WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East this week on his 12th visit since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The upheaval in Syria has sparked new fears of instability in a region wracked by three conflicts, despite a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.
Blinken will travel to Jordan and Turkey on Thursday and Friday for talks expected to focus largely on Syria but also touch on long-elusive hopes for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian territory since October 2023.
The State Department said Blinken would meet Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II, in the port city of Aqaba on Thursday before flying to Ankara for meetings with Turkish officials Friday. Other stops in the region are possible, officials said.
Blinken was departing after Republican lawmakers grilled him for longer than expected during testy congressional testimony Wednesday about the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
The Biden administration has sent a series of officials to the Middle East, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan this week, as it navigates more volatility in the region in its last few weeks in office and as President-elect Donald Trump has said the U.S. should stay out of the Syrian conflict. The military has unleashed airstrikes and kept U.S. troops in Syria to prevent the Islamic State militant group from reconstituting in the upheaval.
On his visit, Blinken “will reiterate the United States’ support for an inclusive, Syrian-led transition to an accountable and representative government,” department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
“He will discuss the need for the transition process and new government in Syria to respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance, prevent Syria from being used as a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed,” Miller said.
Blinken said Tuesday the U.S. would be willing to recognize and fully support a new Syrian government that met those criteria. U.S. officials say they are not actively reviewing the foreign terrorist organization designation of the main Syrian rebel group but stressed they are not barred from speaking to members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS, which was once an al-Qaida affiliate.
Blinken then spoke by phone with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to underscore the administration’s position on Syria. He also reiterated the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza that releases the hostages taken by Hamas in its attack that launched the war and sets the stage for a “day after” plan for the governance, security and reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave.
Blinken will be the latest senior U.S. official to trek to the Middle East since Assad fled to Russia over the weekend as Democratic President Joe Biden prepares to leave the White House on Jan. 20 and Trump takes over.
Sullivan is in Israel and is expected to travel on to Egypt and Qatar afterward. The commander of U.S. forces in the region, Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, visited American troops in Syria and then leaders in Iraq on Tuesday, and he was in Lebanon on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Trump’s incoming national security adviser met on Wednesday with families of Americans who are being held hostage in Gaza, according to a Trump transition official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the matter.
Florida Rep. Mike Waltz’s meeting with the hostage families is the first known face-to-face engagement by a top Trump adviser since the Republican’s defeat of Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris last month.
Two top State Department officials — John Bass, undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs — have been in the region since the weekend.
Trump, who has spoken of his desire to see the conflicts end before he is back in the White House, has sent his designated Mideast envoy, Stephen Witkoff, to the region.
Associated Press reporter Aamer Madhani contributed from West Palm Beach, Florida.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken appears before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on as he receives the Royal Order of the Polar Star ahead of the start of the 31st Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial summit, in Ta'Qali, Malta, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (Alberto Pizzoli/Pool Photo via AP)
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Basketball Hall of Famers Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady are among 10 limited partners who have joined the Buffalo Bills’ ownership group.
The noncontrolling, minority interests were approved Wednesday by NFL team owners at the league’s winter meetings. This is the first time in Bills' franchise history that minority owners have been added.
NFL team owners approved a measure earlier this year that allows investments into franchises by private equity funds. The league’s ownership rules had been among the most restrictive in professional sports.
Other teams also are finalizing the addition of limited partners. NFL team owners also approved Wednesday the minority, noncontrolling interest sales involving the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles.
Terry and Kim Pegula bought the Bills for $1.4 billion from the estate of late Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson in 2014.
As part of the deal, they will retain about 79% control of the team, a person with knowledge of the sale told The Associated Press. Under the sale terms, the Bills were valued “well north of $4.5 billion,” a second person told the AP, meaning the Pegulas will get more than $927 million in the deal.
Both people spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the Bills did not reveal those details.
Carter and McGrady's connections to Toronto — both played for the NBA Raptors — are considered advantages because of their potential to help the small-market team generate further interest in Canada's largest city, located about a two-hour drive from Buffalo. Toronto is considered part of the Bills' marketing region, with southern Ontario residents representing more than 15% of the team's season-ticket base.
Former U.S. National Team soccer player and MLS Champion Jozy Altidore is among the new limited partners.
The remaining seven partners, pending final closing of the agreements: private investment firm Arctos, Rob Palumbo, co-managing partner of Accel-KKR; Sue McCollum, CEO and owner of beverage distribution companies Eagle Brand Sales and Double Eagle Distributing; Theresia Gouw, co-founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Acrew Capital; Rob Ward, co-founder, general partner of venture capital firm Meritech Capital; Mike Joo, COO, Global Corporate and Investment Banking and Head of North America Corporate and Investment Banking at Bank of America; and Tom Burger, co-founder and managing partner of the investment firm Gridiron Capital.
“I’m the kind of person that I believe two heads are better than one,” Terry Pegula said. “We can bring in Arctos with their experience worldwide and multiple sports, I think is a good thing. And I’m willing to listen on the business side to any input they may have. Our other limiteds, the individuals, most of them are Bills fans from their youth. They were Bills fans before I was a Bills fan. So I’m excited to deal with them. One of the things that I wanted to accomplish also was to bring in some women. We’ve got two female investors who are very successful business people. I’ve got three daughters that are involved in the team, hopefully more so in the future. And I think that’s a good thing for them to learn some business acumen from and have some female input. Because when Kim went down, that was a loss of influence on my daughters. As far as the business side goes, she’s unable to be involved.”
Kim Pegula is still recovering from a debilitating cardiac arrest suffered in June 2022.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced an investment deal with Ares Management funds and Brooklyn Nets owners Joe Tsai and Oliver Weisberg.
The transaction includes assets such as Hard Rock Stadium and the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, with the investment fueling continued growth across Ross’ diverse South Florida-based sports and entertainment portfolio. Ares will acquire a 10% stake, while Tsai and Weisberg together will hold a 3% interest, pending final closing of the agreements.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie received approval for the sale of an 8% interest of the team to two family investment groups, a person familiar with the agreement told the AP. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team hasn't announced the deal.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady already purchased a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders in a deal approved by NFL team owners in October.
AP Sports Writers John Wawrow in Orchard Park, New York, and Alanis Thames in Miami Gardens, Florida, contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
FILE - Former Toronto Raptors player Vince Carter speaks to media ahead of his number retirement at the Scotiabank arena in Toronto, Nov. 2, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
FILE - Tracy McGrady is seen during the second half of the NBA All-Star basketball game, Feb. 16, 2020, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh, File)
