Department of State

The United States hopes to reach an understanding with India to prevent the collapse of a key WTO deal, an official said July 30 as Secretary of State John Kerry headed to New Delhi.

The United States plans to sell 5,000 Hellfire missiles to Iraq in a $700 million deal, officials said July 29, as Washington tries to help Baghdad retake ground captured by Sunni militants.

The 2013 International Religious Freedom Report, which is conducted by the U.S. State Department, has criticized Turkey over a rise in anti-Semitism in the country and the status of the Halki seminary.

The fresh report on 2013 events quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as saying that some Jewish groups were behind the Gezi Park protests that shook the country last summer.

A US court has moved to seize a cargo of crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan that Baghdad says was sold without its permission after the central Iraqi government filed suit to restrain export

The International Religious Freedom Report for 2013 published by the State Department says societal discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice remains widespread in the Balkans.

Victims of most abuse, including cases of physical violence and vandalizing places of worship, are usually members of smaller religious groups, it says.

A tanker carrying crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan is hours away from the Port of Galveston in Texas, according to Reuters ship tracking data and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The United States evacuated its embassy in Libya on July 26, driving its staff under heavy military guard across the border to Tunisia because of escalating clashes between rival militias in Tripoli, the U.S. State Department said. 

Washington has again called for “fair, transparent and democratic” investigations into more than 100 police officers and chiefs who have been detained after leading graft probes into government figures late last year.

Washington's top diplomat flew into Tel Aviv Wednesday, defying a US flight ban, to try to broker an end to violence in Gaza, which has killed hundreds and hobbled Israel's main airport.
      
Secretary of State John Kerry jetted in from Cairo to Ben Gurion airport, with reporters banned from reporting the trip until his custom Boeing 757 touched down.
      

US Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Cairo early Monday for crisis talks on Gaza, following President Barack Obama's call for an "immediate ceasefire" between Israelis and Palestinians.