North America

US Senator Brown rules out 2020 presidential bid

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Sherrod Brown, the popular and unassuming US senator whose broad support among working-class voters made him a potential contender against President Donald Trump, announced Thursday he will not launch a 2020 White House bid. “I will keep fighting for all workers across the country. And I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate in 2020,” Brown, a 66-year-old from the swing state of […]

Three US executions delayed over lethal injection drug

CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — The governor of the US state of Ohio on Thursday delayed three scheduled executions over concerns that a drug currently used in lethal injections could mimic the effects of “waterboarding,” widely considered a form of torture. Governor Mike DeWine delayed executions scheduled as early as May, in line with a court ruling that using the controversial sedative midazolam could cause pain and suffering. The state is seeking alternatives. “Governor DeWine […]

Former Trump campaign chief to be sentenced, could face life in prison

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort faces potentially spending the rest of his life behind bars when a judge sentences him on Thursday for tax crimes and bank fraud. Manafort, who turns 70 in April, was convicted by a Virginia jury in August of five counts of filing false income tax returns, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to report a foreign bank […]

Trump warns Kim over ‘rebuilding’ of NKorea rocket site

by Sebastian Smith with Claire Lee in Seoul WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’d be “very, very disappointed” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports that work is underway to rebuild a long-range rocket site are confirmed. Speaking to reporters, Trump said “it’s too early to see” if the information about work at the North Korean site is true. Warning he’d be disappointed, he added: “I don’t think […]

Ex-NY mayor Bloomberg rules out run for US president in 2020

by Catherine TRIOMPHE / with Michael Mathes in Washington NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, the centrist billionaire Democrat who positioned himself as a potential challenger to Donald Trump, said Tuesday he would not run for president in 2020. “I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election. But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field,” the businessman […]

Canada FM decries China halting canola shipments

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Ottawa’s foreign minister on Tuesday decried Beijing’s move to block a major Canadian canola exporter’s sales in China, the latest escalation in a burgeoning row between the two countries. Canada’s largest agricultural handler, Winnipeg-based Richardson International, had its license to ship canola to China revoked on March 1, which risks leaving Canadian farmers with a glut on their hands. “The situation with the Richardson company concerns me greatly,” said Foreign Minister Chrystia […]

Trump to visit Alabama tornado disaster area

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’ll go later this week to Alabama where tornadoes killed at least 23 people and wrecked swaths of the southern state. “I’ll be heading to Alabama on Friday,” he told reporters at the White House. “It’s been a tragic situation but a lot of good work is being done.” Tornadoes hit the state on Sunday, including a “monster” blast that tore through a strip […]

Japan’s Arata Isozaki wins Pritzker prize, the ‘Nobel’ of architecture

by Thomas URBAIN NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Japanese architect Arata Isozaki has been awarded the Pritzker Prize, considered architecture’s highest honor, for a lifetime of work that found global resonance while mining local traditions. The 87-year-old’s more than 100 built works range from the Palau Saint Jordi, built in Barcelona for the 1992 Summer Olympics, to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, his first international commission. His hometown of Otai, Japan […]

Trump lashes out at ‘crazy’ opponents as pressure mounts

by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump branded Democratic opponents “crazy” and guilty of overreach Tuesday in a fevered response to a huge new probe of his alleged crimes. In a burst of early morning tweets, the president said the House Judiciary Committee investigation launched Monday was “the greatest overreach in the history of our Country.” “The real crime is what the Dems are doing, and have done!” […]

Illegal US border crossings swell to 76,000 in February

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The number of undocumented immigrants stopped at the US border with Mexico soared to more than 76,000 in February, the highest monthly level in years, US Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday. The number of families and unaccompanied children also rose to nearly two-thirds of the total, often crossing in large groups and turning themselves in to authorities to request asylum, blunting the Trump administration’s tactics aimed at curbing the […]

Death toll from Alabama tornadoes likely to rise as search resumes

by Deborah Bloom BEAUREGARD, United States (AFP) — Rescuers uncovered widespread damage in Alabama on Monday caused by two back-to-back tornadoes that ripped across the southern state, with the death toll of 23 expected to rise further. “It looks almost as if someone took a giant knife and scraped the ground,” said Sheriff Jay Jones of Lee County, which borders Georgia. “There are slabs where homes formerly stood, there is debris everywhere, trees are snapped.” […]

Canada budget minister quits in fresh blow to Trudeau

by Eric THOMAS OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was dealt a fresh blow Monday when his budget minister resigned, the latest in a string of officials to quit amid allegations of government interference in a major fraud case. Jane Philpott, who also served as Treasury Board president, said she no longer had confidence in Trudeau’s government over the allegations that senior officials attempted to head off the prosecution of engineering giant […]