Tag Archives: United States

Turkey has given recordings on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, the United States, Germany, France and Britain, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. Turkish sources have said previously that authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting the murder. Speaking ahead of his departure for France …

Russia has called on the United States to explain experiments with biological and chemical weapons in Georgia, with various Russian officials warning Washington that Moscow won’t tolerate such trials near its borders. Major General Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, revealed during an interview with …

President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed the allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior levied against his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, calling them “totally political.” “And for people to come out of the woodwork from 36 years ago and 30 years ago and never mentioned it and all of a sudden …

Just when it seems the Syrian war cannot get more complex, it does. In the skies above the Mediterranean, Syrian missiles shoot down an allied Russian surveillance plane after mistaking it for an Israeli bomber. In the Black Sea resort of Sochi, the Russian and Turkish presidents produce a plan …

Iran said it will veto any Opec decision that harms the Islamic Republic and warned that some oil producers are trying to create an alternative suppliers’ forum that supports US policies hostile to the government in Tehran. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the agreement that the Organisation of Petroleum …

A University of Michigan professor refused to write a recommendation letter for a student to study abroad in Israel, claiming it was part of an “academic boycott” of the country. John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the American culture department, rejected student Abigail Ingber’s request in an email, a screenshot …

With Bashar Assad and his Russian allies on the verge of victory in Syria’s civil war, the Trump administration is facing new pressure to respond forcefully and prevent a bloodbath of historic proportions — but analysts say the U.S. has virtually no good options, as seven years of muddy American …

The United States will not present its long-awaited plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace any time soon and is instead trying to unilaterally change the terms of reference for any future proposal, a senior Palestinian official said on Saturday. Echoing deep scepticism among the Palestinians, Arab countries and analysts, Saeb Erekat, the …

For oil investors, this is both the best of times and the worst of times, depending on which crude benchmark you trade. While money managers pile up on bets that Brent futures will rise as supplies from Iran shrink, even Hurricane Florence wasn’t enough to get investors excited in the …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Russia on Friday of actively working to undermine international sanctions on North Korea and said the enforcement of the steps was essential to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. “Russia has actively attempted to undermine the U.N. Security Council resolutions, the …

Russia has launched its biggest military exercise since the Cold War, involving about 300,000 service personnel, in eastern Siberia. China is sending 3,200 troops to take part in “Vostok-2018”, with many Chinese armoured vehicles and aircraft. Mongolia is also sending some units. The last Russian exercise of similar scale was …

The United States will threaten Monday to punish individuals that cooperate with the International Criminal Court in a potential investigation of U.S. wartime actions in Afghanistan, according to people familiar with the decision. The Trump administration is also expected to announce that it is shutting down a Palestinian diplomatic office …

In nine months from start to finish – the time it takes to carry a baby to term – Palestinian businessman Faisal Saleh set up the first museum of Palestinian art and culture in the United States. He did it on a shoestring budget, housing the galleries in the ground-floor …

China’s trade surplus with the U.S. hit another record monthly high in August as the world’s second-largest economy faced the threat of more tariffs from the Trump administration. China’s trade surplus with the U.S. widened to $31.05 billion last month from $28.09 billion in July, while its total trade surplus …

Preparations are under way to transfer Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to the United States tonight to receive medical treatment, a Yemen government source told Reuters on Sunday. The head of the country’s internationally-recognized government, who has lived in exile in Riyadh since the Iranian-aligned Houthi group captured the Yemeni capital …

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis says his country is concerned about Turkey’s intent to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems and that Washington takes a dim view of such a move. In a press briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Mattis warned Ankara against buying the missile defense system …

During the Army 2018 military-technical forum held August 21-26 at Kubinka, west of Moscow, the Russian defense ministry signed a total of 32 contracts with 20 Russian manufacturers. The value of the orders exceeded 130 billion roubles (nearly $2 billion) and calls for the delivery of 600 pieces of equipment …

Vladimir Gutenev, first deputy head of the economic policy committee of the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, said it is time for Russia to draw its own red lines. Among such measures, the official said the deployment of Russian tactical nukes in countries such as Syria, …

A federal judge in Washington has struck down keys parts of President Trump’s executive orders that would have made it easier to fire federal employees. The ruling, seen as a victory for public-sector unions, follows the president’s signing of three executive orders in May that aimed to give agencies more …

Global equity markets rose on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the US central bank’s policies are best to keep the economy humming, spurring new highs on Wall Street, while oil surged on signs Iran sanctions may crimp worldwide supply. The benchmark S&P 500 stock index notched its …

Dr. Thomas Frieden, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was arrested and charged on Friday after he was accused of groping a woman, law enforcement officials said. Detective Sophia Mason of the New York Police Department told NPR that the public health expert allegedly “grabbed …

Military officials are sounding the alarm inside the Trump administration about the sharp drop in admission to the United States of Iraqi refugees who have helped American troops in battle, said two US officials aware of the internal discussions. The Pentagon is concerned that not providing safe haven to more …

When President Trump tried to strong-arm Turkey into releasing a detained American pastor this month, he gambled that a barrage of punishing measures — market- rattling economic sanctions and humiliating public rebukes — would force President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to quickly relent. That has not happened. More than three weeks after the …

China has been quietly training its pilots for long-range bomber missions — and the Pentagon now fears that the country is “likely” practicing for World War III. “Over the last three years, the [People’s Liberation Army] has rapidly expanded its overwater bomber operating areas, gaining experience in critical maritime regions …

The Nord Stream II gas pipeline from Russia to Germany and into the European network seems to be on course despite US pressure and challenges from Ukraine and other European countries. While all this is going on, construction of another pipeline is underway to supply Turkey and Europe with gas. …

On the corner couch of a spacious room, a woman wearing a brightly patterned robe sits expectantly. The red hijab that covers her hair is reflected in a glass-fronted cabinet; inside, a framed photograph of her firstborn son takes pride of place between family heirlooms and valuables. A smiling, bearded …

The head of a Syrian research facility that western countries say was part of a chemical weapons programme has been killed in a car bombing, the pro-government Syrian newspaper al-Watan has said. Aziz Asber was the director of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre in Masyaf, near Hama, which …

It may seem counter-intuitive and head-scratchingly odd, but Congress nearly always approves defense spending bills before the armed services committees — which actually oversee the Pentagon — vote on how the money will be spent. Not this year. The John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 …

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard is expected to soon begin a major naval exercise that could demonstrate its ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial conduit for global energy supplies, US officials say. The exercise in the Persian Gulf could begin as soon as the next two days, …

More than 30 million people from the North Carolina coast to central New York could be impacted by flooding Wednesday. Numerous flash flood watches and warnings are in effect throughout the Mid-Atlantic after the accumulation of record rainfall in the last few weeks. “To repeat from earlier today, this is …

The Syrian government of President Bashar Assad on Monday blasted Israel, the United States and other nations for evacuating hundreds of Syrian Civil Defense “White Helmets” rescue workers and their families from Assad’s advancing forces. The rescue was organized by Israel, which has otherwise avoided direct intervention in the brutal civil war …

The spacecraft Boeing plans to use to fly NASA astronauts to the International Space Station suffered a significant setback when, during a test of its emergency abort system in June, officials discovered a propellant leak, the company confirmed. In a statement to The Washington Post, Boeing said it has “been …

The Trump administration is actively considering tapping into the nation’s emergency supply of crude oil as political pressure grows to rein in rising gasoline prices before congressional elections in November, two people familiar with the situation said. No decision has been made to release crude from the 660-million-barrel stockpile, known …

President Trump is telling NATO allies they must pick up more of the costs for defense of the alliance, ratcheting up tensions as he prepares to join Western leaders at a summit in Brussels next week. In letters sent last month to the leaders of allies from Canada to Germany, Trump echoed …

The man charged with murdering five people in the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md., on Thursday had previously been investigated over threatening comments toward staff members, Anne Arundel County Police Department Chief Tim Altomare said Friday. NATIONAL Capital Gazette Keeps Working, And Publishing, After 5 Die In Newsroom Shooting …

Moscow has charged that the United States and its allies fabricated evidence to implicate Syrian government forces in chemical-weapons attacks against civilians. Russian Defense Ministry official Igor Kirillov, commander of the radiation, chemical, and biological protection forces, said on June 22 that an alleged attack in the town of Khan …

Russia has welcomed the United States’ pullout from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), saying the body has lost nothing and can operate more freely now. “I cannot say that the council lost anything,” Russia’s permanent representative at the UN office and other international organizations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, …

Israel has not responded to reports in US media that it was behind an airstrike in Syria which killed more than 50 regime-allied troops in the east of the country. Sunday night’s attack on the town of al Hari in Deir Ezzor, near the border with Iraq, killed 52 fighters, including …

China’s threat to impose duties on US oil imports will hit a business that has soared in the last two years, and which is now worth almost $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) per month. In an escalating spat over the United States’ trade deficit with most of its major trading partners, …

Nearly two dozen people were injured after gunfire broke out early Sunday during a fight at an all-night art event in New Jersey’s capital city, leaving one suspect dead and authorities investigating if any others were involved. Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said at a news conference that a …

A solider stole an armored personnel carrier from a Virginia National Guard base and led authorities on more than a 60-mile chase while under the influence of drugs before being arrested in the state’s capital city on Tuesday, officials said. Virginia State Police said in a news release the incident …

China released images of a new, unmanned, stealth fighter-style jet, and they present a shocking look into how close Beijing has come to unseating the US as the dominant military air power. China has already built stealth fighter jets that give US military planners pause, but the images of its new …

The Latest on the violence along the Israel-Gaza border (all times local): 10:50 p.m. The United States has called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council after Gaza militants fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells into southern Israeli, wounding three soldiers. The U.S. Mission to the United …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s cancellation of a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatens further strain on U.S.-China ties amid a trade dispute that had been intertwined with Beijing’s pressure on isolated Pyongyang. The United States and China are also increasingly at odds in the disputed South China …