Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks(WASHINGTON) -- After weeks of political in-fighting have paralyzed the Afghan government and frozen the peace process between it and the Taliban, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a surprise trip to the country Monday to prod its leaders to end their dispute and form a government. But after departing Kabul and meeting Taliban leaders in Doha, Qatar, the top U.S. diplomat announced that his efforts failed to bring together rival Afghan leaders and that..

Marilyn Nieves/iStock(MOSCOW) The trial of Paul Whelan, the former United States Marine held on espionage charges in Russia, formally opened on Monday, more than a year after he was first seized by Russian security services. Whelan, a security director for the American auto parts manufacturer BorgWarner, was detained in his hotel room close to Red Square by agents of Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, the FSB, in late December 2018. Russia has never publicly elaborated on the accusations ag..

Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks(WASHINGTON) -- After weeks of political in-fighting have paralyzed the Afghan government and frozen the peace process between it and the Taliban, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a surprise trip to the country Monday to prod its leaders to end their dispute and form a government. That peace process was initiated by the U.S. and Taliban signing an agreement on Feb. 29, but nearly one month later, the militant group have increased their violent attacks..

iStock(NEW YORK) -- As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread around the world, there are growing questions in Russia about the official number of cases that have been declared. According to the count released by its health ministry, Russia currently has only 253 confirmed cases of the virus. That is vastly lower than in other major countries in Western Europe, where there are already thousands of cases. What really makes Russia an outlier, however, is the number of tests it is carrying ou..