U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cancelled scheduled events on Saturday on the second day of a visit to Kenya because “he is not feeling well”, a State Department spokesman said. “The secretary is not feeling well after a long couple days working on major issues back home such as …
Read More »Trump prepared for military action in Syria to deter chemical attacks: Officials
Senior US officials have claimed President Donald Trump is prepared to launch a military action if necessary against the Syrian government which they say is possibly developing new types of chemical weapons. The officials on Thursday said the government of Syrian Bashar al-Assad saved a part of chemical weapons stockpile …
Read More »Syria says claims it uses chemical weapons ‘lies’
The Syrian government said on Wednesday that claims by France and the United States that it was still using chemical weapons were âliesâ. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the Syrian government may still be using chemical weapons, following a suspected chlorine attack in the rebel enclave …
Read More »US Asks Turkey to Show Restraint in Syria
The United States is expressing concern about Turkeyâs offensive in northern Syria and top officials are appealing for restraint and fears that the conflict could spread. At Mondayâs White House briefing, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. understands Turkeyâs âlegitimate security concernsâ and is âcommitted to working with …
Read More »Donald Trump Doesnât Understand Whatâs Happening in Iran
The protests that have rattled Iran this weekend are in many ways an echo of the near past. In the summer of 2009, millions of Iranians took to the streets to protest the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose rhetoric and policies had isolated their country for four years. The …
Read More »US will provide anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, State Dept. official says
The US is going to provide anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, a senior State Department official told CNN. The State Department officially announced Friday evening that the US was going to provide Ukraine with “enhanced defensive capabilities as part of our effort to help Ukraine build its long-term defense capacity, to …
Read More »Tillerson says U.S. ready to talk to North Korea; Japan wants pressure
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered to begin direct talks with North Korea without pre-conditions, backing away from a key U.S. demand that Pyongyang must first accept that giving up its nuclear arsenal would be part of any negotiations. Tillersonâs new diplomatic overture comes nearly two weeks after North …
Read More »Netanyahu quiet on U.S. Embassy move in speech, focuses on Iranian threat
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Israelâs âirreplaceableâ relationship with the United States in his first public remarks after the Trump administration said it would move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, but he did not address the move directly and instead stressed the threat of Iran. Netanyahu lauded Israelâs expanding …
Read More »Tillerson’s senior team planning to skip Ivanka Trump’s India trip
Days ahead of what should be a major moment for Ivanka Trump on the world stage, CNN has learned Secretary of State Rex Tillerson isn’t sending a high-level delegation to support her amid reports of tensions between Tillerson and the White House. Multiple State Department officials, as well as a …
Read More »Trump declares North Korea state sponsor of terrorism, triggers sanctions
President Donald Trump put North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, a designation that allows the United States to impose more sanctions and risks inflaming tensions over Pyongyangâs nuclear weapons and missile programs. The Republican president, who has traded personal insults with North Korean …
Read More »Case of Missing Lebanese Prime Minister Stirs Middle East Tensions
When the Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri made a sudden trip abroad last week, it was taken at first to be a routine visit with his political patron, Saudi Arabia. But the next day, he unexpectedly announced his resignation by video from Riyadh, the Saudi capital. He has yet to …
Read More »Mattis backs Geneva process on Syrian conflict
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday he backed diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the Syrian civil war, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives over more than six years of conflict, as Islamic State militants near defeat. Mattis was traveling to Finland to meet with …
Read More »As Tillerson heads to Pakistan, Islamabad wary of deepening U.S.-India ties
As U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads to Pakistan on Tuesday to pressure Islamabad to act over militants targeting Afghanistan from its soil, anxious Pakistanis may be equally interested in dissuading Washingtonâs deepening ties with India. Nuclear-armed Pakistan, a staunch U.S. Cold War ally and key player in the …
Read More »GCC summit likely to be postponed by 6 months: Reports
Kuwait has reportedly called for postponing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit scheduled in December in the northern Arabian Gulf country. âThere is a possibility that the summit be postponed in view of the lack of progress in resolving the Gulf crisis,â Gulf diplomats were quoted as saying by Kuwaiti …
Read More »U.S. officials try to ease concerns Trump may quit Iran deal
Senior Trump administration officials said on Sunday that the United States was committed to remaining part of the Iran nuclear accord for now, despite President Donald Trumpâs criticisms of the deal and his warnings that he might pull out. Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that Tehran …
Read More »Iran nuclear deal: Trump ‘will not sign off agreement’
US President Donald Trump will accuse Iran of failing to comply with an international nuclear deal, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Mr Trump will refuse to certify the deal and refer it to Congress, he told reporters. Such a move would not mean a US withdrawal from the …
Read More »Trump proposes âIQ testsâ face-off with Tillerson after secretary of state calls him a âmoronâ
President Trump proposed an âIQ testsâ face-off with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after the nation’s top diplomat reportedly called the president a âmoronâ and disparaged his grasp on foreign policy. In an interview with Forbes magazine published Tuesday, Trump fired a shot at Tillerson over the âmoronâ revelation, first reported by NBC News and …
Read More »âDeath spiralâ: Tillerson makes nice but may not last long with Trump
The moment was as remarkable as it was unprecedented: A sitting U.S. secretary of state took to the microphone to pledge his fealty to the president â despite his well-documented unhappiness in the job and the growing presumption in Washington that he is a short-timer. Rex Tillerson said Wednesday he …
Read More »Al Franken on Donald Trumpâs North Korea threats: âI donât understand himâ
Al Franken is optimistic about the United States’ future ability to avoid a nuclear showdown with North Korea, but that doesn’t mean that he’s exactly thrilled with the way President Donald Trump has handled the situation. “I don’t think that the president has handled that as well as he could,” …
Read More »Tillerson says Kurdish independence referendum is illegitimate
The United States on Friday declared illegitimate Mondayâs Kurdish referendum on independence, as the Iraqi government imposed a ban on international flights to airports operated by the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraqi troops prepared to seize the semiautonomous regionâs border controls. âThe United States does not recognize the .â.â. unilateral …
Read More »Trump’s âFire and Furyâ North Korea Warning Puts World on Edge
President Donald Trumpâs threat to hit North Korea with âfire and furyâ jolted markets from New York to Seoul even as U.S. lawmakers questioned the presidentâs willingness to back up the heated rhetoric. âNorth Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,â Trump told reporters in Bedminster, …
Read More »US Secretary of State Tillerson: Russian election meddling ‘created serious mistrust’
The top US diplomat told his Russian counterpart that Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US election has seriously damaged the relationship between the two countries. Speaking at the ASEAN Regional Forum in the Philippines Monday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov …
Read More »New Military Adviser Ivanka Trump Reportedly Convinced Her Father to Bomb Syria
By Esther Yu Hsi Lee, ThinkProgress — âIâm sure she said: âListen, this is horrible stuff.ââ vanka Trumpâââan official government employee without military experience but with her own White House officeâ reportedly influenced President Donald Trumpâs decision to strike against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad last week, according to her brother …
Read More »Exxon CEO Now a Contender for Donald Trumpâs Secretary of State
By CAROL E. LEE and PETER NICHOLAS – WASHINGTONâ President-elect Donald Trump is widening the circle of candidates for secretary of state and will interview more prospects this week, transition officials said, a sign that after multiple meetings with high-profile hopefuls he still isnât sold on who he wants as …
Read More »