Troop withdrawals
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, accompanied by Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, right, speaks during a news conference at Fiera Roma in Rome, Monday, June 28, 2021. Blinken is on a week long trip in Europe traveling to Germany, France and Italy. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
US warns that Islamic State extremists still a world threat

By Matthew Lee Jun. 28, 2021 06:49 AM EDT

Residents, wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, line up to receive the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. In Afghanistan, where a surge threatens to overwhelm a war-battered health system, 700,000 doses donated by China arrived over the weekend, and within hours, "people were fighting with each other to get to the front of the line," said Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Ghulam Dastigir Nazari. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
US locks down embassy in Afghanistan amid COVID-19 surge

By Matthew Lee Jun. 17, 2021 11:20 AM EDT

Children watch as veterans march in the Anzac Day parade in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 25, 2021. Australians and New Zealanders paid tribute to their war dead Sunday as both nations prepared to withdraw from their longest war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australia and New Zealand commemorate war dead on Anzac Day

By Rod Mcguirk Apr. 24, 2021 07:41 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup: US

By The Associated Press Apr. 14, 2021 08:51 PM EDT
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ April 14 The Chicago Tribune...

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2016 file photo, a U.S. Army soldier guards a position at Camp Swift, northern Iraq. Iraq’s prime minister asked the Iranian leadership to rein in Iran-backed militias in Iraq, and in a strongly worded message to Tehran, suggested he would confront the factions, two Iraqi officials said Wednesday, April 7, 2021, ahead of another round of strategic talks with Washington. (AP Photo/Susannah George, File)
No timetable for withdrawal of troops after US, Iraq talks

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra And Samya Kullab Apr. 07, 2021 12:22 PM EDT

Tigrayan refugees wait in line to revive food from Muslim Aid at Hamdeyat Transition Center near the Sudan-Ethiopia border, eastern Sudan, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
Ethiopia says Eritrean troops are pulling out of Tigray

By Rodney Muhumuza Apr. 03, 2021 04:21 PM EDT

FILE - In this April 17, 2019, file photo, Iraqi soldiers chant slogans against IS while Australian and New Zealand coalition forces participate in a training mission with Iraqi army soldiers at Taji Base, north of Baghdad, Iraq. In a quest to root out Islamic State group hideouts over the summer, Iraqi forces on the ground cleared nearly 90 villages across a notoriously unruly northern province. But the much-touted operation still relied heavily on U.S. intelligence, coalition flights and planning assistance. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
EXPLAINER: How could US drawdown in Iraq aid IS, Iran?

By Samya Kullab Dec. 03, 2020 01:25 AM EST

Editorial Roundup: US

By The Associated Press Dec. 02, 2020 06:36 PM EST
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ Dec. 1 The Wall Street Journal...

Editorial Roundup: US

By The Associated Press Nov. 18, 2020 04:32 PM EST
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ Nov. 17 The Minneapolis Star...

Editorial Roundup: US

By The Associated Press Jul. 08, 2020 03:56 PM EDT
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ July 7 The Washington Post on...

In this image provided by the U.S. Army, recent Army basic combat training graduates have their temperatures taken as they arrive at Fort Lee, Va, on March 31, 2020, after being transported using sterilized buses from Fort Jackson, S.C. COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on military recruiting, shuttering enlistment stations around the country and forcing thousands of recruiters to woo potential soldiers online. Recruiters have had to abandon their normal visits to high schools and malls, and instead rely almost exclusively on social media to reach young people. (U.S. Army via AP)
Changes in military recruiting may endure after pandemic

By Lolita C. Baldor Jun. 30, 2020 12:15 AM EDT

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 26, 2020. U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is at NATO to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and to follow-up on a broad range of issues raised during last week's NATO defense ministerial. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
Pentagon chief seeks to reassure NATO over US troop plans

By Lorne Cook Jun. 26, 2020 08:14 AM EDT

FILE - In this June 9, 2020, file photo, a picture of a former American soldier is displayed at the former U.S. army Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Germany. In vowing to pull thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, President Donald Trump is following a pattern of disruptive moves against allies that have dismayed many of his fellow Republicans. Trump has consistently promised to bring American troops home, dismissing the conventional view that a far-flung U.S. military presence, while costly, pays off in the long run by ensuring stability for global trade. Earlier this week he said the 34,500 U.S. troops in Germany would be reduced to 25,000. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
Trump: Poland to get some US troops withdrawn from Germany

By Jonathan Lemire And Deb Riechmann Jun. 24, 2020 12:03 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 3, 2017 photo, a peasant harvests coca leaves in Puerto Bello, in the southern Colombia's state of Putumayo. The amount of land in Colombia being used to harvest coca, the plant used to make cocaine, ticked up again last year, continuing record highs despite a renewed campaign to manually eradicate the plant, new data from the White House said Thursday, March 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
UN: Less land in Colombia devoted to growing coca in 2019

By Christine Armario Jun. 17, 2020 03:47 PM EDT

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows the rubble of a house that according to the Syrian authorities was attacked by an Israeli airstrike, in the Damascus suburbs of Hajira, Syria, Monday, April 27, 2020. The Syrian military and state media said Monday that Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles toward areas near the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing three civilians. An opposition war monitor says four Iran-backed fighters were also killed. The military says Syrian air defenses shot some of the missiles down. The reports said the attack happened around dawn on Monday. (SANA via AP)
Israeli military says Iran is slowly pulling out of Syria

By Tia Goldenberg May. 21, 2020 10:40 AM EDT