The United States on Wednesday denounced Moscow's decision to expel USAID and denied allegations that the agency had been meddling in Russian elections.

"It is regrettable that Russia's taken this decision, first and foremost for the Russian people," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said as Moscow gave the U.S. Agency for International Development until October 1 to leave the country.

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi made a triumphant debut Tuesday in Washington as she met Hillary Clinton, who voiced excitement at the opposition leader's journey from house arrest to stateswoman.

A relaxed and smiling Suu Kyi, dressed in a red jacket with three small pink flowers pinned to her hair, chatted with America's top diplomat at her office in the State Department at the start of an unprecedented 18-day U.S. tour.

Al-Qaida's franchise in North Africa on Tuesday urged Muslims to storm U.S. embassies and kill American envoys in Muslim countries in protest over a film insulting Islam, a monitoring group said.

"We call on Islam's youths to take after the lions of Benghazi (in Libya) by pulling down America's flags that are flying over all of its embassies in our capitals," said al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, according to IntelCenter.

Washington and Tokyo have agreed to deploy another missile defense radar in Japan, to counter the threat from North Korea, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday.

"The purpose of this is to enhance our ability to defend Japan. It's also designed to help forward-deployed U.S. forces," Panetta said of the X-band radar during a joint press conference in Tokyo with his opposite number.

The top U.S. general on Monday discussed the Syrian crisis with officials in Ankara, as Turkey's premier criticized Washington for inaction over the conflict.

General Martin Dempsey's visit is part of an "operational planning" mechanism established between Turkey and the United States to prepare for the aftermath of Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled regime.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called for diplomatic efforts to resolve a worsening territorial spat between Japan and China on Monday, the day after warning disputes could draw East Asia into war.

Speaking after meetings in Tokyo with senior Japanese figures, Panetta urged "calm and restraint on all sides" in a row over disputed islands that has rapidly escalated in the last week into sometimes violent protests in China.

A suicide bomber on Monday killed seven people and wounded an MP in an attack at an entrance to Baghdad's heavily secured Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and U.S. embassy are based, officials said.

The attacker drove up to the entrance situated at the July 14 bridge across the Tigris River from the Green Zone before detonating an explosives-rigged vehicle, an interior ministry official said.

A major U.S.-led naval minesweeping exercise got underway in the Gulf Sunday as tension remain high over Iran and its controversial nuclear program.

The exercise kicked off on the same day the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned of retaliation against the Strait of Hormuz, Israel and nearby U.S. bases if his country is attacked, and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on a "red line" from Washington, claiming Tehran is "90 percent" toward having a nuclear bomb.

Tunisia said on Saturday that the "irresponsible actions" of demonstrators who attacked the U.S. embassy during a protest over an anti-Islam film would not affect its relations with Washington.

The Tunisian foreign ministry said it had "full confidence" that "these irresponsible actions... will not affect the friendly ties" between Tunis and Washington.

Al-Qaida said the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya was in revenge for the killing of the network's number two Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi, SITE Intelligence Group reported Saturday.

"The killing of Sheikh Abu Yahya only increased the enthusiasm and determination of the sons of (Libyan independence hero) Omar al-Mokhtar to take revenge upon those who attack our Prophet," al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula said in a statement, quoted by the U.S.-based monitoring group.