Ashish Kumar Sen

Boko Haram takes credit for abduction of Nigerian schoolgirls, threatens to sell them

The al Qaeda-inspired Islamist militant group Boko Haram on Monday threatened to sell into marriage more than 270 schoolgirls it had kidnapped nearly three weeks ago in northern Nigeria.

May 6, 2014

Al Qaeda core degraded, but ‘more aggressive’ affiliates still pose threat to U.S.

A "more aggressive set" of al Qaeda affiliates and like-minded groups that poses a threat to the U.S. and its interests has emerged across the Middle East and Africa, even as al Qaeda's core has been degraded, a new State Department report said.

April 30, 2014

Political uncertainty and violence in first Iraqi election since U.S. withdraw

Amid increasing violence by a resurgent al Qaeda, Iraqis will vote this week in the first parliamentary elections since the departure of U.S. troops in 2011 as the country edges closer to outright sectarian warfare and the government moves closer to Iran.

April 28, 2014

Egypt judge sentences 683 Islamists to death over Morsi-tied violence

The Obama administration and the U.N. reacted with alarm on Monday after an Egyptian judge sentenced the spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood and more than 680 others to death for inciting and committing violence that led to the death of one police officer.

April 28, 2014

Doctor’s killing in latest Afghanistan attack puts NGOs in crosshairs

Civil-society organizations that are providing crucial services, particularly in health and education, are being forced to shutter or scale back their operations in Afghanistan in the wake of a spike in violence that has claimed the lives of Westerners, including three Americans in Kabul on Thursday.

April 24, 2014

Kerry accuses Moscow of fomenting Ukraine unrest

Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Tuesday complained to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about an increase in Moscow-backed separatists' activities in Ukraine as that country's top state security official accused Russian military intelligence officers of fomenting the unrest.

April 22, 2014

Amid clashes, White House nixes ‘lethal’ Ukraine aid

The White House said Tuesday that President Obama will not send lethal military equipment to Ukraine, even as the new pro-Western government in Kiev began a counteroffensive to recapture ground in eastern Ukraine that had been occupied by pro-Russian militia forces.

April 15, 2014

U.S. rebukes Iran’s U.N. envoy pick over 1979 embassy attack

The State Department on Tuesday for the first time explicitly linked Iran's pick to serve at the United Nations to the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis, saying this was the reason he will not be granted a U.S. visa.

April 15, 2014

U.S. missing out on big opportunities in Africa, Liberian official says

The U.S. is missing out on a lucrative opportunity to invest in an expanding African market, even as China steadily grows its economic footprint across the continent, one of Liberia's top economic officials warned in an interview.

April 14, 2014

House follows Senate in passing bill to bar Iran’s U.N. pick

Congress on Thursday passed legislation that would bar an Iranian official linked to the 1979-81 hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran from serving as his country's ambassador to the United Nations in New York.

April 10, 2014

Obama admin unfairly pitting China against North Korea: diplomat

China's top diplomat in Washington criticized the Obama administration Thursday for pushing Beijing to lean on North Korea's rogue regime to change its behavior.

April 10, 2014

Despite trade concerns, Taiwan remains a linchpin in U.S. posturing on China

Thirty-five years after President Jimmy Carter signed the Taiwan Relations Act obligating the U.S. to give the island the means to defend itself against an attack by China, ties today between Washington and Taipei are at an all-time high.

April 9, 2014

Amid growing unrest, GOP presses for arming Ukraine

The Western-backed interim government in Kiev struggled to control mobs of pro-Moscow demonstrators in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, as congressional Republicans pressed the Obama administration to take more robust action to deter a Russian military invasion of the nation.

April 8, 2014

Negotiator says U.S. was wrong to back U.N. plan for Cyprus in 2004

NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: The U.S. erred in backing a U.N. plan for unifying Cyprus as a federation of two states instead of allowing the Turkish and Greek camps to work out an agreement on their own, the Greek Cypriot negotiator told The Washington Times.

April 8, 2014

John McCain blasts John Kerry in heated Senate hearing

"My hero, Teddy Roosevelt, used to say, talk softly but carry a big stick. What you're doing is talking strongly and carrying a very small stick — in fact, a twig," McCain said to Kerry.

April 8, 2014

John Kerry: Russia to face tougher new sanctions if meddling in Ukraine continues

Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Tuesday warned Russia that it would face tougher economic sanctions if it doesn't stop meddling in eastern Ukraine.

April 8, 2014

Leadership in Karzai’s shadow: Afghanistan’s next president to win vote, not total control

Hamid Karzai's name was not on the ballot in Saturday's elections, but the outgoing president of Afghanistan is expected to remain a key political player, possibly complicating the U.S. relationship with his successor.

April 6, 2014

Voters in Afghanistan prepare for first democratic transition; vote set for Saturday

Amid Taliban threats of violence, Afghans will vote Saturday for a new president in an election that not only will begin their country's first democratic transition of power but also may provide clarity about how many U.S. and foreign troops will remain in their war-torn nation after this year.

April 3, 2014

U.S. troubled by Iran U.N. nominee with hostage crisis ties

The State Department said on Wednesday that it is troubled by reports that Iran has picked as its ambassador to the United Nations a man who is believed to have participated in the 1979 hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

April 2, 2014

Mideast peace bid stalls amid Abbas maneuver

Secretary of State John F. Kerry's full-court press to revive the Middle East peace process appeared to be floundering on Tuesday with the cancellation of a meeting between the secretary and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who applied to join 15 international agencies in a move strenuously opposed by the U.S. and Israel.

April 1, 2014