Tag Archives: State Department

Boston’s PBS affiliate reports: The annual State Department report documenting the severity of human trafficking around the world will not include a section on LGBTQ victims this year, one of its authors told GBH News. Each year the State Department publishes what it calls the Trafficking in Persons Report — also known as TIP — to gauge how individual countries …

Axios reports: In a rebuke of the Trump administration, Panama has refuted a claim by the U.S. State Department that American vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without being charged fees. The dispute comes shortly after the State Department made the announcement Wednesday evening. President Trump has pushed to regain control of the canal — one of the world’s …

Semafor reports: The US State Department has suspended its organization for LGBTQ employees, with leadership ordering a pause on all official activities. The move is part of the department’s wider directive to all employee affinity groups to “cancel any planned events, meetings, announcements or other activities,” GLIFAA, the official group representing LGBTQ State Department employees, told its members in an …

The Independent reports: The State Department on Friday froze new funding for almost all U.S. foreign assistance, making exceptions to allow humanitarian food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt to continue. The sweeping order threatened a quick halt to countless projects globally aiding health, education, development, job training and other efforts by the United States, the largest provider …

The Guardian reports: The US state department has frozen all applications for passports with “X” sex markers and changes to gender identity on existing passports, following a new executive order signed by Donald Trump on his first day of office. In an internal cable obtained by the Guardian, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, instructed department staff on Thursday to …

Politico reports: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit Panama — the country whose canal President Donald Trump has suggested he’d seize — as early as next week, according to three U.S. officials briefed on the plan. The trip is expected to be Rubio’s first foreign travel as secretary of State, said one former official who was also …

The right wing Washington Free Beacon reports: The Trump State Department implemented a landmark “One Flag Policy” policy, barring U.S. outposts at home and abroad from flying any other flag but the Stars and Stripes. The newly issued order, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, effectively bans American facilities from displaying flags affiliated with left-wing …

CNN reports: The Senate voted on Monday to confirm Marco Rubio as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, the first high-level Cabinet official for the new administration to be approved by the chamber. The confirmation vote took place just hours after Trump was sworn in as president. Rubio has served as a Republican senator from Florida since 2011, and his …

The Washington Post reports: Scores of senior career diplomats are resigning from the State Department effective at noon on Monday after receiving instructions to do so from President-elect Donald Trump’s aides, three U.S. officials familiar with the matter said. The forced departures, aimed at establishing a decisive break from the Biden administration, will result in an exodus of decorated veterans …

ABC News reports: Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday was interrupted multiple times by outbursts from attendees — who are not members of the regular State Department press corps — shouting questions about U.S. support for Israel as he tried to make farewell remarks to reporters in the State Department briefing room. At least one individual was removed from …

Reuters reports: Aides to President-elect Donald Trump have asked three senior career diplomats who oversee the U.S. State Department’s workforce and internal coordination to step down from their roles, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said, in a possible signal of deeper changes ahead for the diplomatic corps. The team overseeing the State Department’s transition to the new administration …

Politico reports: Congratulations, Marco Rubio! You’ll soon be secretary of State. Condolences, too. You’re not likely to last long in the job. Unlike many of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees, Rubio is a shoo-in for Senate confirmation, having already nabbed some Democratic support. U.S. diplomats and foreign officials, too, view the GOP senator from Florida as a knowledgeable, not-insane, well-behaved person …

From the State Department: In honor of Pride Month, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will host a convening and reception for U.S. leaders championing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) equality across the U.S. government and around the world on Thursday, June 27, at the Department of State. The convening will begin at 1:00 p.m. EDT in …

“In honor of Pride Month, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will host a convening and reception for U.S. leaders championing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) equality across the U.S. government and around the world on Thursday, June 27, at the Department of State. “The convening will begin at 1:00 p.m. EDT in the Burns Auditorium, and …

The Associated Press reports: The trial of a Russian American dual citizen whom Russia accuses of treason opened on Thursday as tensions rise between Washington and Moscow, including over the arrests of two American journalists. The trial is being held behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg, in the same court that next week is to begin hearing the case of Evan …

ABC News reports: The U.S. State Department issued a “Worldwide Caution” alert on Friday, warning U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution due to “the increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence against LGBTQI+ persons and events.” The alert is connected to the recent announcement from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security that foreign terrorist organizations might seek to …

The Associated Press reports: Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday delivered some of the Biden administration’s strongest public criticism yet of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, saying Israeli tactics have meant “a horrible loss of life of innocent civilians” but failed to neutralize Hamas leaders and fighters and could drive a lasting insurgency. In a pair of …

Reuters reports: The United States said on Thursday it had restricted its employees in Israel and their family members from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva areas amid Iran’s threats to retaliate against its regional adversary. Iran has vowed revenge for the April 1 airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus, ratcheting up tension in …

From the US Embassy in Jamaica: The State Department has recently changed the Travel Advisory for Jamaica. Reconsider travel to Jamaica due to crime and medical services. U.S. government personnel under Chief of Mission (COM) security responsibility are prohibited from traveling to many areas due to increased risk. Violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and homicides, …

The Hill reports: The State Department brushed off reports of Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering his government to look into the nation’s former “real estate” abroad, saying Alaska would be staying in American hands. Putin signed a new decree last week to allocate funds for the research and registration of Russian property overseas, including that in former territories of the …