BRUSSELS (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended Belgium’s counterterrorism efforts despite a series of security and intelligence failings in the run-up to the suicide bombings that killed 31 people this week. Confirming that several FBI agents are involved in the investigation into the attacks, Kerry said the …

BRUSSELS (AP) – The Latest on the suicide bombings this week in Brussels (all times local): 2:15 p.m. Belgian state media is reporting that two explosions have been heard and one person has been detained in police raids in the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek. It is not clear whether the …

ISLAMABAD (AP) – Prospects of jumpstarting peace talks with the Taliban are becoming increasingly dim amid recent battlefield gains by the insurgents in Afghanistan, an embattled government in Kabul and growing suspicions of Pakistan’s good intentions in facilitating such negotiations. Even if Pakistan wanted to bring the warring sides to …

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Day after day, North Korea boasts of new weapons programs developments and unleashes fiery threats to attack rivals South Korea and the United States. On Friday, for example, the North’s state media said it staged its largest-ever long-range artillery drills aimed at bringing the “most …

ISTANBUL (AP) – Two Turkish journalists went on trial on Friday on allegations that they revealed state secrets and helped a terror organization with their reports on alleged government-arms smuggling to Syrian rebels, in a closed-door trial that has increased concern about the erosion of media freedoms in Turkey. Cumhuriyet …