Department Of State

Latest Stories

Obama nominates Rabbi David Saperstein as ambassador for religious freedom

By Meredith Somers - The Washington Times

Secretary of State John Kerry, joined by Rabbi David Saperstein (left), nominated to become ambassador at large for international religious freedom at the State Department, and Tom Malinowski, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, speaks at the State Department in Washington, Monday, July 28, 2014, during a news conference to announce the 2013 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. The U.S. says millions of people were forced from their homes because of their religious beliefs last year. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

John Kerry: Millions displaced by religious fighting in 2013

By Meredith Somers - The Washington Times

** FILE ** Smoke rises from the direction of Tripoli airport in Tripoli, Libya, Sunday, July 13, 2014. Rival militias battled Sunday for the control of the international airport in Libya's capital, as gunfire and explosions echoed through the city and airlines canceled some international flights. (AP Photo)

U.S. evacuates embassy in Libya amid violent clashes between militias

Associated Press

** FILE ** This April 30, 2014, file photo shows Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaking on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo, J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Cruz suggests flight ban is boycott of Israel

Associated Press

FILE - This Sept. 14, 2012, file photo shows carry teams at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. moving flag draped transfer cases during the Transfer of Remains Ceremony of the four Americans killed in an attack on a diplomatic outpost and CIA annex Benghazi, Libya. The testimony of nine military officers severely undermines claims by Republican lawmakers that a &#8220;stand-down order&#8221; held back military assets who could have those killed in the attack. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Report: State Dept. did nothing after militia moved in next to U.S. Consulate in Benghazi

By The Washington Free Beacon

A Russian Buk-M2 air defense system.

MH17: Fear of ground-to-air missile strike becomes nightmare reality in Ukraine

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

President Obama shares his interest in books with schoolchildren. His own titles still seem to be popular at the State Department, which has spent $15,000 on copies for the U.S. Embassy in Paris, a procurement database shows. (Associated Press)

Purchases of Obama books wane, except at State Department

By Jim McElhatton - The Washington Times

Hellfire II missiles. (Image: Lockheed Martin)

Obama sells Hellfire: White House hopes to send 4K missiles to Iraq for ISIL fight

By Douglas Ernst - The Washington Times

Exiled Iranians gathered in Villepinte, France, to listen to Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. (Associated Press)

Rally of strange bedfellows : To change Iran, U.S. group backs former ‘terrorists’

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

U.N. Security Council meets on Ukraine, Monday March 3, 2014 at U.N. headquarters. Ukraine's mission to the United Nations claimed Monday that 16,000 Russian troops have been deployed in the strategic Crimea region, while Russia's U.N. ambassador told an emergency Security Council meeting that Ukraine's fugitive president requested them. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

U.N. compensation costs soar by $1 billion

By Kellan Howell - The Washington Times

In this June 5, 2014 photo, Somali refugee Hasna Abdi, 26, holds her child Muridi Hassan, 1, as he falls asleep after a bottle feeding in the main room of their apartment in Springfield, Mass. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno is calling for an end to refugee resettlement in his city, saying Somali families are putting pressure on already strained services. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

Massachusetts mayor: Stop sending my city refugees

By Paige Sutherland - Associated Press

The mother of U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who has been jailed in Mexico since March 31, says she has not heard from the Obama administration since her son's imprisonment. (Fox News/Washington Free Beacon)

Mom of Marine held in Mexico says she hasn’t heard from Obama administration

By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times

During a commencement address to West Point cadets last month, Mr. Obama called on Congress to fund a new $5 billion counterterrorism plan to "train, build capacity and facilitate partner countries on the front lines" of the war on terror. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Congress in dark on counterterror plan before Obama speech at West Point

By Kelly Riddell - The Washington Times

Iraqis who have fled the violence in their hometown of Mosul unload their car at Khazir refugee camp outside of Irbil, 217 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday. (associated press)

Obama administration hints at alliance with Iran on Iraqi militants in policy reversal

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

This image posted on a militant website on Saturday, June 14, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, appears to show militants from the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leading away captured Iraqi soldiers in plain clothes after taking over a base in Tikrit, Iraq. (AP Photo via militant website)

Criticism of Obama mounts as Islamists sweep through Iraq

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

State dedicates memorial for its killed law officers

By Phillip Swarts - The Washington Times

Federal website allows public to track foreign aid, State Dept. says

By Phillip Swarts - The Washington Times

President Obama on Tuesday tapped Matthew Barzun, his former campaign finance chairman, as ambassador to Britain. Mr. Barzun is one of at least 11 of Mr. Obama’s diplomatic nominees this year who raised large sums of money for his campaigns or served on his campaign team. Government-reform advocates say Mr. Obama promised to shun that practice. (Associated Press)

EDITORIAL: Excess embassy expenditures

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Robert and Jani Bergdahl were hooked into multiple secure video conferences that included U.S. Central Command, White House, State Department and intelligence officials while their son, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, was being held by the Haqqani Network. (Associated Press)

Bergdahl’s parents got rare access to insiders; data for sympathizer of Gitmo detainees

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times