WILLIAM BURNS

A U.S. official says CIA Director William Burns went to Beijing in May to meet with Chinese counterparts.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday amid signs that the Saudis and Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen are making “remarkable progress” toward finding a permanent end to their nine-year conflict.

The CIA director says U.S. intelligence shows that China’s President Xi Jinping has instructed his country’s military to “be ready by 2027” to invade Taiwan.

CIA Director William Burns says Russian President Vladimir Putin is being “too confident” in his military’s ability to grind Ukraine into submission.

China says Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus and a close ally of the Russian leader, will visit Beijing this week.

North African and Sudanese officials say the United States is ratcheting up pressure on Middle East allies and power brokers in chaos-stricken Libya and Sudan to expel a Russian private military contractor.

CIA Director William Burns visited Kyiv last week to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

TikTok would be banned from most U.S. government devices under a government spending bill Congress unveiled early Tuesday.

Poland says a Russian-made missile fell in the country’s east, killing two people.

NATO's chief and the president of Poland say there are no indications that a missile that fell on Polish farmland and killed two people was a deliberate attack.

CIA Director Bill Burns has met with his Russian intelligence counterpart to warn of consequences if Russia were to deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

Trying to figure out what Russian President Vladimir Putin is thinking is tough for Kremlin watchers who want to know whether he is bluffing with his nuclear threats.

The CIA has revealed the scale model of the safe house where it found and killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan.

The seeds of the U.S. counterterrorism operation that killed al-Qaida's leader were planted over many months.

The U.S. is sending an additional $270 million in security assistance to Ukraine, a new package that will include additional medium range rocket systems and tactical drones.

China is the foremost challenge for U.S. national security agencies, a so-called “hard target” that is America’s chief rival for global dominance.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro lead the two largest democracies in the Western Hemisphere, but they haven't met since Biden took office last year.

President Joe Biden is leaning towards making a visit to Saudi Arabia — a trip that would likely bring him face-to-face with the Saudi crown prince he once shunned as a killer.

The national reckoning over racial inequality sparked by George Floyd’s murder two years ago has gone on behind closed doors inside America’s intelligence agencies.

Vice President Kamala Harris has led a high-powered American delegation to the United Arab Emirates to pay respects to the federation’s late ruler and meet with the newly ascended president.

Many people in the U.S. continue to question whether President Joe Biden is showing enough strength in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, even as most approve of steps the U.S. is already taking and few want U.S. troops to get involved in the conflict.

Russia’s bombardment of Ukrainian cities destroyed a community kitchen in Kharkiv.

Secret intelligence is playing an unusually public role in the war in Ukraine.

CIA Director William Burns has tested positive for COVID-19.

As she pressed the Clinton administration into action against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic over war crimes in the Balkans, Madeleine Albright would harken back to her own childhood as a refugee from Czechoslovakia who fled the Nazis in war-torn Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to U.S. intelligence as angry and frustrated more than two weeks into a war he thought he would dominate in two days.

A U.S. official says Russia has asked China for military equipment to use in its invasion of Ukraine.

As Russia intensifies its assault on Ukraine, it is getting a helping hand from China in spreading inflammatory and unsubstantiated claims that the U.S. is financing biological weapons labs in Ukraine.

As Western leaders congratulate themselves for their speedy and severe responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they’re also scratching their heads with uncertainty about what their actions will accomplish.

Two weeks into its war in Ukraine, Russia has achieved less and struggled more than anticipated at the outset of the biggest land conflict in Europe since World War II.

Top U.S. intelligence officials believe Russia underestimated the strength of Ukraine’s resistance before launching an invasion that has likely caused thousands of Russian casualties.

A panel of intelligence experts hasn’t identified a single culprit for apparent brain injuries reported by U.S. personnel that have been linked to so-called “Havana syndrome.

U_S_ officials say the CIA believes it's unlikely that Russia or another foreign adversary is using microwaves or other forms of directed energy to attack hundreds of American diplomats and intelligence officers who attribute their brain injuries and other symptoms to what's come to be known as “Havana syndrome.”.

President Joe Biden says he thinks Russia will invade Ukraine and is warning President Vladimir Putin that his country would pay a “dear price” in lives lost and a possible cutoff from the global banking system if it does.

The buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine has left U.S. officials perplexed.

The Biden administration is stepping up pressure on Russia over a buildup of troops along its frontier with Ukraine.

The State Department has named a new coordinator for its investigation into cases of so-called Havana Syndrome.

Thousands of intelligence officers could soon face dismissal for failing to comply with the U.S. government’s vaccine mandate, leading to concerns from Republican lawmakers about potentially hurting agencies considered critical to national security.

For nine months under President Joe Biden, the U.S. has pursued a diplomatic strategy that could be characterized as about China, without China.

The CIA says it will create a top-level working group on China as part of a broad U.S. government effort focused on countering Beijing’s influence.

The Taliban’s takeover of Kabul has deepened the mutual distrust between the U.S. and Pakistan, two putative allies who have tangled over Afghanistan.

A U.S. intelligence officer suffered symptoms linked to a series of directed-energy attacks known as “Havana syndrome” while traveling with Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns in India earlier this month.

Sharply divided leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies have clashed over U.S. President Joe Biden’s insistence on withdrawing from Afghanistan by August 31 in the face of the Taliban takeover.

An administration official says President Joe Biden has decided to stick with his Aug. 31 deadline for completing a U.S.-led evacuation of Americans and at-risk Afghans from the Kabul airport and for withdrawing the remaining U.S. forces.

The two-decade war in Afghanistan has given U.S. spies a perch for keeping tabs on terrorist groups that might once again use the beleaguered nation to plan attacks against the U.S. homeland.

The Biden administration faces increasing pressure to respond to a sharply growing number of reported injuries suffered by diplomats, intelligence officers and military personnel that some suspect are caused by devices that emit waves of energy that disrupt brain function.

A new U.S. intelligence assessment says any gains in women’s rights in Afghanistan made in the last two decades will be at risk after the U.S. withdraws later this year.

A senior Afghan politician and a well-placed public figure say CIA Director William Burns made a recent unannounced visit to the Afghan capital of Kabul.

President Joe Biden this past week found himself in search of a foreign policy sweet spot: somewhere between pulling a screeching U-turn on four years of Trumpism and cautiously approaching the world as it is.

At its start, America’s war in Afghanistan was about retribution for 9/11.

At its start, America’s war in Afghanistan was about retribution for 9/11.

A U_S_ intelligence community report says the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are expected to contribute over the next year to “humanitarian and economic crises, political unrest, and geopolitical competition."

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s Cabinet is nearly complete with the confirmation of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. A panel will also vote on advancing the nomination of Polly Ellen Trottenberg to be deputy secretary of transportation. And even as the Biden administration moves through picking nominees, there's no guarantee they'll all receive a smooth confirmation. And some of the deputies have become political footballs for Republicans looking to score concessions from the Biden administration. Cruz continues to hold up Biden’s nominee for deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman, until sanctions are imposed.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s Cabinet is nearly complete with the confirmation of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh on Monday. A panel will also vote on advancing the nomination of Polly Ellen Trottenberg to be deputy secretary of Transportation. And even as the Biden administration moves through picking nominees, there's no guarantee they'll all receive a smooth confirmation. And some of the deputies have become political footballs for Republicans looking to score concessions from the Biden administration. Cruz continues to hold up Biden’s nominee for deputy secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, until sanctions are imposed.

William Burns, nominee for Central Intelligence Agency director, testifies during his Senate Select Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP)Without opposition, the Senate confirmed veteran diplomat William Burns as CIA director on Thursday, giving him control of the nation's premier spy agency as the U.S. government confronts threats from China, Russia, Iran and elsewhere. The approval, by voice vote, came soon after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lifted a hold he had placed on the nomination. He pledged at his confirmation hearing last month that he would deliver “unvarnished” intelligence to the White House. Burns was warmly received by Republicans at his Senate hearing, but his confirmation was held up this month by Cruz.

(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – After years of Democratic accusations that former President Donald Trump was too soft on Russia, the Biden administration is facing Republican criticism of its approach to Moscow. The Biden administration rejects the criticism, saying it has been clear about penalties for companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and that its goal is to bolster European energy security. Like the Trump administration before it, the Biden administration believes the pipeline will harm European energy security, particularly for countries in Eastern and Central Europe like Ukraine and Poland, which the pipeline bypasses. U.S. officials have long said they fear Russia will use the pipeline as a political tool against its neighbors. The Biden administration suggests more sanctions may be coming.

The announcement makes Haaland's confirmation by the Senate nearly certain and follows Haaland's endorsement last week by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Manchin, a moderate from West Virginia, had been publicly undecided through two days of hearings on Haaland’s nomination by President Joe Biden. Collins said she also appreciated Haaland’s support on issues important to Maine, such as Acadia National Park, “as well as her deep knowledge of tribal issues, which has earned her the support of tribes across the country, including those in Maine.'' Interior oversees the nation's public lands and waters and leads relations with nearly 600 federally recognized tribes. AdThe Senate energy panel is set to vote on Haaland's nomination Thursday.

Biden took office promising to move quickly to restore and repair Americas relations with the rest of the world. From Iran to Russia, Europe to Latin America, Biden has sought to cool tensions that rose during President Donald Trump’s four years in office. China and the United States are the world’s two largest economies and the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases. The backdrop is clear: The United States is convinced that it and China are engaged in a duel for global dominance. Ad“There has been huge deviation between what they believe China is and what China really is,” Yu said.

William Burns testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden's nominee to run the CIA told lawmakers Wednesday that he would keep politics out of the job and deliver “unvarnished” intelligence to politicians and policymakers even if they don't want to hear it. William Burns told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee at his confirmation hearing that “politics must stop where intelligence work begins.”“That is exactly what President Biden expects of CIA. It was the first thing he told me when he asked me to take on this role," Burns said. AdWhile Russia is in many ways a declining world power, the country remains a disruptive and potent threat, Burns said.

She was speaking of U.S. foreign objectives overall, including the Iran deal. Biden's first priority for renewed talks is getting both Iran and the United States back in compliance with the nuclear deal, which offered Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for Iran accepting limits on its nuclear material and gear. “It would be a first step.”But Biden also faces pressure both from Democrats and Republican opponents of the Iran deal. The United States' European allies will be eager to help Biden wrack up a win on the new Iran talks if possible, Nasr said. Besides tapping Sherman for his administration, Biden has called back William Burns, who led secret early talks with Iran in Oman, as his CIA director.

President-elect Joe Biden has chosen veteran diplomat William Burns to be his CIA director. If confirmed, he would succeed Gina Haspel, the first female CIA director, who guided the agency under President Donald Trump. “I developed enormous respect for my colleagues in the CIA,” Burns said in an online video statement Monday with Biden. The director of national intelligence, not the CIA director, was in the Cabinet. Trump elevated the CIA director post back up to a Cabinet-level position, and both Haspel and National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe sit in his Cabinet.