A Lebanese man has been accused of running an infant formula theft ring based in the U.S. State of Texas.

Wassim Hassan Elsaleh, also known as Sam Saleh, faced a court hearing Wednesday in Houston to secure an attorney.

A delegation of five European officials recommended Wednesday that inmates cleared for release from the U.S. military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be jailed under more flexible conditions, an aide said.

Invited by the United States, the delegation's informal visit was meant to help give Europe ideas on how it can help the United States shut down the controversial jail once and for all.

Revelations about Iranian air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq have illustrated how American and Iranian forces are operating in separate areas to avoid confrontation, part of a fragile alignment fraught with risk, U.S. officials and analysts say.

Air raids by Iranian F-4 Phantom fighters over the weekend reflect a pattern in which Iranian or U.S. military advisers have carved out separate spheres in Iraq as the two arch-rivals seek to defeat a common enemy -- the IS group, defense officials said.

A grand jury on Wednesday said it would not charge a white New York police officer in the choking death of a black man, U.S. media reported. 

Eric Garner, a 43-year-old father-of-six, died after being placed in a chokehold by New York police Officer Daniel Pantaleo while being arrested on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is unlikely to shift his stance on Ukraine until the full force of economic sanctions levelled against Moscow hits home.

Obama said Putin's "nationalist, backward-looking" outlook had isolated Russia internationally but had played well domestically. 

Iranian strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq show that Tehran has become an unavoidable regional player but also highlight the unusual nature of the global fight against an extremist group that is uniting traditional foes, experts say.

Both Washington and Tehran have been at pains to stress there has been no military coordination between them in the battle against IS in Iraq.

NATO allies Turkey and the United States are narrowing their differences over plans to create a no-fly zone along the Syrian border, the Turkish foreign minister said on Wednesday.

However, his comments contrast with statements from the White House which suggest the two countries remain divided on how to respond to the Syria conflict.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday welcomed any Iranian military action against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq as "positive" after the Pentagon said Tehran had carried out air strikes against the group.

Kerry, hosting a meeting of an anti-IS coalition in Brussels, said international airstrikes were finally stopping the advance of the jihadists across Iraq and Syria, but warned it could take years to finally defeat them.

The United States on Wednesday boosted its support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, calling on China to ensure that multiple candidates are allowed to run freely in 2017 elections. 

Beijing and Hong Kong authorities should "work together to ensure a competitive process for the election of the chief executive," the top U.S. diplomat for Asia, Daniel Russel, told US lawmakers.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at an OSCE meeting on Thursday in Basel, Switzerland, a U.S. official said, with topics set to include Ukraine and the Middle East.

The official said Kerry -- in Brussels Wednesday for a meeting of the U.S.-led coalition against the jihadist Islamic State group -- and Lavrov would "discuss a range of topics of mutual interest including issues related to the Middle East."