On surprise Iraq visit, Biden urging end to political crisis
By JOSH LEDERMAN Vice President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Thursday to implore the country’s leaders to resolve a crippling political crisis that has hindered efforts…
Middle East
Airstrikes, shelling kill at least 60 in Syria’s Aleppo city
By SARAH EL DEEB A wave of airstrikes and shelling killed more than 60 people in less than 24 hours in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, monitors and activists…
Trump vows to put “America first” in foreign policy
By JILL COLVIN and JULIE PACE In a rare formal policy speech, Republican front-runner Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to put American security “above all else” if elected president, warning allies…
Obama boosts Islamic State fight, asks Europe to do the same
By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY Evoking history and appealing for solidarity, President Barack Obama on Monday cast his decision to send 250 more troops to Syria as a bid to keep up…
On German visit, Obama to push trans-Atlantic trade deal
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and KATHLEEN HENNESSEY President Barack Obama opened a two-day visit to Germany on Sunday hoping to counter deep public skepticism about a trans-Atlantic trade deal with Europe…
Trump’s GOP Senate critics fact check him on foreign policy
By RICHARD LARDNER The Senate’s leading Republican voices on national security are assembling an indictment of Donald Trump’s worldview by soliciting rebuttals from U.S. military leaders that challenge the accuracy…
US to send 200 more troops, Apache helicopters, to Iraq
By LOLITA C. BALDOR The U.S. has agreed to deploy more than 200 additional troops to Iraq and to send eight Apache helicopters for the first time into the fight…
Libyan smuggling route grows 1 year after mass drownings
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK When more than 800 people drowned last year on an overcrowded ship bound for Italy’s southernmost isle of Lampedusa, the European Union deployed a round-the-clock flotilla that…