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Al Arabiya News
Washington, DC bureau chief for Al Arabiya News
PROFILE
Hisham Melhem
Guest
FROM Hisham Melhem
To the Point
The "Summit" that Won’t Be a Summit after All President Obama called the first ever summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council for this week at Camp David. Last Friday, the White House said the new King of Saudi Arabia would be there, but it turns out, he won't — and other leaders have also declined the invitation. Does the new King of Saudi Arabia really have better things to do than meet the President of the US at Camp David or is Barack Obama being snubbed? That's just one of the questions about this week's meeting with Arab Gulf-state leaders, who want guaranteed US protections against Iran, their Middle-East rival. It's not just the nuclear deal they're worried about, but also the lifting of sanctions restraining Iran's economic power. In the meantime, there's a "feeding frenzy" for conventional weapons — made in the USA.
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To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.