US ambassador

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Hunter Biden Lobbied State Department for Burisma Help

NYT reports on 2016 letter seeking introduction to president of Tuscany, where Burisma sought work

(Newser) - Hunter Biden asked the US government for assistance with a Burisma project in Italy in 2016, when he was a board member for the company and his father was US vice president, new records reveal, per the New York Times . Biden wrote to the US ambassador to Italy requesting an...

Israel Wasn't Invited, So US Bails on Nagasaki Ceremony

Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki declined to invite Israel to peace ceremony

(Newser) - The US, British, and French ambassadors to Japan will skip a ceremony to mark the 79th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki over what is perceived as a slight against Israel. Nagasaki's mayor invited dignitaries from more than 150 countries and territories to the annual peace ceremony, to...

We Don't Have an Ambassador to Israel Right Now

Senate is now reviewing nomination of former Treasury secretary Jack Lew

(Newser) - President Biden's nominee to be ambassador to Israel told senators Wednesday that he would "ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself" and would work with the US ally to end the attacks by Hamas if he were confirmed. Jack Lew, a treasury secretary under President Obama,...

US Ambassador Is Out of Russia
US Ambassador Is Out of Russia
Sep 4, 2022 12:15 PM CDT

US Ambassador Is Out of Russia

John Sullivan plans to retire, embassy announces, though there'd been no hint of that

(Newser) - The US needs a new ambassador to Russia. John Sullivan left Moscow on Sunday and plans to retire, the US Embassy announced, saying he has "concluded his tenure as US envoy." Appointed by former President Donald Trump, Sullivan held the job for nearly three years. During his tenure,...

The Stakes Are High in the Arctic, So Biden Makes a Move

State Department announces plan to appoint ambassador-at-large

(Newser) - The number of US ambassadors looks set to grow by one. The State Department on Friday announced that President Biden "plans to elevate the Arctic Coordinator position by appointing an Ambassador-at-Large for the Arctic Region." The Senate will need to give its approval regarding the creation of the...

Caroline Kennedy Meets Kids of Islanders Who Rescued JFK
They Delivered
JFK's Distress
Note on a Coconut.
Now, Thanks
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 13, 2022 5:10 PM CDT

They Delivered JFK's Distress Note on a Coconut. Now, Thanks

US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy meets with kids of Solomon Islanders who saved her dad in WWII

(Newser) - In August 1943, during World War II, a 26-year-old John F. Kennedy and his crew were shipwrecked in the Solomon Islands after a Japanese destroyer rammed into their patrol boat during the Battle of Guadalcanal. On Monday, his daughter, Caroline Kennedy, now a US ambassador to Australia, met with and...

Ambassador to Ukraine Named
Biden Picks Ukraine Envoy
Apr 25, 2022 6:39 PM CDT

Biden Picks Ukraine Envoy

President nominates Bridget Brink to vacant post

(Newser) - Bridget Brink, a veteran foreign service officer who has spent most of her career in the shadow of the former Soviet Union, has been nominated by President Biden to serve as the US ambassador to Ukraine as the country fends off a Russian invasion that's entered its third month....

Biden Picks Republican for Ambassador to Turkey
Biden Picks Flake for Turkey
Jul 13, 2021 5:40 PM CDT

Biden Picks Flake for Turkey

Republican supported president over Trump in election

(Newser) - President Biden on Tuesday nominated former Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican who endorsed his 2020 run for the White House, to serve as US ambassador to Turkey. Flake served in the US Senate from Arizona from 2013 to 2019 and in the House from 2001 to 2013. Flake retired from...

Biden's Ambassador Picks Missing Some Expected Names

The pace is slow, but those named so far generally being well received

(Newser) - Nine names were revealed Tuesday as President Biden's picks for various ambassadorial posts—a small step toward filling what USA Today reports are 87 vacancies. Among the most recognizable: former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as ambassador to Mexico, former Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides as ambassador to Israel,...

After Initial Tense Pushback, Ambassador Will Leave Russia

But amid 'increasingly dangerous situation,' John Sullivan is to return to Moscow 'in coming weeks'

(Newser) - A tense standoff between the Kremlin and the US ambassador to Russia seems to have been averted, at least for the moment. After the United States imposed sanctions last week on the country over hacking American federal agencies and interfering in the 2020 presidential election, including via the expulsion of...

Let's Stop Letting Donors Buy Ambassadorships
It's Time to Fix the Way
We Pick Ambassadors
OPINION
Dec 15, 2020 12:51 PM CST

It's Time to Fix the Way We Pick Ambassadors

The age-old practice of rewarding big donors with posts must end, argues essayist

(Newser) - America has an ambassador problem, complains Mattathias Schwartz in an op-ed at the New York Times . He's referring to the long-standing practice of presidents awarding plum posts to big campaign donors who are utterly unqualified to be diplomats. As an example, Schwartz calls attention to former EU ambassador Gordon...

Trump to US Diplomat: Your $750K Art Is Mine

Ambassador Jamie McCourt didn't object, sources say

(Newser) - President Trump, art lover? That's what Bloomberg is reporting. Seems the president carted home a box-load of art from the US ambassador's mansion while visiting France in 2018. Insiders say Trump told the ambassador, Jamie McCourt, that a painting, bust, and set of figurines were returning with him...

Ambassador's Mustache That Irked a Nation Is No More

Harry Harris' facial hair was too harsh a reminder of Japanese colonialism for some

(Newser) - To most Americans, Harry Harris' mustache likely wouldn't cause a second glance. But to South Koreans, the US ambassador's facial hair became a lightning rod —and over the weekend, he finally shaved it off. The envoy headed to a barbershop in Seoul on Saturday to go under...

NYT: Trump Made Big Ask of US Ambassador on British Open

Sources: President pressured Woody Johnson to ask UK government to bring event to Turnberry

(Newser) - Robert Wood Johnson IV, the New York Jets owner and Trump donor with no diplomatic experience before being tapped as the US ambassador to Britain, was apparently just the person the president thought could handle a big job: Ask the British government if it could help get the British Open...

Yovanovitch: Our Democracy Is at Risk
Yovanovitch:
Our Democracy
Is at Risk
OPINION
Feb 6, 2020 1:06 PM CST

Yovanovitch: Our Democracy Is at Risk

Ousted ambassador urges Americans to 'stand up' amid 'turbulent times'

(Newser) - Marie Yovanovitch feels freer to speak her mind now that she's retired from the foreign service after 33 years, and the former ambassador to Ukraine is doing just that in a Washington Post op-ed. Yovanovitch, ousted in what her colleagues testified was a "smear campaign" against her by...

ABC: Trump Orders Envoy Fired in Recording

'Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. ... Take her out,' president seemingly said of ex-ambassador

(Newser) - President Trump has repeatedly said he doesn't know Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two associates of Rudy Giuliani who helped the ex-mayor investigate Joe Biden in Ukraine, and who were arrested in October . Parnas has since said he feels betrayed by Trump, which prompted him to turn over a...

Uproar in South Korea Over US Envoy's Mustache

Some say it's a symbol of colonial rule; Harry Harris says no

(Newser) - Harry Harris has some hair on his upper lip, a fact now at the center of what "might just be the most bizarre criticism of a US ambassador in recent memory," per CNN . The US envoy to South Korea, who grew a mustache as he transitioned from naval...

3 Women Accuse Sondland of Sexual Misconduct

Impeachment witness claims report is politically motivated

(Newser) - US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, a key witness in the impeachment hearings, has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women. In a Portland Monthly and ProPublica report released a week after Sondland testified before the House Intelligence Committee , the women say the Oregon businessman made unwanted...

Trump May Not Like What Key Ambassador Has to Say
Key Figure's Ukraine Testimony
Won't Please Trump
the rundown
Oct 17, 2019 10:30 AM CDT

Key Figure's Ukraine Testimony Won't Please Trump

Gordon Sondland says president ordered him to work with Giuliani on Ukraine

(Newser) - A key figure in President Trump's impeachment controversy is testifying Thursday on Capitol Hill, but Trump probably won't like what Gordon Sondland has to say. Sondland is the American ambassador to the EU, but he was among the handful of diplomats involved in the White House's outreach...

Jon Huntsman Resigns, Will Move Back to Utah

US ambassador to Russia will exit the job Oct. 3

(Newser) - Jon Huntsman on Tuesday announced that he'll resign his position as US ambassador to Russia effective Oct. 3—the month when he's set to move back to Utah, reports the Salt Lake Tribune . The Hill reports the news comes as no surprise: Huntsman had reportedly committed to taking...

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