The Trump administration defended US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after criticism from the mother of an American journalist missing in Syria who said Mr Pompeo was undermining efforts to free her son.
In comments released by the State Department, White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien and Roger Carstens, US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, said Mr Pompeo was committed to bringing home Americans detained abroad.
On Monday, Debra Tice, the mother of freelance journalist and former US Marine Corps officer, Austin, who went missing while reporting in Syria, said recent comments from Mr Pompeo suggested that "there is nothing he is willing to do to bring my son home".
Mr Carstens said he had a lot of respect for Ms Tice but "I disagree respectfully with her conclusion".
“Contrary to what Ms Tice has written and stated, Secretary Pompeo has been unwavering in his efforts to bring Austin Tice home," he said.
Mr Carstens said it was under Mr Pompeo's leadership that he was authorised to contact unidentified Syrians last summer to discuss a face-to-face meeting to seek Syria's help in finding and freeing Mr Tice and another US citizen, Majd Kamalmaz, among others.
Mr Carstens said Mr Pompeo ordered him and National Security Council official Kash Patel to visit Syria for what he described as the first direct US-Syrian diplomatic engagement in a decade.
"Mr Pompeo has remained intensely engaged on the results of this trip. That is why I read, with concern, Ms Tice's statement accusing the secretary as being an obstacle to obtaining Austin's release," Mr Carstens said.
Mr Pompeo pushed for the recent trip to Damascus as well as continuing recovery efforts, he said.
Mr O'Brien, who previously held Mr Carstens' post, also defended Mr Pompeo. In comments that did not specifically name Mr Tice, Mr O'Brien said Mr Pompeo "played a critical role in this administration's unprecedented success at bringing our citizens home".
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
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%3Cp%3EDungeons%20%26amp%3B%20Dragons%20began%20as%20an%20interactive%20game%20which%20would%20be%20set%20up%20on%20a%20table%20in%201974.%20One%20player%20takes%20on%20the%20role%20of%20dungeon%20master%2C%20who%20directs%20the%20game%2C%20while%20the%20other%20players%20each%20portray%20a%20character%2C%20determining%20its%20species%2C%20occupation%20and%20moral%20and%20ethical%20outlook.%20They%20can%20choose%20the%20character%E2%80%99s%20abilities%2C%20such%20as%20strength%2C%20constitution%2C%20dexterity%2C%20intelligence%2C%20wisdom%20and%20charisma.%20In%20layman%E2%80%99s%20terms%2C%20the%20winner%20is%20the%20one%20who%20amasses%20the%20highest%20score.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RESULT
Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 2
Bayern: Rafinha (6'), Muller (12', 27')
Chelsea: Alonso (45' 3), Batshuayi (85')
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
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