US says it discussed aid in talks in Doha but Taliban say deal agreed that stops short of formal recognition of new rulersThe United States has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, b…
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping to hold virtual meeting this year – White House
Biden administration announces plan after meeting between US national security adviser and China’s top diplomat The US president, Joe Biden, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are planning to meet by video link before the end of the year, a senio…
US Afghanistan withdrawal a ‘logistical success but strategic failure’, Milley says
General and other military leaders in heated cross-examinationMilley defends loyalty to country and rejects suggestion to quitThe withdrawal from Afghanistan and the evacuation of Kabul was “a logistical success but a strategic failure,” the chairman o…
Is China stepping up its ambition to supplant US as top superpower?
Analysis: Joe Biden has cleared the decks to focus on China. But how imminent is the danger?It may have been an inelegantly, even ineptly, executed pivot, gratuitously alienating key allies, but by leaving Afghanistan and forming the Australian, US and…
Can Boris Johnson expect UK-US trade deal to go ahead?
His closeness to Trump has not helped and if agreement were struck by 2024 it would be considered rapid progressThree reasons. First, Britain exports more to the US than to any other country. When added together, the countries of the European Union cou…
Aukus pact: France to send ambassador back to US after Macron-Biden call
US and Australia not going back on cancelled €56bn submarine contract despite talk with French leaderFrance has agreed to return its ambassador to the US and Joe Biden has vowed not to cut Paris out of key future defence decisions in the Indo-Pacific a…
Boris Johnson talks up ‘solid steps’ on US trade as lamb deal agreed
PM says in Washington he has ‘every confidence a great deal is there to be done’ on transatlantic trade The US will start to allow imports of UK lamb for the first time in decades, Boris Johnson has said, as he used his trip to Washington to talk up wh…
Most Europeans believe US in new cold war with China and Russia – poll
Few view their own country as a direct participant but larger proportion feel EU is part of conflict A majority of Europeans believe a new cold war is under way between the US and its chief geopolitical rivals, China and Russia, according to a report –…
From climate to Covid rules: how Johnson and Biden match up
Analysis: the two leaders have found common ground in some areas, though dividing lines remainOn Boris Johnson’s first trip to meet Joe Biden in Washington, the prime minister was on a charm offensive as he attempts to nurture the special relationship …
‘It’s heartbreaking’: Steve McCurry on Afghan Girl, a portrait of past and present
The US photographer’s image of Sharbat Gula captured the story of a country, its people and refugees across the world. Thirty six years on, another picture tells a similar tale – but also one of hopeOn 1 September, a young Afghan girl stood in line wit…