Department of State

"What is US Secretary of State John Kerry doing in Bulgaria?," a number of media outlets, both in Bulgaria, the region and the West, seem to be wondering, against the backdrop of a few important diplomatic visits this month.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif held intensive talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme on Jan. 14, returning for an evening session before handing off to their deputies, officials said.

The U.S. State Department has reacted to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an?s remarks criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?s attendance of the anti-terror solidarity march in Paris.

State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said she ?vehemently disagrees? with Erdo?an?s words that accused the Israeli prime minister of being hypocritical of Netanyahu.

The new US ambassador to Sarajevo, Maureen Cormick, is arriving in Sarajevo this week to take up her post, officials said on Monday, raising hopes that she can bolster renewed Western efforts to help Bosnia restart its stalled reforms.

Saudi blogger Raef Badawi was flogged in public Jan. 9 near a mosque in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, receiving 50 lashes for "insulting Islam", witnesses said.
      
In September, a Saudi court upheld a sentence of 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for Badawi, and he is expected to have 20 weekly whipping sessions until his punishment is complete.
      

The U.S. Department of State has conveyed its concerns about the relationship between Hamas and Turkey to Turkish officials, a day after Ankara said the leader of Hamas is "welcome in Turkey."

An Islamist militant considered one of the main recruiters of foreigners to the jihadist fight against government forces in Syria was convicted in absentia to three years in prison in France on Jan. 7.

The United States Tuesday condemned a strike by Libyan aircraft that bombed an oil tanker off the Islamist-held port of Derna, killing two crew members.

The crewmen -- a Greek and a Romanian -- were killed on the Liberian-registered vessel, the Araevo.

Two other crewmen, both Filipinos, were wounded in the attack.

The State Department is "deeply disturbed" by reports that prosecutors raided Azerbaijan’s local Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty office Dec. 26, a US official said, calling the motive for the episode "unclear."
 

Strong reactions are coming from the western world. As the president and the prime minister have said, even "on a Sunday" they have issued statements condemning the Dec. 14 operation.