North America

Will Biden’s plan to tap US oil reserves reduce gasoline prices?

  by John BIERS Agence France Presse Citing the need to counteract the “Putin price hike” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has announced a sweeping plan to make unprecedented use of US emergency oil stockpiles. Under Biden’s plan, the United States will release up to a million barrels a day every day for six months from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). On Friday, the International Energy Agency announced that a group of 30 […]

Thousands march in Haiti in anger over surge in kidnappings

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) – Thousands of people demonstrated Tuesday in Haiti to denounce a surge in kidnappings and the lack of action by the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry to protect the population from crime gangs. The Caribbean nation has been under the sway of gangs for months, their influence extending far beyond the poor neighborhoods of the capital Port-au-Prince that spawned them. “According to the alerts we receive, I’d say that between five […]

Biden says US moving ‘strongly’ on Asia-Pacific despite Russia crisis

by Sebastian Smith WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States is forging “strongly” ahead on its growing Asia-Pacific priorities, despite the crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hosting Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the Oval Office, Biden said the world’s “rules-based order” faces “unprecedented challenges,” but that Washington has not been distracted by the Ukraine war. “Even as we address the crisis in Europe, my […]

Regime change, the controversial strategy the US no longer wants

    by Francesco FONTEMAGGI Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States says it is not seeking a “regime change” in Russia, hasty clarification that shows the strategy once popular among neoconservatives has become a hot button issue after negative experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. President Joe Biden caused a stir Saturday when, during an impassioned speech in Warsaw, said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” The […]

US ex-bishop admits covering up 25 years of child sex abuse

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – A US association for victims of sexual abuse denounced Monday a former bishop in New York state who admitted to having ignored multiple sexual assaults on children committed by 11 priests over 25 years. In April 2021, Howard Hubbard, an ex-bishop in the city of Albany, testified under oath over four days before the state’s Supreme Court and acknowledged that from 1977 to 2002, he was informed of sexual […]

Biden ‘gaffe’ on Putin scrambles US message on Ukraine

by Brian KNOWLTON Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden’s apparent call for Vladimir Putin’s exit reverberated instantly around the world, sparking an administration rush to course-correct — and risks scrambling US efforts to rally a united front on the Ukraine conflict. Biden’s comment that the Russian president “cannot remain in power” — delivered in Warsaw at the close of three days of marathon diplomacy — was termed “a horrendous gaffe” […]

Israeli PM tests positive for Covid after Blinken talks

  JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tested positive for Covid-19, his office said Monday, after he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Bennett, who met Blinken in Jerusalem on Sunday on the sidelines of a “historic summit” of Israeli and Arab diplomats, “is feeling well and will continue his schedule as planned from his home,” a statement from his office said. Also on Sunday Bennett visited the northern Israeli city […]

US, Philippines kick off their largest-ever war games

by Ron Lopez and Mikhail Flores Agence France-Presse MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – The Philippines and the United States launched the largest-ever joint military drills in the archipelago nation on Monday, signalling deepening defence ties as fresh tensions surface in the disputed South China Sea. The war games are the last under outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, who previously threatened to cancel exercises and axe a key military deal with longtime ally the United States as he […]

US announces new sanctions after North Korea ICBM test

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The United States announced new sanctions Thursday on entities and people in Russia and North Korea after Pyongyang’s new ICBM missile test. The targeted persons and organizations are accused of “transferring sensitive items to North Korea’s missile program,” the State Department said in a statement. “These measures are part of our ongoing efforts to impede the DPRK’s ability to advance its missile program and they highlight the negative role […]

Canada will boost oil exports to replace Russian energy

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) – Canada announced Thursday it will boost oil exports by about five percent to help address supply shortages faced by allies shunning Russian energy after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “Our European friends and allies need Canada and others to step up. They’re telling us they need our help in getting off Russian oil and gas in the short term,” Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a statement. Canada is “uniquely positioned to […]

Four Russians indicted in US for energy sector hacks

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Four Russian agents have been indicted in the United States for hacking attacks targeting the energy sector around the world, including a US nuclear power operator, the Justice Department said Thursday. The Russian hackers targeted thousands of computers at hundreds of companies in 135 countries between 2012 and 2018, the department said. The Justice Department said the targets included a nuclear power facility in the US state of Kansas. […]

US ‘strongly condemns’ North Korea missile launch

  BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The United States condemned North Korea’s test firing of a new intercontinental missile on Thursday and urged the world to hold Pyongyang responsible for violating UN Security Council resolutions. Pyongyang has launched nearly a dozen weapon tests this year in an unprecedented spree in defiance of UN sanctions and the latest is the most powerful one since 2017. Washington “strongly condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for its test […]