ambassador

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US Ambassador Returns to Venezuela

Diplomat back in Caracas 9 months after Chavez booted him

(Newser) - The American ambassador to Venezuela is back in Caracas 9 months after Hugo Chavez sent him packing, AFP reports. The diplomat was expelled after Chavez alleged that America was trying to undermine Bolivia's leftist government, one of his key allies. Venezuela's ambassador to the US, who was booted out soon...

US Sending Ambassador to Syria After 4-Year Absence

Obama aims to boost US presence after 4-year absence

(Newser) - An American ambassador will soon be on the road to Damascus for the first time since early 2005, the Washington Post reports. The Obama administration plans to send an envoy to Syria as part of efforts to reengage with the influential Arab country. The move, which follows recent high-level diplomatic...

Ambassadors: Rich People in Useless Jobs
Ambassadors: Rich People in Useless Jobs
OPINION
May 29, 2009 2:11 PM CDT

Ambassadors: Rich People in Useless Jobs

If posts are just plums for political donors, why have them?

(Newser) - Barack Obama opted for politics as usual in his ambassador appointments yesterday, writes David Rothkopf for ForeignPolicy. Like recent predecessors, Obama turned to deep-pocketed campaign donors; hence Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, will deal with a tech lawyer whose sole qualification seems to have been his ability to raise...

Obama Picks Theology Prof as Vatican Envoy

High-profile Cuban native would be first Hispanic to hold post

(Newser) - President Obama has nominated a Minnesota theologian as his Vatican ambassador, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Miguel Diaz, 45, a Cuban-born professor who would be the first Hispanic US envoy to the Vatican, was an Obama campaign adviser. He was chosen after the Vatican reportedly rejected a series of possible...

US Envoy Mulls Job as Afghan 'CEO'

(Newser) - George W. Bush’s ambassador to Afghanistan is considering taking a powerful, unelected position in Hamid Karzai’s government, the New York Times reports. Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born US citizen, had considered running against Karzai for president, but missed the filing deadline. Senior American and Afghan officials say Karzai has...

Chinese Press Cautiously Approves of Huntsman
Chinese Press Cautiously Approves of Huntsman
analysis
May 18, 2009 2:01 PM CDT

Chinese Press Cautiously Approves of Huntsman

He's 'no panda-hugger,' but he does speak Chinese

(Newser) - After President Obama nominated Utah’s Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr as his ambassador to China, New Yorker correspondent Evan Osnos takes the pulse of the Chinese press. He found three matters of note:
  • The press approved Obama’s personal announcement of Huntsman’s new post: It shows Obama takes
...

Obama Taps Utah Gov as China Envoy

(Newser) - Barack Obama will name Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., an up-and-coming Republican star, as his ambassador to China this morning, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Huntsman will resign as governor to take the post. The popular Mormon speaks Mandarin Chinese, has an adopted Chinese daughter, along with six other children,...

McCain Snarls, But Senate OKs Hill as Iraq Ambassador

(Newser) - The Senate tonight approved Christopher Hill to be the next ambassador to Iraq, overriding the strong objections of John McCain, the Hill reports. McCain argued that Hill doesn't have enough Mideast experience, and he also criticized his work as ambassador to North Korea. Despite the opposition, the Senate approved the...

Israel Yanks Ambassador to Switzerland

Outraged as Iranian, Swiss leaders meet at UN racism conference

(Newser) - Israel has angrily called home its ambassador to Switzerland after that country's president met with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ahead of a politically charged UN meeting on racism that began today, the Times of London reports. On Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day, Switzerland’s “guest of honor is a racist...

In Jarrett, Wall St. Finds Direct Line to Obama

Firms salute efforts of White House 'consigliere'

(Newser) - Valerie Jarrett wears many hats in the White House: “If there’s a consigliere, it’s Valerie,” says the head of President Obama’s transition team. Lately, however, the longtime family friend has chiefly been Obama’s ambassador to big business, Bloomberg reports. She “picks the brains”...

Vatican Rules Out Kennedy as Ambassador

Caroline rejected over abortion stance, insiders say

(Newser) - The Vatican has rejected the idea of Caroline Kennedy as US ambassador because she supports abortion rights and stem-cell research, the Daily Telegraph reports. Other Roman Catholics President Obama had sought to appoint have hit the same wall, Vatican insiders told an Italian paper. The controversy threatens to cast a...

Kennedy Is 'Mistake' for Vatican Post: Ex-Envoy Flynn

She's a rumored candidate for ambassador to the Holy See

(Newser) - Caroline Kennedy can’t seem to catch a break. The onetime Senate aspirant is being called a “mistake” for ambassador to the Vatican. “It’s essential that the person who represents us to the Holy See be a person who has pro-life values,” Raymond Flynn, who held...

Obama Names Steelers Owner Ambassador to Ireland

(Newser) - President Barack Obama has tapped Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, to be US ambassador to Ireland. Rooney, 76, is a lifelong Republican who endorsed Obama during Pennsylvania's contentious Democratic primary and campaigned for him ahead of the general election. A good year continues for Rooney, whose team...

Critics Blast Obama's Zinni Flip-Flop

They call yanking of Iraq ambassador post sign of transition chaos

(Newser) - Remember those fat times, back in December, when competence and seamless coordination were back in town? Oh well. Joining the parade of minor appointment-related slip-ups is the apparent bait-and-switch pulled on retired Gen. Anthony Zinni, reports Politico. Zinni was told he had the job of Iraq ambassador—then the rug...

Crocker Cautions Against Abrupt Iraq Withdrawal

Ambassador cautions that al-Qaeda will take advantage of power vacuum

(Newser) - The US ambassador to Iraq warned today against an abrupt troop withdrawal, saying it would invite foreign fighters, CNN reports. If we “decide suddenly we’re done, they would certainly work to use space that opened up,” Ryan Crocker said of al-Qaeda. Crocker, who will step down shortly,...

Ambassador Anna? Rumors Have Vogue Ed Paris-Bound

Wintour rumored new French ambassador

(Newser) - Rumors are flying that Vogue editor Anna Wintour will become ambassador to France, the New York Post reports. Wintour's rumored replacement at the pinnacle of fashion journalism would be Carine Roitfeld, editor of French Vogue. But is the scuttlebutt, which appears to have originated with the Fashion Week Daily website,...

US Inaugurates $700M Embassy in Baghdad

Buildings symbolize desire to 'continue the tradition of friendship'

(Newser) - The United States inaugurated its largest embassy yet in the heart of the Green Zone today, officially opening the fortress-like compound that was intended to stand as a testament to America's commitment to Iraq. Addressing an inauguration ceremony under tight security, Ambassador Ryan Crocker said the $700 million embassy was...

Kmiec As Vatican Ambassador Is No Insult

(Newser) - Douglas Kmiec’s possible appointment by Barack Obama as ambassador to the Vatican shouldn’t raise any hackles and—pro-lifers' views to the contrary—would not be an insult to the church, Henry Farrell writes on Crooked Timber. “Kmiec continues to state his opposition to abortion,” Farrell writes....

A Very Different Rice to be UN Ambassador

Obama will raise post to Cabinet, appoint anti-genocide crusader

(Newser) - Barack Obama will name Susan Rice as his UN ambassador when he unveils his foreign policy team today, the New York Times reports. Rice (no relation to Condoleezza), was an assistant secretary of state under Bill Clinton, but has been an Obama adviser since the beginning. She’s an advocate...

Diplomats See Risk in Handing Posts to Obama Pals

Friends, big donors often get cushy ambassadorships, to chagrin of lifers

(Newser) - Could Barack Obama make Oprah Winfrey an ambassador? It’s an all-too-plausible scenario, the Chicago Tribune reports, assuming Winfrey was willing to leave her TV career. Presidents typically give out roughly a third of the 200 ambassadorships to friends and political allies, and, in a first, the American Academy of...

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