U.S. hails talks with Taliban, denies troop withdrawal window

KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S. official says the latest round of talks with the Taliban - now in their second week - has been "very productive," while strenuously denying Washington sought a fixed deadline for the withdrawal of its estimated 14,000 troops from Afghanistan.A member of the American negotiating team in Qatar's capital, Doha, where the Taliban maintain a political office and talks are being held, told The Associated Press Friday that the U.S. "definitely did not offer" an 18-mont