US Assistant Secretary of State Schenker Travels to Lebanon next Week

David Schenker, US assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 9, 2019. (AP)
David Schenker, US assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 9, 2019. (AP)
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US Assistant Secretary of State Schenker Travels to Lebanon next Week

David Schenker, US assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 9, 2019. (AP)
David Schenker, US assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 9, 2019. (AP)

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker will travel to Lebanon next week.

The US embassy in Lebanon announced that he will travel to Beirut on September 2 where he will meet with civil society representatives, discuss US assistance efforts in the wake of the August 4 Beirut port explosion, and urge Lebanese leaders to implement reforms that respond to the Lebanese people’s desire for transparency, accountability and a government free of corruption.

Prior to landing in Lebanon, Schenker will travel to Kuwait, where he will meet with Foreign Minister Ahmad al-Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim, and the American Chamber of Commerce to discuss Gulf unity, regional security, and economic cooperation.



Roadside Bomb Wounds Four in Iraq's Kirkuk

Security forces in Iraq. (AFP file photo)
Security forces in Iraq. (AFP file photo)
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Roadside Bomb Wounds Four in Iraq's Kirkuk

Security forces in Iraq. (AFP file photo)
Security forces in Iraq. (AFP file photo)

A roadside bomb wounded four people in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk on Saturday, police sources said.
The bomb targeted a commercial district in the city center. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, according to Reuters.
Earlier in the week, four Iraqi soldiers were killed and three others injured in an ambush on an army convoy southwest of Kirkuk, which ISIS militants claimed responsibility for.
Despite the group's defeat in 2017, remnants continue to conduct hit-and-run attacks against government forces.