A California man who deliberately drove into a crowd of people, injuring eight, did so because he thought they were Muslim, police said Friday.

Iran's top diplomat on Wednesday made public an offer to the U.S. government for a prisoner swap that he said he made six months ago.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Asia Society that Iran has not yet received a response from the Trump administration. "If they tell you anything else they're lying," he said.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar held unannounced talks with acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan Tuesday amid tensions over Ankara's plans to buy a Russian missile defense system and its threat to attack Kurdish fighters in Syria.

Saudi Arabia is looking to find a way out of its devastating war in Yemen and the United States, the kingdom's stalwart ally, can play a critical role, the International Crisis Group said Sunday.

The group, which researches ways to end conflicts, said the United States should appoint a special envoy and suspend most arms shipments to the Saudis with a promise to resume them once the kingdom ends its four-year offensive against Huthi rebels who control much of their southern neighbor.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ended his tour of South America on Sunday with a brief visit to the Colombian border city of Cucuta, crossed through by thousands of Venezuelans fleeing crisis under President Nicolas Maduro.

Iranian lawmakers dressed in paramilitary uniforms chanted "Death to America" as they convened Tuesday for an open session of parliament after the White House designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard a foreign terrorist organization.

President Hassan Rouhani declared that the force's popularity would only surge in the wake of the designation, saying guard members would be dearer "than any other time in the hearts of Iranian nation."

The United States said Monday it was halting all deliveries and joint work with Turkey on the F-35 fighter jet program after the NATO ally insisted on a major arms purchase from Russia.

Russia said Thursday its troops will stay in Venezuela "for as long as needed", rejecting US President Donald Trump's demand that Russia remove its military from the crisis-stricken country.

Russia's weekend deployment of troops and equipment to bolster President Nicolas Maduro has ratcheted up already high international tensions over Venezuela where the Trump administration is pushing for regime change.

A U.S. consulate staffer went on trial in a Turkish court on Tuesday accused of spying and attempting to overthrow the government in a case that fuelled tensions between the United States and its NATO ally.

Metin Topuz, a Turkish citizen and long-time liaison with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, was arrested in 2017 accused of ties to US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who Ankara says ordered a failed 2016 coup.

Senior U.S. officials will visit Beijing for a new round of trade war talks on March 28-29, followed by a trip to the United States by China's top negotiator in April, the Chinese commerce ministry said Thursday.