North America

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - Eleven weeks into his third stint as Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to be received at the White House, signaling apparent U.S. unhappiness over the policies of his right-wing government.

Most new Israeli leaders had visited the United States or met the president by this point in their premierships, according to a Reuters review of official visits going back to the late 1970s. Only two out of 13 previous prime ministers heading a new government waited longer.

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - The Atlanta grand jury that probed ex-President Donald Trump's 2020 election meddling heard a taped telephone call he placed to Georgia's Republican House leader seeking to reverse Democrat Joe Biden's victory in that swing state, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Wednesday.

The existence of such a recording, or that it was played for the 23-member special grand jury during the course of its eight-month investigation, has not been previously reported.

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - From an empowered Iran and eroded U.S. influence to the cost of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria to combat Islamic State fighters, the United States still contends with the consequences of invading Iraq 20 years ago, current and former officials say.

Then-U.S. President George W. Bush's 2003 decision to oust Saddam Hussein by force, the way limited U.S. troop numbers enabled ethnic strife and the eventual 2011 U.S. pullout have all greatly complicated U.S. policy in the Middle East, they said.

NEW YORK, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices suffered steep losses on Wednesday, pressured by mounting fears of a banking crisis.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery dropped 3.72 U.S. dollars, or 5.22 percent, to settle at 67.61 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, reaching its lowest level since December 2021.

Brent crude for May delivery lost 3.76 dollars, or 4.85 percent, to close at 73.69 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

UNITED NATIONS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The China-brokered agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran on the restoration of diplomatic relations represents an opportunity for the resolution of the conflict in Yemen, said a UN spokesman on Wednesday.

Asked how optimistic UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is about the possibility of the Saudi-Iran agreement leading to a breakthrough in Yemen, Stephane Dujarric, his spokesman, said the agreement "is clearly an opportunity."

15 Mar 2023; MEMO: US senators have introduced a bipartisan resolution that could force the President to make a report on Saudi Arabia's human rights record, providing a new strategy to potentially cause the government to reassess its security assistance to its Gulf ally.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Trips to Mar-a-Lago. Glowing speeches. Front-row seats at major events.

The first Republican presidential primaries are nearly a year away and the candidate field is unsettled. But already, a shadow contest of another sort is underway with several Republicans openly jockeying to position themselves as potential running mates to Donald Trump, the early front-runner for the nomination.

“A lot of people are right now auditioning,” Trump boasted to supporters in Florida last month.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration’s approval this week of the biggest oil drilling project in Alaska in decades promises to widen a rift among Alaska Natives, with some saying that oil money can’t counter the damages caused by climate change and others defending the project as economically vital.

Two lawsuits filed almost immediately by environmentalists and one Alaska Native group are likely to exacerbate tensions that have built up over years of debate about ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Willow project.

WASHINGTON (AP) — TikTok was dismissive Wednesday of reports that the Biden administration was calling for its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the popular video-sharing app, saying such a move wouldn’t help protect national security.

The company was responding to a report in The Wall Street Journal that said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., part of the Treasury Department, was threatening a U.S. ban on the app unless its owners, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., divested.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a matter of days, Saudi Arabia carried out blockbuster agreements with the world’s two leading powers — China and the United States.

Riyadh signed a Chinese-facilitated deal aimed at restoring diplomatic ties with its arch-nemesis Iran and then announced a massive contract to buy commercial planes from U.S. manufacturer Boeing.