Ellen Knickmeyer

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, left, meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jeddah on June 7, 2023. (Amer Hilabi/Pool Photo via AP)

June 7, 2023, 10:18 pm

Saudi-PGA golf deal marks dazzling turnaround for former pariah crown prince

MBS accused of ‘sportswashing’ in latest and perhaps most dramatic move by to wield his kingdom’s oil wealth in advancing its economy and influence

By Ellen Knickmeyer

File: Former US national security advisor John Bolton tals to journalists at the Global Taiwan National Affair Symposium XII in Taipei, Taiwan, April 29, 2023. (AP Photo/ Chiang Ying-ying)

June 2, 2023, 3:47 pm

US sanctions IRGC member over alleged plot to kill ex-Trump aide Bolton

Washington also targets other Iranians for suspected conspiracies to murder perceived threats against Tehran, which is seeking to avenge 2020 killing of top general

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Matthew Lee, Ellen Knickmeyer and Eric Tucker

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, talk to each other during their meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, Oct. 11, 2022. (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

April 12, 2023, 8:05 am

Leaked US intel: Russia operatives claimed new ties with UAE; Abu Dhabi issues denial

FSB officials say Emirati security service officials agree to work against US, UK; Washington concerned Gulf nation helping Moscow skirt sanctions imposed over Ukraine invasion

By NOMAAN MERCHANT, Ellen Knickmeyer and Jon Gambrell

File: In an image from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on October 26, 2022, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is test-fired as part of Russia's nuclear drills from a launch site in Plesetsk, northwestern Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

January 31, 2023, 11:48 pm

US accuses Russia of endangering nuclear arms control treaty

State Department says Moscow’s refusal to facilitate inspection activities prevents the US from exercising important rights under New START pact

By Ellen Knickmeyer

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman takes his seat ahead of a working lunch at the G20 Summit, November 15, 2022, in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

November 18, 2022, 8:22 am

Biden administration says Saudi crown prince should be immune in Khashoggi killing

Move a turnaround from president’s passionate past denunciations of bin Salman; US courts have final call on whether to shield kingdom’s de-facto ruler from legal action

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee

Illustrative: A member of the Muslim Brotherhood waves his hand from a defendants cage in a courtroom in Torah prison, southern Cairo, Egypt, August 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

October 18, 2022, 11:57 am

Some US military aid to Egypt blocked after senator’s human rights objections

Sen. Patrick Leahy says US must not allow policy interests to override attention to Cairo’s poor human rights record: ‘Situation facing political prisoners in Egypt is deplorable’

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee

US President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting of the reproductive rights task force in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, October 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

October 8, 2022, 6:57 am

Biden’s talk of nuclear ‘Armageddon’ edges beyond the bounds of US intel

US has no indications Moscow is preparing weapons of mass destruction, but president’s warning could have consequences as other countries, including Russia, take note

By AAMER MADHANI, Ellen Knickmeyer and Josh Boak

Debris of a railway depot ruined after a Russian rocket attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, September 28, 2022. (Andrii Marienko/AP)

September 29, 2022, 12:52 pm

Biden administration faces senator complaints about weak impact of Russia sanctions

State, Treasury departments tell Senate Foreign Relations Committee that response to possible Moscow annexation of Ukrainian territory should focus on oil revenue, arms supplies

By Ellen Knickmeyer

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi looks on during a press conference after talks with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, July 20, 2022. (AP/Darko Vojinovic)

September 15, 2022, 4:59 am

US frees up some annual aid for Egypt, withholds $130m over rights abuses

Biden administration to provide $170m of first $300m, part of more than $1 billion Egypt receives in US military assistance

By Ellen Knickmeyer

Illustrative: US Air Force Staff Sgt. Cody Brown, right, with the 436th Aerial Port Squadron, checks pallets of 155 mm shells ultimately bound for Ukraine, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, April 29, 2022. The Biden administration has announced another $1 billion in new military aid for Ukraine. (Alex Brandon/AP)

August 9, 2022, 12:09 pm

US ships $1 billion more in rockets, other arms to Ukraine ahead of counteroffensive

Package is largest shipment from Washington since conflict began six months ago, includes precision missiles for HIMARS system

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Lolita C. Baldor

Swedish Armed Forces troops prepare in the Baltic Sea region, Aug. 25, 2020. (Joel Thungren/Swedish Armed Forces/TT via AP)

August 4, 2022, 8:04 am

US Senate backs Finland, Sweden for NATO membership in rebuke to Russia

In counter to invasion of Ukraine, senators support move 95-1 as ‘a warning shot to tyrants’ who think democracies are up for grabs; Trump ally Sen. Josh Hawley casts only no vote

By Ellen Knickmeyer and LISA MASCARO

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi talks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington on July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

July 27, 2022, 3:23 pm

US military preparing for worst-case scenario if Pelosi travels to Taiwan

US military to ‘ensure a safe conduct’ for House speaker’s potential trip, which would mark the highest-ranking visit by a US elected official to the Pacific country since 1997

By Lolita C. Baldor and Ellen Knickmeyer

Olena Zelenska, right, spouse of Ukrainian's President Volodymyr Zelensky, walks out of the US State Department, July 18, 2022 in Washington, after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a closed-to-press meeting. (AP/Patrick Semansky)

July 19, 2022, 2:13 am

Ukrainian first lady arrives in US for high-profile meetings

Olena Zelenska meets with Blinken, plans to reunite with Jill Biden and address Congress, though wife of war-torn country’s president isn’t traveling as representative of Kyiv

By Ellen Knickmeyer

US President Joe Biden speaks at a change of command ceremony at US Coast Guard headquarters, June 1, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

June 3, 2022, 5:59 am

Biden decides to visit Saudi Arabia, turning back toward kingdom amid energy crisis

US president expected to meet Crown Prince Mohammed, who he once deemed a ‘pariah,’ during trip later this month that will include a stop in Israel

By AAMER MADHANI and Ellen Knickmeyer

US President Joe Biden listens as he meets virtually with infant formula manufacturers from the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, June 1, 2022. (Susan Walsh/AP)

June 2, 2022, 1:07 pm

As gas prices soar, Biden mulls Saudi visit despite vow to shun crown prince

Strategic interests in oil and security pushing White House to rethink president’s stance, pledged during election, to make royal family ‘pariah’ over journalist’s death

By AAMER MADHANI and Ellen Knickmeyer