Top US & World Headlines — May 24, 2017

Manchester Attack: What Response after Latest Act of Terror? (Parts 1 & 2)

"Exhausted Guy" Trump Flubs Saudi Speech

Peacemaker? After Saudi Arabia, Trump Visits Israel

Sen. Paul: We Can't Have an Open Border with the Mideast

May. 23, 2017 - 4:44 - Lawmaker calls for more scrutiny, discusses the Paris climate deal

Two Men in Indonesia Endure Public Flogging for Gay Sex

THE TELEGRAPH: Two men in Indonesia's Aceh province were publicly caned dozens of times on Tuesday for consensual gay sex, a punishment that intensifies an anti-gay backlash in the world's most populous Muslim country and which rights advocates denounced as "medieval torture."

More than a thousand people packed the courtyard of a mosque to witness the caning, which was the first time that Aceh, the only province in Indonesia to practice Shariah law, has caned people for homosexuality.

The crowd shouted insults and cheered as the men, aged 20 and 23, were whipped across the back and winced with pain. Many in the crush of spectators filmed the caning with mobile phones as a team of five robed and hooded enforcers took turns inflicting the punishment, relieving one another after every 20 strokes for one of the men and 40 for the other.

Sarojini Mutia Irfan, a female university student who witnessed the caning, said it was a necessary deterrent. » | Associated Press | Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Manchester Terror Attack: World Leaders React to Bombing

Manchester Terror Attack: Police Begin to Reveal Details of Those Killed in Attack

Why Did the Manchester Suicide Bomber Target Children?

May. 23, 2017 - 9:19 - Dr. James Mitchell gives his take on the attack

Manchester Terror Attack: Immense Sadness as Manchester Wakes Up This Morning

Manchester Terror Attack: President Macron Signs Book of Condolences at UK Embassy

Manchester Terror Attack: ISIS Claims Bombing, Saying "Many Explosive Devices Were Put In Place"

Manchester Terror Attack: Australia PM Malcolm Turnbull Reaction

Manchester Terror Attack: France's Interior Minister Delivers Statement

Manchester Terror Attack: PM May Delivers Statement after COBRA Meeting

Trump Condemns 'Evil Losers' behind Manchester Attack

During a press conference with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the US president offered his condolences to those affected by the Manchester attack and called those responsible ‘evil losers’. He added that the United States stood in ‘absolute solidarity’ with the people of the United Kingdom | * ‘We stand in solidarity’ – Trump leads global reaction to Manchester attack

Read the Guardian article here

Saudi Foreign Minister Reacts to President Trump's Visit

May. 22, 2017 - 4:35 - The foreign minister calls the president's trip an 'incredible success'

Palestinian Parliament Member on Conditions of Mideast Peace

May. 22, 2017 - 4:58 - Dr. Mustafa Barghouti on President Trump's visit to Israel

Middle East: Rouhani Leaves the Door Open for Dialogue

Hasan Rouhani, whose first round victory in last Friday's election was seen as a win for pragmatists against conservatives, telling a news conference that Iran's "waiting for the new government to find stability and continuity in its policies,” adding that last week's election showed Iranians wanted more democracy and interaction with the world.

Was Trump Convincing? – Inside Story

Donald Trump's first trip abroad as president was to Saudi Arabia, and the capital Riyadh laid on a grand royal welcome.

A business deal worth 350billion dollars was signed between the United States and Saudi Arabia - about one-third of which was for weapons.

The visit also provided an opportunity to realign perceptions of power in the region. Trump's predecessor Barack Obama seemed to distance himself from Saudi Arabia, by working with Iran as a regional leader. As a long-time critic of Iran, Trump is looking to reverse that policy.

But it was his speech, addressing the Muslim world, at the Arab Islamic American summit, that was most widely anticipated - a world he'd been strongly critical of during his election campaign.

Now he was urging Muslim leaders to share the burden in defeating those he described as Islamist extremists, saying a better future was only possible if they helped "drive out the terrorists".

He stuck to the speech written by his Senior Adviser Stephen Miller. But was the overture from Trump genuine? | Presenter: Richelle Carey | Guests: Robert Jordan, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia: Ahmed Alibrahim, a Saudi affairs specialist; Henri Barkey, Director of the Middle East Program at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Sadegh Zibakalam, Professor of Political Science at the University of Tehran