USA

Syria war: US 'disappointed' at Russia's Syria stance

At least six people are reported to have been killed in the US missile strikes early on Friday.

Syria's ally Russia accused the US of encouraging "terrorists" with its unilateral actions.

"I'm disappointed in that response," said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"It indicates their continued support for the Assad regime and, in particular, their continued support for a regime that carries out these type of horrendous attacks on their own people.

"So I find it very disappointing, but, sadly, I have to tell you, not all that surprising," he added.

Who's with the US on Syria airstrike and who isn't

With conflicting interests and competing global powers, the international community remains at an impasse over Syria's six-year conflict.

The images that moved President Trump to act

The images moved people around the world to call for action. In Washington, they moved a President to make a tough decision -- to strike the alleged perpetrators -- a senior administration official told CNN.

"No child of God should ever suffer such horror," President Donald Trump said Thursday night after ordering the US military to strike an airfield in Syria with more than 50 cruise missiles.

Twenty-six children were among the more than 80 people killed in Tuesday's attack.

Read More

Trump launches military strike against Syria

On President Donald Trump's orders, US warships launched between 50-60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government airbase where the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks were based, US officials said.

"Assad choked out the helpless," the President said.

"There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons ... and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council," he said during short remarks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago. "The refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize."

Israel approves first new West Bank settlement in 20 years

A statement after a meeting of the country's security cabinet said the construction would take place in the Emek Shilo area near Nablus.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been simultaneously negotiating with the US government on reducing settlement activity.

Palestinian officials have condemned the move.

Russia denies Yahoo hack involvement

Two FSB officers were accused of conspiring with two alleged criminal hackers in a Department of Justice indictment announced on Wednesday.

The charges are believed to be the first that the US has filed against Russian government officials.

Yahoo's 2014 breach affected 500 million user accounts.

"As we have said repeatedly, there can be absolutely no question of any official involvement by any Russian agency, including the FSB [intelligence agency], in any illegal actions in cyberspace," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Obama didn’t hack Trump’s phones, committee says

This is after lawmakers trying to investigate Russia's meddling in the US election say they've continued to see no evidence of President Donald Trump's claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor.

The FBI's decision to brief the Senate Judiciary Committee comes after the committee's Chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, threatened to not schedule a vote for Rod Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general unless his panel got the FBI briefing he and the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, requested weeks ago.

Gahekave makes presence felt at US Championships

The 23-year-old middle/long distance runner of mixed Eastern Highlands and New Ireland parentage had a tough schedule with five races in two days, but was still up to the task.

First up was the distance medley relay on Saturday PNG time where Gahekave helped her team to third place, before qualifying for the 1,000m final with a personal best 3:42 seconds.

Sunday started with victory for the South Plains team in the 4x800m relay with a school record time. 

Gahekave then ran the one mile race and placed seventh in a personal best 5:14.34 seconds.

Refugee resettlement deal between Australia, US 'not a people swap', Peter Dutton says

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last year announced two deals between the US and Australia, with the latter resettling refugees from Costa Rica while the US took in refugees from Manus Island and Nauru.

Mexico's foreign minister rejects Trump deportation policy

Under plans unveiled by the Trump administration on Tuesday, almost all people staying in the US illegally can be subject to deportation.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said his country could not "accept unilateral decisions imposed by one government on another."

The row comes as two top US officials are preparing to visit Mexico.

The White House said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the head of Homeland Security, John Kelly, would talk to Mexican officials and "walk through" the implementation of the new immigration guidelines.