YEREVAN, June 4 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton voiced concern on Monday that violence between Armenia
and Azerbaijan could lead to a broader regional conflict as
three Armenian soldiers died in a border incident.

Clinton began a trip to the South Caucasus region by calling
on all sides to renounce violence as the former Soviet republics
traded accusations over a clash that killed the Armenian
soldiers and wounded troops on both sides of their border.

YEREVAN (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began a trip to the South Caucasus region on Monday calling on arch rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan to renounce violence that she warned could slip into a broader regional conflict.

Post-Soviet nations Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations on Monday ahead of Clinton’s arrival over violence that killed three Armenian soldiers and wounded soldiers on both sides of their shared border.

TROMSO, Norway, June 2 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton boarded a research ship on Saturday to tour the
Arctic, where the world’s big powers are vying for control of
vast deposits of oil, gas and minerals that are becoming
available as polar ice recedes.

She visited Tromso, a Norwegian town north of the Arctic
Circle, in a once inaccessible region where resources are up for
grabs.

TROMSO, Norway (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boards a research ship on Saturday to tour the Arctic, where big powers are vying for vast deposits of oil, gas and minerals that are becoming available as the polar ice recedes.

The top U.S. diplomat took the unusual step of visiting Tromso, a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle, to dramatize U.S. interests in a once inaccessible region whose resources are up for grabs as the sea ice melts with climate change.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday laid out arguments against armed intervention in Syria despite last week’s massacre in the town of Houla.

Speaking to Danish students, Clinton got tough questions on what might motivate the United States and other nations to take military action in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad is battling a 14-month-old anti-government uprising.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday praised the “Arab Spring” popular revolutions in the Middle East but said instability and violence often precede greater respect for human rights.

In its annual survey of human rights around the world, the State Department also recognized Myanmar for freeing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and for starting to open up its political system after decades of repression.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker confirmed on Tuesday that he plans to step down this summer because of ill health, and sources said the highly regarded career diplomat was leaving at a time of his choosing and was not pushed out.

Reuters reported on Monday that Crocker, a veteran diplomat who came out of retirement to take the demanding Kabul post, was expected to step down soon, leaving as Washington negotiates a host of challenges on its course out of the long, costly war.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Jeffrey Feltman, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, is expected to leave the Obama administration to take a senior post at the United Nations, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Feltman, who is assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, is expected to replace Lynn Pascoe, another career U.S. diplomat, as U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, a key post at the world body.

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) – The United States warned
supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on
Wednesday it may freeze their assets if they hamper the transfer
of power in the Gulf nation.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order allowing
U.S. authorities to sanction members of Yemen’s government or
others who endanger its stability, notably by obstructing a Nov.
23 deal that ultimately brought an end to Saleh’s 33-year reign.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, May 1 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton left on Monday on a high-stakes trip to
Beijing, where a blind dissident is reportedly holed up in the
U.S. embassy in a drama threatening to overshadow top-level
meetings between the two governments.

Dissident Chen Guangcheng, according to one of his helpers,
will demand to stay in China and press on with his campaign for
reform, adding to tension between Beijing and Washington that
poses risks for both governments as well as to relations between
the world’s two biggest economies.