At least 23 people died as violent storms and at least one tornado ripped through the US state of Mississippi, tearing off roofs and flattening neighborhoods, officials and residents said yesterday.

President Joe Biden has warned Iran that the United States would “act forcefully” to protect Americans, after the US military carried out air strikes against Iran-backed forces in retaliation for an attack in Syria.

The death toll from retaliatory US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria following a deadly drone attack has risen to 19, a war monitor said yesterday, as Washington insisted it is not seeking conflict with Tehran.

US President Joe Biden on Friday said he believed China has not sent arms to Russia after President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday delivered an urgent call for the world to modify and safeguard water resources to avert conflict and ensure future global prosperity.

At least 23 people were killed and dozens injured as a tornado and strong thunderstorms ripped across Mississippi late on Friday, the state's emergency management agency said

Two suspected undocumented immigrants suffocated to death aboard a freight train and 10 others in need of medical care were taken by helicopter or ambulance to hospital on Friday in south Texas, police said.

Fourteen pro-Iran fighters were killed in US air strikes on Syria carried out in retaliation for a drone attack that killed an American and wounded six others, a war monitor said Friday

The United States on Friday announced further sanctions against Myanmar, targeting the supply of jet fuel to Myanmar's military following air strikes in civilian populated areas

The US military carried out multiple air strikes in Syria on Thursday night against Iran-aligned groups who it blamed for a deadly drone attack that killed an American contractor, injured another and wounded five US troops earlier in the day, the Pentagon said.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced relentless questioning from combative US lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle Thursday over the video-sharing app's alleged ties to China and its danger to teens

TikTok creators and three US Democratic Party lawmakers said they opposed any potential ban on the Chinese-owned short video sharing app that is used by more than 150 million Americans

The annual US report on human rights practices released on Monday listed “significant human rights issues” and abuses in India, including reported targeting of religious minorities, dissidents and journalists, the US State Department said.

The United States, China and Russia argued during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday over who was to blame for spurring North Korea’s dozens of ballistic missile launches and development of a nuclear weapons programme.

Workers erected barricades around a Manhattan courthouse on Monday as New York City braced for a possible indictment of Donald Trump over an alleged hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign.

US drone flights over the Baltic Sea are a sign of direct US involvement in conflict with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying yesterday.

Former US President Donald Trump said he expects to be “arrested” on Tuesday over hush money allegedly paid to a porn star before the 2016 election, calling on his supporters to protest.

Former president Donald Trump wrote his first posts on his reinstated Facebook and YouTube accounts Friday, more than two years after he was banned over the US Capitol insurrection.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has clearly committed war crimes and the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for him was justified.

Logging, wildfires and farming are causing mountain forests, habitat to 85 percent of the world’s birds, mammals and amphibians, to vanish at an alarming rate, according to a study published on Friday.