CHICAGO— With the U.S. pushing Pakistan to reopen a critical supply route into Afghanistan, President Obama and Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari chatted briefly on the margins of the NATO summit this afternoon, according to the White House.With the NATO summit set to wrap up later today, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that the alliance won't complete a deal with the Pakistanis to reopen critical supply routes into Afghanistan before the close of the international conference."We didn't expect an agreement on the Pakistan transit route to be reached at this summit—that was not planned," Rasmussen said.The Pakistanis closed the U.S. military supply routes into Afghanistan as retribution after a cross-border strike by NATO last November left 24 of their soldiers dead. Zardari accepted an ... Continue reading →

CHICAGO — President Obama vowed that Afghanistan "won't stand alone" as NATO forces shift security responsibility to Afghan forces in the months ahead.NATO leaders are meeting this morning to chart the next step toward transitioning security responsibility to the Afghans.On Monday, members of the alliance are expected to consider a plan that would transition Afghan forces into the lead of security — with NATO troops playing an advisory role — by the middle of 2013, said Doug Lute, a senior adviser to the president on Afghanistan-Pakistan issues. NATO troops are scheduled to cease all combat operations by 2014."Today, we'll decide the next phase of the transition, the next milestone," Obama said. "We'll set the goal for Afghan forces to take the lead of the combat ... Continue reading →

CHICAGO -- Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai gave special thanks to the American people for shouldering much of the financial burden in the decade-old Afghan War."Mr. President, I am bringing to you and to the people of the United States the gratitude of the Afghan people for the support that your taxpayer money has provided Afghanistan for the past decade and the difference it has made to the building of the Afghan people," Karzai said.President Obama and Karzai met face-to-face on the sidelines of the NATO summit for nearly two hours this morning. At the end of their talks, the two proclaimed that the decade-old war is now heading into a new phase.Obama flew to Afghanistan earlier this month to announce the end of the U.S. ... Continue reading →

CHICAGO--As leaders from the 28 NATO member countries descending this morning on the city's lakefront for the most-widely anticipated meeting of the alliance in years, Mitt Romney is accusing President Obama of undermining NATO.Both Democratic and Republican administration have long been concerned that NATO could be heading toward military irrelevance as only three of the members meeting their pledge spend at 2% of gross domestic product on defense. But Romney argued in op-ed in the Chicago Tribune that Obama deserves particular blame."While military underinvestment is an old problem for NATO, a lack of American leadership on the issue is an alarming new development," Romney wrote. "Instead of working to strengthen NATO, the Obama administration has taken actions that will only undermine the alliance."While much of ... Continue reading →

CHICAGO— It is looking increasingly unlikely that the U.S. and Pakistan will hatch a deal on reopening critical supply routes to the U.S. military during the NATO summit that begins here on Sunday.Deputy National Security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling with President Obama on Saturday night that negotiations are ongoing and expressed confidence that the issue will be resolved, but not necessarily quickly."We're not anticipating necessarily closing out those negotiations this weekend," Rhodes said. " A lot of it is happening, frankly, at the working level between our governments."The Pakistanis closed the U.S. military supply routes into Afghanistan as retribution after a cross-border strike by NATO last November left 24 of their soldiers dead. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari accepted an invitation last week ... Continue reading →

Amy Winehouse performs during her concert at the Volkshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2007. Continue reading →

The back-to-back meetings of the Group of Eight and NATO alliance get started with G-8 leaders — including the newly elected President Francois Hollande of France, Prime Minister Mario Monti of Italy and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan — huddling at the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland where Obama will urge Europe's leaders to increase emphasis on spurring growth and lessen their focus on austerity measures.Obama and Hollande will sit down for their first face-to-face meeting in the Oval Office on Friday before departing for Camp David. Global markets will be paying close attention to the meeting with Hollande, a socialist who rode into office this week spurning his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy's embrace of austerity efforts, as well as to the larger ... Continue reading →

Amy Winehouse performs during her concert at the Volkshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2007. Continue reading →

The back-to-back meetings of the Group of Eight and NATO alliance get started with G-8 leaders — including the newly elected President Francois Hollande of France, Prime Minister Mario Monti of Italy and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan — huddling at the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland where Obama will urge Europe's leaders to increase emphasis on spurring growth and lessen their focus on austerity measures.Obama and Hollande will sit down for their first face-to-face meeting in the Oval Office on Friday before departing for Camp David. Global markets will be paying close attention to the meeting with Hollande, a socialist who rode into office this week spurning his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy's embrace of austerity efforts, as well as to the larger ... Continue reading →

An anonymous donor gave $7 million to the American Action Network, a conservative group that spent millions to aid Republicans in the 2010 midterm congressional elections, according to tax returns the organization is filing with the Internal Revenue Service.That single donation accounts for 25% of the nearly $27.5 million raised by the group between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. The organization, which touts its grassroots advocacy efforts, showed contributions from just 34 donors during that period. Eight contributors accounted for nearly 90% of the group's revenue.As a tax-exempt group, the American Action Network does not have to publicly disclose its donors, and spokesman Dan Conston said the organization would not comment on its contributors. It was founded with help from veteran Republican powerbroker ... Continue reading →