Department Of State

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A man speaks on a cellphone while watching the town of Kobani during airstrikes by the US led coalition on the outskirts of Suruc, near the Turkey-Syria border, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Iraqi Kurds head for Kobani to join fight against Islamic State

Associated Press

A hazmat worker looks up while finishing up cleaning outside an apartment building of a hospital worker, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, in Dallas. The Texas health care worker, who was in full protective gear when they provided hospital care for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who later died, has tested positive for the virus and is in stable condition, health officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

State Department plans to bring foreign Ebola patients to U.S.

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaks, during a joint press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, July 12, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says both of Afghanistan's presidential candidates are committed to abiding by the results of the "largest, most comprehensive audit" of the election runoff ballots possible. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

U.S. lets $3.6M TV trucks sit unused in Afghanistan: IG

By Kellan Howell - The Washington Times

Waste watcher: "The only way to stop wasteful Washington spending is by shining a light on it whenever and wherever it occurs, even if it is in your own state," says Sen. Tom Coburn, who is releasing his last Wastebook before retiring. (Andrew Harik/The Washington Times)

Tom Coburn highlights ridiculous government spending in final Wastebook

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

President Hassan Rouhani, of Iran, acknowledges the audience after his address to the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

GAO report finds State Department lagging in assessing threat of Iran in Latin America

By Maggie Ybarra - The Washington Times

Franco Ciammachilli (right) of Washington waves a rainbow flag, a symbol of gay pride, behind supporters of traditional marriage outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington as the justices began hearing two days of arguments in cases involving gay marriage on March 26, 2013. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times) **FILE**

State Department to allow transgender services under health plan

By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times

Extreme punishment: Public hangings of convicted criminals in Iran have risen to more than 66 per month since Hassan Rouhani, portrayed as a moderate reformer, became president in August. Rights advocates say international law is being violated. (Associated Press)

Iran executions surge amid U.S. nuclear talks

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Safe passage: An American doctor exposed to Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone disembarks a Gulfstream jet in a Tyvek protection suit in Maryland. (Associated Press)

CDC spends $5 million to use Ebola jet it helped develop

By Jim McElhatton - The Washington Times

Marine Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, listens March 26, 2012, during a news conference at the Pentagon. (Associated Press)

U.S. pushing for new ‘Sunni Awakening’ in Iraq

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

The nearly four-year investigation by the State Department's Office of Inspector General found that in one case, DynCorp paid more than $17,000 for "facilitation" services to subcontractor Speed-Flo Filters for visas for 15 people. Typically, the visas would cost about $3,000 in total, records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show (State Department images via Associated Press)

Pakistani officials bribed by military contractors: IG

By Jim McElhatton - The Washington Times

In this Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014 photo, a short story in Spanish is used in a class at the Karnes County Residential Center, a temporary home for immigrant women and children detained at the border, in Karnes City, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Refugee plan set up for Central American minors

By JIM KUHNHENN - Associated Press

Smokes rises from near the Yemeni Government TV building, background, during clashes between Sunni militiamen and Hawthi Shiite rebels in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014. The Hawthi fighters and militias and army units allied with the Muslim Brotherhood's Islah party battled in Sanaa for a third day Saturday in clashes that have shaken the Yemeni capital, killed over 120 people, and led to thousands fleeing their homes. The violence raises fears that this chronically unstable country could be dragged into the sort of sectarian conflicts that have plagued other nations in the region. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

State evacuates some from Yemen embassy

By Maggie Ybarra - The Washington Times

In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, crew members on board an aircraft P-8A Poseidon assist in search and rescue operations for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, March 16, 2014. Malaysian authorities on Sunday examined a flight simulator that was confiscated from the home of one of the missing jetliner's pilots. The Boeing 777 went missing less than an hour into a March 8, flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing as it entered Vietnamese airspace. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Eric A. Pastor)

U.S., China talk cybersecurity despite military hack attack

By Bill Gertz - Washington Free Beacon

Iraqis mark Police Day in Baghdad. The State Department's decision to close an investigation left unresolved accusations of whether DynCorp let a subcontractor solicit kickbacks from linguists at Baghdad's police academy as a condition of continued employment. The company was hired under a nearly $1 billion task order to provide linguists to work in three Iraqi cities. (Associated Press)

Iraq stymied State Department probe into military contractor kickbacks

By Jim McElhatton - The Washington Times

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Utah Republican. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

U.S. pushed to protect global religious freedom

By Meredith Somers - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan military guards check one of the U.S. consulate's burned buildings after a deadly attack on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 in Benghazi. Newly revealed testimony from top military commanders involved in the U.S. response to the Benghazi attacks suggests that the perpetrators of a second, dawn attack on a CIA complex probably were different from those who penetrated the U.S. diplomatic mission the evening before and set it ablaze, killing Ambassador Chris Stevens and another American. The second attack, which killed two security contractors, showed clear military training, retired Gen. Carter Ham told Congress in closed-door testimony. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)

Report: Progress ‘modest’ on upping embassy safety

By MATTHEW LEE - Associated Press

John F. Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, says six telecommunications towers were built in Afghanistan without usage plans. (Associated Press)

U.S. watchdog wants answers in $6.5M Afghanistan telecom project

By Phillip Swarts - The Washington Times

Secretary of State John Kerry rubs his eyes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the US strategy to defeat the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

State Department downplayed ISIS threat in Iraq, privately ramped up security

By Jim McElhatton - The Washington Times

House Select Committee on Benghazi chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., left and House Select Committee on Benghazi ranking member Elijah Cummings, D- Md., talk on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, before a House Select Committee on Benghazi hearing on the implementation of the Accountability Review Board recommendations. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Gowdy questions official over recommendation that Secretary of State ‘personally review’ security

By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times