Hong Kong Police Arrest Pro-Democracy Leaders, Ban Planned Saturday Protest

Two young leaders in the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement were arrested early Friday, shortly after police in the Chinese-ruled, semi-autonomous territory banned a protest march set for Saturday. Read

US-Funded Lebanese Military Is Preventing US-Funded UN Peacekeepers From Doing Their Job

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday extended the mandate of a peacekeeping force in Lebanon, amid concerns that Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists and an uncooperative Lebanese military are preventing the blue helmets from doing their job. Read

Gillibrand Ends Campaign, Leaves Behind Democratic Field in Lockstep on Abortion

The most pro-abortion field of presidential hopefuls in history has lost a flagbearer on the issue with the departure Wednesday of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), although those still in the Democratic race are competing to embrace positions on abortion – including late-term abortion – viewed by many as extreme. Read

16-Year-Old Climate Activist Says Trump Obviously Doesn’t ‘Listen to the Science’

Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, feted around the world for her “school strike for climate” campaign, arrived in New York City Wednesday after crossing the Atlantic by yacht, and said President Trump obviously does not “listen to the science” on climate change. Read

Pompeo Highlights ‘Americanism,’ at a Time When Some Link It to Racism, ‘Narrow-Minded Nationalism’

Celebrating “Americanism” in U.S. foreign policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday it was necessary to highlight the issue because some seek to associate it with “inherent racism, or sexism,” or view it as “a code word for a narrow-minded nationalism.” Read

Iranian oil Tanker Targeted by U.S. Now in Eastern Mediterranean, Its Cargo Sold to Unnamed Buyer

As the Iranian supertanker in a cat-and-mouse game with the United States plies its way across the eastern Mediterranean, destination undisclosed, the regime says its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of crude oil has been sold to an unnamed buyer. Read

Iran to US: Before We Talk, First End Sanctions; And Our Missiles are Non-Negotiable

Pouring cold water on a French initiative aimed at getting President Trump and his Iranian counterpart to meet, regime officials in Tehran say the U.S. must lift sanctions first, and forget about any possibility that Iran will give up ballistic missiles. Read

Trump Says He’s Willing to Meet With Iranian President; Raises Prospect of a New Nuclear Deal

President Trump said Monday he was willing to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani “if the circumstances were correct,” after French President Emmanuel Macron announced at the end of the G7 summit that Rouhani had reacted positively to a French diplomatic initiative. Read

Trump: If Putin Had Been at G7 Summit ‘We Could Have Solved’ Several Issues

President Trump said Monday it would be “better to have Russia inside the tent than outside the tent” of the world’s leading industrialized countries, arguing that if President Vladimir Putin had been in the room during the just-ended G7 summit, the leaders could have solved several issues that are instead now “in limbo.” Read

Pompeo Voices Support For Preemptive Strikes After Israel Thwarts Iranian Drone Attack

In a weekend of mounting tensions in the Levant, Israel carried out airstrikes in Syria to avert what it said was a planned large-scale attack in northern Israel by Iran and its Hezbollah proxies. Read

Iran Critics Say Macron’s Surprise G7 Invite to Zarif ‘Disrespectful’ to Trump

President Emmanuel Macron’s surprise invitation to Iran’s controversial foreign minister to drop by the weekend G7 summit in France is hosting drew mixed reactions from observers, but former ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley did not hold back, accusing Macron of being “completely disrespectful” to President Trump and other G7 leaders. Read

State Dep’t Warns ‘Outlaw Regime in Iran’ After It Sanctions a Leading US Think Tank

The Iranian regime, in what’s believed to be an unprecedented move, has designated for sanctions a Washington-based think tank and its chief executive, while lawmakers in Tehran are separately considering a bill to sanction senior U.S. officials “with a long record of animosity towards Iran.” Read

After U.S. Warning, Greek PM Says Iranian Oil Tanker is Not Heading to Greece

After the United States warned Greece and other countries in the Mediterranean not to help an Iranian supertanker which U.S. officials believe is taking crude oil to Syria, the new prime minister of Greece said Thursday the ship “is not heading to a Greek port.” Read

Venezuela’s Maduro Regime Reportedly Eyeing a Return to UN Human Rights Council

Several of the world’s most repressive regimes reportedly will run for three-year terms on the U.N. Human Rights Council in elections this fall, among them Venezuela’s Maduro regime, which the U.S. and dozens of other nations do not recognize. Read

Trump on Denmark’s Response to Greenland Idea: ‘All They Had to Do is Say No …’

All Denmark needed to do was say it was not interested in the U.S. idea of buying Greenland, President Trump told reporters on Wednesday. Read

US Combat Deaths in Afghanistan Hit Highest Level in 5 Years; 2 More Casualties on Wednesday

The death of two more U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan on Wednesday brings to 14 the number of Americans killed in combat there this year – the highest annual combat death toll since 2014, and with more than four months of the year yet to run. Read

Denmark Reels After Trump Cancels Visit Over Rebuffed Greenland Purchase Idea

President Donald Trump sparked an uproar in Denmark with a Tuesday night tweet saying he is canceling a scheduled visit to the country, given the prime minister’s lack of “interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland.” Read

Russia, China Slam US Test of Cruise Missile Banned Under the Scrapped INF Treaty

Russia and China reacted critically this week to the Pentagon’s testing of a ground-launched cruise missile that would have been prohibited under the now-abandoned Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Read

Omar Questions Whether Israel is an Ally or a Democracy; Says US Aid Must be Linked to Palestinian Issue

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Monday questioned whether Israel was a democracy or an ally of the United States, and said Congress should link aid to Israel to its ensuring “full rights for Palestinians.” Read

As Released Iranian Supertanker Heads for Greece, US Warns Ports Not to Assist It

The supertanker at the center of a wrangle involving Iran, Britain and the United States is making for Greece after being released from custody in Gibraltar, and the U.S. is warning Athens that any assistance it gives the ship could constitute providing material support to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO). Read

Climate Activists: Giving Skeptics Media Coverage Is ‘Dangerous’ For the Planet

Citing a new study arguing that the media give too much prominence to climate skeptics in their coverage of climate issues, a group advocating for governments to declare a climate “emergency” says those responsible for such editorial decisions are “sacrificing the future of our planet for the sake of appearing objective.” Read

Tlaib, Omar Hope to Visit a ‘Free’ Bethlehem, Which Has Been Under Palestinian Control for Years

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) tweeted Sunday that she and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) would someday “see Bethlehem and InshAllah [Allah willing] it will be free when we do.” Read

Gibraltar Releases Iranian Tanker; US Warns its Will Revoke Visas of Those Aiding IRGC

The Supreme Court in Gibraltar ruled Thursday that an Iranian supertanker detained in the British territory for the past six weeks is free to sail, despite a last-minute bid by the U.S. Department of Justice to seize the vessel. Read

Bernie Sanders: Netanyahu Should Decline U.S. Aid If He Bars Tlaib and Omar

If Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not want to allow Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to visit, “maybe he can respectfully decline the billions of dollars” that the U.S. gives to Israel, 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Thursday night. Read

Recalling Tiananmen Square, Bolton Warns China Against ‘Missteps’ in Hong Kong

National Security Advisor John Bolton reminded China on Wednesday of the memories Americans have of its violent Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, and warned that any “misstep” in Beijing’s handling of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong would have a severe economic impact and “cause an explosion on Capitol Hill.” Read

US Envoy: Russia, China Promote Peace in Space While Developing Weapons That Make It More Dangerous

The U.S. envoy to a U.N.-linked disarmament entity accused Russia and China Wednesday of cynically pushing for a treaty on preventing an arms race in outer space even as they pursue anti-satellite (ASAT) and laser weapons. Read

Amid Anti-Government Protests, Russia Blames US Embassy and ‘Foreign Interference’

Amid swelling unauthorized anti-government protests in Moscow, Russian authorities are accusing the U.S. Embassy of encouraging people to take to the streets, and the State Duma is planning a meeting to discuss “foreign interference” in Russia’s domestic affairs. Read

Trump: Few US Tankers Use Strait of Hormuz Now ‘Because We Have Our Own Oil and Gas’

President Trump said Tuesday the Iranians were not seizing U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz because few U.S. tankers use the Persian Gulf chokepoint nowadays – “because we have our own oil and gas.” Read

Trump Links Explosion in Russian Arctic to Putin’s New, Hyped Nuclear Cruise Missile

Authorities in Russia are saying little about a deadly explosion off the northern Russian coast five days ago, but President Trump on his Twitter account Monday signaled that the U.S. has linked it to a cutting-edge new cruise missile, which President Vladimir Putin has been touting. Read

Chinese Anti-Terror Police Seen Assembling Near Hong Kong

Chinese Communist Party outlets have posted videos purporting to show anti-terror paramilitary police personnel and vehicles assembling in a mainland city adjacent to Hong Kong. They did so on the same day as a senior official in Beijing for the first time accused protests in the territory of showing “signs of terrorism.” Read

Bloody Clashes in Hong Kong, As China Accuses U.S. of Stoking Protests

The protests that have roiled Hong Kong for the past ten weeks took an uglier turn Sunday as police officers – including some allegedly posing as protesters – clashed violently with demonstrators, in an apparent shift in tactics as authorities step up attempts to snuff them out. Read

China Boosts Turkey’s Foreign Reserves; Erdogan Drops Criticism of Beijing’s Treatment of Uighurs

China in June transferred $1 billion to Turkey to boost its foreign reserves at a time when Turkey’s troubled economy was facing additional pressures over a controversial local election rerun in Istanbul, Bloomberg has reported. Read

Trump Scolds France’s Macron for Giving Iran ‘Mixed Signals’ Over Talks with US

President Trump on Thursday chided French President Emmanuel Macron for, in his words, giving “mixed signals” to the Iranian regime regarding the possibility of talks between Tehran and the United States. Read

McConnell in ‘Major War’ With Twitter; GOP Committees, Campaigns, Super PACs Suspend Advertising

Twitter’s decision to lock the account of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s reelection campaign – for posting a video showing protestors making violent threats against him – sparked an avalanche of announcements Thursday by major Republican campaign committees, super PACs, and lawmakers to buy no advertising on the social media platform. Read

Taliban Terror Continues, Despite ‘Peace Talks’ and Reports of ‘Excellent Progress’

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a massive suicide bombing in Kabul Wednesday, two days after the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, reported having made “excellent progress” in his talks with the terrorist group. Read

UN Rights Experts: Bigoted Statements Make Politicians ‘Complicit in the Violence That Follows’

In an implicit attack on President Trump, a group of U.N. human rights experts on Wednesday linked recent mass shootings in the United States to politicians’ rhetoric, saying that “the use of race to instill fear, gain votes or power, or mask injustices must stop.” Read

Pakistan, Accused for Decades of Sponsoring Anti-India Terror, Vows to Fight Kashmir Move

Pakistan’s government and army are vowing to fight a decision by India’s Hindu nationalist government to change the status of the Indian-controlled part of disputed Kashmir – a troubling prospect given a long history of Pakistani support for anti-Indian terrorism in the Muslim-majority territory. Read

Beijing Sees ‘Black Hand’ of Pence, Pompeo, and Pelosi Behind Hong Kong Protests

Amid a deepening political and security crisis in Hong Kong, mainland Chinese government officials are ramping up their accusations of a Western “black hand” behind the street protests, pointing to actions and statements by leaders including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Read

Britain to Join US in Securing Strait of Hormuz; Germany and France Won't Help

Britain’s Royal Navy will work alongside the U.S. Navy to provide security for commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but other major European allies remain leery of joining an initiative they worry could be viewed as part of a U.S. campaign of pressure on the Iranian regime. Read

For First Time in 25 Years, Treasury Cites China for ‘Currency Manipulation’

The U.S. Treasury, taking the first such action in 25 years, has labeled China a “currency manipulator,” with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday accusing Beijing’s central bank of devaluing the renminbi (RMB) “to gain unfair competitive advantage in international trade.” Read

US Eyes New Ground-Launched Missiles in Asia; China Warns Countries Not to Host Them

With the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty now dead, Defense Secretary Mark Esper at the weekend voiced hope that the U.S. would deploy new ground-launched, long-range precision missiles in the Asia-Pacific as soon as possible. Read

Mexico May Try to Extradite El Paso Shooter

The Mexican government said Sunday it is considering applying for the extradition of the American man accused of shooting dead 20 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, at least seven of them Mexican nationals. Read