This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (August 22, 2019).

The Trump administration moved to allow the government to indefinitely detain families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and supersede a court settlement that limits how long migrant children can be held in custody.

The U.S. has been secretly talking with top Maduro aides in a bid to push Venezuela's authoritarian president from power and clear the way for free elections in the economically devastated nation.

Trump said he favors beefed-up background checks for gun buyers, but offered no clarification of his stance amid signs he was backing away from stricter rules.

Washington envoy Khalilzad arrived in Qatar for a crucial phase of U.S.-Taliban negotiations on ending America's military engagement in Afghanistan.

Putin said a deadly explosion in northern Russia earlier this month occurred during the test of a promising weapons system.

Britain's Johnson, in a visit to Berlin, told Merkel he is serious about a Brexit deal but that "backstop" border provisions for Ireland must be scrapped.

The president accused Denmark's leader of "blowing off the U.S.," a day after he canceled a trip to her country because she rejected possible talks on selling Greenland.

China confirmed that mainland police detained an employee of the British Consulate in Hong Kong for allegedly violating Chinese law.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 22, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)