Tag Archives: Syria

The New York Times reports: President Trump announced on Tuesday that he would end sanctions on Syria, saying at the start of his four-day tour of the Middle East that he had decided to do so after consulting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and the President of Turkey. Mr. Trump’s announcement drew rousing applause from the crowd at an investment …

The New York Times reports: Starting last summer, former Representative Tulsi Gabbard publicly berated the Biden administration, claiming that she was placed on what she called “a domestic terror watch list” as punishment for critical comments she had made about Vice President Kamala Harris. The reality was more complicated. The additional security measures were triggered by an event she attended …

Mediaite reports: RT, formerly known as Russia Today, shared a clip of Tucker Carlson’s interview with far-left economist Jeffrey Sachs on Tuesday, highlighting a moment in which Sachs argues the CIA was behind Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s recent fall. In the interview, Carlson repeated his talking point regarding whether or not he should oppose Assad. He noted that Americans are …

Axios reports: The U.S. is working with several other countries in the Middle East to prevent chemical weapons possessed by the Assad regime from falling into the wrong hands, a U.S. official told reporters. The U.S. and its allies are concerned that the collapse of the Syrian army and other security forces — and the chaos engulfing the country — …

The Associated Press reports: Syrians poured into streets in celebration on Sunday after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule. Russian state news agencies were reporting that President Bashar Assad and his family had arrived in Moscow and were given asylum. Russia said Assad left the country after negotiations with rebel …

The New York Times reports: President Bashar al-Assad has resigned and left Syria, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Sunday, hours after rebels stormed the Syrian capital without encountering any significant resistance from government forces. It did not offer details on Mr. al-Assad’s exact whereabouts, saying only that he had held talks with “several parties of the armed conflict.” There was …

Axios reports: Nearly 100 former national security officials signed a letter to Senate leaders raising concerns about President-elect Trump’s nomination of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence. Her most infamous controversy is a 2017 trip to Syria, when she met Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. She subsequently declared that Assad — the Russia-and Iran-backed leader accused …

The Washington Post reports: In January 2017, Tulsi Gabbard, then a Democrat representing Hawaii’s 2nd District in the House of Representatives, took a trip to Syria on a “fact-finding mission” that perhaps raised more questions than it answered. And, she divulged, she met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is backed by Iran and Russia and stands accused of …

The New York Times reports: The United States on Friday carried out a series of military strikes against Iran-backed militants in half a dozen sites in Iraq and Syria, according to a U.S. Defense Department official, marking a sharp escalation of the war in the Middle East that the Biden administration has for four months sought to avoid. President Biden …

CNN reports: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today announced $100 million in disaster relief aid for Turkey and Syria as the countries grapple with the aftermath of a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 46,000 people. The top US diplomat, who took a helicopter tour Sunday of some of the hardest-hit areas alongside Turkish foreign minister …

The Guardian reports: A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake has hit Turkey’s southern province of Hatay, terrifying those left in a region devastated by powerful twin earthquakes two weeks earlier. The quake, less powerful than the initial 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes which tore a path of destruction through southern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February, albeit threatened yet more …

Politico Europe reports: The death toll from a massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria is likely to “double or more” from its current level of 33,000, United Nations relief chief Martin Griffiths told Sky News. “I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble, but I’m sure it will double or more,” said …

The Associated Press reports: Turkey has for years tempted fate by not enforcing modern construction codes while allowing — and in some cases, encouraging — a real estate boom in earthquake-prone areas, experts say. The lax enforcement, which experts in geology and engineering have long warned about, is gaining renewed scrutiny in the aftermath of this week’s devastating earthquakes, which …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited southern Turkey on Wednesday to see first-hand the destruction wrought by a massive earthquake as anger grew among local people over what they said was a slow government response to the rescue and relief effort. The combined confirmed death toll from Monday’s quake, which struck a swathe of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria, …

The Associated Press reports: Rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to more than 5,000. Countries around the world dispatched teams to assist in the rescue efforts, …

Via press release from the White House: Jill and I were deeply saddened by the news of the devastating earthquakes that have thus far claimed thousands of lives in Turkiye and Syria. My Administration has been working closely with our NATO Ally Turkiye, and I authorized an immediate U.S. response. At my direction, senior American officials reached out immediately to …

Reuters reports: More than 1,500 people were killed and thousands injured on Monday when a huge earthquake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria, pulversing apartment blocks and heaping more destruction on Syrian cities already devastated by years of war. The magnitude 7.8 quake, which hit in the early darkness of a winter morning, was the worst to strike Turkey this …

From the Justice Department: A global building materials manufacturer and its subsidiary pleaded guilty today to a one-count criminal information charging them with conspiring to provide material support and resources in Northern Syria from 2013 to 2014 to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the al-Nusrah Front (ANF), both U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations. Immediately following the defendants’ …

Via press release from the White House: Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader …

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration conducted an airstrike in Syria on Thursday that officials believe killed a number of alleged Iranian-linked fighters, signaling its intent to use targeted military action to push back against violence tied to Tehran. The attack on a border-crossing station in eastern Syria, the first lethal operation ordered by the Biden administration against Iran’s …