Taliban

The White House and Congress are vowing to help thousands of Afghans who face retribution for working with the American military. Some have come to the U.S. on special visas. But others are in danger of being left behind.

The president says he was never briefed on intelligence, first reported by The New York Times, showing Russia had offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill Western forces in Afghanistan.

The step is meant to serve as an initial confidence-building measure and would last for seven days. A more formal agreement could be signed in the coming weeks.

Eight multinational corporations have been accused of making "protection payments" to terrorists, so that their businesses would be left alone.