USA

As US Blows Up Drug Boats, Venezuelan Oil Sets Sail

While the American military blows up boats it claims are transporting drugs from Venezuela, observers say tankers shipping Venezuelan oil in violation of a US embargo continue to navigate the very same Caribbean waters undisturbed. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has claimed a massive US military deployment within striking distance of his ...

Hurricane Melissa Makes Landfall in Cuba After Roaring Across Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa picked up strength as it bore down on Cuba, where it made landfall Wednesday after ripping a path of destruction through Jamaica as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record there, lashing the island nation with brutal winds and torrential rain. The monster storm was still 110 miles (175 kilometers) away from Guantanamo late ...

Trump Says 'Timing' Didn't Work Out to Meet N. Korea's Kim

Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was not able to arrange a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the US president's visit to the South, ending fierce speculation over a possible summit. Trump had said he would "love to meet" Kim during his Asia trip, which would have been their first meeting since the US leader's previous term in ...

Lebanese Insurers Approach Syrian Market with Caution

Lebanese insurance companies have long been active in the Syrian market, establishing a presence decades ago when Hafez al-Assad’s regime opened the door to private sector activity. However, international sanctions forced most to withdraw, as the market became too risky. Today, any move to re-enter Syria is considered premature, according to a ...

US Strike on Alleged Drug Boats in the Pacific

The Mexican Navy on Tuesday confirmed it was carrying out a rescue operation after US strikes on four alleged drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean that left one survivor. The Navy said that the operation was taking place more than 400 miles (645 km) southwest of the port of Acapulco and was carried out at the request of the US Coast ...

Musk Launches Grokipedia to Rival 'Left-Biased' Wikipedia

Elon Musk's company xAI launched Grokipedia on Monday to compete with online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which he has accused of ideological bias. The site dubbed version 0.1 had more than 885,000 articles by Monday evening, compared to Wikipedia's more than seven million in English. The launch came with the promise of a newer version, 1.0, which ...

Ten People Go on Trial Over Online Harassment of French First Lady

Ten people went on trial in Paris Monday charged with sexist online harassment of Brigitte Macron, in the latest case linked to unsubstantiated gender claims thrown at the French first lady in France and beyond. The trial comes after she and President Emmanuel Macron filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States at the end of July, in ...

Asia Stocks Surge on US-China Trade Deal Breakthrough

Asian equities surged Monday as investors cheered a breakthrough in US-China trade talks that set the stage for leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to finalize a deal, averting an escalation in the world's biggest trade dispute. Markets rallied after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the threat of the US president imposing an additional ...

Top US, India Officials Discuss Ties as Trade Rift Drags on

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with India's foreign minister on Monday, as the two countries push trade talks and ease tensions over Washington's punishing tariffs. Few details were released, but Rubio's meeting with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is the highest-level contact since the United States imposed sanctions last week on Russian oil ...

Heat and Blazers Win First NBA Games Since Rozier and Billups Arrests

In their first game since guard Terry Rozier was arrested in an FBI sports gambling probe, his Miami Heat teammates unleashed a scoring barrage in a 146-114 NBA win at Memphis on Friday. Bam Adebayo scored 24 points and reserve Nikola Jovic added 20 to lead eight double-digit scorers as the Heat (1-1) produced the third-highest one-game point ...

US Names Career Diplomat for Gaza Ceasefire Monitor

The United States named a veteran diplomat on Friday as the civilian lead in a body monitoring the Gaza ceasefire, seeking to push forward a durable end to the war. The State Department said that Steve Fagin, a career diplomat, will work alongside US Army Lieutenant General Patrick Frank, the military head already appointed to the hub set up ...