Tag: US

Five US Marines confirmed dead after California helicopter crash

LOS ANGELES, Feb 8, 2024 (AFP) – Five US service members missing after their helicopter crashed this week in southern California have been confirmed dead, the US Marine Corps said Thursday. The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed Tuesday while flying from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the military said. “It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that I share the loss of five outstanding Marines from […]

US finds missing helicopter, searching for five Marines

WASHINGTON, Feb 7, 2024 (AFP) – A missing military helicopter was found Wednesday in California but the search for the five service members who were aboard it is still ongoing, the US Marine Corps said. The five Marines were flying on a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in southern California when “the aircraft was reported overdue” on Tuesday, the service said in a […]

Chinese-born man arrested in California for theft of trade secrets

WASHINGTON, Feb 7, 2024 (AFP) – A Chinese-born US researcher has been arrested on charges of stealing trade secrets, including technology used to detect nuclear missile launches, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Chenguang Gong, 57, of San Jose, California, was arrested on Tuesday, the department said in a statement. Gong, who became a US citizen in 2011, is accused of transferring more than 3,600 files from the research and development company where he briefly worked […]

What we know about US strikes against Iran targets

WASHINGTON, Feb 2, 2024 (AFP) – The United States on Friday carried out strikes against Iranian forces in Iraq and Syria in retaliation over a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan. Here is what we know so far: – Hitting Iran unit, but not Iran – The US military said the airstrikes hit more than 85 targets inside Iraq and Syria targeting both the elite Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and […]

President Biden attends ritual return of three US soldiers killed in Jordan

By Aurélia END DOVER, United States, Feb 2, 2024 (AFP) – President Joe Biden on Friday joined a solemn military ritual at a Delaware air base for the return of three US soldiers killed in Jordan by a drone attack blamed on an Iran-backed militia. Six servicemen wearing camouflage, dark berets and white gloves marched slowly three times on and off the ramp of a huge C-5 transport plane to carry the bodies in flag-draped […]

US defies hiring slowdown expectations, adds 353,000 jobs in January: govt

By Beiyi SEOW WASHINGTON, Feb 2, 2024 (AFP) – The US labor market smashed expectations last month in a surprise hiring pick-up, government data showed Friday, with a resilient jobs market likely good news for President Joe Biden in election year. The world’s biggest economy added 353,000 jobs in January, after December’s figure was significantly revised upwards to 333,000, said the Department of Labor. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent for a third […]

40 years in prison for ex-CIA coder who leaked hacking tools to WikiLeaks

NEW YORK, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – A former CIA programmer was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday for leaking the US spy agency’s most valuable hacking tools to WikiLeaks. Joshua Schulte, 35, was found guilty in 2022 of espionage and other charges in what the CIA called a “digital Pearl Harbor” — the largest data breach in the history of the intelligence agency. “Schulte betrayed his country by committing some of the […]

US, Japan conduct joint naval drills

ON BOARD THE USS CARL VINSON, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – The US and Japanese navies held joint exercises in the Philippine Sea this week, in a show of force as tensions with China and North Korea rise. Washington and Beijing are at loggerheads over a raft of issues, from chips to tariffs, but both have been alarmed by the growing assertiveness of China’s military in the Pacific. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own […]

US strikes 10 Huthi drones, downs unmanned Iranian aircraft

By W.G. DUNLOP WASHINGTON, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – American forces carried out strikes in Yemen against 10 attack drones and a ground control station belonging to the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, the US military said Wednesday. A US warship also shot down an anti-ship missile fired by the Huthis and later downed three Iranian drones, Central Command (CENTCOM) said. While the United States has recently launched strikes on the Huthis and other Tehran-supported groups in […]

US says it broke up China-backed infrastructure hacking op

WASHINGTON, Jan 31, 2024 (AFP) – US authorities said Wednesday they had dismantled a network of hackers known as Volt Typhoon, which was targeting key American public sector infrastructure like water treatment plants and transportation systems at the behest of China. FBI Director Christopher Wray explained the operation in testimony before a congressional committee on US-China competition, and the Justice Department offered more details in a statement. In May 2023, the United States and its […]

META CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologises to social media victims at US Senate child safety hearing

By Alex PIGMAN WASHINGTON, Jan 31, 2024 (AFP) – Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave a public apology in US Congress on Wednesday as hostile lawmakers grilled tech chiefs over the dangers that children face on social media platforms. The executives convened by the US Senate Judiciary Committee were put to task in a session titled “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis.” Tech giants are confronting a torrent of political anger for not […]

US downs Iranian drones, strikes Huthi anti-air missile

By W.G. DUNLOP WASHINGTON, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – An American naval destroyer shot down three Iranian drones along with an anti-ship missile fired by Yemen’s Huthis rebels Wednesday, the US military said. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had also earlier announced a strike on a Huthi surface-to-air missile it said posed an “imminent threat” to American aircraft — a deviation from past air raids that focused on reducing the rebels’ ability to threaten international […]