WASHINGTON D.C. (AFP) — A US watchdog agency recommended Thursday that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway be fired, saying the close aide to President Donald Trump repeatedly violated a law restricting political activity during her official work. The White House swiftly responded by calling the process “blatantly unfair” and demanding the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) retract its “outrageous” recommendation. In the finding sent to the president, the OSC said Conway has engaged in a […]
North America
Iran ‘responsible’ for Gulf of Oman attacks: Pompeo
WASHINGTON D.C. (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of being behind attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman Thursday, and said it was taking the case to the UN Security Council. “It is the assessment of the United States that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks,” Pompeo told reporters. “This is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the […]
China snubbed Trudeau request for talks about detained Canadians
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — China ignored Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s personal request for dialogue to end a spiralling diplomatic row, his office revealed Wednesday. Trudeau requested the call in January with Premier Li Keqiang so he could “personally advocate” for the immediate release of two Canadians detained a month earlier and for clemency in the case of another Canadian who would later be sentenced to death for drug trafficking, his spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon said […]
One dead as helicopter crash-lands on Manhattan building
by Thomas URBAIN NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A helicopter crash-landed on top of a high-rise in midtown Manhattan Monday, starting a fire and leaving one person dead as the entire building shook from the impact. Emergency services fanned out around the 54-story building on Seventh Avenue after what was described as a “hard-landing” by a chopper that took off barely 10 minutes earlier from a heliport in the city. The New York fire […]
US Supreme Court rejects challenge to regulation of gun silencers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is rejecting a challenge to federal regulation of gun silencers, just days after a gunman used one in a shooting rampage that killed 12 people in Virginia. The justices did not comment Monday in turning away appeals from two Kansas men who were convicted of violating federal law regulating silencers. The men argued that the constitutional right “to keep and bear arms” includes silencers. Kansas and seven other […]
Trump raises tariff threat anew over secret provision in Mexico deal
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said Monday a secret provision of the US immigration deal with Mexico will require the approval of that country’s legislature and warned US tariffs will be reinstated if it is not forthcoming. Trump did not say what the provision entails, only that it would be revealed “in the not too distant future and will need a vote by Mexico’s Legislative body.” “We do not anticipate a […]
Hundreds protest in Vancouver against Hong Kong extradition plans
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — Hundreds of people protested outside the Chinese consulate in Vancouver on Sunday against controversial plans to allow extraditions from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland. “This amendment will affect millions of people, not just Hong Kong people — people around the world,” Mabel Tung, the protest organizer and chair of the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement, told AFP. Tung, who immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong 40 years ago […]
China warns tech giants after US Huawei ban: report
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Chinese government convened top tech companies this week and warned them of consequences if they cut off technology sales to the country, US media reported on Saturday. The meeting followed US President Donald Trump’s move last month to blacklist Chinese tech giant Huawei over national security concerns, threatening the firm’s global ambitions and ramping up the months-long trade battle between the two countries. Earlier this week, the Chinese government […]
Venezuela says closing consulates in Canada
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela has announced it will close its consulates in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, leaving only its embassy in Ottawa to handle its affairs in Canada. The Venezuelan foreign ministry, which announced the decision Saturday, said it was in response to Canada’s temporary closing of its embassy in Caracas. Canada is one of more than 50 countries, led by the United States, that recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s acting president […]
Democrats slam Trump’s use of trade threats against ally Mexico
by Brian KNOWLTON WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Democrats on Sunday slammed Donald Trump’s tactics of threatening punitive tariffs to extract concessions on immigration from Mexico, saying the US president was recklessly endangering ties to a major ally and trade partner. “What the world is tired of, and what I am tired of, is a president who consistently goes to war, verbal war, with our allies,” Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, […]
Trump’s threatened tariffs on hold after deal with Mexico
By JILL COLVIN, MATTHEW LEE and LUIS ALONSO LUGO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has put on hold his plan to begin imposing tariffs on Mexico on Monday, saying the U.S. ally will take “strong measures” to reduce the flow of Central American migrants into the United States. But the deal he announced Friday night, after returning from a trip to Europe, falls short of some of the dramatic overhauls pushed for […]
Special Report: Top US cardinal accused of mishandling aide’s sex abuse case
By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — When Cardinal Daniel DiNardo first met Laura Pontikes in his wood-paneled conference room in December 2016, the leader of the U.S. Catholic Church’s response to its sex abuse scandal said all the right things. He praised her for coming forward to report that his deputy in the Galveston-Houston archdiocese had manipulated her into a sexual relationship and declared her a “victim” of the priest, Pontikes said. […]
