John Kerry - Page 18

On Putin and Assad, America Finally Sees the Kinder, Gentler Trump

Before taking the California stage last night, Donald Trump promised he would attempt to “tone it down” for the second Republican debate. He mostly failed to be less Trump than his usual disposition, save for one topic: the ongoing civil war in Syria and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s role in keeping the war alive.

Trump and Putin AP

State Department Planning To Admit At Least 5,000 More Refugees

The Obama administration is planning to resettle 5,000 more refugees into the U.S. next year and that number could go much higher, Secretary of State John Kerry told lawmakers Wednesday in a closed door meeting. Kerry told lawmakers the administration is planning to increase the number of refugees from the past three year’s level of 70,000 to at least 75,000. When asked for a number, aides told the Wall Sttreet Journal, Kerry said about 100,000.

A Syrian family disembarks from the Greek government chartered Eleftherios Venizelos ferry

State Dept. Appoints ‘Transparency Czar’ After Clinton Email Scandal

Czars are often dropped as distractions, like a fighter jet ejecting flares to avoid heat-seeking missiles. The appointment of a powerful new position with great fanfare is the ultimate Washington way of pretending to Do Something and mollify an angry public. And so, there comes unto the State Department a new “transparency czar,” officially to be known as the Transparency Coordinator.

Workers prepare the plinth (L), where the monument of the last Russian Emperor, Tsar Nicho

Russia Claims It ‘Never Concealed’ Sending Weapons to Syria

The Russian government is claiming officials never denied or misled anyone about sending weapons and equipment to Syria. The report comes days after terrorist groups in Syria published photos or Russians in Syria and the U.S. warning the Kremlin about military activity in the war-torn country.

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Royce Slams ‘Side Deal’ Allowing Iran to Inspect Itself

Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, responded to news that a side deal between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will allow Iran to use its own experts, instead of international inspectors, to test potential nuclear sites.

Rex Features via AP Images

Top Cuban Dissidents Snub John Kerry After Embassy Schmoozefest

Two of Cuba’s most prominent anti-communist leaders refused to meet with American Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Havana last weekend, condemning the Obama administration for “caving” to Castro regime demands and meeting only privately for a social event with the dissidents.

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5 Things America Has Lost in Cuba

Today the Obama administration raised the American flag above the U.S. embassy in Cuba. It is unclear what, if anything, the U.S. has won in exchange for normalizing relations with the Castro regime–one of the world’s most oppressive tyrannies. It is clearer what we have lost.

Kerry Havana Cuba (Adalberto Roque / Getty)

Kerry to Cuban Government in Spanish: ‘There is Nothing to Fear’

“No hay nada que temer” (“there is nothing to fear”), Secretary of State John Kerry told Cuban communist government officials and their Obama administration guests at the new United States embassy in Havana Friday, applauding dictator Raúl Castro and President Obama for the reestablishment of diplomatic relations that culminated in today’s ceremony.

ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images