Monday, April 30, 2018

Mystery Explosions at ‘Iranian Base’ in Syria Register As Earthquake

An Iranian military base and arms depot in northern Syria reportedly came under missile attack on Saturday night, triggering explosions so powerful they registered as a 2.6 magnitude earthquake. Read

Pompeo Still Believes North Koreans ‘Would Love to See’ Kim Jong-un 'Go’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday he still believes what he said last July, when he told a security forum that he was sure the North Korean people “would love to see [Kim Jong-un] go.” Read

Lawmakers, Advocacy Group Push Administration to Release ‘Palestinian Refugee’ Report

The State Department is facing challenges from more than one direction over a decision to withhold from the public a report on the number of Palestinians determined to be “refugees” – an issue that has a bearing on billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Read

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Alfie Evans Dies: ‘My Gladiator Lay Down His Shield and Gained His Wings’

The severely-ill little English boy who touched millions of hearts around the world has died, after his parents lost a legal battle to take him to a hospital in Rome for further treatment. Read

Friday, April 27, 2018

Inter-Korean Summit Underway, Preparing Ground For Trump-Kim Encounter

The leaders of North and South Korea are meeting Friday along the line that has divided the peninsula for more than half a century, in what many see as a precursor to the main event – a summit in the coming weeks between Kim Jong-un and President Trump. Read

McConnell Deplores ‘Historic Partisan Obstruction’ in Pompeo Confirmation Process

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo won Senate confirmation Thursday by unusually small margin – a 57 to 42 vote – in what was only the second cloture vote in U.S. history for a secretary of state nominee. Read

Thursday, April 26, 2018

UK Court Rejects Alfie Evans Parents’ Appeal

The Court of Appeal in London on Wednesday rejected a last-ditch appeal by the parents of Alfie Evans to have the seriously-ill toddler flown to Rome for treatment. Read

Taliban Rejects Peace Offer; Focused on ‘Crushing, Killing and Capturing American Invaders’

The Trump administration hit back Wednesday at the Taliban for launching an annual spring offensive, saying there was no justification for doing so at a time when Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has offered a major peace initiative. Read

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Turkey, a Key Ally of Hamas, Slams US Over Terrorism ‘Hypocrisy’

Taking a swipe at the U.S. and its allies, Turkey’s Islamist government on Tuesday condemned the “double standards” of countries which it says react differently to the violent actions of ISIS and those carried out by Kurdish and Turkish “terrorist groups.” Read

Parents Mount Last Ditch Effort to Save Their Baby Son

With time running out, the parents of seriously ill British toddler Alfie Evans are trying one more time Wednesday to get a court to overturn a ruling preventing them from taking him to Italy for treatment. Read

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Update: Trump Marks ‘One of The Worst Mass Atrocities of The 20th Century,’ But Avoids The Word ‘Genocide’

President Trump in a statement Tuesday used the Armenian phrase translated “great evil” or “great calamity” to describe the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. He did not use the word “genocide,” a term crucial for many Armenians but hotly rejected by Turkey. Read

Sen. Paul Drops Opposition, Senate Committee Approves Pompeo For Secretary of State

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday evening voted narrowly to send Mike Pompeo’s secretary of state nomination to the Senate floor, after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) dropped his opposition, saying he was assured that the CIA director had learned the lesson that Mideast regime change has been “a mistake.” Read

Monday, April 23, 2018

As US Jerusalem Embassy Move Draws Near, Abbas Vows He Won’t Allow It

With a ceremony to dedicate the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem drawing closer, Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas said at the weekend his self-rule government will not allow the U.S. or any other country to move its embassy to the city. Read

Turkey Bristles at US Human Rights Criticism

Turkey’s Islamist government, which President Trump accuses of persecuting an American pastor on trial for espionage, is complaining that the State Department’s just-released annual report on human rights unfairly smears Turkey by relying on the views of “terrorists.” Read

Friday, April 20, 2018

Pence to the Departing Castro: ‘Looks Like You’re The One Leaving’

Vice President Mike Pence had a curt farewell message Thursday for Raúl Castro, after the departing Cuban dictator accused him of running away from the Summit of the Americas in Peru last week: “looks like you’re the one leaving ...” Read

CAIR Pushes Effort to Block Pompeo Confirmation

As the battle over CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s nomination as secretary of state reaches make-or-break, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Friday plans a joint event with mostly other Muslim groups to urge the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to vote him down on Monday. Read

Thursday, April 19, 2018

N. Korea’s Ruling Party Expected to Adopt a Policy for 'New Stage' in Its History

One week before Kim Jong-un is due to meet with his South Korean counterpart – a prelude to a planned summit with President Trump – North Korea’s ruling communist party will meet Friday to discuss and decide upon “policy issues of a new stage” in its history. Read

Trump Mocks Syrian Efforts to Shoot Down Missiles: ‘They Hit None’

President Trump declared Wednesday that despite their efforts, the Assad regime had not been “in the least successful” in shooting down missiles launched by the U.S., France and Britain on Friday. Read

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Haley Hails ‘Wins For Human Rights’ After UN Body Overturns Rejection of Iran and North Korea-Focused NGOs

In an implicit rebuke of repressive regimes at the United Nations, the U.N. Economic and Social Council on Tuesday overturned a decision by its NGO Committee to deny official accreditation to U.S.-based organizations focused on human rights abuses in Iran and North Korea. Read

Trump on US Pastor ‘Persecuted’ in Turkey: ‘I Am More a Spy Than He Is’

President Trump expressed hope on Tuesday night that Turkey’s Islamist government would release the “persecuted” U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, rejecting prosecutors’ accusations of espionage against the North Carolina native. Read

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

UN Chemical Warfare Experts Still Haven’t Been Allowed to Visit Site of Suspected Attack in Syria

Nine days after a suspected chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had as of Monday still not been allowed access to the site – despite the insistence of the Russians and Assad regime that they are cooperating fully. Read

A Good Day For Autocrats as UN Body Hands Out Leadership Posts

In a busy day at the United Nations, diplomats in New York on Monday filled dozens of leadership positions across a range of U.N. bodies, with many going – in some case without even a semblance of a vote – to some of the world’s most repressive regimes. Read

Monday, April 16, 2018

US Religious Freedom Envoy in Turkey as Trial of US Pastor Scheduled to Begin

Ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Sam Brownback reportedly hopes to be in the Turkish courtroom Monday when American pastor Andrew Brunson appears on terror charges, at the start of a trial that has contributed to tensions between the two NATO allies. Read

Assad Regime Claims Targeted Chemical Weapons Installation Was a ‘Cancer Medicine’ Center

The Assad regime claims that a complex near Damascus struck by U.S. missiles on Friday was a center for manufacturing cancer medicine and analyzing pharmaceutical and food products – a further example of the type of disinformation that has become a prominent feature in the Syrian conflict. Read

Contrary to Russian, Syrian Claims, US and Allies Say No Missiles Were Intercepted

The U.S., British and French defense departments reported no successful intercepts of the scores of missiles that targeted three Syrian chemical weapons-linked installations on Friday, even though the Assad regime and Russia maintain that dozens were successfully shot down. Read

Friday, April 13, 2018

Pompeo: 'My Respect for Every Individual--Regardless of Their Sexual Orientation--is the Same'

Sen. Cory Booker’s grilling of Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo on the subject of homosexuality generated excitement on mainstream and social media Thursday, but the words that began the exchange evidently date back to a prayer delivered at the opening of the Kansas state legislature 20 years ago. Read

CAIR Thanks Booker for Challenging Pompeo on Islam; Doesn’t Mention Exchange on Homosexuality

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Thursday thanked Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) for confronting Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo on his views on Islam, but was silent on another issue Booker brought up – his stance on homosexuality. Read

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Netanyahu to Iranian Regime: Don’t Test Our Resolve

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Wednesday night not to put his country’s determination to confront its enemies to the test, a day after a senior aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that Iran would respond to a missile strike on a Syrian airbase which it blames on Israel. Read

Russian Military: White Helmets ‘Staged’ Chemical Attack

As President Trump threatened a missile strike against the Syrian regime for a suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus, Russia’s military on Wednesday accused the White Helmets rescue organization of staging the attack, and claimed its own personnel had found no evidence of chemical use at the scene. Read

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Iran Blames Trump, Saudis, Social Media as Currency Nosedives

Iran’s national currency is languishing at an all-time low against the U.S. dollar, and Iranian officials are blaming regional “enemies,” President Trump’s threats to withdraw from the nuclear agreement – and Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that millions of Iranians use. Read

Korea Expert Warns About Kim Jong-un’s Definition of ‘Denuclearization’

Looking ahead to a planned summit between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, a former U.S. nuclear negotiator cautioned this week against focusing on a broadly-defined “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” Read

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

China’s Xi Pledges to ‘Significantly Lower’ Auto Import Tariffs

President Xi Jinping announced Tuesday that China will “significantly lower” import tariffs for vehicles this year, telling a business conference in southern China that it will work hard to import more products that are competitive and needed by its citizens. Read

Trump on Response to Syria Chemical Weapons Attack: ‘We Have a Lot of Options, Militarily’

President Trump met with senior military leaders on Monday night to discuss what to do about the latest chemical weapons attack in Syria, telling reporters beforehand, “we have a lot of options, militarily, and we’ll be letting you know pretty soon – probably after the fact.” Read

Assad Regime to Preside Over UN’s WMD Disarmament Forum; US ‘Examining’ How to Respond

Syria's Assad regime is set to assume the chair of a United Nations forum whose agenda includes an end to weapons of mass destruction, at a time when it is accused of using them against civilians in Syria. Read

Monday, April 09, 2018

Nikki Haley on John Bolton: ‘I Know His Disdain For The UN; I Share It’

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley says she believes she will work well with incoming national security advisor John Bolton – himself a former ambassador to the U.N. – saying that she shares his “disdain for the U.N.” Read

Russia, With Troops in Syria, Warns US Military Action Could Have ‘Most Serious Consequences

As President Trump warned Sunday of a “big price to pay” for yet another suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, Russia declared that any foreign intervention could “lead to the most serious consequences.” Read