Latest U.S. Department of State News
Former top US diplomat sentenced in Qatar lobbying scheme
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former top U.S. ambassador was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $93,350 fine Friday for improperly helping a wealthy Persian Gulf country influence U.S. policy and for not disclosing gifts he received from a disgraced political fundraiser. ...
Outrage boils in Seattle and in India over death of a student and an officer's callous remarks
SEATTLE (AP) — Outrage grew Friday over a Seattle police officer's remark that the life of a young woman killed by a speeding patrol car had “limited value." Diplomats from India are asking for an investigation following the death of the Indian graduate student as people in Seattle protested...
Jordan rejects US request to release ex-Jordanian official accused of plot against king
JERUSALEM (AP) — Jordan has rejected a U.S. request to release a former top Jordanian official imprisoned in an alleged plot against the Western-allied monarchy, according to his family and lawyer. Bassem Awadallah, a dual Jordanian-American citizen, has spent over two years in...
US should use its influence to help win the freedom of a scholar missing in Iraq, her sister says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States should use its influence to help win the freedom of a Russian-Israeli academic at Princeton University who went missing in Iraq nearly six months ago and is believed to be held by an Iran-backed militia regarded by Washington as a terrorist group, her sister...
Daughter of long-imprisoned activist in Bahrain to return to island in bid to push for his release
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A daughter of a long-detained human rights activist in Bahrain said Thursday she would return to the island nation to press for his release while he and hundreds of other inmates are on a major hunger strike and even though she could be imprisoned as well. ...
840,000 Afghans who've applied for key US resettlement program still in Afghanistan, report says
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 840,000 Afghans who applied for a resettlement program aimed at people who helped the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan are still there waiting, according to a report that lays out the challenges with a program intended to help America's allies in the two-decade long...
A Russian who worked at a US consulate is accused of collecting information for US diplomats
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's top domestic security agency said Monday that a detained former employee of the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok is accused of collecting information about Russia's action in Ukraine and related issues for U.S. diplomats. Russia’s Federal Security Service, or...
State Department renews ban on use of US passports for travel to North Korea
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is extending for another year a ban on the use of U.S. passports for travel to North Korea, the State Department said Tuesday. The ban was imposed in 2017 and has been renewed every year since. The latest extension comes as tensions with...
US cancels visas of 100 more Nicaraguan officials for their role in 'undermining democracy'
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. State Department on Saturday imposed visa restrictions on 100 more Nicaraguan officials for their role in supporting the regime of President Daniel Ortega. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in his social media accounts that his office “has taken...
Kidnappers in Haiti release US nurse and her young daughter nearly 2 weeks after their abduction
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Kidnappers in Haiti released a U.S. nurse and her daughter Wednesday, nearly two weeks after they were snatched at gunpoint from the campus of a Christian-run school near Port-au-Prince, underscoring the severe security risks for visitors to a capital city largely...
