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May 23, 2013, 3:47 pm
By
Molly K. Hooper
The former secretary of State has yet to testify about the attack before the House Oversight Committee.
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May 23, 2013, 3:42 pm
By
Julian Pecquet
The State Department is killing its counternarcotics program in Bolivia because the leftist government of Evo Morales isn't playing ball, the State Department announced Thursday. The department's top counternarcotics official, Assistant Secretary William Brownfield, broke the news after Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) attacked the program during a hearing on security cooperation with Mexico and other Latin American countries. The Obama administration requested $5 million for the program in its 2014 budget, even though Morales expelled the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration five years ago. “You are correct. I have reached the same conclusion that you have,” Brownfield told Ros-Lehtinen. “I will tell you that I am proud of what the [U.S. embassy's narcotics] section … has accomplished in Bolivia over the last 30 years. I think they have delivered great value for the American people and, for that matter, for the Bolivian people.” “That said, the time has come for us to go.” “Amen,” the congresswoman answered.
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May 23, 2013, 3:36 pm
By
Jeremy Herb
Chambliss focused his criticism on Obama's plans to move toward closing the Guantanamo Bay detainee camp.
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May 23, 2013, 2:27 pm
By
Julian Pecquet
The State Department said Thomas Pickering will also press Chairman Issa for a public hearing on the Benghazi report.
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May 23, 2013, 2:08 pm
By
Justin Sink
President Obama announced steps that could reduce drone strikes, even as he defended their legality.
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May 23, 2013, 1:58 pm
By
Daniel Strauss
President Obama condemned a terrorism attack in London where two men killed a man with large blades near a military barracks.
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May 23, 2013, 1:55 pm
By
Julian Pecquet
The European Union on Thursday displayed the first signs of daylight with the Obama administration on the goals of a major trade pact with the United States. President Obama has made a “comprehensive” Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership a key plank of his efforts to double U.S. exports by the end of 2014.
The EU Parliament, however, voted 381 to 191 to exclude the cultural and audiovisual sectors from the commission's negotiating mandate, saying the subsidized sectors should continue to be protected. In a separate 460-105 vote giving the commission the green light to begin talks, the lawmakers also said the negotiators should take into account European “values,” notably restrictions on genetically modified foods, cloning and protection of intellectual property rights, as well as the EU's labor and environmental standards.
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May 22, 2013, 4:59 pm
By
Ramsey Cox
The Senate voted 99-0 on Wednesday on a resolution that calls for strengthening U.S. and international sanctions against Iran. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced the resolution, which would reaffirm the United States’ support for Israel and recognizes the threat a nuclear Iran would pose to the West.
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May 22, 2013, 4:05 pm
By
Julian Pecquet
A key House panel on Wednesday approved new sanctions on Iran. The joint effort from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and ranking member Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) has 338 co-sponsors – more than three-quarters of the House – a clear sign of bipartisan impatience on Capitol Hill with Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program. The vote comes on the same day the Senate is preparing to vote on a resolution calling on the Obama administration to fully implement existing sanctions. “Without question, as long as Iran is determined to keep its centrifuges spinning and its nuclear program advancing, we are prepared to increase the costs to the regime of doing so,” Royce said in a statement after the vote. “While Tehran stonewalls international inspectors, their total number of installed centrifuges has increased by 85 percent since October 2011. The bipartisan legislation this committee passed today is the strong action we need to cripple this regime and prevent a nuclear Tehran.”
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May 22, 2013, 3:22 pm
By
Julian Pecquet
A deal between Issa and Pickering will allow the diplomat to appear for a transcribed interview.
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