WASHINGTON — Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO caught in the middle of a whistleblower complaint over the President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, resigned Friday from his post as special envoy to the Eastern European nation, according to a U.S. official. The official said Volker told Secretary...
Taliban Suicide Blast in Kabul Kills 14, Wounds 145
KABUL, Afghanistan — A Taliban car bomb aimed at Afghan security forces ripped through a busy Kabul neighborhood on Wednesday, killing 14 people and wounding 145 — most of them women, children and other civilians — shortly after the extremist group and the United States reported progress on negotiating an...
Taliban Attack U.S.-Based Aid Group Office in Afghan Capital, Kill 5
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban fighters attacked the offices of a U.S.-based aid organization in the Afghan capital Wednesday, setting off a huge explosion and battling security forces in an assault that lasted more than six hours and killed at least five people, the Interior Ministry said. Dozens of civilian vehicles...
Trump Buddies Up With Bolsonaro, the ‘Trump of the Tropics’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump welcomed Brazil's new far-right leader to the White House Tuesday and made clear that flattery pays. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — the "Trump of the Tropics"— ran an unabashedly pro-Trump, pro-American campaign last year, emulating Trump in tone and style. It seems to have paid...
AP Fact Check: Trump’s Misdirection on CA Fires, Climate
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is going too far in assigning most of the blame for California's devastating wildfires on the state's forest management. In comments over the weekend, he called forest management a "big problem" and suggested that California officials needed to do a much better job. But most...
3 Top Afghan Officials Killed by Guards But US General Survives
KABUL, Afghanistan — The three top officials in Afghanistan's Kandahar province were killed when their own guards opened fire on them at a security conference Thursday, the deputy provincial governor said, and a Taliban spokesman said the target was Washington's top general in Afghanistan, Gen. Scott Miller, who escaped without...
Zakaria: High Costs, Low Benefits Of Trump's Negotiating Prowess
The Trump two-step. That's how Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria describes President Donald Trump's negotiating style. "It goes something like this: Begin by hurling insults at the other side, some of which have a basis in reality but are mostly wild exaggerations. Threaten extreme consequences. Then meet with the other side,...
US Will Sanction Turkey Over Detained Pastor, Trump Says
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared on Thursday the United States will impose sanctions on Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, in retaliation for the detention of an American pastor on terror and espionage charges. Turkey's response was both harsh and dismissive, calling his words "unacceptable" and a "cheap threat." Trump's...
What Did Trump Dish Up in Britain? A Fresh Plate of Chaos.
BLENHEIM PALACE, England — President Donald Trump left behind a contentious NATO gathering in Brussels and moved on to Britain, where a pomp-filled welcome ceremony Thursday was soon overshadowed by an interview in which Trump blasted Prime Minister Theresa May, blamed London's mayor for terror attacks against the city and...
Putin, Trump Will Hold Summit in Helsinki on July 16
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a summit in Helsinki on July 16, a long-expected encounter that comes amid spiraling tensions between Moscow and Washington. A terse synchronized statement issued by the Kremlin and the White House said Putin and Trump will discuss...