North America

US ex-priest sentenced to up to 14 years in prison for child sex abuse

  NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A former Catholic priest who had admitted to sexually abusing children in the US state of Pennsylvania was sentenced Friday to up to 14 years in prison — the second clergyman to be jailed in the wake of a damning statewide grand jury report. David Poulson, 65 — who served as a priest for four decades in the Diocese of Erie — had entered a guilty plea in […]

US govt shutdown compromises Miami airport operations

  MIAMI, United States (AFP) — The international airport in Miami has been forced to shut down one of its terminals early for three days due to a shortage of security agents sparked by the partial US government shutdown now in its 21st day. From Saturday through Monday, Terminal G — one of six at the airport — will close at 1:00 pm (1800 GMT). “Flights that were previously scheduled to depart from Concourse G […]

Government shutdown becomes longest in US history

  by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US government shutdown that has left 800,000 federal employees without salaries as a result of President Donald Trump’s row with Democrats over building a Mexico border wall entered a record 22nd day Saturday. The Democrats’ refusal to approve $5.7 billion demanded by Trump for the wall project has paralyzed Washington, with the president retaliating by refusing to sign off on budgets for […]

Kidnapped American teen found alive months after parents’ murder

GORDON, United States (AFP) — A 21-year-old man has been charged with murdering the parents of an American teen as part of a calculated plot to kidnap her, police said Friday, after 13-year-old Jayme Closs was found alive following three months in captivity. The subject of a nationwide search since her parents were found murdered in their home in rural Wisconsin in October, Closs made a seemingly miraculous escape Thursday afternoon, seeking help from a […]

Trump threatens to declare national emergency over border wall fight

by Eleonore Sens / with Sebastian Smith in Washington Agence France Presse McAllen, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump has again threatened to declare a national emergency along the border with Mexico as he seeks funding for a wall he says will keep out dangerous immigrants — his latest jab in a fight with Democrats in Congress that has now shut down parts of the government for a record-tying 21 days. Such a declaration, […]

FBI says operations threatened by US govt shutdown

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Federal Bureau of Investigation agents warned Thursday that the ongoing partial shutdown of the government is threatening their ability to investigate crimes and maintain staffing. “Special Agents remain at work for the American people without being paid, and FBI leadership is doing all it can to fund FBI operations with increasingly limited resources — this situation is not sustainable,” the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) said in a statement. “The important […]

Fiat Chrysler to pay $515 mn in US ‘dieselgate’ settlements

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Fiat Chrysler has agreed to a $515 million US settlement on charges it installed “defeat devices” on cars to evade emissions tests, the US Justice Department announced Thursday. The auto giant will recall and repair more than 100,000 diesel vehicles sold in the United States at a cost of about $185 million. The remaining funds will go to civil fines and mitigation payments to the United States and the […]

Canada PM calls for respect after death threats

MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appealed Thursday for fellow Canadians to speak to each other respectfully following death threats by “yellow vest” protestors. Visiting western Canada to unofficially kick off his re-election campaign, Trudeau has encountered a small number of activists in the fluorescent jackets emblematic of the populist, grassroots political movement for economic justice that began in France last year. Members of the group, which counts more than 100,000 followers on […]

US Air Force ready for delivery of first KC-46 tankers

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Air Force said Thursday it is ready to receive its first KC-46A Pegasus tankers, a new type of aerial refueler that still needs to undergo costly technical fixes. Based on the airframe of the 767 jet liner, Boeing’s tanker will eventually replace many of the Air Force’s aging line of KC-135 tankers, which were manufactured during the Cold War. The KC-46 has suffered technical setbacks, delays and cost […]

Trump threatens to axe emergency fire aid for California

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he is cutting emergency federal aid sent to help California after devastating wildfires unless the Democratic-led state gets its “act together.” “Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forrest fires that, with proper Forrest Management, would never happen,” Trump tweeted, initially misspelling the word forest before repeating the tweet with the word corrected. “Unless they get their act together, which […]

US detained over 50,000 illegal immigrants in December

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Illegal border crossings into the United States continued at a high pace in December, with more than 50,000 people detained for a third straight month as the number of families illegally entering surged, US Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday. With the US government in its third week of a shutdown as President Trump demands that Congress fund the construction of hundreds of miles of new wall on the border, […]

‘Don’t panic,’ Mexico president says as fuel shortages spiral

by Jennifer GONZALEZ COVARRUBIAS Agence France Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged Mexicans Wednesday not to panic as gasoline shortages spread across the country, caused by a crackdown on fuel theft that risks backfiring badly. The president says the shortages were triggered by his administration’s decision to temporarily close some of state oil company Pemex’s pipelines — part of his bid to wipe out rampant fuel theft that cost […]