Politics

  WASHINGTON / AP Despite his promises of a no-holds-barred administration, President Donald Trump is tiptoeing around US military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, and dialing back the threats of abandoning allies. It seems Trump is opting for an increasingly risk-averse approach to the world. Although he vowed an aggressive new Iran posture and at one point questioned even basic ...

  WASHINGTON / AP President Donald Trump’s new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary US travel ban, US officials say, 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 followed pressure from the Pentagon ...

  BERLIN / AP The United States on Wednesday called on the UN Human Rights Council to drop its “obsession with Israel” amid reports that the Trump administration is considering quitting the body. In a speech before the Geneva-based council, US envoy Erin Barclay said the United States’ commitment to human rights “is stronger than ever.” “Regrettably, too many of the ...

  KUALA LUMPUR / AP Appearing calm and solemn, two young women accused of smearing VX nerve agent on Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korea’s leader, were charged with murder on Wednesday. The women, who arrived in court under the protection of masked special forces carrying machine guns, are at the center of a bizarre killing at ...

  BOGOR / AP The first Saudi monarch to visit Indonesia in nearly half a century arrived on Wednesday to an elaborate official welcome and crowds of thousands. King Salman exited his plane at Halim airport in Jakarta using a gold-colored escalator sent from Saudi Arabia for the visit, with a portable lift carrying him the final meter or so to ...

  MOSCOW / AP The largest provider of humanitarian aid in rebel-held eastern Ukraine said on Wednesday that it has suspended its operations there. The charity foundation run by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov has been distributing food and other supplies to residents in the rebel-controlled east, where most of the international aid organizations have no access. Akhmetov’s foundation said in a statement ...

  Bloomberg Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said another vote on independence is the only way to protect the country’s interests unless the UK softens its plan to leave the European Union and its single market. Speaking at an event organized by the David Hume Institute in Edinburgh on Tuesday evening, Sturgeon said factions in the UK Parliament want to ...

  Bloomberg Turkey is seeking US support to lead a ground offensive against IS main stronghold in Syria, a Turkish official said, a move that could give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more influence in the conflict and undermine Kurdish groups linked to separatists he’s fighting at home. Troops and Syrian rebels loyal to Ankara would advance on Raqqa through areas ...

  BEIRUT / AP Syrian government forces and their allies from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah reached the outskirts of Palmyra in their push to drive IS militants from the ancient town, activists said on Tuesday. The advancing forces reached the town’s southwestern gateway, located about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from its famed Roman ruins, according to the activist-run Palmyra Coordination ...

  MOSCOW / AP President Vladimir Putin says Russia will close its military base in Kyrgyzstan if the government of the Central Asian nation asks it to. Putin was speaking on Tuesday in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, as part of a Central Asian tour. The Kyrgyz president said in December that the base should close when the lease runs out at ...