Latest U.S. Department of State News
The State Department approves the sale of tank ammunition to Israel in a deal that bypasses Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) — Going around Congress, the Biden administration said Saturday it has approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million as Israel intensifies its military operations in the southern Gaza Strip. The move...
US finds both sides in Sudan conflict have committed atrocities in Darfur
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Wednesday it has determined that both sides in the ongoing conflict in Sudan have committed atrocities in the African nation's western region of Darfur and elsewhere, saying the fighting “has caused grievous human suffering.” The...
Top US and Chinese diplomats agree to build on recent progress in ties
BEIJING (AP) — The top U.S. and Chinese diplomats agreed Wednesday to keep building on recent progress in bilateral ties and work together to keep the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza from spreading. Both Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken...
In a rare action against Israel, US says extremist West Bank settlers will be barred from America
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rare punitive move against Israel, the State Department said Tuesday it will impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a rash of recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the step...
Blinken will return to Israel as the US hopes to see further extensions of the Gaza cease-fire
BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East as the U.S. hopes to find a way to extend a cease-fire in Gaza and get more hostages released, the State Department said Monday. It will be his third trip to the region since Israel's war with Hamas...
US calls Nicaragua's decision to leave Organization of American States a 'step away from democracy'
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. State Department called Nicaragua’s formal withdrawal from the Organization of American States on Sunday “another step away from democracy.” The regional body, known by its initials OAS, has long criticized rights violations under Nicaraguan...
Dissent over US policy in the Israel-Hamas war stirs unusual public protests from federal employees
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal government workers from the State Department to NASA are circulating open letters demanding that President Joe Biden pursue a cease-fire in Israel’s war against Hamas. Congressional staffers are picking up microphones in front of the Capitol, speaking out to condemn...
More than 2,400 Ukrainian children taken to Belarus, a Yale study finds
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — More than 2,400 Ukrainian children aged 6-17 have been taken to Belarus from four regions of Ukraine that are partially occupied by Russian forces, a study by Yale University has found. The study, released Thursday by the Humanitarian Research Lab of the...
US and South Korea close ranks on common global issues during Blinken visit
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States and South Korea closed ranks behind common approaches to North Korea, Russia and China on Thursday, vowing to continue to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and boosting humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza caught in Israel’s war...
COP28 conference looks set for conflict after tense negotiations on climate damage fund
BENGALURU, India (AP) — Tense negotiations at the final meeting on a climate-related loss and damages fund — an international fund to help poor countries hit hard by a warming planet — ended Saturday in Abu Dhabi, with participants agreeing that the World Bank would temporarily host the fund...
