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TOKYO -- Countries with citizens in the central Chinese city that’s the epicenter of a viral outbreak are planning evacuations as the number of illnesses grow and China takes drastic measures to try to stop the spread of the virus. A look at steps being taken: CHINA: The government cut transportation links to and from the city of Wuhan on Jan. 22 and has since expanded those controls to several nearby cities. JAPAN: Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said 560 Japanese citizens are confirmed in Hubei and chartered evacuation flights are being prepared to leave “ as soon as possible....

he White House is considering dramatically expanding its much-litigated travel ban to additional countries amid a renewed election-year focus on immigration by President Donald Trump, according to six people familiar with the deliberations. A document outlining the plans — timed to coincide with the third anniversary of Trump’s January 2017 executive order — has been circulating the White House. But the countries that would be affected are blacked out, according to two of the people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the measure has yet to be finalized.

President Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in an interview that the imminent threat from Iran that provoked the United States to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani involved planned attacks on four US embassies. Asked specifically what was targeted, Trump revealed: “We will tell you that probably it was going to be the embassy in Baghdad.” Pressed on whether large-scale attacks were planned for other embassies, the president said: “I can reveal that I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies.” The exclusive interview with the president will air Friday night...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will formally unveil a statue of former President Reagan in Berlin, 30 years after the Berlin Wall fell in the city. During his visit in Germany, Pompeo will reveal the statue of Reagan at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, according to a Facebook post from the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The statue will overlook the location where the president gave his speech calling for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall. Pompeo will inaugurate the statue on Friday, the day before the 30th anniversary of the momentous...

House Democrats are grilling a stream of disgruntled career diplomats in a basement hearing room of the Capitol. The hearings are supposed to be secret, but -- no surprise -- Democrats leak snippets of the testimony daily. They're hoping it will add up to a case for impeaching President Donald Trump. So far, all the testimony actually proves is that these State Department diplomats think they -- not President Trump -- ought to be running the nation's foreign policy. Never mind executive privilege or impeachment. The most pressing constitutional issue at hand is who decides the nation's foreign policy:...

BY REID WILSON - 10/21/19 06:00 AM EDT The Trump administration's perennial push for steep budget cuts, an exodus of senior staffers with decades of experience and constant allegations that agency employees represent a deep state has sent morale at the State Department to an unprecedented low. On top of that, President Trump has fired a senior diplomat after a whisper campaign mounted by his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and abandoned steadfast allies in the Middle East to fend for themselves on the battlefield at the behest of Turkey's government. Current and former diplomats say the weight of those events...

Riyad Malki, the Palestinian Authority (PA) “foreign minister”, on Wednesday submitted a request to The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for legal action against the US over the relocation of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Ramallah claims the US relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem was “in clear violation of international law”, reported the Turkish Anadolu news agency. “One year after the Trump administration carried out its provocative and illegal action, the State of Palestine continues to seek justice and accountability through the tools and mechanisms available to law-abiding and respecting states within the international system,”...

BREAKING NEWS: Nancy Pelosi says Trump is accused by his own State Department of putting lives of members of Congress and U.S. TROOPS at risk by revealing her plans to lead delegation to Afghanistan when he canceled military jet President Trump cancelled Nancy Pelosi's government-funded trip abroad She asked him Wednesday to postpone his Jan. 29 State of the Union Cited security concerns amid the partial government shutdown White House official said it had nothing to do with her demand that he give his address in the Oval Office or after the shutdown ends Trump informed Pelosi via a letter...

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert is reportedly under consideration to replace Nikki Haley as United Nations ambassador. According to reports released on Monday, Nauert is a leading contender to fill the position. Heather Nauert is a former Fox News anchor. (AP/Photo) This comes after several other names were floated including U.S. ambassador to France Jamie McCourt. Nauert was named State Department spokesperson last year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A suspect is in custody after an American diplomat was found dead at home while serving in Madagascar, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement the U.S. foreign service officer was found during the overnight hours of Friday. She gave no further details.

Federal Employee for State Department: “Resist everything… Every level. F**k sh*t up.” Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Embedded in Federal Government Positions, Actively Resisting Stuart Karaffa Does Work for DSA While on Taxpayer’s Dime: “I’m careful about it. I don’t leave a paper trail.” “I have nothing to lose. It’s impossible to fire federal employees.” Ethics Officer Fails to Recognize Breach on Ethics Form: “somebody just rubber stamps it and it goes forward…”  (Washington DC) Today, Project Veritas released the first installment in an undercover videoinvestigation series unmasking the deep state. This video features a State Department employee, Stuart Karaffa,...

It was mid-May, about six weeks after Trump appointee Mari Stull began her new job as senior adviser at the State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs. As senior adviser at the bureau, Stull was in charge of making sure President Trump’s agenda was represented at the many international organizations the U.S. participates in and mostly funds, such as the United Nations and its various agencies. Stull and her boss, Amb. Kevin Moley, had just left for a trip to Geneva for the World Health Assembly. Back at the State Department, Erin Barclay, a senior career diplomat at the IO...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The U.S. Embassy in Ankara has not put out a statement regarding pastor Andrew Brunson, an embassy official told Reuters on Monday, after a report on social media cited the embassy as saying he would be released from house arrest by Aug. 15. The case of Brunson, an evangelical Christian being tried by a Turkish court, is one of a series of disputes that lies at the heart of deteriorating ties between the two NATO allies.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a speech on Monday outlining President Trump's new strategy to counter the Islamic Republic of Iran: Intensify the Iranian regime's ongoing liquidity and political crisis to induce fundamental changes in behavior across a range of malign activities. In short, maximum diplomacy backed by maximum pressure. Pompeo's speech today was a reply to the critics of the administration's Iran policy who have argued that Trump had no "Plan B" for the day after his May 8 decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. That deal gave the Islamic Republic patient pathways to...

"We called the White House and they acted swiftly on the Friday event, which has since been postponed," said a staff member for Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who complained that the event would have openly undermined President Donald Trump’s agenda on Cuba."The event in question has been postponed," a State Department official confirmed."This (event) was designed to embarrass the president and Pompeo—somebody needs to be held to account," one source said. "The fact that State Department officials were advancing a program that is so slanted and completely at odds with the president's directive on Cuba, I am concerned what...

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is pushing a peace deal and hyping its possible benefits as Israeli forces use lethal force against Palestinian protesters in Gaza. On Monday alone, Israeli troops killed 16 Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy and a man in a wheelchair, and some 500 protesters were injured, at least 200 by live bullets. The UN has been investigating Israel's use of force against the Palestinians, of whom more than 60 have been killed since March 30 when the protests started. The Palestinians are protesting what they see as an occupation of their lands by Israel, and...

The United States has hammered another nail into the “coffin” of the 1947 UN Partition Resolution that called for the internationalization of Jerusalem.The Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, the Philippines, Guatemala, Honduras, Bolivia, and various other countries are considering to follow in the footsteps of the United States.The Christian evangelical sector of American voters was what finally clinched Trump’s resolve to transfer the embassy from Tel Aviv and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.The “price” Israel will pay appears to be continued restraint in construction and an occasional building freeze in Jerusalem.The embassy will open in west Jerusalem, with...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MISVkrFAiFk

LONDON - President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal has left foreign firms with a choice: Stop doing business in Iran or run the risk of U.S. sanctions. Multinational companies have billions of dollars tied up in Iran. In 2016, the European Union exported more than $9.7 billion worth of goods to Iran, while importing almost $6.5 billion from there, according to the European Commission. But Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, warned firms that continuing to do business there would have consequences. “U.S. sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Monday that he will vote for CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be the next secretary of State, making him the second Democrat to support Pompeo's nomination. "After meeting with Mike Pompeo, discussing his foreign policy perspectives, & considering his distinguished time as CIA Director & his exemplary career in public service, I will vote to confirm Mike Pompeo to be our next Secretary of State," Manchin said in a tweet. Pompeo likely already had the votes to be confirmed by the full Senate. With Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expected to oppose him, Pompeo needed...