Elon Musk targets closure of US humanitarian aid agency

Washington DC, US Reuters The Trump administration on Monday locked US Agency for International Development workers out of their headquarters in downtown Washington DC as it moved to shutter the agency, prompting two Democratic senators to vow to block confirmations of State Department nominees. The lockout added to the chaos that has consumed the agency, […]
Rubio vows to put State Department at core of Trump foreign policymaking

Washington DC, US Reuters Secretary of State Marco Rubio began his tenure as the top US diplomat on Tuesday by pledging to keep his department at the heart of US foreign policymaking and execute what he said was President Donald Trump’s aim of promoting peace through strength. Ending Russia’s war in Ukraine would be official […]
Biden defends foreign policy record despite ongoing crises

Washington DC, US Reuters Outgoing President Joe Biden sought to burnish his foreign policy record on Monday and said US adversaries are weaker than when he took office four years ago despite global crises that remain unresolved. A week before handing over to President-elect Donald Trump, Biden addressed US diplomats at the State Department and […]
US condemns Hong Kong bounties, passport revocations for democrats

Washington DC, US Reuters The US State Department said that Hong Kong’s offered bounties for six more pro-democracy campaigners who were deemed to have violated national security laws and the revoking of the passports of seven more amounted to intimidation efforts. The State Department also separately condemned China for taking steps against two Canadian institutions […]
No US Government group in Syria for search of Austin Tice, State Department says

Washington DC, US Reuters The US State Department on Monday said there is no US Government organisation currently on the ground in Syria for the search of Austin Tice, an American journalist taken captive during a reporting trip in August, 2012, but did not rule out the possibility. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters […]
US races to find captive journalist Austin Tice after Syria regime collapse

Washington DC, US Reuters US officials were pressing on Monday for information about Austin Tice and to secure the release of the American journalist captured in Syria 12 years ago. Washington’s hostage-affairs envoy Roger Carstens was in Beirut as part of intensive efforts to locate Tice, according to the State Department, while White House national […]
Syrian rebels sweep into Aleppo, Russia conducts strikes in support of Assad

Amman, Jordan Reuters The Syrian army said on Saturday dozens of its soldiers had been killed in a major attack led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels who swept into the city of Aleppo, forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air […]
Ukraine launches UK cruise missiles into Russia, a day after using US ATACMS

Updated: 11:30am (AEDT) Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Ukraine fired a volley of British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia on Wednesday, the latest new Western weapon it has been permitted to use on Russian targets a day after it fired US ATACMS missiles. The strikes were widely reported by Russian war correspondents on Telegram and confirmed […]
“Huge blind spots”: Trump inherits waning US strength in Africa

JESSICA DONATI, of Reuters, reports on US relations with – and influence in – Africa…
Israel ends cooperation deal with UN Palestinian relief agency

United Nations Reuters Israel has formally ended a decades-old cooperation agreement with the United Nations Palestinian relief agency (UNRWA) that covered the protection, movement and diplomatic immunity of the agency in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel notified the UN in a letter on Sunday, as required by a new law adopted […]