North America

Trump owes $454 million for fraud, but can he actually pay it?

By Nicolas REVISE NEW YORK, March 21, 2024 (AFP) – Donald Trump is up against a fast-approaching deadline to secure a half-billion dollar bond as he appeals his financial fraud case, facing possible bankruptcy or the seizure of his assets if he fails. The former president, who has clinched the Republican nomination for this year’s presidential election, is appealing his $355 million penalty, plus interest, after a New York court ruled that he, his sons […]

US sues Apple: DOJ alleges illegal monopoly practices with iPhone

By Alex PIGMAN WASHINGTON, March 22, 2024 (AFP) – The US Department of Justice sued Apple on Thursday, accusing the tech giant of illegally maintaining a monopoly for its iPhone by stifling competition and imposing exorbitant costs on consumers. The lawsuit, also brought by multiple US states, said Apple raked in hundreds of billions of dollars by allegedly making it difficult for consumers to switch to cheaper smartphones and devices. The long anticipated case against […]

Large group of migrants force way across Texas border

HOUSTON, March 22, 2024 (AFP) – A “large group of migrants” crossing into the United States from Mexico broke through razor wire Thursday and rushed the border wall, the border patrol said, the latest episode in a simmering national immigration crisis. Illegal immigration is a hugely contentious topic in the United States, and an issue already figuring prominently in the campaign for the November presidential election. Republicans blame President Joe Biden for the recent record […]

Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ officer jailed 20 years for racist attack

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2024 (AFP) – A former Mississippi policeman who carried out a brutal attack on two Black men with fellow white officers who called themselves the “Goon Squad” was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison. Hunter Elward, four other former members of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department and a former member of the Richland Police Department pleaded guilty in August to multiple offenses. Elward, 31, who shot one of the men in […]

UN chief warns against ‘sequel to ‘Oppenheimer”

  UNITED NATIONS, United States, March 18, 2024 (AFP) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Oscar-winning film “Oppenheimer” on Monday as he warned that the world faced the highest risk of nuclear war in decades. At a Security Council session called by Japan, Guterres said that the biopic about the morally conflicted father of the atomic bomb “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.” “Humanity cannot survive […]

Biden to host Philippines, Japan leaders to counter China

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2024 (AFP) – WASHINGTON, March 19, 2024 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden will hold the first three-way summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan next month, the White House said Monday, as the United States boosts alliances against China. Biden’s meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on April 11 is the latest in a series of meeting with Asia-Pacific […]

Trump hails election as ‘most important date’ in US history

VANDALIA, United States, March 17, 2024 (AFP) – Donald Trump told a rally in Ohio on Saturday that November’s presidential election will be the “most important date” in US history, painting his campaign for the White House as a turning point for the country. Days after securing his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, the former president also warned of a “bloodbath” if he is not elected — though it was not clear what he […]

Biden roasts Trump at Washington press dinner

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2024 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden joked about Donald Trump and his own age at an annual media dinner on Saturday — before unloading deadly serious criticisms of his rival in November’s election. “One candidate’s too old and mentally unfit to be president,” the 81-year-old Democrat quipped at the Gridiron Club in Washington. “The other guy’s me.” Democrat Biden was making his first speech as president at the annual white tie […]

US Senate declines to fast-track TikTok bill

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2024 (AFP) – A bill that would force the sale of TikTok from its Chinese owners or see it banned in the United States will move cautiously in the US Senate, key lawmakers said, after it sailed through the House. The bill’s whirlwind House passage on Wednesday, and its backing from US President Joe Biden, had raised alarm bells that the app, used by 170 million in the United States, could be […]

US Senate leader calls for new Israeli elections amidst Gaza conflict criticism

By Frankie TAGGART WASHINGTON, March 14, 2024 (AFP) – The leader of the US Senate called Thursday for Israel to hold new elections in the most strident criticism yet by a senior American official of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza. The rebuke from Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking elected Jewish American in history, came amid increased pressure from President Joe Biden over the mounting death toll in the conflict, sparked by […]

Rats in US police headquarters ‘high’ from eating seized marijuana

As New Orleans police seize marijuana, they can’t stop some inside the department headquarters from consuming the confiscated stash. It’s not officers they’re having trouble with, but rather rats that have infested the building for years. “The rats are eating our marijuana,” Anne Kirkpatrick, police chief in the southern US city said. “They’re all high.” Kirkpatrick made her comments speaking to a city council meeting earlier this week, according to local media. Rats and cockroaches […]