North America

Former US president Jimmy Carter again hospitalized

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Former US president Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized for treatment of a urinary tract infection, the Carter Center said Monday — the latest in a series of health issues for the 95-year-old Democrat. Carter “was admitted to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, this past weekend,” his center said in a statement. “He is feeling better and looks forward to returning home soon.” Last week, Carter — the […]

10 wounded in shooting in busy New Orleans tourist area

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Ten people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday in New Orleans’ French Quarter, a popular tourist hub, US police said, adding that two of the victims were in critical condition. The shooting took place at 3:21 am (09H21 GMT) on a crowded commercial street near many hotels in a historic district that attracts visitors from around the world. Police reported earlier that 11 people had been wounded but subsequently […]

10 wounded in shooting in busy New Orleans tourist area

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Ten people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday in New Orleans’ French Quarter, a popular tourist hub, US police said, adding that two of the victims were in critical condition. The shooting took place at 3:21 am (09H21 GMT) on a crowded commercial street near many hotels in a historic district that attracts visitors from around the world. Police reported earlier that 11 people had been wounded but subsequently […]

Seven dead in small plane crash in Canada

TORONTO, Canada (AFP) — Five Americans and two Canadians were killed when a light aircraft crashed in a wooded area on the north shore of Lake Ontario, Canada’s transport safety agency said Thursday. The US-registered single-engine Piper PA-32 departed Toronto’s Buttonville Airport and was apparently headed to Quebec City when it crashed on approach to the Kingston, Ontario airport on Wednesday just after five pm (2200 GMT), Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigator Ken Webster told […]

Seven dead in small plane crash in Canada

TORONTO, Canada (AFP) — A small airplane crashed in a wooded area on the north shore of Lake Ontario in eastern Canada Wednesday evening, killing all seven people on board, Canada’s transport safety agency said Thursday. The US-registered single-engine Piper PA-32 plane was traveling from Toronto’s Buttonville Airport to Kingston, Ontario when it went missing at around 5 pm local time (2200 GMT). Emergency services, including police on all-terrain vehicles and a military search and […]

Trump signs law supporting Hong Kong protesters

by Sebastian Smith WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump signed a law Wednesday supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, likely angering Beijing just as Washington was hoping to ease the long-running US-China trade war. Trump had seemed reluctant to sign the bill but with almost unanimous US congressional support for the measure, he had little political room to maneuver. In a statement, Trump spoke of “respect” for Chinese President Xi Jinping and said he […]

Trump presents Conan the dog, ‘incredible’ hero of Baghdadi raid

  by Jerome CARTILLIER Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — “So this is Conan — right now, probably the world’s most famous dog.” In a stream of superlatives, Donald Trump on Monday introduced to the world the military dog involved in the raid that led to the death of Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “Conan did a fantastic job,” the US president told the White House press corps, assembled for a […]

Court says White House must comply with impeachment subpoenas

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A Washington appeals court judge ruled Monday that President Donald Trump’s top aides must comply with subpoenas issued by the impeachment investigation against him. In a case involving former White House counsel Don McGahn, who was subpoenaed in May by the House Judiciary Committee, Judge Ketanji Jackson ruled that senior administration officials cannot claim absolute immunity from testifying based on their closeness to the US leader. While Jackson ruled […]

Canada must pay up for military sexual assault victims

  OTTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada must pay almost a billion dollars in settlements to hundreds of military victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault and gender-based discrimination, a federal court ruled Monday. The victims, some of whom still work in the Canadian armed forces or the defense ministry, filed class action lawsuits in 2016 and 2017 after an independent investigation found “an underlying sexualized culture” in Canada’s armed forces “that is hostile to women and […]

US Defense Secretary asks for navy chief’s resignation

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Defense Secretary on Sunday asked the navy chief to resign in a dispute over an elite SEAL commando whose demotion for misconduct was reversed by President Donald Trump. Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher had been accused of war crimes in a high-profile case but was found guilty of a lesser offense. On November 15, Trump reversed the demotion handed down to him due to his conviction. The defense department […]

America grapples with ‘ghost guns’ amid epidemic of violence

  by Javier TOVAR Agence France Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — After his mother dropped him off at school, Nathan Berhow pulled a .45-caliber pistol out of his backpack, opened fire and killed two classmates, all using a weapon he’d assembled at home. Such guns are sometimes called “ghost guns” — unregulated, easy to put together and almost impossible to trace because they have no serial number. The parts are readily available online, […]

Top diplomat implicates Trump in explosive impeachment testimony

  by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A senior US diplomat directly implicated President Donald Trump Wednesday in a scheme to force Ukraine to probe a political rival, in bombshell testimony to a televised impeachment hearing. Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, told lawmakers he followed the president’s orders in seeking a “quid pro quo” deal for Ukraine to investigate Democrat Joe Biden in exchange for a White […]