Author: Matt Lee
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U.S. says China balloon could collect intelligence signals
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WASHINGTON • The China balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration declared Thursday, citing imagery from American U-2 spy planes. A fleet of balloons operates under the direction of the…
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U.S. urges world to tell Russia to stop its nuclear threats
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UNITED NATIONS • The United States urged other nations to tell Russia to stop making nuclear threats and end “the horror” of its war in Ukraine as all three countries’ top diplomats spoke — but didn’t quite meet — at a high-profile U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday. Held alongside the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering…
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Ukraine, neighbors, to get big new aid, Blinken says in Kyiv
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KYIV, Ukraine • Underscoring determined U.S. support, Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Thursday and the Biden administration ramped up military aid by more than $2.8 billion to Ukraine and other European countries threatened by Russia. The new assistance came as the U.S. sought to boost momentum in Ukraine’s…
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Biden issues new warning to Russia over invading Ukraine
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GENEVA • President Joe Biden said Thursday that Russian troop movements across Ukraine’s border would constitute an invasion and that Moscow would “pay a heavy price” for such an action. It was the latest White House effort to clear up comments Biden made a day earlier when he suggested that a “minor incursion” by Russia…
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Evacuees plead for action: ‘We are in some kind of jail’
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WASHINGTON • American veterans groups and others are pleading for U.S. and Taliban action on a weeklong standoff that has left hundreds of would-be evacuees from Afghanistan desperate to board waiting charter flights out of a northern Afghan airport. These groups say several dozen Americans, along with a much larger number of U.S. green card…
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U.S. struggles to speed Kabul airlift despite Taliban, chaos
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WASHINGTON • The United States struggled Thursday to pick up the pace of American and Afghan evacuations at Kabul airport, constrained by obstacles ranging from armed Taliban checkpoints to paperwork problems. With an Aug. 31 deadline looming, tens of thousands remained to be airlifted from the chaotic country. Taliban fighters and their checkpoints ringed the…
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Russian gas pipeline vexes U.S. charm offensive in Germany
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BERLIN (AP) — The United States and Germany struggled Wednesday to resolve a major dispute over a Russian gas pipeline, even as the Biden administration seeks to improve relations with Western Europe that had been strained during Donald Trump’s presidency. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his German counterpart Heiko Maas met in Berlin…
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U.S. says it’s ready to join talks to resume Iran nuclear deal
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WASHINGTON • The Biden administration said Thursday it’s ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal. It’s also reversed the Trump administration’s determination that U.N. sanctions against Iran had been restored and eased stringent restrictions on the domestic U.S. travel of Iranian diplomats posted to…
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Trump: U.S. demands restoration of UN sanctions against Iran
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WASHINGTON • The United States will demand Thursday that United Nations sanctions be reimposed against Iran, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, a move that follows America’s embarrassing failure to extend an arms embargo against Tehran. The administration’s insistence on snapping back international sanctions against Iran sets the stage for a contentious dispute. It’s possible that…
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At U.N., Trump attacks globalism and urges pressure on Iran
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UNITED NATIONS • President Donald Trump stood before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday and rejected “globalism” and liberal immigration policies while exhorting the world to act against Iran’s “bloodlust.” His speech before world leaders had to compete with news from Washington of a growing movement by Democrats to impeach him. Trump took aim at…