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President-elect Donald J. Trump on Thursday named David Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer aligned with the Israeli far right, as his nominee for ambassador to Israel, elevating a campaign adviser who has questioned the need for a two-state solution and has likened left-leaning Jews in America to the Jews who aided the Nazis in the Holocaust.

President-elect to nominate attorney David Friedman as U.S. ambassador to Israel. Friedman: I look forward to serving from Jerusalem. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will nominate attorney David Friedman as U.S. ambassador to Israel, the transition team said in a statement on Thursday, according to Reuters. Friedman served as Trump’s advisor on Israel affairs during the election campaign. "(Friedman) has been a long-time friend and trusted advisor to me. His strong relationships in Israel will form the foundation of his diplomatic mission and be a tremendous asset to our country as we strengthen the ties with our allies and strive for...

As reported in Frontrunning, President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as the next U.S. ambassador to China, choosing a longstanding friend of Beijing after rattling the world's second-largest economy by speaking to Taiwan's president. Earlier in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang called Branstad an "old friend" of China when asked about a report on the appointment, although he added Beijing would work with any U.S. ambassador.The appointment of Branstad will likely ease trade tensions between the two countries, the world's two biggest agricultural producers, diplomats and trade experts said according to Reuters. It also suggests...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Tuesday dismissed U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's unprecedented expression of support for Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage to be made British ambassador to Washington, saying pointedly that there is no vacancy for the job. Trump, who after his election victory met Farage before any EU leaders, said on Twitter that "many people" would like to see the former metals trader turned politician as Britain's ambassador. "Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!" Trump said. Prime Minister Theresa May, who congratulated Trump...

President-elect Donald J. Trump has ostensibly thrown his support behind the idea of UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage becoming the British Ambassador to the United States in a tweet issued late on Monday night. The next president of the United States issued the statement, unprompted, via his Twitter feed, stating that the idea was popular amongst “many people” in a move that is sure to set the British political establishment into a further tailspin. Writing at 9:22pm on Monday night, the President-elect said: “Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the...

Mike Huckabee is headed back to the Holy Land. The two-time White House hopeful, former Fox New Channel weekend host and former governor of Arkansas will be America's next ambassador to Israel, a presidential transition official confirmed to DailyMail.com on Friday. He is scheduled to meet with President-Elect Donald Trump Friday at 2:00 p.m. Huckabee, an ordained Baptist preacher and electric bass player, will become the tip of Trump's spear as he seeks to shake up U.S. foreign relations in the Middle East, beginning with relocating America's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. 'That's going to happen,' the...

Gerard Araud, who is the serving [French] ambassador [to the US], tweeting his astonishing remarks as forecasters predict the Republican billionaire will defeat Hillary Clinton. The 63-year-old said: "After Brexit and this election, everything is now possible. A world is collapsing before our eyes. Dizziness." (Après Brexit et cette élection, tout est désormais possible. Un monde s'effondre devant nos yeux. Un vertige.)

The Obama administration official most likely in line to become the next U.S. envoy to the Coalition to Counter the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL) has falsely presented himself as an official U.S. ambassador by the administration for the last five months, according to documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. Brett McGurk, a deputy special presidential envoy to the Global Coalition who serves under General John Allen, was temporarily appointed by the administration as an ambassador on Oct. 18, 2014. He was conferred this rank through a little-known legal loophole that allows the administration to...

Billionaire philanthropist and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has a new job — as global ambassador for the U.N. health agency with a mandate to help reduce deaths from prevalent diseases, traffic accidents, tobacco, alcohol and obesity. World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan cited Bloomberg’s longtime support for its efforts to control smoking and tobacco use, improve road safety and prevent drowning in announcing Wednesday that he will be the agency’s Global Ambassador for Non-communicable Diseases. She said Bloomberg will help mobilize national and local political leaders, donors and the private sector to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases...

(CNN)Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte called the US ambassador to his country a "gay son of a bitch" in a speech, prompting US diplomats to raise the issue with their Filipino counterparts in Washington. Recounting Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to the country, Duterte, speaking Tagalog, said that he was feuding with US Ambassador Philip Goldberg. "I was with (incoming defense chief General) Delfin Lorenzana. We talked to Kerry, he was actually OK because I had a fight with his ambassador. I told him: 'your ambassador is a gay son of a bitch.'"

June 12, 2013 State Department Whistleblower, a Career Foreign Service Officer, Seeks Congressional Protection After State Threatens Her Kids Bryan Preston The State Department whistleblower is Aurelia Fedenisn. She worked in the department’s inspector general’s office until her retirement in December 2012. According to USA Today, she has sought protection as an official whistleblower after the State Department directly threatened her, once at her home. It threatened her with criminal charges when she turned over documents to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) showing evidence that the department had watered down her report, in which she alleged that the department at the...

Was the Ambassador's location and mission in Benghazi compromised because the bad guys hacked Hillary's server? I think Comey knows more than he is willing to disclose. Did a video cause the attack in Benghazi? No. THAT WAS A BLATANT LIE. It's far more likely Hillary's server getting hacked is the reason for the attack in Benghazi. Emails leading up to Benghazi are MISSING and were deleted from Hillary's server. That is a FACT. Hillary is covering her tracks and the FBI knows it.

While much of last week's news was about the smoking gun that linked the White House to the false talking points about the attack in Benghazi, another email that would have shed light on how those talking points came about was nearly completely redacted by the government. The email has as its subject, "SBU/CLOSEHOLD: 0800 SVTS on Movie Protests/Violence." SBU stands for "Sensitive But Unclassified" and SVTS most likely refers to "Secure Video Teleconference System." Ironically, though labeled unclassified, nearly the entirety of the email was redacted before it was given to Judicial Watch. It was written by Eric Pelofsky,...

The European Union’s ambassador to Turkey has quit after criticizing the Turks for their handling of a deal to tackle the refugee crisis, and telling them they should be more like Germans. Under the terms of the controversial pact, Turkey gets cash and visa-free travel to the EU in return for taking back migrants illegally crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. Turkey also wants discussions on it joining the EU to be restarted as the price for its help. The European Commission has set 72 conditions that Turkey must meet to get visa-free travel. But negotiations have stalled over the EU’s...

President Barack Obama’s recent claim about the real meaning of his 2009 Cairo speech “is patently unsubstantiated by the text,” former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren told The Algemeiner on Thursday. Oren, today a member of Knesset with the centrist Kulanu party, was responding to statements Obama made in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in the just-released April edition of The Atlantic. “My argument was this,” Obama told Goldberg, “Let’s all stop pretending that the cause of the Middle East’s problems is Israel… We want to work to help achieve statehood and dignity for the Palestinians, but I...

Washington (CNN)Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz made an unusual suggestion for U.N. ambassador at a rally on Friday: "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson. "How much would you pay to see the Russian ambassador's face when Phil says, 'What is wrong with you people?'" Cruz joked to an applauding crowd in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

So the issue with Gration at State wasn’t that he used private e-mail services for official business, or at least that’s Gration’s recollection of it. In fact, Gration had no problem using the “OpenNet” system, but State wouldn’t allow him to use his official devices to go outside of it. There is also one other key difference between Gration and Hillary, emphasis mine: “It is false that I ignored State Department instructions and willfully disregarded State Department regulations concerning the use of commercial email for official government business. I used the OpenNet for much of my official business as I...

If you could ask Hillary ONE question tomorrow during the hearing, what would it be? Give some background first if you wish. Here's mine: "Why did you reduce Ambassador Stevens' security just prior to the most dangerous day of the year for Americans overseas, which is that of 9/11?"

The Hillary Clinton confidant who was caught running a clandestine intelligence service for her may have also illegally lobbied for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally in the nation of Georgia. According to a Gawker report, Sidney Blumenthal, the top Clinton confidant, and “another former official from Bill Clinton’s administration were secretly lobbying the secretary of state on behalf of a billionaire in the former Soviet state of Georgia who was seeking closer ties with Putin’s Russia—seemingly in violation of a federal law designed to prevent foreign powers from covertly wielding influence within the United States.” Blumenthal “passed along a note...

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro took it Monday to the airwaves, in interviews to Israel’s Army Radio and Reshet Bet, suggesting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should try a different approach than simply objecting to President Obama’s deal with Iran. According to Shaprio, Netanyahu should accept the deal as a fait accompli and begin planning for the day after. Such measures would includes discussions over strengthening security relations to cope with Hezbollah’s rearming and defense measure that would protect Israel from Iranian missile threats. “So far, the prime minister is not prepared to hold talks,” he told Army Radio....