Michele Kelemen

Russia is ratcheting up the pressure on a U.S. funded media organization that had its roots in the Cold War. RFE/RL is facing huge fines and had its bank accounts in Moscow frozen.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken's latest trip is focused on U.S. interests in the Arctic. He will also hold talks with his Russian counterpart during an Arctic Council meeting in Iceland.

The White House has urged Israelis and Palestinians to de-escalate their conflict but it has started out with a tentative Mideast policy and not even an ambassador to Israel yet.

A coronavirus variant is spreading quickly in India, causing a massive surge in cases. Scientists are rushing to see if vaccines will be effective against this variant. So far, the news is hopeful.

The Trump years were hard on the State Department. The new Secretary of State is trying to turn a page, assuring his staff that politics should stop at the department's door.

The U.S. and Iran appear to be inching back into the nuclear deal that the Trump administration abandoned. There is hope that Iran will release some foreign nationals it has been holding.

The U.S. State Department announced that it is bringing some U.S. diplomats home from Afghanistan to prepare for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

The order came Tuesday, amid concerns about heightened violence as U.S. and NATO troops depart Afghanistan. U.S. officials would not confirm the number of those leaving but insisted it would be small.

Pressure is building for President Biden to keep a campaign promise and announce this weekend that the U.S. views the massacres of Amenians a century ago by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

The Biden administration has been rejoining international organizations, arguing that it is best to have a seat at the table to resolve global issues.

The U.S. and Iran have started indirect talks — mediated by other countries — to try to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that former President Trump pulled the U.S. out of.

European mediators aim to hold talks next week to get the U.S. and Iran to re-enter the 2015 nuclear deal that the Trump administration broke.

Human rights advocacy is changing tones under Biden. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he's prioritizing promoting basic freedoms, scorning Trump's attempt to apply a hierarchy to human rights.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave his first big speech in Brussels on repairing alliances, contrasting Mike Pompeo's 2018 speech that took aim at the EU, UN and other international organizations.

The U.S. and Iran say they want to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that the Trump administration pulled out of — but they're stuck on who takes the first steps.

The leaders of U.S., Japan, Australia and India met at a virtual summit today where they announced a major initiative to get 1 billion vaccines to fight the coronavirus pandemic in Asia.

The Biden administration will offer temporary protected status to people who fear returning to Myanmar after the military coup and ensuing suppression of protesters that has killed at least 70 people.

The president was joined virtually by the leaders of Japan, India and Australia, in his first multilateral leaders' meeting. They launched a plan to boost vaccine production and distribution in Asia.

In a speech, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described China as the Biden administration's biggest political test.

The Foreign Service Institute, which trains U.S. diplomats, went virtual during the pandemic. It's likely to stay that way, making it easier for foreign and civil service officers to get training.