North America

Biden rejects branding Russia ‘state sponsor of terrorism’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday said it would be counterproductive to brand Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism,” rejecting calls from Ukraine and lawmakers to take the far-reaching action. Biden, asked by a reporter on Monday if he would blacklist Russia as a terrorist state, said simply, “no,” after months of non-committal answers from senior officials. Asked Tuesday whether a decision had been made, White House Press Secretary […]

Liz Truss named as UK’s third woman prime minister

  London, United Kingdom (AFP) UPDATES throughout with result, quotes by Anna MALPAS / Jitendra JOSHI Britain’s Conservative party Monday announced Liz Truss as its new leader to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson and confront Britain’s deepest economic crisis in decades. The foreign secretary comfortably beat her rival, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, by about 57 to 43 percent after a gruelling summer-long contest decided by just over 170,000 Conservative members — a tiny sliver […]

Manhunt for two suspects after 10 people killed 15 injured in stabbings Saskatchewan

            By: Thomas I. Likness (Eagle News Service) (Eagle News) — Ten people are dead and at least 15 have been injured following a series of stabbings in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The dead and injured were found in 13 different locations, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore told a news conference Sunday. “It is horrific what has happened in our province today,” she said. “There could be more injured.” […]

NASA unsure next Moon rocket launch attempt possible this month

United States (AFP) by Lucie AUBOURG After scrapping a second attempt to get its new 30-story lunar rocket off the ground due to a fuel leak, NASA officials said Saturday it may not be possible to try again this month. The current launch window for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission to the Moon ends Tuesday and is “definitely off the table,” said Jim Free, associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development, at a press conference Saturday. The […]

Trump brands Biden ‘enemy of the state’ at Pennsylvania rally

  Wilkes-Barre, United States (AFP) by Anne LEBRETON with Peter HUTCHISON in New York Donald Trump branded Joe Biden an “enemy of the state” Saturday as he hit back at the US president’s assertion that the Republican and his supporters are undermining American democracy, and slammed last month’s FBI raid of his Florida home. Making his first public appearance since the August 8 raid, Trump told a rally in Pennsylvania that the search was a […]

US approves $1.1 billion in arms for Taiwan, angering China

  by Shaun TANDON Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Friday announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan, vowing to keep boosting the island’s defenses as tensions soar with Beijing, which warned Washington of “counter-measures.” The sale comes a month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defiantly visited the self-governing democracy, prompting mainland China to launch a show of force that could be a trial run for a future […]

Wildfire rages as California bakes under heat dome

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) – Hundreds of firefighters endured triple-digit temperatures Thursday battling against a wildfire along a major highway, as the western United States bakes under a fearsome heat dome. Super Scooper water-spraying aircraft were assisting the attack on the 5,000 acre (2,000 hectare) blaze that took hold of a swath of countryside near Los Angeles in California. Seven firefighters had to be taken to hospital after suffering heat-related injuries in their bid […]

Biden slams Trump ‘extremist’ assault on democracy

by Jim WATSON / with Aurelia END in Washington Agence France-Presse PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden took fierce aim Thursday at Donald Trump and his “extremist” supporters, labeling them enemies of American democracy in a prime-time address that sought to fire up voters ahead of key midterm elections. Speaking in Philadelphia, the cradle of US democracy, the president launched an extraordinary assault on those Republicans who embrace Trump’s “Make America Great […]

Sexual assaults in US military reach new record

Washington, United States (AFP) The number of sexual assaults in the US military increased by 13 percent in fiscal year 2021, reaching a record high, according to an annual report published Thursday by the Pentagon. The Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPR) said there were 8,866 reported assaults “involving service members as either victims or subjects” in the year to September 30, 2021, compared to 7,813 the previous year. But only […]

Gorbachev and Reagan: a friendship that ended the Cold War

  by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse Mikhail Gorbachev stepped onto a Washington street and began shaking hands to cheers and applause in 1990 — a bit of unaccustomed political showmanship worthy of his friend Ronald Reagan. Ana Maria Guzman was in the park on her lunch break that May when she saw the Soviet leader, who died on Tuesday at 91. “We knew he was in town and we saw his motorcade. Then he […]

Mexico plans to open lithium sector to private investors

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) – Mexico will open lithium exploitation to private investors because there are insufficient public funds to develop the recently nationalized sector, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday. “Public funding alone would not be enough. Quite a lot of investment is required,” Lopez Obrador told reporters. Opening the sector to private capital will “have a lot of support. It’s of interest to national and foreign investors,” he predicted. In April, […]

Trudeau to probe allegation Canada spy helped smuggle UK teens

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged Wednesday to “follow up” on allegations that a spy working for Canadian intelligence trafficked British schoolgirls into Syria where at least one married an Islamic State fighter. According to a Times report in Britain, in 2015 then-15-year-old Shamima Begun and two friends received help from a people-smuggler recruited by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to get to war-ravaged Syria from their Bethnal Green Academy in […]