For years, Washington has been warning others not to trust loans from Chinese state banks fueling its rise as a superpower. But a new report reveals an ironic twist: The United States is the biggest recipient of all — by far. And the security and technology implications have yet to be fully understood.

China's state lenders have funneled $200 billion into U.S. businesses for a quarter of a century, but many of the loans have been kept secret because the money was first routed through shell companies in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Delaware and elsewhere that helped obscure their origins, according to AidData, a research lab at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

President Donald Trump is set to fete Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday when the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia makes his first White House visit since the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.

The U.S.-Saudi relationship had been sent into a tailspin by the operation targeting Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the kingdom, that U.S. intelligence agencies later determined Prince Mohammed likely directed the agents to carry out.

After two years of robust growth fueled by military spending on the war in Ukraine, Russia's economy is slowing. Oil revenues are down, the budget deficit is up and defense spending has leveled off.

The Kremlin needs money to keep its finances steady — and it's clear where President Vladimir Putin intends to get it: at the cash register, from ordinary people and small businesses.

Tom Cruise, at 63 still the biggest movie star in a room full of them, finally got to hold his own Oscar on a Hollywood stage on Sunday night.

"Making movies is not what I do, it's who I am," said Cruise. He was composed as always, but at moments seemed near tears as he spoke, grasping the gold honorary statuette that celebrated his more than 40 years at the apex of the industry at the film academy's annual Governors Awards.

Cristiano Ronaldo is heading to another World Cup. Erling Haaland is going to his first. Italy risks missing out on sport's biggest global event for the third straight edition.

A record 48 teams will play in the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

On Sunday, Portugal and Norway sealed places at the global event. Without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal routed Armenia 9-1 to ensure the soccer great would have the chance to appear at a record sixth World Cup. Norway beat four-time World Cup champion Italy 4-1.

A powerful atmospheric river had mostly moved through California after causing at least six deaths and dousing much of the state, but lingering thunderstorms brought the risk of mudslides in areas of Los Angeles County that were recently ravaged by wildfire.

Flood advisories remained in place through Sunday afternoon for LA, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, where localized showers were still possible after heavy downpours on Friday and Saturday.

Rescue workers dug through tons of mud and rubble on Monday as they searched for 34 missing people after two separate landslides in two different regions on Indonesia's main island of Java killed at least 18 people.

Rescuers recovered more bodies since landslides triggered by torrential rains on Thursday evening that hit dozens of houses in three villages in the Cilacap district of Central Java province, increasing the death toll to 16, said Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BNPB.

Heavy rain swept central Vietnam on Monday, triggering landslides and floods, killing at least seven, injuring dozens and stranding thousands.

The deluges have wreaked widespread destruction across a region already battered weeks ago by floods from record rainfall and the powerful typhoon Kalmaegi.

Olympic gold-medalist Rowdy Gaines has swimming tips if you're an older swimmer, or returning to the pool after years away.

Gaines won three Olympic gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and is widely known as the "voice of swimming" for his coverage of the Olympics with American network NBC.