Politics

  BRUSSELS / AP NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is urging the allies to step up defense spending on the eve of a first meeting between new US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his 27 counterparts in Brussels. Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that “fair burden-sharing and increased defense spending underpins the trans-Atlantic alliance.” US President Donald Trump hinted during the ...

  MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU / AP Five hundred US troops began to arrive in a Romanian Black Sea port with tanks and hardware to bolster defense in this East European NATO nation. The US embassy said the “Fighting Eagles,” 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, will be stationed in the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in eastern Romania, on a rotational basis. US ...

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s attempt to close America’s borders to citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries suffered another blow as judges on both coasts issued rulings that will make it even harder for the administration to rescue the beleaguered plan. Together, the rulings mean that the administration may now have to start answering questions from state officials about whether ...

  SEOUL / AP South Korean prosecutors are attempting for a second time to arrest Samsung’s de facto leader, who faces bribery allegations in connection with a massive political scandal. Special prosecutors investigating the influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of the president said on Tuesday they have asked a court to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-yong, ...

  SATTAHIP / AP The highest-ranking US official to visit Thailand since a 2014 coup urged the country to restore democracy while reaffirming the partnership between the two nations, saying Tuesday that America needs “a strong and stable ally” in Southeast Asia. Adm. Harry B. Harris, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, spoke at the start of the annual ...

  North Korea / AP The United States, Japan and South Korea have requested urgent diplomatic talks at the United Nations on Monday over North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch, with Seoul condemning what it called “serious military and security threats” and predicting more such tests. A spokesman for the US Mission to the United Nations said that the meeting ...

  TAIPEI / AP Taiwanese officials and media reports are blaming a cold spell for the deaths of more than 150 people, most of them elderly and sick, over the past several days. Temperatures fell as low as 6.7 degrees Celsius (44 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday evening along the coast north of the capital, Taipei. Taiwan’s Liberty Times newspaper and ...

  TOKYO / AP The prime minister of the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile said on Monday that he has high expectations for President Donald Trump to support dialogue between the Tibetans and Beijing, as Trump’s predecessors have. Lobsang Sangay told foreign journalists in Tokyo that “it matters” what the United States does and says,” and that Tibetans should “remain hopeful” that ...

  DUBAI / AP The secretary-general of the United Nations says he “deeply regrets” the United States’ decision to block a former Palestinian prime minister from leading the world body’s political mission in Libya. Antonio Guterres says that Salam Fayyad was “the right person for the right job at the right moment.” Guterres said: “I think it is a loss ...

  MOSCOW / AP Russia released drone footage on Monday showing new destruction in Syria’s historic town of Palmyra, which was recently recaptured by the IS group, and warned that the militants could be planning the further demolition of antiquities. The Russian Defense Ministry says Syrian government forces are advancing toward the town as another battle for the ancient site ...