US Secretary of State

Italian Foreign Minister Meets Syria’s New Leader in Damascus

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani met Syria's new ruler Ahmad al-Shareh in Damascus Friday, state media said, in the latest such visit from a European diplomat since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. State news agency SANA did not give further details about Tajani and Shareh's discussions, just over a month after Islamist-led rebels seized ...

On His Final Trip, Blinken And the Europeans Try to Avoid a New Syrian Turmoil

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his European counterparts insisted in Rome on Thursday on the need to stabilise Syria a month after Islamist rebels overthrew the country's leader, Bashar al-Assad, amid clashes with Turkey. Mr Blinken dined in Rome on Thursday evening with his British, French, German and Italian counterparts, on the last ...

Blinken in Paris to Discuss Mideast

Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday began a visit to Paris in which he will receive France's highest honor and seek further coordination on the turbulent Middle East. The top US diplomat arrived early on Wednesday in Paris after stops in Japan and South Korea on what is expected to be his final trip before he is slated to ...

Blinken Says US-Japan Ties Rock Solid Despite Rift Over Steel Deal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted during a visit to Tokyo on Tuesday that ties with Japan were stronger than ever, days after President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel's takeover of US Steel. Business groups say the decision could have a chilling effect on Japan's standing as the biggest foreign investor in the United States, just as ...

Blinken to Meet Europeans on Syria Pathway

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet his European counterparts Thursday in Rome on Syria, as the West looks to engage the new Islamist-led leadership. Blinken will "meet with European counterparts to advocate for a peaceful, inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition", a State Department statement said as he visited ...

Blinken Says Ukraine Position in Kursk 'Important' for Negotiations

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Ukraine's position in Russia's Kursk was critical to any future negotiations, as Moscow said Kyiv launched a counterattack in the border region. Blinken said that the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, which has given Kyiv billions of dollars in security assistance since Russia's ...

Mikati: ‘Christian Presence Guarantees Lebanese Unity’

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed to Pope Francis his attachment “to coexistence and to Lebanon’s role as a message in the region, as well as to the Christian presence, which is a guarantee for the unity of Lebanon, land and people.” Mikati and the Pontiff also tackled a number of current topics pertaining to Lebanon and the ...

Blinken in Turkey: Call to Continue the Fight Against ISIS in Syria After Assad's Fall

The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Friday that it is "imperative" to continue working against ISIS in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, during a visit to Ankara, the Turkish capital. "Our country has worked very hard (...) to ensure the elimination of ISIS's territorial caliphate, to ensure that this threat does not ...

Islamic State Executes 54 Soldiers Fleeing Rebel Advance in Central Syria

A Syria war monitor said Tuesday that Islamic State group jihadists in central Homs province killed 54 soldiers who were fleeing as Islamist-led rebels pressed a major offensive on government-controlled areas. IS jihadists captured "personnel fleeing military service in the desert... during the collapse of the regime" of president Bashar al-Assad ...

U.S. Targets Iran’s “Ghost Fleet” in New Sanctions Over Oil Exports

The United States imposed economic sanctions on Tuesday targeting 35 vessels from the "ghost fleet" that allows Iran to export its oil to foreign markets while circumventing Western restrictions, the U.S. Treasury Department announced. "Oil revenues provide the Iranian regime with the resources needed to fund its nuclear program, develop advanced ...

SOHR Says Pro-Turkey Factions Attack Government, Kurdish Forces

A Syria war monitor said pro-Turkey factions in the north killed government forces and attacked Kurdish fighters in Aleppo province Sunday, as a separate rebel alliance waged an offensive nearby. Turkish forces and their proxies have controlled swathes of territory in northern Syria since Ankara in 2016 began successive ground operations to expel ...

Loyalists and Powerhouses: Key Figures of the Trump Administration

RFK Jr., Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a longtime health and environmental campaigner, who at 70 proudly shows off his muscular body. But the scion of the famous US political dynasty is also a leading anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist who has promoted the disproven idea that childhood vaccines cause autism and claimed ...