The Obama administration welcomed Russia's membership in the World Trade Organization, but said US exporters would be disadvantaged unless Congress repeals Russia's Cold War-era trade status.
Authorities declared a state of emergency in northern California, ravaged by fires at a time when several other western US states are also fighting flames.
Reports of several cases of syphilis among porn actors in California has prompted a trade group to call for a temporary halt to shooting in the lucrative US adult film industry.
U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan has presented Kazakhstan with a special vehicle for transportation of radioactive materials equipped with an anti-theft alarm system.