Nomaan Merchant

Associated Press

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, suspended talks on a $23 billion deal to purchase American-made F-35 planes, armed drones and other equipment, in a rare dispute between Washington and a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf.

UAE Suspends Talks on $23B Weapons Deal with U.S.

The Emirati Embassy said the U.S. remains the UAE's preferred provider for advanced defense requirements.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends his annual live call-in show in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 30, 2021.

NSA Discloses Hacking Methods it Says Are Used by Russia

Attacks have been attempted on hundreds of government agencies, energy companies and other organizations.

In this Feb. 16, 2021, file photo, a woman wrapped in a blanket crosses the street near downtown Dallas. As temperatures plunged and snow and ice whipped the state, much of Texas' power grid collapsed, followed by its water systems. Tens of millions huddled in frigid homes that slowly grew colder or fled for safety.

Power Failure: How a Winter Storm Pushed Texas into Crisis

To some, images of Texas laid bare problems that have long festered.

In this Aug. 7, 2019, file photo, a man is taken into custody at a Koch Foods Inc. plant in Morton, Miss. Unauthorized workers are jailed or deported, while the managers and business owners who profit from their labor often aren't. Under President Donald Trump, the numbers of owners and managers facing criminal charges for employing unauthorized workers have stayed almost the same.

Why Employers Evade ICE Prosecution

Why do managers and business owners who profit from unauthorized labor often go unprosecuted?

The petrochemical fire at Intercontinental Terminals Company reignited as crews tried to clean out the chemicals that remained in the tanks Friday, March 22, 2019, in Deer Park, Texas. The efforts to clean up a Texas industrial plant that burned for several days this week were hamstrung Friday by a briefly reignited fire and a breach that led to chemicals spilling into the nearby Houston Ship Channel.

New Fire at Chemical Plant

The clean up efforts were hamstrung by a reignited fire at the chemical plant.

In this Aug. 11, 2017, file photo, a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol vehicle passes along a section of border levee wall in Hidalgo, Texas. The U.S. government is preparing to begin construction of more border walls and fencing in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley, likely on federally-owned land set aside as wildlife refuge property. Heavy construction equipment is supposed to arrive starting Monday. A photo posted by the nonprofit National Butterfly Center shows an excavator parked on its property.

U.S. Prepares to Start Building Portion of Wall

While key leaders remain in a standoff over border wall funding, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has pushed ahead with building what's already funded.

In this Aug. 13, 2011 photo, migrant workers shovel raw salt at the Qijiaojing Salt Field in Hami in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. China has started an overhaul of its salt industry, easing a monopoly that has existed in some form for more than 2,000 years and predates the Great Wall.

China Easing its Monopoly on Salt

Government planners and salt manufacturers have worked hand in hand for years, setting production targets and prices and shutting down private producers.

Rescuers worked through the night at the privately owned Jinshangou mine where an explosion occurred before noon Monday, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.

18 Dead, 15 Trapped in China Mine Blast

Whether the 15 are alive was not known more than 24 hours after the blast ripped through the privately owned mine.

A group of visitors stand near a giant robot standing behind a partition at the World Robot Conference in Beijing.

Robots at Center of China's Strategy

Apart from the cool factor, China's sweeping plans to upgrade its factories and production lines depend on building and better using advanced robots.

Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde holds a packet containing smog particles collected by the Smog Free Tower as he presents his machine at D-751art district in Beijing, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. In a city where smog routinely blankets the streets and chokes off clean air, a Dutch artist has offered an eccentric solution: a 20-foot metal tower that takes in smog and purifies it like a giant outdoor vacuum cleaner.

Beijing's Smog Tower Sucks in Pollution

Comprised of 45 silver plates resembling partially open window blinds, the tower contains an air-purifying machine that runs continuously with a low hum.

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a Long March-2D rocket carrying the world's first quantum satellite lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China's Gansu Province, early Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. Experts say China's launch of the first quantum satellite will push forward the worldwide effort to develop the ability to send communications that are impenetrable by hackers.

China's Quantum Satellite Launch

If the tests are successful, China will take a major step toward building a worldwide network that can send messages that can't be wiretapped or cracked through conventional methods.