Tag: U.S. State Department

Biden Taps Coordinator of Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal to Lead Trump Transition at State Department

Tom Pappert
Stephen Mull

The Biden U.S. State Department announced on Thursday the agency’s transition to the Trump administration will be coordinated by Stephen Mull, a former longtime State Department official who most recently served as the lead coordinator for the Iran nuclear deal reached under former President Barack Obama, and who is now the provost for the University of Virginia (UVA).

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed Mull was appointed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to lead the agency’s transition in a press conference. He told reporters the agency views a “peaceful transition of power” as an “essential part of our democracy that is vital to our nation’s security.”

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Commentary: The Human Tragedy in Haiti

Virginia Star Staff
Haitian Refugees

Since late February, gang violence in Haiti has surged, overwhelming government and security forces and plunging the nation into further turmoil. The United Nations estimates that armed gangs now control 80 percent of the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

The recent wave of violence in the Caribbean nation’s ongoing gang wars erupted as multiple armed groups banded together, pledging to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who came to power after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 and announced postponing Haiti’s elections again last year.

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Border Crisis: Water Scarcity Forces Texas’ Last Sugar Mill to Close

The Center Square

The border crisis has taken on many forms in Texas, from crime to fentanyl poisonings to farmers and ranchers losing their livelihoods.

Another casualty of the border crisis is the U.S. State Department’s failure to hold accountable Mexican government authorities to a 1944 Treaty of Utilization of Waters, resulting in Texas’ last sugar mill shut down, the industry contends. The Rio Grande Valley is bracing for an expected initial $100 million in economic losses as a result.

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UN Takes Cues from Organizations That Seek to Censor Conservatives

Admin

by James Cohen   A United Nations (U.N.) policy proposal that outlines how to combat online “mis- and disinformation and hate speech,” including through demonetization, is informed by work from groups that actively push to censor conservative speech online. The policy brief, titled “Information Integrity on Digital Platforms,” is intended to help…

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Texas, U.S. Officials Warn Americans Not to Travel to Mexico as Cartel Violence Escalates

The Center Square

The U.S. State Department and Texas Department of Public Safety have warned Americans not to travel to Mexico because of escalating cartel violence. While some news reports have suggested the warnings were for spring break, the warnings have been issued since at least last August and remain indefinite.

They’ve also been issued after more than 550 Americans have been reported and remain missing in Mexico.

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Commentary: Real Deterrence of China Will Be Uncomfortable

RealClearWire

The pace of China’s nuclear modernization has been described as breathtaking by Adm. Charles Richard, commander of U.S. Strategic Command. The increased size and sophistication of the capabilities being developed make them a strategic threat to the U.S. and its allies. Along with that threat comes the uncertainty around how large China plans to grow its force. 

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Commentary: Taxpayers Are Now Funding These 90 Plus ‘Equity’ Plans Across the Federal Government

RealClearWire

Under the Biden administration, more than 90 federal agencies have pledged their commitment to equity by adopting action plans that put gender, race and other such factors at the center of their governmental missions.

The Equity Action Plans, which have received little notice since they were posted online last month following a document request from RealClearInvestigations, represent a “whole of government” fight against “entrenched disparities” and the “unbearable human costs of systemic racism.”

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U.S. to Provide Humanitarian Aid to Afghanistan

Virginia Star Staff
Afghan people

The U.S. will provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan but won’t recognize the Taliban as the country’s leaders, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

U.S. and Taliban officials met for the first time since American forces left the county in August in Doha, Qatar, according to the Associated Press. U.S. officials said they would provide aid to Afghanistan, which faces an economic disaster, at the meeting’s conclusion.

U.S. officials said the leaders “discussed the United States’ provision of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people,” the AP reported. The aid was promised after officials agreed it didn’t mean the U.S. would officially recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government.

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State Dept. Won’t ‘Provide an Approval’ for Private Evacuation Flights from Afghanistan

Admin

The U.S. State Department will not give official approval to any private evacuation flight from Afghanistan seeking to land in third countries, leaked emails obtained by Fox News show.

“No independent charters are allowed to land at [Al Udeid Air Base], the military airbase you mentioned in your communication with Samantha Power,” a State Department official said in a Sept. 1 email to Eric Montalvo, who organized a number of charter flights out of Afghanistan, Fox News reported.

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