The US government's order to China to shut its consulate in Houston is an attempt to blame Beijing for US failures ahead of the November presidential election.
That's according to the Chinese state media, which described the closure as "a new gambit in the US administration's bid to paint China as a malevolent actor on the world stage, and thus make it an outlaw to the international community".
"The move shows that lagging behind his presidential election opponent in the polls ... the US leader is going all out in his attempts to portray China as an agent of evil," it said.
Meanwhile, China's embassy to the US described the order as "political provocation" and called on Washington to "immediately revoke" the decision.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying wrote on Twitter that China would "surely react with firm countermeasures".
The US on Wednesday said it had given China 72 hours to close the consulate "to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information", prompting Chinese threats of retaliation.
The decision marked a dramatic escalation of tension between the world's two biggest economies amid fresh accusations of Chinese espionage in the US and calls by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for a new global coalition against Beijing.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran's nuclear programme by up to two years, suggesting the US military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.
Hundreds of firefighters battled a blaze Thursday on Crete island, which burnt swathes of forest and olive groves and forced the evacuation of over 1,000 people, officials said, underscoring the region's vulnerability to destructive wildfires.
Five people were injured, including a seven-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl, in a Russian attack on the southern Ukraine port of Odesa overnight, Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday.
Indonesian rescuers raced to find victims in rough seas on Thursday after five people died and dozens were left missing when a ferry carrying 65 people sank near the island of Bali, according to search and rescue agencies.
Apple Inc. shares fell Monday after a closely followed analyst warned that demand for the firm’s new iPhone 16 Pro model has been lower than expected. Is this a sign that the AI software just isn’t ready?
Dubai’s current population is more than double compared to almost twenty years ago, which now stands at 3.7 million. Lots of families are also moving to the UAE now. So what does it mean for the property market?