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Explosion at US military facility in Iraq ahead of Iranian prez visit

Iraqi security officials said an explosion targeted a site used by the U.S. military next to Baghdad airport late Tuesday, one day before an expected visit by Iran's president. The expected visit by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Baghdad Wednesday would be his first official trip abroad since taking office. Iraq's security media cell said in a statement that an explosion was heard at 11 p.m. at the airport, in an area used by advisers to the U.S.-led international coalition. The statement said Iraqi security forces were unable to determine the type or causes of the explosion, and no party has claimed responsibility for it. It added that the incident was under investigation and civilian air traffic continued as normal. There was no immediate information on damages or casualties. U.S. officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An Iraqi security official at the airport, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly ab

US, Britain, EU to sign first legally binding international AI treaty

The AI Convention, which has been in the works for years and was adopted in May after discussions between 57 countries, addresses the risks AI may pose, while promoting responsible innovation

PM Narendra Modi's US visit may focus on smaller events in New York

In his earlier visits, he also travelled to Washington DC, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and San Jose

Rahul Gandhi to visit US from Sep 8, hold interactions at Texas university

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will visit the US from September 8-10 during which he will hold numerous interactions in Washington DC and Dallas, including at the University of Texas. Indian Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitorda shared details of Gandhi's first visit to the US after becoming the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha in June. "Since Rahul Gandhi has become the leader of opposition, I, as chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, which has a presence in 32 countries, (have) been bombarded with requests from the Indian diaspora, diplomats, academicians, businesspersons, leaders, international media and many others, for interactions with him," Pitroda said in a video statement. "Now, he (Gandhi) is coming to the US for a very brief visit. He will be in Dallas on September 8th and Washington DC on September 9th and 10th. In Dallas, we will have interactions with the University of Texas, (with) students, academic institutions and community people. We wil

Indo-US ties a powerful force for global progress, says Ambassador Garcetti

The Indo-US relationship is a powerful force for global progress, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said on Wednesday. The ambassador made the remarks during his address at the Annual IC3 Conference and Expo 2024 here. "The Indo-US relationship is a powerful force for global progress, deeply rooted in our shared commitment to education. As we strive to strengthen this partnership, effective counselling emerges as a key driver in opening doors and fostering mutual understanding," he said. "By investing in our students and providing them with the guidance they need, we are not only enhancing educational pathways but also deepening our bilateral ties," the ambassador added. The conference brought together nearly 2,000 educators, school leaders, counsellors, and university representatives from around the world. "Events like IC3 are pivotal in this mission, demonstrating how transformative counselling can be in shaping future leaders and advancing our collective goals," Garcetti ...

Superstars for too long: Time to move away from India, US equity markets?

Investors face a crucial decision. While the US equity market may face short-term underperformance, the jury is still out on India's potential

Losing faith in US as mediator in Gaza cease-fire talks: Top Hamas official

A top Hamas official said the Palestinian militant group is losing faith in the United States' ability to mediate a cease-fire in Gaza ahead of a new round of talks scheduled for this week amid mounting pressure to bring an end to the 10-month-old war with Israel. Osama Hamdan told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that Hamas will only participate if the talks focus on implementing a proposal detailed by US President Joe Biden in May and endorsed internationally. The US referred to it as an Israeli proposal and Hamas agreed to it in principle, but Israel said Biden's speech was not entirely consistent with the proposal itself. Both sides later proposed changes, leading each to accuse the other of obstructing a deal. Hamas is especially resistant to Israel's demand that it maintain a lasting military presence in two strategic areas of Gaza after any cease-fire, conditions only made public in recent weeks. We have informed the mediators that...any meeting should be based o

US repudiates involvement in former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina's ouster

The US has described as "laughable" and "false" the accusation that it was behind Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina's ouster. Hasina resigned and fled to India on August 5 following widespread protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs. An interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was formed in the country after her ouster. "That's laughable. Any implication that the United States was involved in Sheikh Hasina's resignation is absolutely false," Vedant Patel, US State Department's principal deputy spokesperson, said on Tuesday when asked about Hasina's accusation that the United States orchestrated mass protests that led to her ouster after weeks of violence. "We have seen a lot of disinformation in recent weeks, and we remain incredibly committed to strengthening information integrity across the digital ecosystem, especially with our partners in South Asia," he said. The United States on Monday said it would continue to monitor

US beefs up naval, air forces in West Asia ahead of Gaza truce talks

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to speed up its arrival in the region

S Korea and US to start summer military drills next week to counter threats

South Korea and the United States will begin their annual joint military exercises next week with a focus on improving their combined capabilities to deter and defend against growing North Korean nuclear threats, the allies said Monday. The drills could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which portrays them as invasion rehearsals and have used the allies' military cooperation as a pretext to advance the development of nuclear weapons and missile systems. South Korean and US military officials said this year's Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, scheduled for August 19-29, will include computer-simulated exercises designed to enhance readiness against such threats as missiles, GPS jamming and cyberattacks, and concurrent field maneuvers and live-fire exercises. The allies in particular aim to further strengthen (their) capability and posture to deter and defend against weapons of mass destruction, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The South Korean and

Nuclear weapons would fracture US ties: South Korean defence chief

The prospect of another term for former U.S. President Donald Trump, who complained about the cost of the U.S. military presence in South Korea and launched unprecedented talks with the North

With smugglers and front companies, China is skirting US AI bans

Nvidia and other US companies say they are abiding by the restrictions but cannot control everything in their distribution chain

DIY abortions surge post-Roe: Women turn to herbs, alcohol, and more

The study suggested that women's methods ranged from unprescribed medication use to dangerous practices like alcohol, drugs, and self-harm

Accused of drug trafficking, US arrests leaders of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel

Ismael El Mayo Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, and Joaqun Guzman Lopez, a son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas on Thursday, the US Justice Department said. A leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside Joaqun El Chapo Guzmn, Zambada is one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world and known for running the cartel's smuggling operations while keeping a lower profile. The U.S. government had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Zambada's capture. The Justice Department said the men were arrested in El Paso but didn't immediately provide details about how they were taken into custody. Zambada and Guzmn Lpez, who have eluded authorities for decades, oversaw the trafficking of tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States, along with related violence, FBI Director Christopher Wray said, adding that now they will "face justice in the United States. Fentan

Trump asks Taiwan to pay for US defence, sending TSMC's stock down

Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai, responding to Trump's comments, said Taiwan and the US have good relations despite the lack of formal ties, and is dedicated to bolstering its defences

Fuse of violence burning across US even before assassination bid on Trump

Long before a would-be assassin shot and wounded former President Donald Trump, the fuse of political violence had been burning across America. Members of Congress have been shot. One lawmaker's staffers in Virginia were attacked with a baseball bat. In Louisville, a bullet grazed the mayor's sweater after someone stormed into his campaign office. Someone put a tracking device on the Reno mayor's car. Officials in South Carolina received death threats over a solar panel plant. And outside Buffalo, a man threw a dummy pipe bomb through the window of a county clerk candidate's home while her family slept with a message reading: If you don't drop out of this race, the next pipe bomb will be real. There are people who've come to me and said, I contemplated running for my town office, and I could never imagine my family going through what you did, so I chose not to,' said Melissa Hartman, who was targeted in the pipe bomb episode and ran for county clerk after serving as town supervisor

Russia holds UN meeting on global cooperation; US terms it 'hypocrisy'

Russia's foreign minister accused the United States on Tuesday of holding the entire West at gunpoint and impeding international cooperation, a claim the US ambassador to the United Nations denounced as hypocrisy by a country that invaded neighbouring Ukraine. The finger-pointing came at Russia 's showcase event during its presidency of the UN Security Council this month, and it chose the topic Multilateral cooperation for a more just, democratic and sustainable world order. Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, flew in from Moscow to preside. Just before the meeting, Ukraine's UN Ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, read a statement on behalf of about 50 countries, including the United States, whose ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was among the several dozen UN envoys surrounding him. The joint statement said the international community must not be distracted from Russia's flagrant violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and from Moscow cynically attempting to present itself as

Court voids Kansas researcher's conviction in Chinese espionage probe

A federal appeals court has reversed the conviction of a researcher who was accused of hiding work he did in China while employed at the University of Kansas. Feng Franklin Tao was convicted in April 2022 of three counts of wire fraud and one count of making a materially false statement. US District Judge Julie Robinson threw out the wire fraud convictions a few months later but let the false statement conviction stand. She later sentenced him to time served. But the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Kansas City, Missouri, on Thursday ruled that the government failed to provide sufficient evidence that Tao's failure to disclose his potential conflict of interest actually mattered, and it directed the lower court to acquit him of that sole remaining count. The case against Tao was part of the Trump administration's China Initiative, which started in 2018 to thwart what the Justice Department said was the transfer of original ideas and intellectual property from US universities to t

Paris 2024: US gymnast Chiles' long journey back to Oly is rooted in joy

Jordan Chiles still remembers the first time someone handed her a ribbon for something she did at a gymnastics meet. She was maybe 7 or 8 and a Level 4, the entry point to competition for the thousands of kids who take up the sport. The details of what Chiles did that day are fuzzy at best. The jolt of adrenaline that sprinted through her as she caressed the first of what has become countless gold ribbons is not. I was like, Oh, this is what it feels like to win? Okay, I got this. This is cool,' Chiles said. It still is, only Chiles' definition of winning has evolved nearly two decades after that initial blush with success. Sure, she remains intensely competitive, a trait Chiles says she inherited from her mother Gina. Yet Chiles realized a while ago the competition she faces whenever she steps onto the podium doesn't come from the outside, but from within. When Chiles walks into Bercy Arena in Paris on July 28 to begin a second trip to the Olympics very few outside of her inner

Paris 2024: US swimmer Ryan Murphy aims to reclaim top spot on medal podium

Ryan Murphy longs to reclaim the top spot on the medal podium at the Paris Olympics. America's backstroke star was relegated to silver and bronze in his individual races at Tokyo a performance that still irks him just a bit. There's definitely no shortage of motivation from my end, said Murphy, who will be competing in the men's 100 and 200-meter back for the third Olympics in row. I feel like I've always got a fire under my butt." The 29-year-old Floridian, who trains at Cal-Berkeley, has been a worthy successor to the long run of backstroke success in the U.S. Picking up the baton from giants such as John Nabor, Rick Carey, Lenny Krayzelburg, Aaron Peirsol and Matt Grevers, Murphy has left his own impressive mark. At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, he swept the men's backstroke events and added a third gold as part of the 4x100 medley relay. He followed up at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games with a runner-up finish in the 200 and a third-place showing in the 100, to go al