USA

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - A four-star U.S. Air Force general said in a memo that his gut told him the United States would fight China in the next two years, comments that Pentagon officials said were not consistent with American military assessments.

"I hope I am wrong," General Mike Minihan, who heads the Air Mobility Command, wrote to the leadership of its roughly 110,000 members. "My gut tells me will fight in 2025."

The letter was dated Feb. 1 but had been sent out on Friday.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday urged the establishment of "guardrails" to prevent hate speech, extremism and misinformation.

"The online world is one of the main reasons that hate speech, extreme ideologies and misinformation are disseminating so fast around the world," said the UN chief, calling on all those involved to do more to stop the spread, and set up enforceable "guardrails."

MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration quietly ousted its former top official in Mexico last year over improper contact with lawyers for narcotraffickers, an embarrassing end to a brief tenure marked by deteriorating cooperation between the countries and a record flow of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl across the border.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is set to kick off his 2024 White House bid on Saturday with visits to a pair of early-voting states, his first campaign events since announcing his latest run more than two months ago.

Trump will be the keynote speaker at the New Hampshire GOP’s annual meeting before traveling to Columbia, South Carolina, where he is set to introduce his state leadership team. New Hampshire and South Carolina hold two of the party’s first three nominating contests, giving them enormous power in selecting the nominee.

28 Jan 2023; MEMO: An urgent UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting has been scheduled for today to discuss the Israeli aggression on Jenin refugee camp in the northern Occupied West Bank.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 27 (APP): The top UN envoy for the Middle East peace process said Thursday he was “deeply alarmed and saddened” at the continuing cycle of violence in the occupied West Bank, after nine Palestinians were killed during an Israeli military raid.

The envoy, Tor Wennesland, described the deaths – during an intense gun battle at a refugee camp in the city of Jenin – which included militants and reportedly, an elderly woman, as another “stark example” of the escalation in violence.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 27 (APP):Pakistan, which firmly opposes more permanent members in the U.N. Security Council, has called for ensuring equitable representation on the 15-member body by adding more elected member to make it more democratic and effective.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The FBI on Thursday revealed it had secretly hacked and disrupted a prolific ransomware gang called Hive, a maneuver that allowed the bureau to thwart the group from collecting more than $130 million in ransomware demands from more than 300 victims.

WEARE, New Hampshire Jan 27 (Reuters) - When Donald Trump trounced his Republican rivals in New Hampshire's 2016 primary, the stunning win announced to other states the reality TV showman was a serious contender. Trump went on to capture the Republican nomination and then the White House.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. military operation killed a number of Islamic State (ISIS) members in Somalia on Wednesday, including a key leader of the extremist group, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday.

Among those killed was Bilal-al-Sudani, "an ISIS leader in Somalia and a key facilitator for ISIS's global network," said Austin in a statement.

"Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group's operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan," he said.