Tag Archives: State Department

Blinken Axes Pompeo’s Anti-LGBTQ Foreign Policy

The Associated Press reports: In a sharp rebuke to Trump-era policies, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday formally scrapped a blueprint championed by his predecessor to limit U.S. promotion of human rights abroad to causes favored by conservatives like religious freedom and property matters while dismissing reproductive and LGBTQ rights. Blinken said a report prepared for former Secretary of …

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US Says Saudi Prince Approved Hit On WaPo Journalist

Vice News reports: Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman approved the operation that led to the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a declassified US intelligence report says. “We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the report, from …

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Biden’s UN Ambassador Confirmed In 78-20 Vote

The New York Times reports: Ms. Thomas-Greenfield’s confirmation, by a vote of 78 to 20, comes as Mr. Biden’s administration seeks to become a more active force in the United Nations after American retreat during the Trump administration. Her new position is the latest chapter in a rise that started in her birthplace of Louisiana, where she attended segregated schools …

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“Intense Jockeying” Underway For Ambassadorships

The Washington Post reports: It is a sweepstakes that comes along every four or eight years — intense jockeying in public and private as the well-heeled and well-connected seek coveted positions that come with lavish housing, a staff of chefs and an expectation that the U.S. envoy will put the digs to use for parties. With its mix of famous …

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US To Rejoin United Nations Human Rights Council

TIME Magazine reports: The Biden administration is set to announce this week that it will reengage with the much-maligned U.N. Human Rights Council that former President Donald Trump withdrew from almost three years ago, U.S. officials said Sunday. The decision reverses another Trump-era move away from multilateral organizations and agreements. U..S. officials say Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a …

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Senate Confirms Antony Blinken As Secretary Of State

NPR reports: With bipartisan support, the Senate confirmed Antony Blinken as the new secretary of state on Tuesday. The final vote was 78 to 22. Blinken, 58, was earlier approved overwhelmingly by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As the top U.S. diplomat, Blinken will face a number of national security challenges, including how to deal with China, Russia and Iran. …

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Mulvaney Quits State Dept Over Rioting: “I Can’t Stay”

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump’s former chief of staff and current special envoy to Northern Ireland said Thursday that he’s resigning from his diplomatic post. “I called [Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo last night to let him know I was resigning from that. I can’t do it. I can’t stay,” Mick Mulvaney told CNBC in an exclusive interview. “Those …

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Biden Nominee Attends State Department Meetings

Reuters reports: Tony Blinken, Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, attended meetings and briefings at the State Department on Thursday, according to Biden transition spokesman Ned Price. The briefings, standard practice for nominees for the job of nation’s top diplomat, happened despite the lack of an acknowledgment by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Trump that Biden won the …

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Pompeo In Quarantine After Contact With Infected

The Hill reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is entering quarantine after he came into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, the State Department announced Wednesday. A State Department spokesperson said that Pompeo has since tested negative for the coronavirus but will quarantine “in accordance with [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines.” “He is being closely monitored …

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Hundreds Skip Pompeo’s “Superspreader” Xmas Party

The Washington Post reports: Only a tiny fraction of the more than 900 guests invited to an indoor holiday party hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan showed up on Tuesday following an outcry from public health officials and U.S. lawmakers warning that the reception bore all the hallmarks of a superspreader event, said two U.S. …

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Russian Hackers Also Hit Pentagon And State Dept

The New York Times reports: The scope of a hack engineered by one of Russia’s premier intelligence agencies became clearer on Monday, when some Trump administration officials acknowledged that other federal agencies — the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and parts of the Pentagon — had been compromised. Investigators were struggling to determine the extent to which the …

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Axios: Pete Buttigieg Up For Ambassador To China

Axios reports: President-elect Joe Biden is considering a high-profile ambassadorship for Pete Buttigieg, possibly sending him to China, people familiar with the matter tell Axios. Why it matters: The 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, whom Biden has compared to his late son, Beau, played a key role in Biden’s nomination. Letting him deepen his foreign policy chops could …

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Microwave Weapon Likely Used On US Diplomats

NBC News reports: The mysterious neurological symptoms experienced by American diplomats in China and Cuba are consistent with the effects of directed microwave energy, according to a long-awaited report by the National Academies of Sciences that cites medical evidence to support the long-held conviction of American intelligence officials. The report, obtained Friday by NBC News, does not conclude that the …

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REPORT: Cindy McCain Up For Ambassador To UK

The Independent reports: President-elect Joe Biden is reportedly expected to name Cindy McCain as his ambassador to the UK. The widow of the late Republican Senator John McCain has been a fierce critic of Donald Trump and crossed party lines to endorse Mr Biden. Ms McCain, 66, is a known Anglophile and thought to be a frontrunner for the job …

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Biden To Name Longtime Diplomat Linda Thomas Greenfield As US Ambassador To The United Nations

CBS News reports: President-elect Biden is expected to announce that he’s chosen longtime diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, two sources confirm to CBS News. The announcement could come Tuesday. Thomas-Greenfield is part of Mr. Biden’s transition team and is expected to focus on helping to restore trust and professionalism to the State Department, with …

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Biden To Name Tony Blinken As Secretary Of State

The New York Times reports: Antony J. Blinken, a defender of global alliances and one of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s closest foreign policy advisers, is expected to be nominated for secretary of state, a job in which he will attempt to coalesce skeptical international partners into a new competition with China, according to people close to the process. Mr. …

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WH Won’t Give Biden Messages From World Leaders

CNN reports: A stack of messages from foreign leaders to President-elect Joe Biden are sitting at the State Department but the Trump administration is preventing him from accessing them, according to State Department officials familiar with the messages. Traditionally, the State Department supports all communications for the President-elect, which is why many countries began sending messages to State over the …

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State Department Drops Appeals Against Citizenship For Children Of Gay Couples Born To Surrogates Overseas

Reuters reports: The U.S. State Department backed down this week from legal battles over the citizenship of gay couples’ children who were born to surrogates overseas. The government withdrew its appeals without making any public comment in the cases of a family whose daughter had been born to a surrogate in Canada and a family whose daughter was born to …

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Trump Administration Loses Court Battle To Withhold Citizenship From Child Born To Binational Gay Couple

The New York Daily News reports: The son of a gay binational couple who was born in Canada via surrogacy is a citizen of the United States, an appellate court ruled Friday. “Today, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously upheld a lower court ruling recognizing the citizenship from birth of Ethan Dvash-Banks, a …

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Vatican Denies Pompeo’s Request To Meet With Pope

Reuters reports: The Vatican said on Wednesday it had denied a request from Mike Pompeo for an audience with Pope Francis, and accused the Secretary of State of trying to drag the Catholic Church into the U.S. presidential election by denouncing its relations with China. The extraordinary remarks from the two top diplomatic officials at the Vatican came after Pompeo …

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