act waiver was extended for another 180 days.
Kim writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Fatima Hussein and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump, center, looks on as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, shakes hands with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in May, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo by Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs/UPI | License Photo
Nov. 10 (UPI) — Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will meet with President Donald Trump Monday in the White House.
Al-Sharaa, who was affiliated with al-Qaida, was labeled an international terrorist by the United States until Friday and had a $10 million bounty on his head.
“These actions are being taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership after the departure of Bashar al-Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime,” the State Department’s press release said.
“This new Syrian government, led by President al-Sharaa, is working hard to locate missing Americans, fulfill its commitments on countering terrorism and narcotics, eliminating any remnants of chemical weapons, and promoting regional security and stability as well as an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process.”
Sharaa was formerly known by an assumed name, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. He once led the militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which cut ties with al-Qaida in 2017.
Sharaa is likely to ask Trump to lift sanctions against the Assad government and to join the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State. Removing the sanctions will allow Syria to get international finance to rebuild after the devastating civil war.
The Syrian leader met Trump in Saudi Arabia in May, and Trump told him he would get the sanctions lifted.
“Tough guy,” Trump said of Sharaa after the meeting. “Very strong past. Fighter.”
Critics of Sharaa’s government have cited recent acts of violence in the country. In July, about 37 people were killed in sectarian violence. A few days later, Israel attacked Damacus and killed about three people and wounded 34 others. Israel claimed it attacked to protect the Druze, a Syrian Arab minority.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it has registered 35,000 cases of people missing in Syria in the past 13 years. Syria’s Network for Human Rights put the number of Syrians “in forced disappearance” at 80,000 to 85,000 killed under torture in Assad’s detention centers.
Only 33,000 detainees have been found and freed from Syria’s prisons since Assad’s ouster, according to the human rights network. American journalist Austin Tice, who was detained by the Assad regime in 2012, has still not been found.
