US Removes Syria from Terrorism Sponsor List After 47 Years

The 45-day congressional review period expires on August 22 without reported blocking action, clearing the way for Washington to rescind Syria’s terrorism sponsor designation, imposed in 1979.

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Canadian PM Mark Carney:

We have a deal with the Americans. It’s called CUSMA.

We have side letters that clarify behaviour in steel, aluminum, and autos. All of those are being violated day in, day out.

What message does that send?

Axios reporter Barak Ravid claims 40 tankers moved through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday night carrying roughly 16 million barrels of oil, citing three US officials.

Open-source tracking data contradicts this.

Kpler showed only 7 visible ships on Thursday, with critics noting "zero west-to-east tanker crossings and zero barrels of oil exiting on Friday" in satellite-enhanced data.

16 million barrels would require multiple fully loaded supertankers, hard to reconcile with recent single-digit visible traffic.

The US says protected convoys transit at night with tracking systems off.

Dark transits are real and documented, but no independent source has corroborated the specific volumes claimed.

Under President Abelardo De La Espriella, Colombia will resume coal exports to Israel, reversing a restriction imposed by former President Gustavo Petro.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella says God decided, “in His wisdom,” to put Colombia through a devastating earthquake “on the very day” his term began.

Israel's Gadi Eisenkot:

There is no Palestinian state, and in the government we will form, no Palestinian state will arise.

On his first day back from a three-week holiday, German Chancellor Merz visited the Hürtgenwald wildfire zone and was met with boos, whistles and signs accusing him of arriving too late.

Merz responded:

I’m not impressed by those who are shouting. I talk to those who are working and helping.

WATCH: An Israeli "settler" beats an elderly Palestinian amputee with a club in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.

Israel is bombing southern Lebanon again.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian:

I was in the presence of the Supreme Leader, and in his speeches as well, he openly stated that we must move beyond this state of "neither war nor peace."

We are not going to humiliatingly back down before the enemy or bow our heads.

We can sit down with strength, but also with logic, and resolve our problems. This is possible, and we are also working to make it happen.

WATCH: Russian FPV drone footage shows a deliberate strike on a cyclist riding along a rural road near Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezai:

Trump’s foolish decision to attack Iran has increased people’s desire around the world to obtain nuclear weapons, especially after they saw that membership in the International Atomic Energy Agency and the NPT did nothing to prevent a U.S. attack.

Instead of creating nuclear security, Trump has created nuclear insecurity.

Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezai:

The Americans have completely lost hope in military attacks and now imagine that an economic blockade can support their military efforts.

Netanyahu has promised Trump that if Iran is placed under an economic blockade for six months—or even two or three months—it will surrender.

The world has realized that Trump’s bluster is empty talk.

Iran has learned over the years how to overcome sanctions and continue selling oil.

Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezai:

After the U.S. military attack on Iran, the world saw that possessing a nuclear bomb could be more effective than hundreds of F-35s.

The F-35s lost their aura of invincibility in Iran, and Arab countries no longer trust American weapons.

Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezai:

The American people oppose the war with Iran and do not support the U.S. military or government.

In Iran, however, the people and the government are united behind the armed forces.

SDF chief Mazloum Abdi:

Right now we are not receiving any support. Not from the US, not from France, not from Europe.

They never promised us anything beyond the fight against ISIS. So I cannot say they betrayed us.

Maybe we had hopes. But the world runs entirely on interests.

Source: Rudaw

SDF chief Mazloum Abdi:

The war was imposed on us. In 2013, we put on the military uniform and haven't taken it off until today.

But I believe the time has come to take it off.

I base everything on what the people need. If military service is required, I'll be a soldier. If politics is required, I'll be a politician.

BIG: Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezai:

We are telling all neighboring countries not to participate in the economic war alongside the United States; otherwise, we will consider them enemies.

We are not seeking to expand the war, but if countries around Iran cooperate with the Americans in the economic war, we will strike their interests.

If countries around Iran join the Americans in the economic war, not a single drop of oil will leave the Persian Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz, and we will also target other routes through which oil is exported from the Persian Gulf.

Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezai:

We will defend Iran resolutely and will not allow American forces to set foot in Iran.

I advise the Americans not to deploy any additional forces, because we will strike them.