By Louisa Ballhaus -- msn.com -- While Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner seem to be distancing themselves more and more from former president Donald Trump, younger daughter Tiffany Trump may be thinking this is her moment to shine — and her wedding plans suggest that Marla Maples’ daughter, at least, has no problem aligning herself with the Donald Trump brand. Recent moves by Ivanka like her vaccine selfie and midsummer trip to Aspen amid Trump’s Dallas CPAC appearance seem geared at showing just how different from her dad Ivanka can be, but Tiffany — who has long remained more at the outskirts of Trump’s orbit than her older sister — is reportedly considering a family wedding ceremony with fiancé Michael Boulos (Lebanese originally) at her dad’s very favorite place: Palm Beach’s Mar-a-Lago. “They both want to marry in a big ceremony, your basic international spectacle,” a source tells People of Tiffany’s plans. Boulos, whom she started dating in 2018, proposed in January 2021 and has since begun eagerly planning with his fiancée. “Tiffany likes the idea of a glamorous and glitzy affair and, surprisingly, so does Michael.”

Ivanka Trump Didn’t Join Her Siblings in Posting a Father’s Day Tribute to Donald Trump This Year “I don’t know if they will have two big deal weddings but there could be a smaller celebration somewhere if relatives can’t make the big one,” the source added. “Mar-a-Lago would make sense even though so many people marry there…It depends when it happens and what is going on around them at the time.”

by AFP --- BEIRUT: The judge investigating last year's deadly Lebanon port blast on Monday rejected a request by MPs for more evidence before immunity for three ex-ministers can be waived, a judicial source said. Hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser exploded on the dockside at Beirut port last August 4, killing more than 200 people, injuring thousands and ravaging swathes of the capital. Afterwards, it emerged that officials had known about the explosive substance being stored there unsafely for years. Coming less than a month before the first anniversary of the tragedy, Monday's move may mean a new standoff, with fears that the probe could be derailed by political interference. Earlier this month, lead judge Tareq Bitar said he had demanded that parliament lift the immunity of ex-finance minister Ali Hasan Khalil, former public works minister Ghazi Zaiter and ex-interior minister Nohad Machnouk. Bitar said he was looking at possible charges of "probable intent to murder" and "negligence".

Deputy speaker Elie Ferzli said parliament's administration and justice committee on Friday decided to "request all evidence available in the investigation, as well as all documents that prove suspicions". He said the committee would reconvene once it had received a reply, to decide whether or not to waive immunity. On Monday, the judicial source said no further documents would be forthcoming. "The investigating judge rejected parliament's request ... In an official letter he explained that he had already handed over all the documents that needed to be handed over," the source told AFP. - Protests - Lawyer and activist Nizar Saghieh said the committee's request on Friday went against the separation of powers between the judiciary and the legislature, and "violated the confidentiality of the investigation". "They're just trying to buy time," he alleged.

PARIS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Monday it wanted to agree by the end of July the legal framework for a sanctions regime targeting Lebanese leaders, but cautioned that the measure would not be immediately implemented. Led by France, the EU is seeking to ramp up pressure on Lebanon’s squabbling politicians after 11 months of a crisis that has left Lebanon facing financial collapse, hyperinflation, electricity blackouts, and fuel and food shortages. The move is part of broader international efforts to force a stable government capable of carrying out crucial reforms to emerge from nearly a year of political chaos and economic collapse following a blast that ravaged Beirut port. “I can say that the objective is to complete this by the end of the month. I am not talking about the implementation of the regime, just the building of the regime according to sound legal basis,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Brussels.

Nearly a year after the Aug. 4 explosion, which killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands and devastated swathes of the capital, Lebanon is still headed by a caretaker government. “Lebanon has been in self-destruct mode for several months,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters in Brussels. “Now there is a major emergency situation for a population that is in distress.” The EU first needs to set up a sanctions regime that could then see individuals hit by travel bans and asset freezes, although it may also decide to not list anybody immediately. Le Drian said there was now a consensus among the bloc’s 27 nations for a regime.

By Vivian Nereim and Donna Abu-Nasr -- bloomberg.com -- The sultan of Oman landed in Saudi Arabia on Sunday in the first visit by an Omani leader in over a decade, a sign of shifting alliances in the Persian Gulf as the kingdom reaches out to states with closer ties to regional rival Iran. Skyscrapers in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, were lit up in red and green, the colors of the Omani flag, to celebrate Sultan Haitham bin Tariq’s arrival. The visit to the city of Neom, where he was greeted by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, coincides with the opening of the first-ever land crossing connecting the countries as Oman tries to diversify trade routes. The Saudi cabinet also authorized officials to prepare and sign draft agreements with Oman in a slew of fields including commerce, culture, investment promotion and post and transport. “There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes to try to build the foundation of something much more significant between the Saudis and Omanis,” said Ayham Kamel, head of the Middle East and North Africa at the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “Sultan Haitham is viewed in Riyadh as leaning toward Saudi in terms of Gulf affairs.”

A closer relationship could be an economic boon for Oman, which is struggling to diversify its economy away from oil. It also comes as Prince Mohammed reaches out to states once held at a distance over differences in their approach to Iran. Saudi Arabia has forged closer ties with Iraq, hosting the prime minister in March, and reconciled this year with Qatar -- a Gulf neighbor it had a rancorous split from in 2017. Sponsored Content Resilience Through Digitalization and Sustainability Yokogawa At the same time, tensions have spiked between Saudi Arabia and another Gulf Cooperation Council neighbor, the United Arab Emirates, over differences on oil policy, geopolitical views and economic competition. “It’s almost a new crown prince who thinks about regional affairs differently,” Kamel said. “He’s much more interested in building a GCC-centric multifaceted relationship that does not rely only on one ally, which used to be the UAE, but builds on a much broader network of alliances.”