National security

FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2020, file photo, an Afghan security official stands near a vehicle in which rockets were placed, in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, after five rockets were fired at a major U.S. base in Afghanistan. The U.S. military has met its goal of reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan to about 2,500 by Friday, a drawdown that appears to violate a last-minute congressional prohibition. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

Pentagon says US has dropped to 2,500 troops in Afghanistan

Jan. 15, 2021 9:33 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has met its goal of reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan to about 2,500 by Friday, a drawdown that appears to violate a last-minute congressional prohibition. “Today, the United States is closer than ever to ending nearly two decades of war and welcoming...

John Clancey, an American lawyer who became the first foreigner arrested under Hong Kong's national security law, speaks during an interview in Hong Kong, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Clancey said Friday that the courts now have a choice between the new law and the city's legally enshrined freedoms, as China cracks down on dissent in the Asian financial capital. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

AP Interview: Arrested US lawyer says HK courts face choice

Jan. 15, 2021 3:48 AM EST

HONG KONG (AP) — An American lawyer who became the first foreigner arrested under Hong Kong's national security law said Friday that the courts now have a choice between the new law and the city's legally enshrined freedoms, as China cracks down on dissent in the Asian financial capital. John Clancey was...

FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2020, file photo President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Confirmation hearing postponed for Biden's intel chief pick

Jan. 14, 2021 11:04 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A confirmation hearing for President-elect Joe Biden's pick for national intelligence director has been postponed until next week, according to leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Avril Haines, a former CIA deputy director and former deputy national security adviser in the Obama...

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2021 file photo, The Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge overlooks the newly-completed Moynihan Train Hall in New York. Two major railroad workers unions have asked the Department of Homeland Security to beef up security on Amtrak and other passenger rail lines, including by creating a no-ride list akin to the no-fly list that prevents people identified as risks from boarding planes. The unions said Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, that tougher security measures are needed after last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol because people who took part in the insurrection that were placed on the no-fly list may turn to railroads for transportation. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen File).

Unions: Passenger rails need better security, no-ride list

Jan. 14, 2021 6:08 PM EST

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two major railroad workers unions have asked the Department of Homeland Security to beef up security on Amtrak and other passenger lines, including by creating a no-ride list akin to the no-fly list that prevents people identified as risks from boarding planes. The unions said Wednesday...

This photo shows the main page of HKChronicles website, seen in Yokohama, Japan, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. A Hong Kong internet service provider on Thursday, said it had blocked access to a pro-democracy website to comply with the city’s national security law. In a statement emailed on Thursday, Hong Kong Broadband Network said that it had disabled access to HKChronicles, a website which compiled information on “yellow” shops that had supported the city's pro-democracy movement and released personal information and pictures of police and pro-Beijing supporters as part of a doxxing effort during anti-government protests in 2019. (AP Photo)

Hong Kong internet firm blocked website over security law

Jan. 14, 2021 6:36 AM EST

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong internet service provider on Thursday said it had blocked access to a pro-democracy website to comply with the city’s national security law. In a statement emailed on Thursday, Hong Kong Broadband Network said that it had disabled access to HKChronicles, a website which...

District councillor and lawyer Daniel Wong Kwok-tung, center, is escorted by police outside his office after police search in Hong Kong, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. Wong, a member of the city's Democratic Party, is known for providing legal assistance to hundreds of protesters arrested during the anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019. Hong Kong national security police on Thursday arrested a lawyer and 10 others on suspicion of helping 12 Hong Kongers try to flee the city, local media reported in the latest arrests in an ongoing crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Lawyer, others arrested by Hong Kong national security unit

Jan. 14, 2021 6:09 AM EST

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police on Thursday said they arrested 11 people on suspicion of assisting offenders who are believed to be the 12 Hong Kong activists detained at sea by mainland Chinese authorities while attempting to flee the city last year. District councilor and lawyer Daniel Wong Kwok-tung...

Workers prepare the foundation for a steel section of border wall that will be built on the Mexican side of older metal fencing dividing Ciudad Juarez, Mexico from Sunland Park, New Mexico, on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. With eight days remaining in his term, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday visited a completed section of the border wall in Texas to trumpet his campaign against illegal immigration in an attempt to burnish his legacy. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)

Immigration agency leader resigns, only weeks in office

Jan. 13, 2021 11:03 PM EST

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resigned Wednesday, only weeks after taking over the agency that detains and deports immigrants and runs international criminal investigations. Jonathan Fahey gave no explanation for his abrupt departure in a brief email to...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., an ally of President Donald Trump, passes through a metal detector before entering the House chamber, a new security measure put into place after a mob stormed the Capitol, in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. The House is trying to push the vice president and Cabinet to act even more quickly to remove President Donald Trump from office. Democrats are set to pass a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke constitutional authority under the 25th Amendment to oust Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Latest: Pelosi wants fines for bypassing House security

Jan. 13, 2021 8:42 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the fallout from the attack of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump loyalists (all times local): 8:35 p.m. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is proposing fines of up to $10,000 will be imposed on members who fail to abide by the security protocols of the House. Wednesday's announcement...

FILE _ In this Aug. 29, 2019 file photo, President Donald Trump watches with Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary Mark Esper as the flag for U.S. space Command is unfurled as Trump announces the establishment of the U.S. Space Command in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. The U.S. Air Force is expected to announce Huntsville, Ala. as the location for the U.S. Space Command headquarters, according to Gov. Kay Ivey. The governor said she was informed of the decision Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

US Space Command site to be located in Huntsville, Alabama

Jan. 13, 2021 5:23 PM EST

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Air Force announced Wednesday that the new U.S. Space Command headquarters will be in Huntsville, Alabama, after the state was selected over five others competing for the project, including Colorado, where Space Command is provisionally located. The role of Space Command is...

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2017 file photo, Harvard professor Samantha Power, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses an audience at a forum on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass. President-elect Joe Biden has selected Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Barack Obama, to run the U.S. Agency for International Development. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Biden picks Samantha Power, former UN envoy, for US aid post

Jan. 13, 2021 1:40 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he has picked Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Barack Obama, to run the agency overseeing American foreign humanitarian and development aid. If confirmed by the Senate, Power will head the U.S....

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