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WASHINGTON: Socialist senator Bernie Sanders is out on the stump again, helping lead, in a big way, the opposition to Donald Trump where other Democratic Party lawmakers have not. And people—tens of thousands of them coast to coast—are responding.

The right wing President of Ecuador Daniel Noboa won Presidential elections run off on April 13 by securing 55.85 per cent of the votes polled as against 44.15 per cent polled by his rival Luis Gonzalez of the left coalition, defying the close fight predictions given by the opinion polls. The Left rival Luisa Gonzalez demanded the recount amidst noisy demonstrations by her supporters who alleged that the polls were rigged by the Noboa regime.

MADRID: Spain’s left-wing Sumar held its second national conference on March 29–30, with its future already in doubt. In two recent polls, the junior partner in the country’s coalition government had lost over half its support since the 2023 general election (down from 12.3 percent to around 6). Even more worryingly, Público calculates that this would mean Sumar keeping only one-third of its seats — making it hard to see how one of Europe’s few broad-left governments could secure reelection.

US Deputy Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus, recently visited Lebanon. During an interview with the LBCI news outlet, Ortagus stressed the importance of disarming Hezbollah. This statement from a senior US diplomat has sparked a new debate about the disarmament of Hezbollah, which has been demanded for a long time. In January this year, the Lebanese parliament elected a new president, former army chief Joseph Aoun.

LONDON: Trump’s 90-day tariff reprieve spells 90 days of geopolitical turbulence, US bullying and the threat of war. All three have been constant features of the period of US “unipolar” power, especially since the beginning of what even US presidents have termed the “forever wars.” But Trump’s aggression is global.

Just as Donald Trump’s tariffs had shaken the world and the financial markets, a sudden brake on their implementation had equally shocked leaders to market sloggers as much. President Trump had equally abruptly pushed back the time when his “reciprocal” tariffs were to kick in. He deferred it by ninety days and following that the markets had momentarily surged. He had stalled the tariffs for all countries, but China.

NEW YORK: It's a telephone call that US President Donald Trump has been waiting for endlessly over the last 48 hours, waiting for the Chinese supremo president Xi Jinping to call and negotiate the 145% tariffs he has imposed on the red country in a battle of wits and ego trips unsurpassed in history of a clash between two global leaders wanting to assert their supremacy over each other and display their might and power and arrogance.

The Ninth Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) held at Tegacigalpa, capital of Honduras on April 9 concluded its deliberations of the 33 member regional body by calling for increased political and economic collaboration between the member nations through the synergy in their respective economies. The declaration emphasized the need for close cooperation in trade, commerce and investment amongst the member nations for getting benefits from the current global trade war.

NEW YORK: Not even the reality show La Casa de los Famosos, a spin-off of Big Brother, managed to surpass the audience of the first televised Council of Ministers in Colombia last February. Millions of Colombians watched live as some ministers criticized President Gustavo Petro, another lavished him with praise in a tone resembling a declaration of love, and other cabinet members exchanged reproaches.

The German conservatives under the leadership of Friedrich Merz finally clinched a deal with the ruling Social Democrats (SPD) for forming a coalition which will run Europe’s largest economy for the next four years amidst new global scenario following Donald Trump taking over as the U.S. President for the second time. The deal concluded on Wednesday was preceded by weeks of bargaining by the two traditional parties of governance in Germany. The agreement was signed after both sides agreed for a flexible approach diluting some of the demands made earlier.