North America

Biden celebrates $1 trillion fix for US infrastructure

by Mandel Ngan with Sebastian Smith in Washington NORTH WOODSTOCK, United States (AFP) — Joe Biden flew Tuesday to a creaky bridge in New Hampshire to tout his rare victory in passing a bipartisan infrastructure package, hoping the $1 trillion measure will also put his own presidency back on the road. Biden’s trip to the antiquated NH 175 bridge over the Pemigewasset River in North Woodstock kicked off a blitz by the White House to […]

New York to welcome back crowds to Times Square on New Year’s Eve

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York City will allow crowds into Times Square on New Year’s Eve to ring in 2022, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday, after the pandemic muted last year’s celebrations. Hundreds of thousands of revelers will be able to attend the traditional ball drop at midnight providing they can prove they are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, de Blasio told reporters. Attendees who are unable to get vaccinated because […]

Biden tells Xi of ‘concerns’ over human rights, Xinjiang: W.House

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday that he has “concerns” over human rights abuses and also warned against “unliteral” moves to change the status of Taiwan, the White House said. “President Biden raised concerns about the PRC’s (Chinese communist party) practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, as well as human rights more broadly,” the White House said in a readout after the virtual Biden-Xi […]

Biden urges ‘guardrails’ against conflict in virtual Xi summit

by Aurelia End and Sebastian Smith WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping opened a virtual summit Monday with an appeal for better communication between the superpowers and “guardrails” to avoid conflict. Speaking from the White House to Xi on a television screen, Biden said they must develop “guardrails” to “ensure that the competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended.” He said they […]

Six teens hurt in drive-by shooting near US school: police

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — An apparent drive-by shooting Monday near a Colorado high school left six teenagers in hospital, police said, as the specter of gun violence raised its head again in the United States. Witnesses spoke of around 30 shots being fired, and police said they had recovered multiple rounds of different calibers at a park in Aurora, a municipality in Denver’s suburbs. Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said there appeared to […]

US slams Russia for ‘irresponsible’ space missile test

by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States denounced Russia on Monday for conducting a “dangerous and irresponsible” missile strike that blew up one of its own satellites, creating a debris cloud that forced the International Space Station’s crew to take evasive action. Washington wasn’t informed in advance about the test, only the fourth ever to hit a spacecraft from the ground, and will talk to allies about how to respond, said […]

Roblox uses popular game platform to back new kids’ projects

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Video gaming platform Roblox is using its massive popularity amongst younger players to support projects that weave educational video games into school programs, the company said Monday. With its Lego-like avatars and easy-to-learn coding for budding programmers, the online gaming app has become a thriving clubhouse for young gamers, most of them no older than 16. Roblox is already a venue where students learn computer coding skills while designing […]

Heavy rains force evacuations, trap motorists in Canada

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Relentless rain battered Canada’s Pacific coast on Monday, forcing a town’s evacuation and trapping motorists as mudslides, rocks and debris were washed across major highways. “Heavy rains and subsequent mudslides/flooding have impacted various highways in the BC interior,” British Columbia’s transportation ministry said on Twitter. Rescuers were deployed to free people trapped for hours in 80-100 cars and trucks between two mudslides near the town of Agassiz, the province’s safety minister, […]

Baldwin sued over fatal ‘Rust’ shooting

  LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — US actor Alec Baldwin is being sued by a “Rust” crew member over the fatal on-set shooting of a cinematographer last month, lawyers said Wednesday. The negligence suit also names armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who claimed through her legal representatives that she was being “framed” for the death of Halyna Hutchins. The low-budget movie’s chief lighting technician Serge Svetnoy says in the lawsuit that the accidental killing “was caused […]

Biden, Xi expected to hold virtual summit on Monday: US media

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden is expected to hold a hotly awaited virtual summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday, US media reported, as tensions mount over Taiwan, human rights and trade. Both CNN and Politico, citing unnamed sources, said the meeting was tentatively scheduled for Monday. Relations between the world’s two largest economies have deteriorated in recent weeks, in particular over Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy claimed by China, […]

Parents targeted with misleading warnings on Covid-19 vaccination

by Marisha GOLDHAMER WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Registered nurse Melody Butler seeks to provide science-based answers to American parents as she urges them to vaccinate their children against Covid-19. But her efforts to do so on social media through Nurses Who Vaccinate — a volunteer group she founded — is up against a deluge of claims that the shots are dangerous. The claims are designed to evoke fear: a 16-year-old girl said to have […]

900,000 US kids aged 5-11 get Covid vaccine in a week

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official said Wednesday. Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters. “The program is just getting up to full strength,” he said, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. There […]