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US State Department Issues Worldwide Caution for Overseas Americans

Members of the Colombian army stand guard near the US embassy in Bogota on October 18, 2023. The Israeli and US embassies in Colombia received bomb threats, police sources said Wednesday. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Members of the Colombian army stand guard near the US embassy in Bogota on October 18, 2023. The Israeli and US embassies in Colombia received bomb threats, police sources said Wednesday. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
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US State Department Issues Worldwide Caution for Overseas Americans

Members of the Colombian army stand guard near the US embassy in Bogota on October 18, 2023. The Israeli and US embassies in Colombia received bomb threats, police sources said Wednesday. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Members of the Colombian army stand guard near the US embassy in Bogota on October 18, 2023. The Israeli and US embassies in Colombia received bomb threats, police sources said Wednesday. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

The US State Department on Thursday issued a "worldwide caution security alert" for overseas American citizens, citing increased tensions in various locations around the world and the potential for extremist attacks and violence against Americans.

The alert did not single out any specific global event or war but comes amid an ongoing conflict in the Middle East after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel subsequently pounded Gaza with airstrikes with thousands left dead.

In a related matter, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday that the Justice Department is monitoring an increase in reported threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities in the United States tied to Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“The entire Justice Department remains vigilant in our efforts to identify and respond to hate crimes, threats of violence, or related incidents, with particular attention to threats to faith communities,” Garland said in prepared remarks at a news conference in Jacksonville, Florida.

Garland said that last week he had directed the Federal Bureau of Investigation and US attorneys' offices to work with state and local law enforcement agencies to respond to threats, and urged federal prosecutors to be in contact with faith and community leaders.

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Barack and Michelle Obama Endorse Kamala Harris, Giving Her Expected but Crucial Support

FILED - 29 September 2019, Bavaria, Munich: Barack Obama, former US President, speaks on stage during his opening speech at the Bits & Pretzels company founders' and investors' meeting. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa
FILED - 29 September 2019, Bavaria, Munich: Barack Obama, former US President, speaks on stage during his opening speech at the Bits & Pretzels company founders' and investors' meeting. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa
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Barack and Michelle Obama Endorse Kamala Harris, Giving Her Expected but Crucial Support

FILED - 29 September 2019, Bavaria, Munich: Barack Obama, former US President, speaks on stage during his opening speech at the Bits & Pretzels company founders' and investors' meeting. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa
FILED - 29 September 2019, Bavaria, Munich: Barack Obama, former US President, speaks on stage during his opening speech at the Bits & Pretzels company founders' and investors' meeting. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have endorsed Kamala Harris in her White House bid, giving the vice president the expected but still crucial backing of the nation’s two most popular Democrats.
The endorsement, announced Friday morning in a video showing Harris accepting a joint phone call from the former first couple, comes as Harris continues to build momentum as the party’s likely nominee after President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid and endorse his second-in-command against Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump, The Associated Press said.
It also highlights the friendship and potentially historic link between the nation's first Black president and the first woman, first Black woman and first person of Asian descent to serve as vice president, who is now vying to break those same barriers at the presidential rank.
“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” the former president told Harris, who is shown taking the call as she walks backstage at an event, trailed by a Secret Service agent.
Said Michelle Obama, “I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl, Kamala, I am proud of you.
“This is going to be historic,” she added.
Harris, who has known the Obamas since before his election in 2008, thanked them for their friendship and said she looks forward to “getting there, being on the road” with them in the three-month blitz before Election Day on Nov. 5.
“We’re gonna have some fun with this too, aren’t we?” Harris said.
The Obamas are perhaps the last major party figures to endorse Harris formally — a reflection of the former president’s desire to remain, at least publicly, a party elder operating above the fray. The Obamas remain prodigious fundraising draws and popular surrogates at large campaign events for Democratic candidates.
According to an Associated Press survey, Harris already has secured the public support of a majority of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 19 in Chicago. The Democratic National Committee expects to hold a virtual nominating vote that would, by Aug. 7, make Harris and a yet-to-be-named running mate the official Democratic ticket.
Biden endorsed Harris within an hour of announcing his decision last Sunday to end his campaign amid widespread concern about the 81-year-old president’s ability to defeat Trump. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed in the days after.
The Obamas, however, trod carefully as Harris secured the delegate commitments, made the rounds among core Democratic constituencies and raised more than $120 million. The public caution tracks how the former president handled the weeks between Biden’s debate debacle against Trump and the president’s eventual decision to end his campaign: Obama was a certain presence in the party’s maneuvers but he operated quietly.
Barack Obama’s initial statement after Biden’s announcement did not mention Harris. Instead, he spoke generically about coming up with a nominee to succeed Biden: “I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” the former president wrote.
Both Obamas campaigned separately for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, including large rallies on the closing weekends before Election Day. They delivered key speeches at the Democrats’ convention in 2020, a virtual event because of the coronavirus pandemic. The former president’s speech was especially notable because he unveiled a full-throated attack on Trump as a threat to democracy, an argument that endures as part of Harris’ campaign.