Author: Matthew Lee
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Diplomats meet on Iran deal as Trump stays mum on decision
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump has determined how he wants to approach the Iran nuclear deal — which he has called the worst agreement ever negotiated by the United States — but has not told even his top national security advisers what his decision is. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that Trump…
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‘I have decided,’ Trump says of Iran deal – before big talks
NEW YORK — “I have decided,” President Donald Trump declared Wednesday, announcing he’d reached a verdict on the Iran nuclear deal’s future even as top U.S. and Iranian officials headed into their highest-level talks of his presidency. Iran’s leader, meanwhile, lashed out at “ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric” in response to Trump’s blistering attack at…
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Tillerson says diplomats in Havana suffered ‘health attacks’
HAVANA — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that U.S. diplomats in Havana had been the victims of “health attacks” that left them with hearing loss — the most definitive U.S. statement yet on a series of mysterious incidents that have puzzled longtime observers of U.S.-Cuban relations. His comments came two days after the…
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AP sources: US seeks to test Iran deal with more inspections
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is pushing for inspections of suspicious Iranian military sites in a bid to test the strength of the nuclear deal that President Donald Trump desperately wants to cancel, senior U.S. officials said. The inspections are one element of what is designed to be a more aggressive approach to preventing Iran…
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AP sources: US to ban Americans from traveling to North Korea
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say the Trump administration will ban American citizens from traveling to North Korea following the death of university student Otto Warmbier who passed away after falling into a coma into a North Korean prison. The officials said Friday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had decided to impose “geographic travel restriction”…
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Travel ban takes effect but less chaos expected
WASHINGTON — A scaled-back version of President Donald Trump’s travel ban took effect Thursday evening, stripped of provisions that brought protests and chaos at airports worldwide in January yet still likely to generate a new round of court fights. The new rules, the product of months of legal wrangling, aren’t so much an outright ban…
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US sets new visa rules for 6 mainly Muslim nations, refugees
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is putting new criteria in place Thursday for visa applicants from six mostly Muslim nations and all refugees, requiring a close family or business tie to the United States. The move comes after the Supreme Court partially restored President Donald Trump’s executive order that was widely criticized as a ban…
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US: Syria is burning bodies to hide proof of mass killings
WASHINGTON — In a move aimed at ratcheting up pressure on Russia to push the Syrian government into peace talks with rebels, the United States has accused Syria of executing thousands of imprisoned political opponents and burning their bodies in a crematorium to hide the evidence. But the decision to release newly declassified information supporting…
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Officials: New Trump order drops Iraq from travel ban list
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban, U.S. officials said Tuesday, citing the latest draft in circulation. Trump is expected to sign the executive order in the coming days. Four officials told The Associated Press that the decision…
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AP Sources: US readies sanctions on Iran after missile test
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to levy new sanctions on Iran, U.S. officials said Thursday, in the first punitive action since the White House put Iran “on notice” after it test-fired a ballistic missile. Up to two dozen Iranian individuals, companies and possibly government agencies could be penalized as part of the move,…