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The United States military is making preparations ahead of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's planned visit to Taiwan. While the speaker's trip to the nation of Taiwan remains unconfirmed and without a hard timeframe, Chinese officials have already taken issue with the idea. The U.S. military is prepared for every contingency and would increase its movement of forces and assets in the Indo-Pacific region.  Officials told The Associated Press that fighter jets, ships, surveillance assets and other military systems would likely be used to provide overlapping rings of protection for her flight to Taiwan and any time on the ground there. China's government warned last week it would take "forceful measures" if Pelosi visited Taiwan after the Financial Times reported she would travel to the Chinese-claimed island nation next month.  FORMER CHINESE STATE MEDIA EDITOR SUGGESTS NANCY PELOSI BE 'RESTRAINED,' 'PUNISHED' BY CCP FOR VISITING TAIWAN The...

Iran has granted bail to Iranian-American conservationist, Morad Tahbaz, after he was convicted of security offenses, according to the semi-official Iranian ILNA news agency. Tahbaz, who also holds British citizenship, was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for "contact with the enemy U.S. government." The punishment was part of a crackdown on those with dual citizenship amid tensions with the U.S. and other western nations. "Mr. Tahbaz was released on bail and with an electronic bracelet," ILNA quoted Tahbaz’s lawyer, Hojjat Kermani, as saying on Wednesday. The report of Tahbaz’s bail comes a day after European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he put forward a new draft to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. US HIGHLIGHTS ADVANTAGES OF NUCLEAR DEAL, BUT ACKNOWLEDGES STALL WITH IRAN Tahbaz is one of the dozens of dual nationals and foreigners who have been arrested in Iran in recent years on espionage charges.   U.S. government ...

A 7-magnitude earthquake in the northern region of the Philippines early Wednesday morning has left at least four people dead and dozens more injured. The earthquake created small landslides and damaged buildings. The quake was centered in the mountainous area of the Abra province, according to the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Renato Solidum. At least 25 people were reportedly injured in Abra. Several structures suffered cracked walls, including some buildings that collapsed in Abra. "The ground shook like I was on a swing and the lights suddenly went out. We rushed out of the office, and I heard screams and some of my companions were in tears," Michael Brillantes, a safety officer of the Abra town of Lagangilang, said. YOSEMITE CREWS HAVE BEEN MAKING PROGRESS AGAINST FOREST FIRE IN CALIFORNIA "It was the most powerful quake I’ve felt, and I thought the ground would open up," he continued. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who...

The 22-year sentence for a Libyan militant convicted of four terrorism charges for his involvement in the 2012 Benghazi attack is "unreasonably low," a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.  Ahmed Abu Khatallah, 51, was convicted of four counts in 2017, including providing material support to terrorists and destroying US property, but was acquitted on the most serious charges.  Four Americans were killed in the attack on a US diplomatic compound and a CIA complex in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012.  Sentencing guidelines said that Khatallah should have been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison, according to prosecutors.  FLORIDA MAN WHO SPREAD BOMB-MAKING VIDEO, PLEDGED HIS ALLEGIANCE TO ISIS GETS 20 YEARS IN PRISON   The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled Tuesday that 22 years in prison is not long enough for Khatallah "given the gravity of such an assault on an American diplomatic facility and the district court’s own recognition of the ...

Pope Francis oversaw a Mass in Edmonton, Canada, on Tuesday as part of his apostolic journey. The pope was dressed in vestments made by an indigenous artist and carried a handcrafted crozier for the Mass, where he delivered a homily reflecting on the historically tumultuous relationship between the institutional Catholic Church and Canadian indigenous communities . Celebrating a pontifical Mass, Francis was called to deliver the homily – a reflection on Scripture read at the Mass – in which he spoke about the elderly, the Christian faith's transfer through generations , and the importance of remembering the sacrifices of one's forefathers. "Those who have preceded us have passed on to us a passion, a strength and a yearning, a flame that is up to us to reignite," Pope Francis said. "It is not a matter of preserving ashes but of rekindling the fire that they lit." POPE FRANCIS DESCRIBES PRESSURES OF THE PAPACY: 'SOMETIMES, YOU FEEL YOU ARE NUMB' ...

Japan carried out its first execution of 2022 on a man who was convicted of plowing a truck into a crowd in 2008 on Tuesday. Tomohiro Kato killed seven people in the attack, which saw him driving a vehicle into a large crowd in Tokyo. He exited the vehicle after it came to a stop and began stabbing people at random. "I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn't matter who I'd kill," Kato told police of his crimes. Akihabara is a district within Tokyo. Kato reportedly documented his plan of attack in a series of online posts while he was making his way to Akihabar, lamenting about his job and social life. NAVY LIUTENANT SENTENCED IN JAPAN CAUSES OUTCRY AMONG FAMILY, US LAWMAKERS TAIWAN LOSES MAJOR ADVOCATE WITH ASSASSINATION OF SHINZO ABE "This is a very painful case that led to extremely grave consequences and shocked society," Japan's Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said in a Tuesday statement. Kato's execution was Japan's first i...

A British tourist was killed by a helicopter propeller after landing in Greece, and now the pilot and two members of the ground crew are facing negligent homicide charges, according to reports.  A group of British tourists returning from Mykonos landed at a private heliport in Spata and were supposed to get into cars to head to Athens International Airport, where they planned to board a private jet to return to the United Kingdom. But after the chopper landed, Jack Fenton, 22, from Kent, died after walking into a still spinning rotor blade on the Bell 407.  Ioannis Kandyllis, president of Greece's committee for aviation accidents, said four passengers, including Fenton, disembarked from the chopper and were escorted back to a private lounge to await their flight back to London. But as they were in the lounge, the victim broke away and returned to the tarmac, "rushing to the helicopter at a fast pace," Kandyllis said, according to The Telegraph.  "Witnesses we sp...