State Department

President Joe Biden speaks at the White House last week. Biden signed an executive order Tuesday aimed at increasing the flow of information to families of Americans detained abroad, and at imposing sanctions on the criminals, terrorists or government off

Biden issues a new executive order relating to hostages and detained Americans

9:09am July 19, 2022

by Washington Desk

President Biden has issued an executive order to try to improve efforts to free American hostages and detainees, senior administration officials told reporters.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki explained the impacts of U.S. sanctions against Russia in Washington, D.C., in February. The latest round of sanctions targeted Russian a warship manufacturing corporation and Russia's largest diamond mining company.

New U.S. sanctions target Russia ship builder and diamond mining company

6:52am April 08, 2022

by Dustin Jones

The U.S. announced another series of sanctions against Russia Thursday, which include the world's largest diamond mining company and a Russian warship manufacturer.

This photo provided by the North Korean government shows what it says a test launch of a hypersonic missile on Tuesday in North Korea.

U.S. hits North Korean officials with sanctions after missile test

10:47pm January 12, 2022

by The Associated Press

The U.S. is also proposing U.N. sanctions in response to North Korea's six ballistic missile launches since September, each of which it says "were in violation of UN Security Council resolutions."

A general view of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2013. The embassy is facing a coronavirus outbreak, according to the State Department.

A COVID Outbreak At The U.S. Embassy In Kabul Has Sickened 114 People And Killed 1

4:12pm June 17, 2021

by Michele Kelemen

Military hospital ICU resources are at full capacity and the embassy has been forced to "create temporary, on-compound COVID-19 wards," according to a note sent to embassy staff.

The State Department has updated its policy regarding granting citizenship to children born via in vitro fertilization or surrogacy. Its earlier rules denied citizenship to those children unless they had direct genetic ties to their parent who was a U.S.

U.S. Ends Policy Of Denying Citizenship To Children Born Via IVF Or Surrogacy

10:42am May 19, 2021

by Jaclyn Diaz

The State Department says its updated policy "takes into account the realities of modern families" and advances in reproductive technology.

U.S. Consulate Lahore staff and participants including Maryum Saifee (second from right) in the ATX+PAK entrepreneurship program at the Mix festival in Lahore, Pakistan. The event is inspired by Austin's SXSW events.

State Department Should Be More Diverse And Engaged Across U.S., Report Says

1:27pm March 03, 2021

by Michele Kelemen

The Biden administration pledges a foreign policy that delivers to middle-class Americans. Linking up to locales across the country — outside D.C. — could help with that, according to a new report.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington last month.

Secretary Of State Blinken: 'No Doubt' U.S. Diplomacy 'Tarnished By Recent Events'

5:57pm February 16, 2021

by Laurel Wamsley

"The very fact that we're constantly trying to build that more perfect union is an acknowledgement of our imperfection," Antony Blinken told NPR. "It's in the striving that you really make progress."

President-elect Joe Biden listens as his secretary of state nominee, Antony Blinken, speaks in Wilmington, Del., in November. Blinken told senators at his confirmation hearing Tuesday, "Humility and confidence should be the flip sides of America's leaders

Secretary Of State Nominee Blinken Promises A Reengaged America Abroad

6:43pm January 19, 2021

by Michele Kelemen

"Humility and confidence should be the flip sides of America's leadership coin," Antony Blinken testified at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, where he vowed to work for the "greater good."

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An empty street near the Capitol in Havana in May. The Trump administration plans to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism five years after it was removed from that U.S. list.

U.S. Puts Cuba Back On List Of State Sponsors of Terrorism

5:15pm January 11, 2021

by Bill Chappell

The U.S. removed Cuba from its state sponsors of terrorism list in May of 2015.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discusses the counting of votes in the U.S. election last month at the State Department.

Pompeo's Legacy Of Partisanship And Wading Into Political Waters

1:44pm December 10, 2020

by Michele Kelemen

Mike Pompeo's critics see his trip to Georgia, less than a month before key Senate runoff races, as another example of the secretary of state breaking norms by getting involved in domestic politics.

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