Author: Josh Lederman
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After Warmbier’s death, U.S. weighs travel ban on North Korea
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is considering banning travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea, officials said Tuesday, as outrage grew over the death of American student Otto Warmbier and President Donald Trump declared it a “total disgrace.” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has the authority to cut off travel to North Korea with…
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Trump rolls back some, not all, changes in US-Cuba relations
MIAMI — Pressing “pause” on a historic detente, President Donald Trump thrust the U.S. and Cuba back on a path toward open hostility with a blistering denunciation of the island’s communist government. He clamped down on some commerce and travel but left intact many new avenues President Barack Obama had opened. The Cuban government responded…
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Trump thrusts US, Cuba back toward hostile relations
MIAMI — Pressing “pause” on a historic detente, President Donald Trump thrust the U.S. and Cuba back on a path toward open hostility Friday with a blistering denunciation of the island’s communist government. He clamped down on some commerce and travel but left intact many new avenues President Barack Obama had opened. The Cuban government…
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Turkey slams US over ‘aggressive’ acts against bodyguards
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey summoned the American ambassador on Monday to protest what it called “aggressive and unprofessional actions” by American security personnel against Turkish bodyguards during a violent incident last week in Washington. The U.S. ambassador told Turkey’s government its guards violated U.S. laws, a senior U.S. official said. Turkey’s action appeared to represent…
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Russia accuses US of unlawful Syria raid as Tillerson visits
MOSCOW — Russia’s top diplomat accused the United States on Wednesday of carrying out an unlawful attack against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces as he opened a fraught meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Giving Tillerson a chilly reception, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was trying to understand the “real…
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Trump declares US-Russia relations may be at ‘all-time low’
WASHINGTON — Laying bare deep and dangerous divisions on Syria and other issues, President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that U.S. relations with Russia “may be at an all-time low.” His top diplomat offered a similarly grim assessment from the other side of the globe after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. “Right now…
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Homeland Security chief: No use of military for deportations
MEXICO CITY — Seeking to tamp down growing unease in Latin America, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly pledged Thursday that the United States won’t enlist its military to enforce immigration laws and that there will be “no mass deportations.” Only hours earlier, President Donald Trump suggested the opposite. He told CEOs at the White…
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Senior diplomat resignations accepted as Trump team enters
WASHINGTON — A number of senior career diplomats are leaving the State Department after the Trump administration accepted their resignations from presidentially appointed positions. The State Department said Thursday that several senior management officials as well as a top arms control diplomat would be leaving. All had submitted their resignations prior to Donald Trump’s January…
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How Trump’s plan to pay for Mexico border wall would work
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is promising Mexico will pay for his massive border wall. On Thursday, his administration finally suggested how: a 20 percent tax on products imported from south of the border. The new measure could be part of a comprehensive tax reform package that Trump and Congress will work out, the White…
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In final act as president, Obama commutes 330 drug sentences
WASHINGTON — In a last major act as president, Barack Obama cut short the sentences of 330 federal inmates convicted of drug crimes on Thursday, bringing his bid to correct what he’s called a systematic injustice to a climactic close. With his final offer of clemency, Obama brought his total number of commutations granted to 1,715,…