North America

US invites Mexico onboard ambitious semiconductor plan

by Daniel Rook Agence France-Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — The United States on Monday invited Mexico to join a multibillion dollar push to boost semiconductor manufacturing to compete with China, during a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for high-level economic talks. Officials set aside trade tensions over Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s energy policies and focused instead on the potential benefits from cooperation in microchips and other technology. The Chips […]

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New wildfire spreading in central California mountains

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) – California’s latest wildfire has spread rapidly in the US state’s central mountains, just as firefighters were bringing a big blaze south of Los Angeles under control, authorities said Sunday. The Mosquito Fire has now swept through an area of more than 41,000 acres (16,600 hectares) in the Sierra Nevada range northeast of San Francisco in just four days, the official Cal Fire website reported. Cal Fire said the blaze, […]

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Grief, solidarity as US marks 21st anniversary of 9/11

New York, United States (AFP) by Yuki Iwamura, with Michael Mathes in Washington The United States on Sunday observed the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, with President Joe Biden recalling Americans’ sacrifice and honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed when hijacked planes hit the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. Relatives of victims, police officers, firefighters and city leaders gathered at the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, where the names […]

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Former Trump advisor Bannon charged with fraud in New York

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Donald Trump’s former advisor Steve Bannon was charged with fraud Thursday over a scheme that misappropriated millions of dollars donated for the construction of a wall between the United States and Mexico. Bannon, 68, a far-right ideologue who was closely involved in Trump’s rise to the American presidency, turned himself in earlier in the day to face the charges in New York. Standing outside the Manhattan prosecutor’s office, he […]

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North Korea law allows for nuclear first strike, makes program ‘irreversible’

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has passed a law allowing it to carry out a preventive nuclear strike and declaring its status as a nuclear-armed state “irreversible”, state media said Friday. The announcement comes at a time of crumbling ties between the North and South, with Pyongyang blaming Seoul for the outbreak of Covid-19 in its territory and conducting a record number of weapons tests this year. The law will allow North Korea […]

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US Justice Dept appeals freeze on review of seized Trump documents

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Justice Department said Thursday it was appealing a Florida judge’s order to freeze access to thousands of documents, including top secret files, seized from former president Donald Trump’s home. The department said the order Monday by federal court Judge Aileen Cannon to sequester all the documents for review by an independent “special master” hindered its ability to conduct criminal investigation related to Trump’s possession of the classified documents. […]

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California wildfire doubles in size

by Patrick FALLON Agence France-Presse HEMET, United States (AFP) — A wildfire burning outside Los Angeles has doubled in size in less than 24 hours, firefighters said Thursday as they endured yet another day of blistering heat in the western United States. Thousands of people have been told to evacuate in the face of the growing Fairview Fire, which has now spread to 19,000 acres (7,700 hectares). “Active fire behavior occurred in the east, south, […]

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‘Help wanted’: businesses struggle to fill jobs

PARIS, France (AFP) – Germany has a shortage of plumbers. The United States needs more postal workers. Australia is lacking engineers. In Canada, hospitals are looking for more nurses. “The Great Resignation” that countries have experienced since Covid pandemic restrictions were eased is not over yet. Michael Blume, chief executive of a software company in eastern Germany, said he had “a lot of difficulties finding workers”. “Wherever we look, we are lacking qualified workers,” Blume, […]

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Second suspect in Canadian stabbing rampage captured by police; died in hospital

by: Thomas I. Likness, Canada Bureau (Eagle News) — The second suspect wanted in a stabbing rampage in Canada that left 10 people dead and 18 others injured died shortly after being captured Wednesday, said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Thirty-two-year-old Myles Sanderson was taken into police custody after police forced the stolen vehicle he was driving off the road about two hours from where the crimes occurred. “Shortly after his arrest, he went into medical […]

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Suspect in Canada stabbing rampage dies after arrest: media

Rosthern, Canada (AFP) by with Michel Comte in Ottawa / Anne-Sophie THILL The last suspect in the stabbing spree in a remote western Canadian Indigenous community died after being arrested Wednesday at the end of a long manhunt, local media said. Several broadcasters and newspapers, citing unnamed police sources, announced 32-year-old Myles Sanderson’s death, without giving details of the circumstances. Police are scheduled to hold a news conference at 7:30 pm local time (0130 GMT). […]

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Second suspect arrested over deadly Canada stabbings

by with Michel Comte in Ottawa / Anne-Sophie THILL Agence France-Presse JAMES SMITH CREE NATION, Canada (AFP) — Canadian police on Wednesday arrested the second and final suspect over the stabbing spree that saw 10 people killed and 18 wounded in a remote Indigenous community, two days after the first suspect was found dead. A pickup truck in a ditch surrounded by a dozen police cars pointed to a dramatic end to a four-day manhunt […]

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US calls Erdogan threats to Greece ‘unhelpful’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Tuesday called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s warnings to Greece over sea disputes “unhelpful” and urged the two NATO allies to settle differences diplomatically. “At a time when Russia has again invaded a sovereign European state, statements that could raise tensions between NATO allies are particularly unhelpful,” a State Department spokesperson said when asked about Erdogan’s remarks, without naming him. “The United States continues to encourage […]

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