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Secretary of State John Kerry plunged into an intensive series of meetings here with Arab officials on Thursday to coordinate strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The meetings are being hosted by Saudi Arabia, which has agreed to provide bases for the training of moderate Syrian rebels who are battling the Sunni militants and the Assad government in Damascus. The talks will also include the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. The Obama administration is eager for the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, to...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: We've got Lurch, John Kerry. I just learned this this morning, folks. Grab audio sound bite number thirty. This one, I just learned this morning, but this happened last Wednesday at the State Department. While all this stuff was going on with ISIS and ISIL, and everyone waiting with bated breath over Obama's announcement to grant amnesty to however many millions of illegals that are lurking and living in the shadows, all of a sudden John Kerry at the State Department, appointed Shaarik Zafar to be the new special representative to Muslim communities -- as though we...

(CNSNews.com) - At a ceremony Wednesday honoring Shaarik Zafar, who was just appointed to serve as the State Department's Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Secretary of State John Kerry said “confronting climate change” is “a duty or responsibility laid down in scriptures.” “Confronting climate change is, in the long run, one of the greatest challenges that we face, and you can see this duty or responsibility laid down in scriptures, clearly, beginning in Genesis,” Kerry claimed. While promoting the need to “unite religious communities” in order to achieve global peace, Kerry pointed to other factors, including climate change, that he...

US combat forces will not re-enter Iraq, John Kerry insists, but the US says it will explore more “political, economic and security options” as the country transitions out of political deadlock with a new prime minister. With a new “inclusive, participatory” government in Baghdad, the US would “absolutely look to provide additional options” to help stabilise the country. Kerry made it clear this did not mean a return of US combat troops. “There will be no reintroduction of American combat forces into Iraq,” he said. “Nobody, I think, is looking forwards to a return to the road that we’ve travelled....

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed that Qatar – the chief financier of Hamas – could play a key role in mediating peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Clinton, during an interview with Charlie Rose, touted Qatar as a country that could play a constructive role in arbitrating peace between Hamas and Israel, which recently launched a full-scale ground incursion into Gaza in an attempt to cut off the terror group’s access to sophisticated weaponry. Qatar, which has served as Hamas’ chief financial lifeline, keeping the group afloat and facilitating its arms buildup, could convince Hamas to stop trying...

A court in Egypt has dissolved the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing. The ruling will effectively prevent the banned Islamist movement from formally participating in parliamentary elections expected later this year. The government declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group in December.

Hamas states on Saturday that it would continue attacks on Israel, if Palestinian demands it put forward in indirect talks in Cairo were not met. Palestinian demands include lifting the siege, reopening the border crossings, and allowing construction material into the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians are also demanding free passage between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, freedom of fishing within 12 miles of the coast, reopening the Palestinian airport in the southern Gaza Strip, construction of a seaport and cancellation of buffer zones along the border with Israel. At the same time, Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said the group...

Already scrambling to confront multiple simultaneous international crises, the Obama administration stepped up efforts Saturday to avert another, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on China and its smaller neighbors to take new steps to ease tensions over maritime disputes in Asian waters that many fear could spark conflict....

Ron Paul, House representative of the 14th district of Texas, believes that US foreign policy must be reformed to avoid conflicts around the world. The interview was conducted outside the Foreign Relations Committee. Press TV: What is your opinion on the idea of the US blocking Iran's oil exports and preventing its gasoline imports from reaching the country (based on H. Con. Res. 362 previously sought by US congressmen)? Paul: I think it is an outrage I think it is a blockade. It is the use of force to stop the inflow of petroleum products and people and goods,...

Paul ranks alongside ultra-liberal Dennis Kucinich as having the weakest foreign policy stances in the U.S. House. Tuesday, Paul and Kucinich were two of only 12 House members that voted against imposing new sanctions on Iran. The resolution that would penalize foreign companies from selling oil to Iran passed 412-12. "This will unify the Iranian people against us," Paul incorrectly predicts.

Israelis and Palestinians are still burying their loved ones as Gaza's third war in six years continues. Since July 8, when this war began, more than 1,600 Palestinian and 65 Israeli lives have been sacrificed. Many in the world are heartbroken in the powerless certainty that more will die, that more are being killed every hour. This tragedy results from the deliberate obstruction of a promising move toward peace in the region, when a reconciliation agreement among the Palestinian factions was announced in April. This was a major concession by Hamas, in opening Gaza to joint control under a technocratic...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said the Israeli strikes near civilian areas can not be "condoned."(continued)

SPIEGEL has learned from reliable sources that Israeli intelligence eavesdropped on US Secretary of State John Kerry during Middle East peace negotiations. In addition to the Israelis, at least one other intelligence service also listened in as Kerry mediated last year between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab states, several intelligence service sources told SPIEGEL. Revelations of the eavesdropping could further damage already tense relations between the US government and Israel.

ow badly have US-Israel relations deteriorated in recent weeks? If Israeli media reports are any indication, tensions boiled over to the point where a phone call between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ended due to "communications problems" earlier this week. Both men have not spoken since, according to the State Department. Kerry's spokesperson, Jen Psaki, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the two men have not spoken since a brief phone call over the situation in Gaza ended because of "communications problems."

As Israel seeks to end Hamas's latest war against it, the Obama administration flounders. In fact, the response of the president and his secretary of state has made the situation positively worse with regard to every relationship we have in the region. Opponents of terrorism and supporters of Israel struggle to understand the administration's approach. Is it incompetence, or a continuation of this president's determination always to be above the fray -- as though the United States' only legitimate role is to midwife peace at any price rather than pursue policies that benefit it and its allies while defeating our...

A phone call between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was mysteriously disconnected on Sunday, Channel 2 News reports. According to the report, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki admitted to reporters on Tuesday that the call was disconnected, though she said it was due to a “communications issue”. Psaki did, however, say that the two have not spoken since the phone call was cut off. …

For decades, America has stood with Israel and defended its right to protect itself against attacks from the radical Islamic terrorists of Hamas and similar organizations. This time around, however, the Obama administration and Secretary of State John Kerry have demanded that Israel agree to cease-fire proposals that Israel knew were not in its best interests–but, wanting to preserve the historically strong relationship between the two countries, Israel agreed. Three men died as a direct result, when Palestinian militants broke the cease-fire in less than two hours. Israel has said that they are no longer interested in interference in their...

This week we learned that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the elected choice of the wealthy denizens of San Francisco, believes that Hamas is a humanitarian organization. Qatar, Hamas’ principle supporter, told her so. From former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton we learned that the reason Hamas’ weapons are found stored in civilian sites -- schools, mosques, hospitals, and UNWRA buildings -- is because the area is so small there’s nowhere else to hide them. And from the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, the viciously anti-Israeli Navi Pillay, we learned that the Israel may have committed war...

Member of the Security Cabinet and Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry Saturday night, to thank the US Congress for working to approve $225 million in additional aid for the Iron Dome missile defense system. The Finance Minister stressed that Israel attaches "great importance" to maintaining and deepening strategic relations with the United States and strengthening the warm friendship developed between the two countries. The two spoke at length about the security and political developments following the abduction of Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin as well. Kerry reportedly assured Lapid that the US...

<p>John Kerry is upset by heavy criticism from Israelis — left, right and center — of his recent ceasefire diplomacy. But that’s only half the story. More significant is the consternation of America’s Arab partners, starting with the president of the Palestinian Authority. Mahmoud Abbas was stunned that Kerry would fly off to Paris to negotiate with Hamas allies Qatar and Turkey in talks that excluded the PA and Egypt.</p>