National Security

Biden says the U.S. killed top al-Qaida leader and key Sept. 11 plotter

7:20am August 02, 2022

Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a drone strike in Afghanistan carried out by the U.S. on July 30, according to President Biden. The Taliban has not confirmed that al-Zawahiri was killed.

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How the U.S. took out an al-Qaida mastermind despite having no boots on the ground

6:51am August 02, 2022

A drone strike that killed al-Qaida's top leader marks the first major U.S. operation in Afghanistan in a year, and comes at a time when national security interests seemed to be focused elsewhere.

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This still image obtained September 10, 2012, from IntelCenter shows Ayman al-Zawahiri speaking from an undisclosed location.

Bin Laden was the face of al-Qaida, but Ayman al-Zawahiri was its hate-filled heart

8:20pm August 01, 2022

by NPR Staff

Al-Zawahiri was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11, and led the organization after bin Laden was killed in 2011. He died in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan on Sunday.

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Jan. 6 defendant Guy Reffitt faces sentencing. The DOJ wants him to get 15 years

4:58pm August 01, 2022

by Carrie Johnson

A judge will sentence Guy Reffitt, the first Jan. 6 defendant to be convicted by a jury. The DOJ wants him to get 15 years, including an enhancement for terrorism; he's asking for two years.

A grain combine harvester collects wheat near Novoazovsk outside Mariupol, Ukraine.

Russia-Ukraine war: A weekly recap and look ahead (Aug. 1)

12:05pm August 01, 2022

by NPR Staff

A roundup of key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others attend a news conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday, the day after Senate Republicans blocked a procedural vote to advance PACT Act.

The Senate passed a bill to help sick veterans. Then 25 Republicans reversed course

3:00pm July 29, 2022

by Quil Lawrence

Veterans groups are slamming GOP senators for blocking a bill that would have given health care and benefits to veterans affected by from toxic chemicals and burn pits in wars dating back to Vietnam.

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Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is shown in custody in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2008. Bout was later extradited to the U.S. and convicted of conspiring to kill Americans. He's serving a 25-year sentence, but he may be part of a prisoner swap the U.S. and Rus

Who is Viktor Bout, the prisoner the U.S. may trade for Brittney Griner?

10:19pm July 28, 2022

by Greg Myre

Bout is a Russian who was the world's most notorious arms dealer in the 1990s and early 2000s. He's serving a 25-year prison sentence in Illinois, but could be freed as part of a U.S.-Russia swap.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is met by reporters outside the hearing room where he chairs the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., last week.

With Manchin deal, talk of Biden's climate emergency declaration may be dead

5:20pm July 28, 2022

by Scott Neuman

Some legal experts and environmentalists think such a declaration wouldn't have been that useful and would have exposed the president's climate agenda to further judicial and legislative scrutiny.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken sits with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as they meet with African ministers at U.N. headquarters, May 18, 2022.

Russia and the West are vying for influence in Africa and Ukraine is a big reason why

5:55am July 28, 2022

by The Associated Press

Russia's foreign minister and France's president are visiting this week along with visits by U.S. officials in what some say is the most intense competition for influence there since the Cold War.

In this government provided photo, Kim Jong Un delivers a defiant speech during a ceremony to mark the 69th anniversary of the signing of the ceasefire armistice that ended the fighting in the Korean War.

Kim threatens to use nuclear weapons in any clash with the U.S. and South Korea

2:13am July 28, 2022

by The Associated Press

In a speech marking the 69th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice, Kim said his country is ready to use nuclear weapons in potential military conflicts with the U.S. or South Korea.