Washington, June 9 (IANS) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will join Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President and CEO Dana White this week to sign a memorandum of understanding aimed at expanding sports diplomacy and supporting the global growth of mixed martial arts, the State Department announced.The signing ceremony is scheduled for June 11 at the US Department of State and will mark what officials described as a new public-private partnership between the US government and the world’s …
Latest US Department of State News & Updates
Washington, June 8, (IANS) The Trump administration on Monday said US health and safety regulations should be based on assessments by American scientific agencies rather than conclusions issued by international bodies, criticising the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) for what it called hazard classifications that can mislead the public and influence policy debates.In a joint statement, the US Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said interna…
Washington, May 29 (IANS) The United States sanctioned many companies, individuals and vessels as part of a sweeping new crackdown on Iran’s oil and petrochemical trade, accusing them of helping facilitate transactions involving Iranian-origin products.The US Department of State announced sanction on several companies linked to what it called Iran’s “shadow oil economy”, saying the measures are intended to cut off revenue used by Tehran to fund destabilising activities and support its military a…
Washington, May 16 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has announced that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as the second-in-command of ISIS globally, has been killed in a joint operation carried out by American and Nigerian forces. In a statement posted on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the mission was conducted under his direction and involved coordinated efforts by US and Nigerian security forces.”Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria fl…
Washington, April 29 (IANS) The US Department of State has highlighted that Chinese government regulations and procedures continue to impede travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas for US diplomats and officials, journalists, and tourists, with restrictions remaining in place throughout last year. In its latest annual report to the Congress under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018, the US State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs noted th…
Lahore, April 16 (IANS) Amir Hamza, one of the founding members of Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has suffered bullet injuries after unknown motorcyclists opened fire on his car at Hamdard Chowk, near the Peko Road Pindi Stop in Kot Lakhpat area in Lahore on Thursday, local media reported. Hamza, according to the local media reports, suffered bullet injuries as armed men got off a motorcycle and rained bullets at his car while he was returning home at 8:30 am after attending a rel…
Baghdad, April 1 (IANS) An American journalist has been kidnapped in Baghdad by a suspected Iran-backed Iraqi armed group, the US Department of State confirmed, raising fresh concerns over the safety of foreign nationals in the region.The State Department said it is actively working to secure the journalist’s release at the earliest.“The US Department of State is aware of the reported kidnapping of an American journalist in Baghdad, Iraq. The State Department previously fulfilled our duty to…
Islamabad, March 7 (IANS) Pakistan will continue to see disappearances buried in administrative records rather than investigated as crimes unless trafficking is recognised not only as a humanitarian crisis but also as an institutional vulnerability. Such neglect enables organised criminal networks to flourish and undermines the credibility of the authorities, a report said on Saturday. According to the report in Pakistani daily, ‘The Friday Times’, police in Sadiqabad region of Pakistan’s Punj…
New Delhi, March 2 (IANS) Qatar Airways has temporarily suspended flight operations following the closure of Qatari airspace amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.In a statement posted on X, the airline said: “Qatar Airways flight operations remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace. Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace. A further update will be provided on March 03 by 09:00 D…
Washington, Feb 14 (IANS) A federal grand jury in Virginia has returned a superseding indictment against prominent Indian American scholar and former US government adviser Ashley J. Tellis, charging him with 11 counts of willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act.Filed on February 12 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the new indictment replaces the earlier criminal complaint that led to Tellis’s arrest in October 2025.Federal prosecut…