North America

Fuel pipeline blaze in Mexico kills 20, injures dozens: officials

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — A leaking fuel pipeline triggered a massive blaze in central Mexico Saturday, killing at least 20 people and injuring another 54, officials said. Omar Fayad, governor of Hidalgo state, said locals at the site of the leak were scrambling to steal some of the leaking oil when at least 20 of them were burned to death. “I’ve been told that 20 have been burned to death and another 54 burn […]

Pelosi scrapped Afghan trip after Trump ‘leaked’ details

  By Michael Mathes Agence France-Presse (AFP) — US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday excoriated her political nemesis, President Donald Trump, for “outing” her commercial trip to Afghanistan after barring her from using a military aircraft, forcing her to scrap it entirely over security concerns. The brawl between the no-nonsense Republican leader and the take-no-prisoners Democrat — who is now just two heartbeats away from the presidency — is the latest round in their […]

New migrant caravan enters Mexico, legally or not

By Gabriela COUTINO / with Edgar CALDERON in Tecun Uman, Guatemala Agence France-Presse (AFP) — Hundreds of Central Americans entered Mexico illegally as the latest migrant caravan to set its sights on the United States began crossing the Mexican-Guatemalan border en masse Friday. Not content to wait five days for the humanitarian visas Mexico is offering them, several hundred migrants took to make-shift rafts to cross the Suchiate River, which forms the frontier, or snuck […]

Top N.Korean in Washington to prepare new Trump summit

by Shaun TANDON Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A top North Korean general was paying a rare visit Friday to Washington, where he is expected to meet President Donald Trump to finalize a new summit aimed at denuclearization and easing decades of hostility. Kim Yong Chol, a right-hand man to leader Kim Jong Un, is the first North Korean dignitary in nearly two decades known to have spent the night in the […]

Trump grounds Democratic speaker’s foreign travel

by Sebastian SMITH and Michael MATHES Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Deadlock in Washington reached a new low Thursday as Donald Trump hit his chief Democratic opponent Nancy Pelosi with a last-minute cancellation of her plan to take an air force plane to Afghanistan — citing the four-week-old government shutdown as a motive. The mess in Washington, where swaths of government workers are not being paid while Congress feuds with the White […]

US shutdown after four weeks – food banks and job fairs

by Cyril JULIEN Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Four weeks into the US government shutdown, cash-strapped federal workers are tapping life savings, selling possessions and turning to soup kitchens to make ends meet — ramping up pressure Wednesday for leaders in Washington to strike a deal. Communities from Washington to Kodiak, Alaska are feeling increasing pain, with the cutoff of paychecks to families snowballing to hit stores and businesses dependent on their […]

US in criminal probe of China’s Huawei: report

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US authorities are in “advanced” stages of a criminal probe that could result in an indictment of Chinese technology giant Huawei, a published report said Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, said the Justice Department is looking into allegations of theft of trade secrets from Huawei’s US business partners, including a T-Mobile robotic device used to test smartphones. The Justice Department declined to comment on the report. Huawei […]

China takes lead in some military tech: Pentagon

by Thomas WATKINS Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — China is on the cusp of fielding some of the world’s most advanced weapons systems — and in some cases already has surpassed its rivals, a Pentagon assessment released Tuesday found. An unclassified report by the Defense Intelligence Agency says Beijing has made enormous military strides in recent years, thanks partly to domestic laws forcing foreign partners to divulge technical secrets in exchange for […]

Chinese court sentences Canadian drug suspect to death

  DALIAN, China (AFP) — A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian man to death on drug trafficking charges on Monday after his previous 15-year prison sentence was deemed too lenient, deepening a diplomatic rift as Canadian premier Justin Trudeau accused Beijing of “arbitrarily” using capital punishment. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, 36, nodded as the judge in the northeast city of Dalian asked him whether he understood the verdict, following a day-long retrial in which he declared […]

Canada warns of China travel risk after death sentence

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada is warning citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution” when travelling to China after a Canadian man was sentenced to death on drug trafficking charges. The revised advisory cautioned travellers of the “risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws,” and noted that the “safety and security situation could change with little notice”. The update came hours after a Chinese court on Monday sentenced Canadian citizen Robert Lloyd Schellenberg to […]

On US-Mexico border, Trump’s wall stirs mixed feelings

by Inès BEL AIBA Agence France Presse LAREDO, United States (AFP) — Mexico is just minutes away on foot, the time it takes to walk across one of the bridges that span the Rio Grande, intimately connecting Laredo, Texas to its Mexican sister Nuevo Laredo. The wall Donald Trump promises to build would slice through that, and here as elsewhere in America opinions are divided over whether it’s needed. Already, the raging national debate over […]

Travelers fume in long lines at Miami International in govt shutdown

by Leila MACOR Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Passengers departing Miami International Airport endured unusually long waits at security checkpoints Sunday, an indirect consequence of the partial US federal government shutdown. Since December 22, some 800,000 US federal employees have been on mandatory leave or working without pay because President Donald Trump and Congress have been at an impasse over $5.7 billion the president wants to build a wall on Mexico border. […]