US Embassy

US Embassy opens in Tonga

Deputy Chief of Mission of U.S Embassy Suva, Antone Greubel said the event symbolized the renewal of Tonga and the United States’ relationship.

"We are also looking forward to celebrating our Embassy opening on an even larger scale later this year. Today’s embassy opening comes less than one year after Vice President Harris announced that the United States would pursue discussions to establish an embassy in Tonga, and it is the beginning of a new chapter of U.S-Tongan relations."

US embassy to open in Tonga

This is what the top US diplomat for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink said on Tuesday.

Reuters reported Kritenbrink told a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the US is also continuing to engage with Vanuatu and Kiribati about opening proposed new embassies in those countries.

The US has re-opened its embassy in Solomon Islands this year after a 30-year absence.

Despite the diplomatic push, the Solomon Islands announced in March it had awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to a Chinese state company to upgrade an international port in Honiara.

US re-opens embassy in Solomon Islands

Washington had announced its intentions to re-establish its presence in the Pacific nation early last year, following concerns over China's security pact with the Solomons and greater interest in the Pacific.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the opening of the embassy "symbolises a renewal relationship" between the two countries.

Blinken said it also highlights the strength of their commitment to their bilateral relations, the people of Solomon Islands, and their partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

US embassy planned for Tonga will ease travel hurdles

A US embassy in Tonga meant travellers would no longer be required to submit visa applications to the US embassy in Fiji.

Retired Tongan MP Lord Fusitu'a said the move would bring huge relief to families wanting to visit relatives in the US - home to more than 70,000 members of the Tongan diaspora.

     

Unhappiness in Tonga at US embassy move

US vice president Kamala Harris made the announcement among other 're-engagement' promises for the Pacific region, in an address via video link with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, yesterday, during the the forum's annual leaders meeting.

RNZ Pacific correspondent in Tonga Kalafi Moala said people there now want to know if there will be consular services provided, so they don't have to travel to Suva to get visas.

Car bomb kills eight people near US Embassy in Kabul

Three U.S. troops were among the wounded, a US military official said.

The blast hit at 7:55 a.m. (local time) in Kabul police district 9, near the embassy and Supreme Court, according to interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish.

The convoy targeted was mine-resistant and can withstand ambushes, coalition officials tweeted.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement posted by its media arm Amaq, the terror group said one of its members targeted "a column of American forces."

PNG journalist to observe U.S. election

Lahoc is a journalist at the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in Lae, Morobe Province.

In a statement, the Embassy says: “His experience as a journalist has focused on advocacy for improved education and informing the public on industrial, economic and environmental implications and benefits of large international projects in the province”.

The program Lahoc will join is the “Edward R. Murrow Project for Journalists for East Asia and Pacific” and runs from October 31 through November 18 in the United States. 

Man shot dead outside US Embassy in Kenya

"The officer fired back in self-defense and managed to kill (the attacker). My officer is in hospital in a stable condition. The victim died on the spot," Vitalis Otieno, the Gigiri division commanding officer of the Nairobi Police, told CNN.

The man killed was a Kenyan national, police said, but they are not releasing his name while the case is under investigation. His motive was not immediately clear.

The officer was stabbed in the head, Otieno said. Further details about the officer's injury weren't immediately available.