BIZARRE: 4 | Mind Blowing Facts

US Bans Entry to Syria Security Agent over Killings on Video

The US State Department on Monday banned entry into the US of a Syrian intelligence member who appeared in a video leaked last year showing him fatally shooting people during the country’s 12-year conflict. The ban against Amjad Yousef, a member of Syria’s notorious Military Intelligence Branch 227, includes his…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Mar 6, 2023

US President Joe Biden planning to visit Ireland in April to celebrate Good Friday Agreement

Senior sources have confirmed that “high-level talks” are currently underway between the US State Department, the White House, the Irish Embassy and the Irish Government to facilitate the homecoming of America’s most Irish President since John F Kennedy

Dublin Live · Mar 3, 2023

Mexico’s president hits out at implicit criticism from US

‘There’s currently more democracy in Mexico than in the United States,’ Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says.

Al Jazeera · Feb 28, 2023

Blinken: China’s Balloon Incursion ‘Must Never Happen Again’

The top diplomats from the United States and China met on Saturday in the first high-level contact between their countries since the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon two weeks ago, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken sending the message that Beijing's surveillance program had been "exposed to…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Feb 19, 2023

Washington Denies Imposing Sanctions on Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor

The US State Department denied on Saturday that it was considering imposing sanctions on Lebanon’s central bank governor Riad Salameh. “We have seen these rumors, and while we generally are not discussing any possible sanctions, I can confirm that these rumors are not based on facts,” a US State Department…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Feb 18, 2023

Armenia, Azerbaijan highlight Nagorno-Karabakh schism in Munich standoff

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan bickered over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Saturday, highlighting their disparate positions and offering scant evidence that lasting peace was on the cards as they met in Munich.

Reuters · Feb 18, 2023

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State: Saudi Arabia Plays Pivotal Role in Promoting Regional Stability

Daniel Benaim, a deputy assistant secretary for the Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the US State Department, believes that the Iranians lost the opportunity for a swift return to the full implementation of the nuclear agreement last September. Iran, according to Benaim, had turned its back on an agreement that was…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Feb 18, 2023

U.S. concerned about debt Pakistan owes China, official says

The United States is concerned about debt owed to China by Pakistan and other countries, U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said on Thursday during a visit to Islamabad as the country dealt with an economic crisis.

Reuters · Feb 16, 2023

Blinken, Guterres Discuss Expanding Aid to Syria

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Tuesday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the urgent need to facilitate humanitarian access in Syria so the UN and humanitarian actors can deliver life-saving assistance to those affected by the February 6 earthquakes. Secretary Blinken underscored the need for the Assad regime…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Feb 16, 2023

US Says Iran-based Saif al-Adel is New Al-Qaeda Chief

Saif al-Adel, an Iran-based Egyptian, has become the head of Al-Qaeda following the July 2022 death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the US State Department said Wednesday. "Our assessment aligns with that of the UN -- that al-Qaeda's new de facto leader Saif al-Adel is based in Iran," a state department spokesperson…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Feb 16, 2023