The Trump administration, reversing a policy that angered Vietnam veterans, has eased a ban on senior American diplomats attending events for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. On Tuesday, the United States informed Vietnamese officials that Susan Burns, the U.S. Consul General, would attend a reception on Tuesday night with other…
Tensions between France and Algeria, never far from the surface, have flared again as Algeria moved to expel 12 officials working at the French Embassy and consulates. The Algerian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the French officials had been given 48 hours to leave the country. Algeria’s decision followed the arrest in France on…
Rwanda severed diplomatic ties on Monday with its former colonial ruler, Belgium, which has been pushing to penalize Rwanda over its invasion of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda’s Foreign Ministry gave Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country. The diplomatic escalation came as the European Union, at the urging of Belgium, on…
As it moves to transform U.S. relations with Russia, the Trump administration is talking with Moscow about readmitting potentially scores of Russian diplomats into the United States after years of expulsions. But the good-will gesture, which would be reciprocated by Moscow, could be a kind of Trojan horse, experts and diplomats warn, as the Kremlin…
Senior State Department officials have drawn up plans to close a dozen consulates overseas by this summer and are considering shutting down many more missions, in what could be a blow to the U.S. government’s efforts to build partnerships and gather intelligence, American officials say. The department also plans to lay off many local citizens…
What’s the air quality in New Delhi, Jakarta or Buenos Aires? Until Tuesday, the United States Embassy in those cities could have told you. But the Trump administration has effectively shut down a global air quality monitoring program, ending more than a decade of public data-collection and reporting from 80 embassies and consulates worldwide. The…
Frank G. Wisner, a veteran American diplomat, Washington insider and foreign affairs specialist who relished the prestige of ambassadorial life as much as the back-channel cajoling and arm-twisting of less public influence, died on Monday at his home in Mill Neck, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 86. His son, David, said the cause was…
A British couple who had been on a motorcycle tour around the world were detained in Iran, Britain’s foreign office said on Saturday. The couple, Craig and Lindsay Foreman, were last heard from on social media in early January. But this week, Iranian state media reported that two British nationals had been detained on suspicion…
Bimla Bissell, the indispensable and well-connected social secretary to four American ambassadors to India who was a kind of unofficial ambassador herself, a shrewd local guide to the culture and complexities of a sprawling country, died on Jan. 9 at her home in Delhi. She was 92. The cause was complications of diabetes, her daughter,…
A transition team for President Trump has asked scores of senior career diplomats to resign from their positions on Monday, as soon as Mr. Trump takes office, and many of those asked to step down intend to do so, two U.S. officials said. The practice is common when a presidential transition occurs, but it is…