Xi kicks off state visit to Washington Wednesday with rare planeside welcome from Trump

The Korea Times - Sep 23, 2026

WASHINGTON — When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on Wednesday, he's expected to get a rare greeting from President Donald Trump , who will be on the tarmac to welcome his counterpart's plane instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House. Trump's decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington rather than receiving him at the executive residence shows how far the U.S. president is going to honor China's leader as he makes his first state visit in more than a decade. The White House has not released many details about Wednesday's greeting, but Trump is expected to participate in an arrival ceremony at the base with Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan. The salutation will kick off a three-day visit that's expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards. The state visit, complete with a formal state dinner at the White House on Thursday, is supposed to reciprocate for the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump's May visit to China. But it's also a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high

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UN chief says power has polarized the world and urges leaders to cooperate
Sep 23, 2026

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UNITED NATIONS — In a no-nonsense farewell speech, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged global leaders Tuesday to respond to the defining challenge today: Will the world continue on its path to fragmentation or cooperate to tackle the existential threats from climate crisis, runaway artificial intelligence and intensifying inequalities? At the heart of these crises is power, Guterres told the annual high-level gathering at the U.N. General Assembly, pointing to the “irreversible” move toward a multipolar world, the “extraordinary transfer of power” from governments to a handful of private corporations and individuals, and the increasing handover of power from humans to machines with artificial intelligence. Guterres urged leaders to avoid what he called “the great fracture – the division of the world into two rival blocs with separate economic, technological and security systems.” He rebuked might-makes-right thinking, telling superpowers to recognize “that their power isn’t so super” — that “military power alone cannot security peace” and that “no

Trump says US and Iranian officials met Tuesday, shortly after warning he may 'annihilate' Iran
Sep 23, 2026

Trump says US and Iranian officials met Tuesday, shortly after warning he may 'annihilate' Iran

UNITED NATIONS — President Donald Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials met Tuesday, an unexpected engagement that came even as he threatened in his address to the U.N. General Assembly that he may “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal isn’t reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war. Trump told reporters that his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner , met for about three hours with the Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders but he offered few details about how the discussions transpired or the substance of the exchange. “It was a very good meeting,” Trump said. The president later added that the Iranian officials were “not the highest level, but it’s something.” Witkoff said in a posting on X that the talks were conducted through mediators who shuttled between the U.S. and Iranian teams. He added that he was hopeful the effort “will prove constructive and promising.” The engagement comes after months of U.S.-Iran communications languishing following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire that was brokered in

Meta acts against 3.7 mil. scammers' accounts with Singapore police help
Sep 23, 2026

Meta acts against 3.7 mil. scammers' accounts with Singapore police help

SINGAPORE — Meta has disrupted more than 3.7 million scam-linked accounts, pages and other content this year based on information provided by the Singapore police, the company said Wednesday. The social media giant said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) has been helping Meta's investigators "identify and dismantle entire ecosystems of scammers" through an information-sharing collaboration in place over the past two years. Between January and June, Meta removed more than 113, 000 entities and pages related to fraud and scams on Facebook and Instagram, company executives said at a media briefing. In June, Meta said it disrupted more than 33,600 entities and pages linked to scammers who were trying to take advantage the upcoming school holidays when families are rushing to look at travel websites for good deals. And in July, Meta took action against more than 3.6 million entities and pages, the big majority of which were "shell pages", or those that have no content and are not in active use, but could still be acquired by scammers for their future activities. Meta did not provide comparativ

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Sep 23, 2026

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Sep 23, 2026

Wife of US seismologist held in China says Trump will ask Xi to free him

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Sep 23, 2026

El Nino-driven record heat could lead to 451,000 more deaths, group says

BENGALURU, India — This year's powerful El Nino and the record global heat it's driving, along with severe droughts, wildfires and shrinking water supplies, could lead to nearly half a million more deaths worldwide by the end of February, according to a research report released Wednesday. The grim warning by the University of Chicago-based Climate Impact Lab says that as many as 451,000 more heat-related deaths between June and the end of February could be attributed to El Nino, compared with heat deaths expected in a typical year. The heaviest toll, the group says, is expected in poorer countries, already struggling with food insecurity and high energy costs, partly due to climate change and the fallout of the war in Iran. Michael Greenstone, a co-founder of the group and the study's co-author, said the heat danger will likely persist beyond February — even though this El Nino is expected to end by then. The fallout of the weather phenomenon could be felt well into next summer, he added. The research, he said, shows that heat is most dangerous in places that are already hot and rela

US Justice Department charges Utah postal worker with dumping mail ballots in trash during primary
Sep 23, 2026

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SALT LAKE CITY — A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier in Utah threw out more than 300 mail ballots that were being sent to voters for the state's June primary , the Justice Department said Tuesday. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said during a news conference that Damon Matai Seei was arrested Tuesday and appeared in federal court in Salt Lake City to be arraigned. The 34-year-old from Payson, Utah, pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of destruction or delay of mail. If convicted, he could face up to five years in federal prison. A message seeking comment was sent to his attorney. Seei was delivering mail in Eagle Mountain, a conservative suburb of Provo, when he threw the ballots and other mail into a dumpster in a church parking lot not long after his shift started, McCotter said. Melissa Holyoak, the U.S. attorney for Utah, said Seei indicated to authorities that he had no political agenda and did not intend to discard the ballots. He told investigators in an interview that he acted out of “laziness,” throwing away mail to “lighten his workload," according to c

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Sep 23, 2026

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A mass shooting at a house party in South Africa kills 11, including a pregnant woman
Sep 23, 2026

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Three shooters killed at least 11 people including a woman who was believed to be pregnant in a late-night attack at a house party in South Africa , police said Wednesday. Three others were wounded in the mass shooting Tuesday night in KwaMakhutha township around 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of the city of Durban on the east coast. The people had gathered at the house for a party when the suspects entered the house and opened fire, police said. Ten people, including the pregnant woman, died at the scene and an 11th was declared dead at the hospital. Authorities did not immediately give out details on the condition of the three people who were wounded. Police are searching for the gunmen Police said they were searching for three men and no arrests had been made. The motive for the shooting was not known, police said, but added that some of the people at the house were known to police as part of investigations into criminal activity. Police said they couldn't give out any more information on those investigations. "Although the motive of the shooting cannot be con

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US-Iran War LIVE News Updates: Iran Says It Conveyed Terms To US Through Mediator Qatar
Sep 23, 2026

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