Author: Ellen Knickmeyer
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Biden’s closest allies are stepping up pressure on White House to do more to ease suffering in Gaza
More of President Joe Biden’s top Senate allies are demanding that the U.S. act directly to ease Palestinian civilian suffering in Gaza and are joining calls to cut military aid if Israel refuses to change course
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Russian efforts to create anti-satellite weapons are cause for US concern
The U.S. has gathered highly sensitive intelligence about Russian anti-satellite weapons that has been shared in recent weeks with the upper echelons of government
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U.S. to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s at air base in Arizona
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WASHINGTON • The U.S. will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, beginning at an Air National Guard base in October, the Pentagon said Thursday. The training is part of a U.S. and European effort to get the advanced fighter jets to Ukraine for its defense against invading Russian forces. American military…
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Top Biden aide tells China diplomat that U.S. wants to ‘move beyond’ spy balloon
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WASHINGTON • White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Yi during talks in Vienna this week that the Biden administration is “looking to move beyond” tensions spurred by the U.S. shooting down a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the continental United States, according to a senior Biden administration official.…
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Veterans testify of ‘catastrophic’ impact of Afghan collapse
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WASHINGTON • Active-service members and veterans provided firsthand testimony Wednesday about the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, describing in harrowing detail the carnage and death they witnessed on the ground while imploring Congress to help the allies left behind. Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews testified to Congress about the stench of human flesh under a…
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‘A big deal’: U.S., Philippines tighten military ties
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MANILA, Philippines • The Philippines said Thursday it was allowing U.S. forces to broaden their footprint in the Southeast Asian nation, the latest Biden administration move strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan. Thursday’s agreement, which gives U.S. forces access to four…
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Biden trip promotes budding Arab-Israeli security ties
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WASHINGTON • Once-unthinkable coordination between Israeli and Arab militaries is in the spotlight as Joe Biden makes his first Middle East trip as president, heightening debates over whether the U.S.-backed initiative between former enemies strengthens defenses against Iran or makes a regional war more likely. Israeli-Arab security overtures have multiplied since the 2020 Abraham Accords…
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Ambassador nominee for Ukraine seeks quick embassy reopening
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WASHINGTON • The Biden administration’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Ukraine promised senators Tuesday she would work to make Russia’s invasion of that country a “strategic failure,” in a war-zone appointment that for the time being will focus more on coordinating Western weapon shipments for Ukraine’s forces than on diplomacy. Bridget Brink, who has spent…
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Biden, Putin children open targets in sanctions over Ukraine
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WASHINGTON • In targeting Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters with sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration ripped aside the privacy Putin has long maintained over his closest ties — avoiding mention of the two women’s full names in public, and most other references to them as well. The sanctions imposed on immediate family…
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U.S. sanctions Iranians after missile strikes in Iraq, Gulf
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WASHINGTON • The United States sanctioned Iranian defense companies Wednesday after a spate of ballistic missile attacks on targets in Iraq and the Gulf. The U.S. and Iran’s neighbors blame that country for a March 13 strike on Irbil, Iraq, and for repeated missile strikes into Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates by Iranian-backed…