WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday announced it had eased restrictions on a group of Belarus-linked financial and potash companies in the latest sign of improving ties between the country’s autocratic leader, Alexander Lukashenko , and Washington. The war with Iran has largely stopped the export of nitrogen fertilizers manufactured in the Persian Gulf and limited farmers’ access to key fertilizer ingredients. The skyrocketing cost of fertilizer has left some U.S. farmers