United States of America
Latest stories
U.S. to Slow Down Troop Exit from Afghanistan

The United States will scrap a plan to reduce the U.S. force in Afghanistan to 5,500 by December, after American commanders appealed to keep more troops on the ground, officials said Monday.

The White House is due to hold meetings in the coming days that will pave the way for a final decision expected to be announced next week, when Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meets U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.

W140 Full Story
Second NY Man Charged with Pointing Laser at Aircraft

A second New York man in a week was arrested and charged Monday with pointing a laser at aircraft near the city's busy LaGuardia airport, prosecutors said.

Elehecer Balaguer, 54, appeared before a Manhattan magistrate and was charged with one count of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

W140 Full Story
U.S. Says Assad Will 'Never' be Part of Syria Peace Talks

U.S. officials Monday denied there were any plans to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying he would "never" be part of any peace negotiations to end the brutal civil war.

Top U.S. diplomat John Kerry appeared to suggest in a weekend interview that Washington would have to talk with Assad eventually if peace was to be forged, but State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki moved to clarify that assertion.

W140 Full Story
U.S., Cuba Resume Talks amid Venezuela Tensions

U.S. and Cuban officials met Monday in Havana for new talks on restoring diplomatic ties, but their historic rapprochement was marred by tensions over Venezuela.

The top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, Roberta Jacobson, met her Cuban counterpart Josefina Vidal behind closed doors for a third round of talks on normalizing relations, but the atmosphere of reconciliation was marred by protests over Washington's treatment of Venezuela.

W140 Full Story
Syria Media Outlets Say Kerry Remarks 'Acknowledge Assad Legitimacy'

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's suggestion that Washington must negotiate with the Damascus regime was recognition of President Bashar Assad's "legitimacy," Syrian media said on Monday.

The al-Watan newspaper said Kerry's comments, in an interview recorded on Saturday, also "open the door to a new stage in political negotiations."

W140 Full Story
U.N. Expert Demands International Action on N.Korea Abductions

A United Nations rights expert squared off with North Korea Monday by urging the global community to resolve the fate of 200,000 people allegedly abducted by Pyongyang, and refer perpetrators to the International Criminal Court.

"There is a real sense of urgency to solve this matter once and for all," said Marzuki Darusman, the UN's independent expert on the rights situation in North Korea.

W140 Full Story
Syria's Assad Awaits U.S. 'Actions' after Kerry Comments

Syria's President Bashar Assad said Monday he was waiting for action from Washington after Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged talks with Damascus were necessary to end the country's conflict.

The weekend remarks by the top U.S. envoy were quickly clarified when his spokeswoman said Washington's policy was unchanged and Assad had no role in Syria's future.

W140 Full Story
Islamic Militant Group Leader Captured in Philippines

Philippine security forces have arrested the head of a small Islamic militant group who was involved in protecting one of the United States' "most wanted terrorists", the military said Monday.

Mohammad Ali Tambako was detained along with five accomplices as he was riding a motorised tricycle on a main road near a major southern city on Sunday night, military chief General Gregorio Catapang told reporters.

W140 Full Story
Second Commander Linked to IS Group Killed in Afghanistan

Afghan forces have killed a militant commander suspected of having links to the Islamic State group in an air strike, officials said Monday.

Hafiz Waheed, a successor to Abdul Rauf Khadim who died in a U.S. drone strike last month, was killed along with nine others in the Sangin district of Helmand province late on Sunday, according to a defense ministry statement.

W140 Full Story
Kerry, Zarif in Crunch Round of Iran Nuclear Talks

Iran nuclear talks entered a critical week Monday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart racing to find an elusive breakthrough after a negotiating marathon that began in 2013.

Time is running out, with Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif aiming to agree the outlines of a potentially historic agreement by the end of the month. A full accord is then due by July 1.

W140 Full Story