MOGADISHU, SOMALIA/WASHINGTON — In an exclusive interview, U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Richard Riley shed light on the ongoing diplomatic efforts and security challenges facing the East African nation, including U.S. efforts to find a peaceful diplomatic solution to the ongoing dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia. Somalia and Ethiopia have been in a dispute that was ignited…
read moreWASHINGTON — More than six months after a crucial security deal between Washington and some Pacific Island nations was signed into law, key features of the Compacts of Free Association have not been implemented, raising questions in the region about U.S. commitment to its Pacific partners in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing. In March,…
read moreLANSING, Kansas — The shuttered Kansas prison where the killers chronicled in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood were executed is now a tourist attraction. Starting Friday, former wardens and corrections officers will lead two-hour tours of the stone-walled building in Lansing that first began housing inmates in the 1860s, The Kansas City Star reported. The building,…
read moreCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A billionaire stepped out for the first private spacewalk Thursday, teaming up with SpaceX on the daring endeavor hundreds of kilometers above Earth. Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and his crew waited until their capsule was depressurized before popping open the hatch. Isaacman emerged first, joining a small elite group of spacewalkers who…
read moreGaborone, Botswana — Botswana and an American biotech firm, Ginkgo Bioworks, have partnered to conduct pathogen surveillance at the country’s entry points. Health officials say the proactive move is meant to safeguard public health as the world faces emerging disease threats. Botswana introduced mpox screening last month for travelers at its entry points. In a statement…
read moreUNITED NATIONS — The United States supports creating two permanent United Nations Security Council seats for African states and one seat to be rotated among small island developing states, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield will announce on Thursday. The move comes as the U.S. seeks to repair ties with Africa, where many are unhappy…
read morewashington — The future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program remains in limbo with another court hearing set for October 10. Judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments on the case, initiated in 2018 by Texas and other Republican-led states seeking to end DACA. The program offers temporary…
read moreWashington — When the U.S. announced the seizure of 32 internet domains tied to Russian efforts to ply American voters with disinformation ahead of November’s presidential election, prosecutors were quick to note the use of artificial intelligence, or AI. The Russian operation, known as Doppelganger, drove internet and social media users to the fake news using…
read moreMOSCOW — A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American blasted off Wednesday for an express trip to the International Space Station. The space capsule atop a towering rocket set off at 1623 GMT from Russia’s manned space launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and was scheduled to dock with the space station three hours later,…
read moreWASHINGTON — U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson canceled a vote scheduled for Wednesday on his stopgap funding bill, saying more work is needed to build support for a measure, less than three weeks before a government shutdown deadline. “No vote today, because we’re in the consensus-building business here in Congress, with small majorities, and…
read moreNew York — President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump made a rare joint appearance on Wednesday at the New York City site that marks the Sept. 11 plane attacks in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people. Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee and Trump, her Republican rival in the Nov. 5…
read moreBATON ROUGE, La. — Hurricane Francine barreled early Wednesday toward Louisiana and is expected to make landfall in coming hours as forecasters raised threats of potentially deadly storm surge, widespread flooding and destructive winds on the northern U.S. Gulf coast. Francine drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters to jump from a tropical storm…
read moreWASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faced off on Tuesday night in Philadelphia in a debate that comes less than two months before the presidential election. The race is tight between the two candidates. Among registered voters, Harris leads Trump by 1 point — 49% to 48% — according to the…
read moreWASHINGTON — Taylor Swift, one of the music industry’s biggest stars, endorsed Kamala Harris for president shortly after the debate ended on Tuesday night. “I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,” Swift wrote in…
read moreSINGAPORE — An Australian think tank that tracks tech competitiveness says China is now the world leader in research on almost 90% of critical technologies. In a newly released report, the research group adds there is also a high risk of Beijing securing a monopoly on defense-related tech, including drones, satellites and collaborative robots — those…
read moreWASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday presented Congress’ highest honor — the Congressional Gold Medal — to 13 U.S. service members who were killed during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, even as the politics of a presidential election swirled around the event. Both Democrats and Republicans supported the legislation to posthumously honor the 13…
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