Page 153 - United States

Germany looking into buying 8 additional Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets

The jets are equipped with advanced sensors and other gear, and nearly impossible to track with radar

Russian court starts trial of US soldier arrested on theft charges

A court in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok on Thursday began the trial of an American soldier arrested earlier this year on charges of stealing. Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, flew to Vladivostok, a Pacific port city, to see his girlfriend and was arrested after she accused him of stealing from her, according to US officials and Russian authorities. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported from the courtroom in the Pervomaisky District Court in Vladivostok that Black agreed to testify in the trial and will respond to the accusations against him later in the proceedings. The report also cited local police as saying that Black is cooperating with the authorities. Black's arrest further complicates US relations with Russia, which have grown increasingly tense as the fighting in Ukraine continues. Russia is holding a number of Americans in its jails, including corporate security executive Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal

As war in Gaza surges, 'Iran-backed' attacks on US brands rattle Baghdad

A dozen masked men jump out of two SUVs and a white pickup and storm a KFC in Baghdad, smashing everything in sight before fleeing the scene. A few days earlier, similar violence played out at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken and Chili House all American brands popular in the Iraqi capital. Though no one was seriously hurt, the recent attacks apparently orchestrated by supporters of Iran-backed, anti-American militias in Iraq reflect surging anger against the United States, Israel's top ally, over the war in Gaza. Iraqi governments have for years walked a delicate line between Washington and Tehran, but the eight-month war in Gaza has critically upped the stakes. The conflict erupted after the militant Hamas group stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people mostly civilians and taking 250 hostage. Israel's subsequent offensives in Gaza have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the territory, according to the Health Ministry there. Days after the war brok

US job growth to remain at moderate pace in May, wage gains hold steady

The Labour Department's closely watched employment report on Friday is also expected to show the unemployment rate remained below 4 per cent for the 28th straight month

Israeli strikes Gaza school 'being used by Hamas'; kills 33 people

An Israeli strike early on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said that Hamas militants were operating from within the school. It was the latest instance of mass casualties among Palestinians trying to find refuge as Israel expands its offensive. A day earlier, the military announced a new ground and air assault in central Gaza, pursuing Hamas militants it says have regrouped there. Troops repeatedly have swept back into parts of the Gaza Strip they have previously invaded, underscoring the resilience of the militant group despite Israel's nearly eight-month onslaught. Witnesses and hospital officials said the predawn strike hit the al-Sardi School, run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees known by the acronym UNRWA. The school was filled with Palestinians who had fled Israeli operations and bombardment in northern Gaza, they

Trump in 1st post-trial rally demands courts reverse his felony conviction

Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail Thursday with a trip to Arizona, his first appearance in a battleground state since he was convicted in a hush money scandal, repeating his critiques of the case against him as politically motivated and calling for his conviction to be overturned on appeal. Those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out or we're not going to have a country anymore," Trump said at a Phoenix town hall organised by Turning Point, a conservative youth organisation that has seen its influence rise alongside Trump's takeover of the GOP. Trump is expected to appeal last month's conviction on all 34 charges in his New York hush money trial, in which he became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes. He responded defiantly to the verdict against him a day after a New York jury found him guilty last week of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor but had not spoken .

WATCH: Sunita Williams scripts history as pilot of maiden Starliner flight

Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams created history by becoming the first woman to fly on the maiden mission of Boeing's Starliner test flight to the International Space Station

'US regulators to open antitrust probe against Microsoft, OpenAI & Nvidia'

The US Department of Justice will take the lead in investigating Nvidia while the FTC will examine the conduct of OpenAI and Microsoft

US conducts 1st precision bombing drill in 7 yrs amid tensions with N Korea

The United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber over the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday for its first precision-guided bombing drill with South Korea in seven years, the South said Wednesday. The US B-1B bomber conducted joint aerial drills with other US and South Korean fighter jets, South Korea's Defence Ministry said in a statement. It said the B-1B bomber dropped Joint Direct Attack Munitions during the training while being escorted by South Korean jets, the first such bombing drill since 2017. The JDAM bombs include bunker-busters. JDAM is a guidance system that converts unguided, conventional bombs into more precise, GPS-guided weapons. All US fighter jets, bombers and drones can use JDAMs, and the munitions are among the weapons systems the United States has been providing to Ukraine to help it fight Russia's invasion. The drill is seen as a show of force against North Korea amid rising tensions over its recent launches of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea. North Ko

Emirati leader meets Taliban official facing $10 mn US bounty for attacks

The leader of the United Arab Emirates met on Tuesday with an official in the Taliban government still wanted by the United States on an up-to USD 10 million bounty over his involvement in an attack that killed an American citizen and other assaults. The meeting highlights the growing divide internationally on how to deal with the Taliban, who seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 and since have barred girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and otherwise restricted women's role in public life. While the West still doesn't recognise the Taliban as Kabul's government, nations in the Mideast and elsewhere have reached out to them. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, met Sirajuddin Haqqani at the Qasr Al Shati palace in the Emirati capital, the state-run WAM news agency reported. It published an image of Sheikh Mohammed shaking hands with Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister who also heads the Haqqani network, a powerful network within the group .

Biden rolls out asylum restrictions: What are they and how do they work?

US President has implemented new restrictions that will bar most migrants who cross his country's southern border without authorisation from seeking asylum

Hunter Biden's ex-wife, other family members to take stand in gun trial

Federal prosecutors in Hunter Biden's gun trial have spent hours showing jurors evidence of his drug problem, seeking to reveal through his own words and writing the depth of his addiction in order to show it was still going on when he bought a firearm and, they say, lied on a form to purchase it. Testimony was expected to continue Wednesday. Hunter Biden's ex-wife Kathleen Buhle is expected to be among the witnesses; she was married to President Joe Biden's son for roughly 20 years. They have three children, divorcing in 2016 after his infidelity and drug abuse became too much to overcome, according to her memoir entitled, If We Break" about the dissolution of their marriage. She's one of several Biden family and friends expected to testify in a trial that has quickly become a highly personal and detailed tour of Hunter Biden's mistakes and drug usage as the 2024 presidential election looms and allies worry about the toll it will take on the president, who is deeply concerned about

US House lawmakers seek antitrust probe of OPEC, other oil companies

Major oil producers appear to be colluding with each other and foreign cartelsto keep prices high, padding their profits at the expense of American consumers, lawmakers said

Not ruling out using military force to defend Taiwan, says Prez Biden

Biden said he has made clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping that the United States will not seek independence for Taiwan as Washington had agreed with Beijing

Prosecutors present Hunter Biden's memoir audio, laptop in gun trial

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday painted President Joe Biden's son Hunter as deceptive and driven by addiction, a man whose dark habits ensnared loved ones and who knew what he was doing when he lied on federal forms to purchase a gun in 2018. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden's attorney argued that his client did not believe he was in the throes of addiction when he stated in the paperwork that he did not have a drug problem. And he did nothing with the gun in the short time he had it, attorney Abbe Lowell said in opening statements. You will see that he is not guilty, Lowell said. Hunter Biden has been charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase of the Colt revolver when he was, according to his memoir, addicted to crack. He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days. The case is dredging up painful memories for the president and his family, and ...

Biden rolls out migration order that aims to shut down asylum requests

President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled plans to enact immediate significant restrictions on migrants seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border as the White House tries to neutralize immigration as a political liability ahead of the November elections. The White House detailed the long-anticipated presidential proclamation signed by Biden, which would bar migrants from being granted asylum when US officials deem that the southern border is overwhelmed. The Democratic president has contemplated unilateral action for months, especially after the collapse of a bipartisan border security deal in Congress that most Republican lawmakers rejected at the behest of Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. The order will go into effect when the number of border encounters between ports of entry hits 2,500 per day, according to senior administration officials. That means Biden's order should go into effect immediately, because that figure is higher than the daily averages now. The .

Trash balloons are deepening rift between North and South Korea; here's why

Animosities between North and South Korea are rising sharply again over an unusual cause: The North's rubbish-carrying balloons. In the past week, North Korea floated hundreds of huge balloons dumping manure, cigarette butts, scraps of cloth, waste batteries and even reportedly dirty diapers across South Korea. In response, South Korea vowed unbearable retaliatory steps and moved to suspend a fragile military deal meant to ease tensions with its northern neighbor. Experts say if South Korea resumes live-fire drills or anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts via loudspeakers in border areas, that's certain to infuriate North Korea and may prompt it to take its own provocative countermeasures along the border. Here's a look at North Korea's balloon launches: WHAT DID NORTH KOREA DO? Since May 28, North Korea has sent about 1,000 balloons carrying all kinds of trash across the border. No hazardous materials were found, but South Korean social media was still abuzz with worries that Nort

Fauci testifies publicly before US panel on Covid origins, controversies

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert until leaving the government in 2022, faces heated questioning Monday from Republican lawmakers about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. A Republican-led subcommittee has spent over a year probing the nation's response to the pandemic and whether US-funded research in China may have played any role in how it started. Democrats opened the hearing saying the investigation so far has found no evidence that Fauci did anything wrong while missing an important opportunity to prepare for the next scary outbreak. Fauci alternately a trusted voice during the pandemic and the target of partisan attacks, even death threats spent 14 hours over two days in January being grilled by the House panel behind closed doors. On Monday, they're questioning him again, in public and on camera for the first time since he ended more than five decades of government service. This time around he'll face a new set of questions about the credibility of

Jury selection to begin in federal gun case against Hunter Biden today

Jury selection is to begin Monday in the federal gun case against President Joe Biden's son after a deal with prosecutors fell apart that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election. Hunter Biden, who spent the weekend with his father, has been charged with three felonies stemming from a 2018 firearm purchase when he was, according to his memoir, in the throes of a crack addiction. He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application used to screen firearms applicants when he said he was not a drug user, and illegally having the gun for 11 days. He has pleaded not guilty and has argued he's being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department, after Republicans decried the now-defunct deal as special treatment. The trial comes just four days after Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City after a jury found him guilty of a scheme to cover up a hush money payment to a porn actor to fend o

China, Russia trying to undermine peace summit on Ukraine war: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the Philippines on Monday in a rare Asian trip to urge regional leaders to attend a Swiss-organised global peace summit on the war in Ukraine that he accuses Russia, with China's help, of trying to undermine. Zelenskyy arrived unannounced and under heavy security in Manila late Sunday after speaking over the weekend at the Shangri-La defence forum in Singapore. He had planned but failed to meet with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on the sidelines of that annual defence gathering and decided to fly here to personally invite Marcos to attend the summit in Switzerland, two Filipino officials told AP. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss details of Zelenskyy's secretive trip to Manila. Both leaders spoke critically of China at the defence forum in Singapore, which was attended by top defence and government officials from around the world, including from Washington and Beijing. Th