Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—June 23, 2014. The United States strongly condemns the verdicts rendered against three Al-Jazeera journalists and 15 other defendants today in Egypt.  The prosecution of journalists for reporting information that does not coincide with the Government of Egypt’s narrative flouts the most basic standards of media freedom and represents[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–June 23, 2014 – 1:51 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:  This crowd looks fired up.  (Applause.)  Already, everybody have a seat.  Have a seat.  You look like you’ve been busy.  AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  Yes! AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We’re just waiting on you.  THE PRESIDENT:  I know that’s right.  (Applause.)  I know that’s[Read More…]

NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–23 June 2014 – The Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations (OPCW-UN) announced today that the removal of Syria’s chemical weapons material is now complete. The removal of the most critical material for destruction began in early January, in line[Read More…]

Amman, Jordan–(ENEWSPF)–June 22, 2014. SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: So this is a background briefing previewing Secretary Kerry’s trip to Baghdad tomorrow. We have on the phone with us [Senior State Department Official One], who will be known here forward as senior State Department official number one. He’ll go do[Read More…]

Cairo, Egypt–(ENEWSPF)–June 22, 2014. FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) I would like to welcome U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in his current visit to Cairo. And this visit (inaudible) time. Egypt is taking steady steps to (inaudible) the implementation of the roadmap, and after having fulfilled the second election[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–June 20, 2014.  Hi, everybody.  As President, my top priority is rebuilding an economy where everybody who works hard has the chance to get ahead.  That’s what I’ll spend some time talking about on Monday, at the White House Summit on Working Families. We’re bringing together business leaders and[Read More…]

BURLINGTON, Vt.–(ENEWSPF)–June 20 – Vermont religious leaders joined U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today to address the moral implications of extreme wealth and income inequality. Bishop Thomas Ely, the Rev. Dr. Lynn Bujnak, Monsignor Roland Rivard and Rabbi Joshua Chasan joined Sanders to emphasize that increasing wealth and income inequality[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–June 20, 2014.  Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement today, praising the House vote last night to ban backdoor searches: “Last night the House of Representatives took a big step forward for Americans’ privacy rights by voting to prohibit intelligence agencies from deliberately reading Americans’ emails and[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–June 20, 2014. Index for Today’s Briefing LEBANON Terrorist Bombing DEPARTMENT Secretary’s Travel to Middle East & Europe IRAQ Comments by Sistani and McGurk Immunities for Non-combat and Advisory Forces / Chief of Missions Protections U.S. Calls for Cohesion and Unity / U.S. Outreach with Iraqi Leadership Formation of[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–June 20, 2014.  SECRETARY KERRY: Ambassador Lou CdeBaca, thank you very, very much. Thank you for your leadership, primarily. You’re a visionary on this and a relentless advocate on behalf of human rights. We are all deeply grateful to you for your leadership. And Sarah Sewall, thank you for[Read More…]