US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday that Sudan has been officially removed from a list of countries that the US considers being state sponsors of terrorism, the Jerusalem Post reports. The 1993 US designation of Sudan as a terror sponsor was made during the brutal dictatorship of former president Omar al-Bashir, who was believed to be protecting terrorist groups, and who was finally ousted last year.
The United States has sanctioned Turkey, a NATO military alliance ally after it defiantly bought a Russian anti-aircraft missile system.
The United States added Nigeria to a blacklist of countries that violate religious liberties Monday, DW reports. Joining Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and China, Nigeria is now listed as a country “of concern” “under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.”
White House adviser Jared Kushner will travel to Saudi Arabia this week, in an apparent last-ditch effort to broker a normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel, according to a report on Sunday.
The United States exited the Treaty on Open Skies on Sunday, six months after the Trump administration signaled it would. The administration cited repeated Russian Federation violations of the treaty designed to allow unarmed aerial surveillance flights by the treaty participants in Europe, Russia, and the U.S.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday that the US will withdraw government funding from organizations it identifies as engaging in “hateful BDS conduct,” the Washington Examiner reports. Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) is an international Palestinian-led, non-violent movement that challenges what its founders describe as “Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.”
Hungary, where believers suffered under communism, has praised “the Trump administration” for raising the issue of persecuted Christians amid concerns about terror attacks.
The United States hit Iran with new sanctions on Wednesday, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the case that undoing the actions of the Trump administration would be foolish and dangerous.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday met said during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s foreign minister that regional normalization deals leave Iran “ever more isolated”.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Paris Saturday for the first stop on a planned seven-country tour.
The speculation has a number of catalysts. First was the firing of Mark Esper as secretary of defense this past week and the replacement of him and other top Pentagon officials with Trump ideologues. Some media outlets in the US have raised the possibility that Trump wanted to get Esper out of the way, so he could more easily carry out controversial military moves.
The Trump administration formally notified Congress on Tuesday that it plans to sell 50 stealth F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of a broader arms deal aimed at deterring potential threats from Iran despite concern in Israel.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced citizens of the United States born in Jerusalem can now list their birthplace as “Israel” on their passports.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of violating the latest ceasefire over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where a historic church is among the many damaged targets. The accusations came minutes after it came into effect on Monday with the support of the United States.
The United States and a coalition of 31 other countries have signed onto the Geneva Consensus Declaration that upholds the importance women’s health, and states that there is no global right to abortion.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday urged Saudi Arabia to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel and committed to enhancing defense and security cooperation between Washington and Riyadh.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has had talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyrias Mitsotakis about possibly transferring its highly strategic US airbase from Turkey to Greece, DEBKAfile sources have revealed. The US is also reportedly in talks with Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates about moving the Turkish base to the Gulf state.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke on the phone with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisalbin Farhan Sunday, discussing the Abraham peace accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Israel National News reports. Following the signing of the Abraham Accords on September 15, President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia to also normalize ties with Israel “when the time comes.”
The Trump administration may close its embassy in Iraq if the government does not take steps to protect it from attacks by Iranian-backed militants.
China is using the prospect of access to technology related to a nuclear weapons program to lure American allies into Beijing’s geopolitical orbit, U.S. officials and lawmakers fear.