Is Macron the West's new Putin-whisperer?
CNN
If there was one indication that French President Emmanuel Macron may be well on his way to replacing former German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the leading figure in Western Europe, it is his expanding relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Macron meets Putin face-to-face in Moscow on Monday before heading to Kyiv the following day for another in-person session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- all while as many as 100,000 Russian troops remain poised on Ukraine's frontiers.
Venezuelan authorities are investigating opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for alleged treason after she expressed support for a US bipartisan bill that seeks to block Washington from doing business with any entity that has commercial ties with the government of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the intelligence community, was briefly placed on a Transportation Security Administration list that prompts additional security screening before flights after her overseas travel patterns and foreign connections triggered a government algorithm earlier this year, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.