A ferry carrying Americans out of violence-plagued Libya left Tripoli on Friday after nearly three days of delay, a State Department spokesman has confirmed. The M/V Maria Delores, carrying 300 evacuees, more than half of them U.S. citizens, left the Libyan capital at 1:37 p.m. local time, said spokesman Philip J. Crowley.

Meetings of high ranking U.S. diplomats with leaders of the countries will focus on issues on the bilateral agenda and the regional situation. They will meet with representatives of civil society and media in each of the countries, the State Department reports.

The federal budget deficit will run a record $1.65 trillion in 2011. So why does Washington continue to subsidize foreign governments? The House Republicans appear determined to reduce spending, and one of their targets is foreign “aid.” This year the State Department would lose 16% of its budget; humanitarian aid would drop by 41 percent.

By now, it’s clear that social media has played a critical role in fomenting and sustaining public protests across the Middle East...In that vein, the State Department has just launched a new Farsi Twitter account, USAdarFarsi. Its first tweet: “US State Dept recognizes historic role of social media among Iranians. We want to join in your conversations.”

After two years of trying, human rights activist Abdelaziz Dahhassi realized his dream late last year of setting up a think tank to find new ways to fight ethnic and religious discrimination in France.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has chosen Marc Grossman, a retired senior diplomat and former ambassador to Turkey, as the Obama administration’s new special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, a senior State Department official said Monday.