Category Archives: Antony Blinken

Trump revokes security clearances for Biden, Harris and other political enemies

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In Friday memo, president also pulls clearances for Antony Blinken, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and Letitia James

Donald Trump moved to revoke security clearances for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and a string of other top Democrats and political enemies in a presidential memo issued late on Friday.

The security-clearance revocations also cover the former secretary of state Antony Blinken, the former Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, the former Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger and the New York attorney general, Letitia James, who prosecuted Trump for fraud, as well as Biden’s entire family. They all will no longer have access to classified information – a courtesy typically offered to former presidents and some officials after they have left public service.

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ICC urged to investigate Biden for ‘aiding and abetting’ Gaza war crimes

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US-based nonprofit Dawn also accuses ex-secretary of state Antony Blinken and ex-Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin

A US-based nonprofit organization has urged the international criminal court to investigate former president Joe Biden and two of his cabinet members for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The request, submitted by the Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn) last month but made public by the group on Monday, urges the ICC to investigate Biden, as well as former secretary of state Antony Blinken and former defense secretary Lloyd Austin, for their “accessorial roles in aiding and abetting, as well as intentionally contributing to, Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza”.

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Trump revokes security clearance for Antony Blinken, calling him a ‘bad guy’

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President also plans to remove clearance for Letitia James and Alvin Bragg, New York officials who prosecuted him

Donald Trump said he had ordered that the security clearances of Antony Blinken, the now former secretary of state, be revoked just days after doing the same to Joe Biden late on Friday.

In an interview with the New York Post published over the weekend, the US president confirmed he would withdraw Blinken’s security clearance, calling him a “bad guy”.

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Arab states urge Israel and US to let Palestinian Authority oversee Gaza recovery

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Arab diplomats fear political vacuum and say PA should work in conjunction with UN relief agency Unrwa

Israel and the incoming Trump administration are being urged by Arab states to avoid a dangerous political vacuum in Gaza and allow the Palestinian Authority (PA), in conjunction with the UN Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, to oversee the territory’s recovery.

The future governance of Gaza is due to be discussed at the start of negotiations on the second stage of the deal 16 days after a ceasefire begins. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has refused to broach the subject since the war began, regarding any discussions on the “day after” as likely to open destabilising internal political divisions inside his coalition.

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Blinken says Trump’s push for US to take over Greenland is ‘not going to happen’ – US politics live

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Outgoing secretary of state says Trump’s idea is ‘obviously not a good one’, while Department of Justice plans to withhold part of Jack Smith’s report

Greenland is an autonomous part of Denmark, and the Danish foreign minister said they would be open to discussing security concerns over the island with Donald Trump’s administration, but downplayed the possibility of it becoming part of the United States. Here’s more, from the Guardian’s Patrick Wintour, Kim Willsher and Miranda Bryant:

Denmark has said it is open to dialogue with Donald Trump about his legitimate security concerns after the incoming US president said he was prepared to use economic tariffs or military force to seize control of Danish-administered Greenland.

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Aid to Gaza falls to lowest level in 11 months despite US ultimatum to Israel

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US government wrote to Israel a month ago threatening sanctions if there was no increase in humanitarian supplies

The amount of aid reaching Gaza has dropped to the lowest level since December, official Israeli figures show, despite the US having issued a 30-day ultimatum last month threatening sanctions if there was no increase in humanitarian supplies reaching the territory.

The ultimatum was delivered on 13 October, so will expire on Tuesday or Wednesday. It is unclear what measures Israel’s apparent failure to fulfil US demands will trigger, but they may include a temporary halt to the supply of some munitions or other military assistance.

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About 8,000 North Korean soldiers at Ukraine border, says US

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Antony Blinken warns that Russia is preparing to deploy the troops into combat ‘in the coming days’

About 8,000 North Korean soldiers are stationed in Russia on the border with Ukraine, the US secretary of state has said, warning that Moscow is preparing to deploy those troops into combat “in the coming days”.

Antony Blinken said the US believed that North Korea had sent 10,000 troops to Russia in total, deploying them first to training bases in the far east before sending the vast majority to the Kursk region on the border with Ukraine.

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Israel must stop ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza, Jordan tells US

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Jordanian foreign secretary warns ‘we stand at brink of regional war’ as he meets Antony Blinken in London

Jordan’s foreign minister has called for pressure on Israel to end what he called the “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, as he met the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in London.

Blinken, who is still hoping Gaza peace talks can be revived, stopped over in the UK to brief leaders from Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan after he had been unable to meet them on his recent tour of the Middle East.

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US warns against ‘protracted’ campaign in Lebanon as Israel strikes Beirut

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In a visit to the region, secretary of state Antony Blinken said the US was working to progress ceasefire talks for Gaza and Lebanon

Israeli strikes hit Beirut on Thursday evening, after the US warned against Israel being led into a “protracted” campaign in Lebanon and efforts got under way to hold renewed talks over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.

Lebanese state media said several strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday, about half an hour after Israel issued evacuation warnings for the Hezbollah bastion after intense strikes the night before.

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Israel mulls using private security contractors to deliver aid to Gaza

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Discussion about letting private firms bid for contracts comes before Knesset vote on banning UN relief agency from operating in Israel

Israel is weighing the use of private security contractors – possibly involving UK special forces veterans – to deliver aid to Gaza, as conditions in the north of the strip worsen dramatically, the Guardian has learned.

According to an Israeli official, the security cabinet discussed the issue on Sunday, before an expected vote in the Knesset next week on two bills that would ban the UN relief agency, Unrwa, from operating in Israel. If passed, the bills would severely curtail the operations of by far the biggest aid operation in Gaza.

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Blinken meets Netanyahu in renewed US push for Gaza ceasefire

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US secretary of state urges Israeli PM to capitalise on death of Hamas leader by securing release of hostages and ending conflict

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Israel to encourage efforts to revive the stalled Gaza ceasefire negotiations after Israel’s killing of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, last week.

Meeting the Israeli prime minister, Blinken urged Benjamin Netanyahu to capitalise on the death of the Hamas leader by securing the release of the 7 October attack hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza.

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The killing of Hassan Nasrallah leaves Iran with a fateful choice and the US humiliated

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Israel’s airstrike on Hezbollah’s leadership in Lebanon has far-reaching implications for Tehran and Washington

When Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, told reporters in New York on Friday that the coming days will determine the future path of the Middle East, he could not have been more prescient, even if at the time he was hoping that Hezbollah and Israel could be persuaded to step back from the brink.

Now, with the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah confirmed killed, the region, after 11 months, has finally stepped over the brink and into a place it has truly never been before.

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US thwarts French and British push for Lebanon ceasefire call at UN

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Washington says Israel has legitimate security problem and more complex diplomatic agreement is required

An effort led by France and Britain to secure a joint statement by the UN security council calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon has stalled in the face of US objections.

Washington is eager to avoid any suggestion there is any equivalence of blame for the eruption of the crisis that has led to the loss of life of hundreds of people in Lebanon.

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Israel has ‘legitimate problem’ with Hezbollah on border, says Blinken

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US secretary of state emphasises he wants diplomatic solution, but remarks unlikely to be seen as warning against Israeli ground offensive

Israel has a legitimate interest in seeking to remove Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, from the borders of northern Israel, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said as he rebuffed calls to take a tougher line over the Israeli bombardment.

Speaking before an emergency meeting of the security council in New York, Blinken emphasised that he would prefer a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but his tone is unlikely to be seen as a warning to Israel to stop, or to reconsider its plan for a ground offensive.

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Exploding pager attack in Lebanon is another blow for US peace hopes

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Violent blow against Hezbollah leaves the militia vengeful and vulnerable – and again dashes Washington’s diplomacy

For American diplomacy in the Middle East, the extraordinary attack in Lebanon that simultaneously detonated hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members could not have come at a less auspicious moment – and may still spark an escalation that the US had been seeking desperately to avoid.

A day before the coordinated sabotage, Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to Joe Biden, was in Israel urging Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials against an escalation in Lebanon. The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, had also warned that time was running out to find a negotiated settlement between Israel and Hezbollah.

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Alarm in UK and US over possible Iran-Russia nuclear deal

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US president Joe Biden and British PM Keir Starmer fear secret arms link-up amid talks in Washington over Ukraine

Britain and the US have raised fears that Russia has shared nuclear secrets with Iran in return for Tehran supplying Moscow with ballistic missiles to bomb Ukraine.

During their summit in Washington DC on Friday, Keir Starmer and US president Joe Biden acknowledged that the two countries were tightening military cooperation at a time when Iran is in the process of enriching enough uranium to complete its long-held goal to build a nuclear bomb.

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Blinken accuses RT of being worldwide Kremlin intelligence network

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US secretary of state announces new sanctions against the Russian state-backed media company

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has announced new sanctions against the Russian state-backed media company RT, formerly known as Russia Today, after new information gleaned from the outfit’s employees showed it was “functioning like a de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus”.

The Russian government in 2023 established a new unit in RT with “cyber operational capabilities and ties to Russian intelligence”, Blinken claimed, with the goal of spreading Russian influence in countries around the world through information operations, covert influence and military procurement.

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Blinken hints US will lift restrictions on Ukraine using long-range arms in Russia

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Decision understood to have already been made in private as secretary of state says in Kyiv that US will continue to adapt policy

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, gave his strongest hint yet that the White House is about to lift its restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons supplied by the west on key military targets inside Russia, with a decision understood to have already been made in private.

Speaking in Kyiv alongside the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, Blinken said the US had “from day one” been willing to adapt its policy as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine changed. “We will continue to do this,” he emphasised.

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Putin has escalated Ukrainian war with Iranian missiles, suggest Blinken and Lammy – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For more on this story, you can read our full report:

Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, has said Moscow will destroy any new deliveries of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine by the United States, Reuters reported citing the state TASS news agency.

The State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said “the U.S. and UK stand united with Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and freedom.”

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Blinken says Russia has received new ballistic missiles from Iran

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US and Europe impose new sanctions on Iran in response to supply of weapons that US says Russia could use in Ukraine

Russia has received new deadly ballistic missiles from Iran for use in Ukraine and is likely to use them, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, announced on Tuesday in London as he prepared to travel with the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, to Kyiv.

The news, confirmed by the US for the first time and seen as of huge significance to the battlefield balance ahead of Ukraine’s difficult winter, led the US and Europe to impose new sanctions on Iran, so apparently slamming the door on the prospect of a rapprochement between the new reformist Iranian government and the west.

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