U.S., Afghanistan reach security agreement
By Greg Botelho
The United States and Afghanistan have "reached an agreement as to the final language of the bilateral security agreement" between the two countries, America's top diplomat said Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the accord was reached during conversations Wednesday between himself and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
FULL STORY Kerry pleads for no new sanctions on Iran as nuclear talks continue
By Ted Barrett and Greg Botelho
Secretary of State John Kerry took his case on Wednesday to Capitol Hill, urging Congress not to impose new sanctions on Iran as talks with that country on its nuclear program heat up.
"Our hope is that no new sanctions would be put in place for the simple reason that, if they are, it could be viewed as bad faith by the people we are negotiating with," Kerry said before entering a closed-door briefing with members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
"It could destroy the ability to be able to get agreement," he added, "and it could actually wind up setting us back in dialogue that's taken 30 years to achieve."
There's likely to be push-back to the diplomat's move, as several in Congress who still don't trust Iran's leaders have said they want fresh sanctions to keep up the pressure.
FULL STORY
Yemen, U.S. intercept ship with 'large cache of illegal arms'
By Barbara Starr and Greg Botelho
Yemeni authorities working with the U.S. Navy intercepted a ship carrying a "substantial" cache of "illegal arms" such as surface-to-air missiles, potent explosives and rocket-propelled grenades, a U.S. official and Yemen's government said Monday.
The incident took place in Yemeni territorial waters in the Arabian Sea last Wednesday, according to a statement issued five days later from Yemen's embassy in Washington.
FULL STORY
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