diplomat

(Newser) - Washington has had a "permanent" diplomat stationed in Pyongyang since mid-month, a source tells the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, marking the first time a US official has been assigned full-time to North Korea. The move is seen as a precursor to possible normalization of relations between the US...

(Newser) - Lacking volunteers for dozens of vacancies at the US Embassy in Baghdad, the State Department is set to order its diplomats to serve one-year postings in Iraq. Those selected for the postings will be notified Monday; if not enough take the bait, assignments will be made mandatory, on pain of ...

(Newser) - The White House ignored signals about Blackwater and other private mercs for years, rejecting the idea that they were "a bomb that could go off at any time," the Los Angeles Times reports. One official says that contract guards blatantly smashed property and scared Iraqis, then argued that...

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy was the star of the EU’s constitutional summit last weekend, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat with a virtuoso diplomatic performance reminiscent of the former president. The new PM displayed what Der Spiegel called ‘Clintonesque ease’ in solving big problems, returning France to her traditional...