State Department

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Blackwater Settles With US for $42M
 Blackwater 
 Settles With 
 US for $42M 


CAN STILL GET FED CONTRACTS
Aug 21, 2010 8:44 AM CDT

Blackwater Settles With US for $42M

Security firm still faces other charges

(Newser) - No stranger to controversy, Blackwater has settled a laundry list of transgressions with the State Department to the tune of $42 million. The deal treats violations—which include illegally exporting weapons to Afghanistan and offering to train Sudanese troops without authorization—as an administrative matter, and allows Blackwater, now...

Karzai to Kick Contractors Out of Afghanistan

Catches NATO unprepared with tough 4-month deadline

(Newser) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai enraged the US and his other NATO allies today by ordering all private security contractors to leave the country within four months. Though NATO had been working on its own plan to register and regulate the mercenaries, they weren’t prepared for the move, or the...

Feds Yank Spain Racism Warning Before Michelle Trip

Warning was out of date, embassy says

(Newser) - Good news for Michelle Obama and any other African-Americans planning trips to Spain: "Racist prejudices" are—suddenly—no longer a problem, according to the US State Department. A warning on the department's website that African-Americans who visit the country may need to fear getting arrested by prejudiced police was...

State Department Spy for Cuba Sentenced to Life

Walter Kendall Myers, 73, confessed to espionage, wire fraud

(Newser) - A 73-year-old retired State Department employee who was also a spy for Cuba for almost 30 years was sentenced to life in prison today after pleading guilty to espionage and wire fraud. Walter Kendall Myers was also fined $1.7 million—including the money he was paid as a government...

Obama Must Unleash Hillary
 Obama Must 
 Unleash 
 Hillary 
OPINION
Jul 16, 2010 12:40 PM CDT

Obama Must Unleash Hillary

Campaign feud gets in the way of foreign policy

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton visited Armenia last week, trying to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh disagreement and resolve the country's dispute with Turkey over the massacres of 1915. “You’ve got to salute Hillary,” writes Roger Cohen of the New York Times . “It’s a heck of a job being secretary...

CIA Hires Renamed Blackwater in Afghanistan

Gives company $100M for 'protective services'

(Newser) - The CIA has secretly given a $100 million contract to Xe Services—the company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide—to guard its facilities in Afghanistan and elsewhere, sources tell the Washington Post . The news comes hot on the heels of the revelation the State Department granted Xe a $120 million...

Clinton and Biden Should Switch Jobs—Seriously

She'd be a better VP, he'd rather run State

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden really ought to have each other’s job, argues Sally Quinn in the Washington Post . All the arguments against giving Hillary Clinton the VP job—that she might not be happy, that Bill would be a problem, etc.—have effectively evaporated, and certainly haven't...

In a First, Human Trafficking Report Includes US

State Department acknowledges slavery still exists

(Newser) - The State Department will include the US in an annual report on international human trafficking for the first time, the Daily Beast reports. Previous administrations have kept the US off the list, but the Obama administration changed that policy. The US gets a 1 out of 3—meaning it is...

Pentagon Hunts for Wikileaks Founder
Pentagon Hunts for Wikileaks Founder
Jun 11, 2010 10:26 AM CDT

Pentagon Hunts for Wikileaks Founder

DoD fears site will release classified US embassy cables

(Newser) - The Pentagon is frantically searching for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, hoping it can somehow convince him not to release hundreds of thousands of classified State Department cables it believes he has. The cables were pilfered by 22-year-old Army intelligence specialist Bradley Manning, according to the Daily Beast , and contain communiqué...

US Aide 'Sorry' for Dig at 'Senseless' Gadhafi

He apologizes for making light of anti-Swiss jihad speech

(Newser) - A State Department spokesman has apologized for making light of Moammar Gadhafi's call for a jihad against the Swiss and his rambling UN speech. Libya had threatened to take action against American business interests last month after PJ Crowley said the leader's anti-Swiss speech was like his UN address: "...

$1B US Embassy in London 'Far From Subtle'
 $1B US Embassy 
 in London 
 'Far From 
 Subtle' 
Architecture REVIEW
Feb 23, 2010 8:25 PM CST

$1B US Embassy in London 'Far From Subtle'

Security challenges noted, but critics remain blah

(Newser) - Architecture critics aren’t too impressed with the winner in the US State Department’s competition to design its next London embassy. “Cool, remote and far from subtle” reads the Guardian ’s headline; “all the glamour of a corporate office block,” harrumphs Nicolai Ouroussoff for the...

Bill Clinton Likely Headed Home Tomorrow
Bill Clinton Likely Headed Home Tomorrow
UPDATED
Feb 11, 2010 8:47 PM CST

Bill Clinton Likely Headed Home Tomorrow

... and Hillary won't leave for Middle East until Saturday

(Newser) - It looks like Bill Clinton will only spend one night in the hospital after undergoing an emergency heart procedure today—and wife Hillary will merely postpone her diplomatic trip to the Middle East by a day. “He’s in good spirits, and we hope to have him go home...

Meet Carlos Allen, 3rd Gatecrasher
 Meet Carlos Allen, 
 3rd Gatecrasher 
WHITE HOUSE STATE DINNER
Jan 11, 2010 9:28 AM CST

Meet Carlos Allen, 3rd Gatecrasher

Sketchy guy hooked up with Indian posse after trip to men's room

(Newser) - What lapse allowed Carlos Allen, the third party crasher, to sneak into the Obamas' first state dinner remains a mystery. What is known is that Allen—who has done everything from designing clothes to selling mortgages to running a questionable charity that existed mainly to throw parties—dressed even more...

'Hillary Effect' Credited for Rise of Female Diplomats

There are more woman diplos in Washington than ever

(Newser) - The number of women diplomats in Washington has jumped five-fold since the 1990s, thanks, in part, to Hillary Clinton. Washington-watchers and female diplomats say the rise of female politicians like Clinton has opened doors for a new cadre of women. "Hillary is so visible," Mozambique ambassador Amelia Matos...

Clinton: I Didn't Want The Job
 Clinton: I Didn't Want The Job 
Interview
Nov 17, 2009 3:48 PM CST

Clinton: I Didn't Want The Job

Obama gave his secretary of state the hard sell

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton accepted the Secretary of State job only because Barack Obama badgered her into it. In a glowing profile in Vogue , Clinton tells Jonathan Van Meter that she was “stunned” Obama wanted her. “I didn't want to do it. I just really had a lot of doubts,...

Tension Builds Between Hillary, Obama
 Tension Builds Between 
 Hillary, Obama 
Joe Klein
Nov 5, 2009 6:50 PM CST

Tension Builds Between Hillary, Obama

Clinton a strong secretary, but not yet administration's voice

(Newser) - Ask Hillary Clinton or her staff about President Obama and they’ll praise him and tell you the relationship between the two really is strong. But the tensions between the State Department and White House are starting to show, writes Joe Klein . The president’s foreign policy hasn’t yet...

Clinton Talk Annoys Pakistani Women

They wanted to discuss security; she channeled 'The View'

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton was relaxed in her town hall-style address to professional Pakistani women today in Islamabad, discussing “habits of the heart,” like tolerance and compromise, and touting the female doctors sent on US aid missions to Pakistan. It was nice, she said with a chuckle, to not talk...

Travel to Cuba Soars Under Obama

State Department relaxes interpretation of the law

(Newser) - Travel between the US and Cuba has soared this year, thanks to the Obama administration. The president hasn’t officially changed any policies regarding Cuba, but permission to travel in or out is suddenly a lot easier to come by, applicants tell the Miami Herald. Joan Brown Campbell, Elian Gonzalez’...

Obama Cozies Up to Dictators, for Unions' Sake

Labor-beholden govt. supports oppressors: Henninger

(Newser) - In his inaugural address Barack Obama pledged to "extend a hand" to America's foes—and he sure has, writes Daniel Henninger. Hillary Clinton is opening "direct dialogue" with the Burmese junta, John Kerry went to Syria, and the president himself has greeted Hugo Chávez and...

Zelaya Returns to Honduras
 Zelaya Returns to Honduras 
Sep 21, 2009 2:14 PM CDT

Zelaya Returns to Honduras

Ousted leader announces return on TV, but interim government denies it

(Newser) - Manuel Zelaya is back in Honduras, the ousted president told a Honduran TV station today, prompting thousands of his supporters to gather outside the UN building in the capital to celebrate. “I am here for the restoration of democracy, to call for dialogue,” Zelaya declared. The US State...

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