December 20, 2015 Assad regime misses key deadline to hand over chemical weapons The Syrian government blew by a key deadline Wednesday to turn over its chemical weapons stockpile, renewing concerns that the Assad regime is dragging its feet while the civil war rages on.
December 20, 2015 Feds to spend up to $95,000 to teach Haitian prisoners to make own uniforms The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), an arm of the State Department that combats international narcotics and crime, will award up to $95,000 for a program that will teach Haitian inmates how to sew in order to “discourage recidivism.”
December 20, 2015 Report sheds light on ex-CIA deputy director's role in Benghazi talking points The Senate report states that on Sep. 15, 2012, four days after the attack and one day before U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice appeared on Sunday talk shows blaming the assault on a demonstration over a video, Morell and others at the CIA received a critical email that reported the attacks were "not/not an escalation of protests."
December 20, 2015 US ambassador to Russia stepping down after Sochi Olympics Michael McFaul is considered the architect of President Barack Obama's effort to reset relations with Russia.
December 20, 2015 'Dragging their feet': US struggling to make Assad turn over chemical weapons on time No longer facing the imminent threat of a U.S. military strike, the Assad regime is dragging its feet on relinquishing its chemical weapons -- leaving U.S. officials scrambling to pressure the Syrian government to honor the terms of last year's deal.
December 20, 2015 Watchdog: Afghan ministries cannot properly account for how US dollars are spent The U.S. government is keeping tens of millions of dollars flowing to Afghanistan despite a pair of private audits that found Afghan ministries could not properly account for the funds, according to a pointed watchdog report released on Thursday.
December 20, 2015 US says Russia conducted missile test banned by 1987 treaty U.S. officials have reportedly acknowledged that Russia has tested a new ground-launched cruise missile, in apparent violation of a 1987 treaty banning the testing, production, and possession of medium-range missiles.
December 20, 2015 Unprecedented Alert: State Department info-tech still riddled with security gaps More than three years after U.S. Army Pvt. Bradley Manning handed over hundreds of thousands of sensitive State Department cables to WikiLeaks, the department’s inspector general has warned in stark terms that State has done little since 2010 to fix an info-tech system that is riddled with security gaps, and has no plan for how to fix it.
December 20, 2015 Kerry meets family of American held by N Korea Secretary of State John Kerry has met with relatives of an American held by North Korea and is calling for him to be pardoned.
December 20, 2015 Amid Egypt's uprising anniversary, US condemns violence, pledges Middle East support The three-year anniversary of Egypt’s political uprising was marked this weekend with government-backed rallies and deadly anti-government protests, as the Obama administration vowed continued support toward stabilizing the Middle East and urged residents to move toward peace -- not violence.