Israel Denies Hamas’ ‘Poisonous Gas’ Allegation After Destroying Cross-Border ‘Terror Tunnel’

The terrorist organization that rules the Gaza Strip accused Israel Monday of using “poisonous gas” in an attack on a tunnel discovered under the Gaza-Israel border, but Israel’s military said the “terror tunnel” was destroyed using conventional weapons only. Read

Trump on Second Benghazi Suspect in Custody: ‘Our Memory Is Deep and Our Reach Is Long’

Weeks after the first trial in connection with the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi began in Washington, U.S. Special Forces have captured a second suspect in Libya, and Justice Department officials say he is on his way to the U.S. to face trial. Read

Russia Dismisses U.S. Sanctions on Russian Defense Firms: U.S. 'Is Not The Center of The World’

Moscow has responded dismissively to the State Department’s publication of a list of Russian defense and intelligence entities blacklisted for business by foreign companies, although the move could have tangible consequences for the world’s second-largest arms exporter. Read

Senators Urge Trump to Blacklist Pakistan For Religious Freedom Abuses

With a deadline approaching for the administration to notify Congress which countries will be blacklisted for religious freedom violations, a small bipartisan group of senators is urging it to break a 15-year-old pattern and designate Pakistan. Read

423-2: House Passes Bill Targeting Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed with overwhelming support bipartisan sanctions legislation targeting Iran’s ballistic missiles, which has provided Tehran with sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missiles. The bill includes provisions that could ensnare Russia. Read

Israeli Athletes Barred From Competing Under Their Own Flag at UAE Judo Event

Shared concerns about Iran may be easing decades-old tensions between Arab states and Israel, but the organizers of an international judo competition in the United Arab Emirates this week showed there is still a long way to go before the Jewish State is accepted. Read

Mattis: US ‘Not Rushing to War’ With N. Korea; Dems Launch Effort to Restrain Trump

The United States and its allies are “not rushing to war” against North Korea, Defense Secretary James Mattis said in Southeast Asia on Wednesday, ahead of a visit to South Korea and the DMZ separating the U.S. treaty ally from its Stalinist neighbor. Read

US Should Designate Iran’s IRGC, Qods Force as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Lawmakers Told

The Trump administration should designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – Qods Force as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), and if the regime’s behavior worsens, should consider applying that punitive designation to the IRGC in its entirety, U.S. lawmakers were told Wednesday. Read

11 Countries of Concern Accounted For 23,357 Refugee Admissions Last Year; 36,952 in FY 2016

The Trump administration said Tuesday it will resume admitting refugees after a now-expired 120-day ban, but with tighter vetting procedures – and that applications of nationals from 11 countries of concern will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Read

Deadline Looms for Tillerson Decision on North Korea Terror Listing

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has until next Tuesday to inform Congress whether North Korea meets the criteria to be relisted as a state-sponsor of terrorism – a step which the regime has already indicated it will view as tantamount to a declaration of war. Read

Joint Chiefs Chair Says U.S. Troops Have ‘Relatively Small Footprint’ in Niger

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pushed backed gently on Monday against members of Congress who have voiced surprise at the size of the U.S. troop presence in Niger, calling the 800 military personnel there “a relatively small footprint.” Read

70% of U.S. Voters Think Iran Deal Should Be Reworked, Require Senate Ratification

Seven in ten American voters believe the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration should be renegotiated, and an even larger majority, 81 percent, think any new deal should require Senate ratification, a new poll has found. Read

Iraq Rejects Tillerson’s Appeal to Restrain Iran-Backed Militias

U.S. attempts to contain and counter Iranian influence in Iraq ran into resistance late Monday from Iraq’s prime minister, who informed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Iran-backed Shi’ite militias – which the U.S. wants disbanded – should on the contrary be “encouraged.” Read

Japanese PM Wins Snap Election, Called Amid Growing Concerns Over North Korea

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s gamble in calling a snap election paid off Sunday, as his ruling coalition secured the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to move Japan away from the pacifism enshrined in its post-World War II constitution. Read

UN Health Agency Backs Down on Startling Decision to Honor African Autocrat

Backing down under angry criticism, the head of the U.N.’s World Health Organization has reversed a decision to appoint Zimbabwe’s autocratic president as a “goodwill ambassador” in the fight against non-communicable diseases. Read

‘Herd Mentality’ Evident in Media Coverage of Israel – Ex-Wire Reporter

News coverage of Israel is distorted both by the lopsided amount of attention it gets from world media and from a “herd mentality” that embraces and promotes a narrow, simplistic view of “what the story is,” according to author and former Associated Press reporter in Israel, Matti Friedman. Read

Israeli Minister: In Another War With Hezbollah, Lebanon and its Infrastructure Will be Fair Game

If another war breaks out in Lebanon, Israel will be obliged to target not just Hezbollah but also Lebanese government infrastructure, a senior Israeli government minister warned on Wednesday. Read

Netanyahu: ‘Trump Correctly Identifies That Iran is Not The Solution, But Perhaps the Problem in The Middle East’

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu praised President Trump on Sunday for choosing to confront the risks posed by Iran rather than kick the can down the road for a future administration to deal with. Read

Kerry Questions Trump’s Maturity; His Nuclear Deal Negotiating Partner Zarif Says Iranians Are ‘All IRGC’

As reaction – much of it negative – to President Trump’s Iran policy announcement continues to pour in, the stance taken by the two men most intimately associated with the nuclear deal is raising eyebrows. Read

Withdrawing From UNESCO, Trump Retreads Path Taken by Reagan

The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization comes 33 years after President Reagan left amid concerns about mismanagement and an agenda viewed as corrosively anti-Western. Read

North Korea Closely Watched as Key Anniversary Marked; Mattis Says Duty of US Army to ‘Stand Ready’

The U.S. and its allies in north-east Asia are keeping a close eye on North Korea on Tuesday, in case the Stalinist regime marks an important anniversary with a new nuclear, missile or military provocation. Read

Russia Signals Move to Require US Broadcasters to Register as ‘Foreign Agents’

Angered by reported pressures brought to bear on its media mouthpieces in the U.S., the Kremlin is taking aim at American media organizations in what it’s calling a “mirror” response to what it sees as unfair targeting of Russian outlets. Read

Iran’s IRGC: If Trump Imposes Sanctions, U.S. Military Bases Should Move Outside Our Missile Range

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Sunday delivered a thinly-veiled threat to launch missile strikes on U.S. military bases in the region if the United States imposes new sanctions against the regime. Read

US-Turkey Spat Deepens, After US Consulate Employee Arrested in Erdogan’s Crackdown

Turkey said Sunday it was suspending all visa services for U.S. citizens at its missions in the U.S., after the American Embassy in Ankara suspended non-immigrant visa services following the arrest of a consulate employee in the Islamist government’s ongoing crackdown on dissent. Read

American Pastor Begins Second Year in Turkish Prison Despite Pressure From Trump, Pence

American Pastor Andrew Brunson has begun a second year behind bars in Turkey, with no sign that the Islamist government is inclined to heed U.S. calls for his release. Read

Trump to Declare Iran Noncompliant With Nuclear Deal Obligations

President Trump looks set next week to “decertify” Iran’s compliance with its obligations under the nuclear deal negotiated by his successor, after reiterating Thursday his view that the regime in Tehran has “not lived up to the spirit of the agreement.” Read

Anti-Nuke Group Wins Nobel Peace Prize

With the controversial Iran nuclear deal under the Trump administration’s microscope, there had been growing speculation that Norway’s Nobel peace prize committee might award this year’s prize to two or three of the agreement’s chief negotiators. Read

State Dep’t: Tillerson Doesn’t ‘Show Up in Front of Every Television Camera,’ As Others Have Done

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cares more about promoting America’s foreign policy goals than about the television cameras, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday. Read

Putin: Kim Jong-il Told Me in Early 2000s North Korea Had an Atomic Bomb

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a surprise admission Wednesday said that in the early 2000s, then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told him personally that his regime had an atomic bomb. Read

Sen. Cotton on Iran: ‘When Your Opponent is on His Knees, You Drive Him to The Ground’

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) sparred with an audience member at the Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday evening, after he took issue with the senator’s comment that an enemy on its knees should be choked out, not given a hand up – in reference to the Obama administration’s approach towards Iran in 2013. Read

State Dep’t: Of Course We Oppose Death Penalty for Same-Sex Activity

The U.S. voted against a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution on the death penalty, not because it condemned capital punishment for homosexuality, but because the text included calls for the abolition of the death penalty altogether, the State Department said Tuesday. Read

State Department Expels 15 Cuban Diplomats

The State Department asked Cuba Tuesday to reduce its diplomatic representation in Washington in line with the scaled-back U.S. presence on the island following bizarre “health attacks” targeting U.S. personnel stationed in Havana. Read

Iran, Speaking on Behalf of 120 Countries: Don’t Equate Fight Against Occupation With Terrorism

The struggle against foreign “domination” or “occupation” should not be equated with terrorism, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said during a U.N. General Assembly committee meeting Monday on “measures to counter international terrorism.” Read

U.S. Admitted Fewest Refugees in 10 Years in FY17--But Still Admitted 53,716

The last week of fiscal year 2017 brought an uptick in the number of refugees admitted to the United States, lifting September’s arrivals to 2,324 and the year’s total to 53,716. Read

Trump Slaps Down Dialogue With North Korea As Another Tense Month Begins

October looks set to bring even greater tensions with North Korea, with key anniversaries offering opportunities for new regime nuclear or missile provocations at a time when President Trump seems disinclined to pursue a diplomatic response. Read