North America
Florida sinkhole leads to secret tunnel to bank
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Road workers in Florida sent out to repair a sinkhole got a surprise this week when they discovered it was caused by a tunnel leading to a nearby bank. The FBI posted pictures of the narrow underground tunnel leading to a branch of Chase Bank in Pembroke Pines, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Miami. Police and the FBI were called in Tuesday night after the road workers realized […]
Trump says US-China trade talks ‘going well’
by Douglas Gillison Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday touted the chances of success of US-China trade negotiations as the talks entered a second day, saying Beijing was eager to make a deal. In a morning series of tweets, he also said a final deal would leave “NOTHING” unresolved but a bargain could only be struck after he meets with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping “in the near […]
Deadly Arctic cold strains resources in US Midwest
By Nova SAFO (AFP) — Frozen water mains and strained natural gas supplies left the US Midwest struggling Thursday as a deadly Arctic air mass had tens of millions of Americans shivering for a second day. Ten deaths have been attributed to the extreme weather since the weekend. Schools and businesses remained closed in several midwestern states, people were encouraged to stay home, and travellers were stranded by grounded flights and halted trains. Natural gas […]
Seven migrants dead, 23 missing in Colombia shipwreck
BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Seven migrants are dead and 23 missing after their boat capsized in the Caribbean Sea off northwestern Colombia, officials said Wednesday. The vessel carrying 18 adults and 14 children was upended by a wave early Monday that left passengers “adrift in the sea,” said Lilia Cordoba, the mayor of the Colombian coastal town of Acandi. Seven bodies, including a child, were recovered on Tuesday and Wednesday along two beaches in the […]
US urges citizens not to travel to Venezuela due to safety
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Tuesday urged its citizens to avoid all travel to crisis-torn Venezuela, citing risks of crime and arrest and the US embassy’s limited ability to assist. “Do not travel to Venezuela due to crime, civil unrest, poor health infrastructure and arbitrary arrest and detention of US citizens,” the State Department said in an updated travel advisory. “There are shortages of food, electricity, water, medicine and medical supplies […]
FBI has dozens of probes into Chinese economic spying
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The FBI is investigating Chinese economic espionage in nearly all of its 56 field offices around the country, underscoring the depth of the threat to US business, Director Christopher Wray told Congress Tuesday. “China writ large is the most significant counterintelligence threat we face,” Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee in a hearing on foreign threats. “We have economic espionage investigations, for example — that’s just one piece of it […]
Stacey Abrams to deliver Democrat rebuttal to Trump speech
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Democrats on Tuesday picked Stacey Abrams, who rose to prominence in her heated but unsuccessful Georgia governor’s race, to deliver the rebuttal to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, a first for an African-American woman. The president will give his annual speech on February 5 before a joint session of Congress, after it was postponed because of the partial government shutdown. Abrams is a former Georgia legislative leader but […]
Four dead, 195 injured in Havana tornado
by Moises AVILA / Adalberto ROQUE Agence France Presse HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — A rare and powerful tornado has devastated sections of Havana, killing four people and injuring 195, as it overturned cars, uprooted trees and destroyed dozens of homes. A shaken resident, recalling a night of terror, said she clutched her daughter and crouched down in her kitchen as the tornado came roaring in Sunday night. “It was as if rocks were falling — […]
Toronto faces first snowstorm of 2019
By Angela Milano EBC Correspondent, Toronto TORONTO (Eagle News) — Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for the entire Greater Toronto Area and the rest of Southern Ontario. In Toronto, heavy snow started falling just before noon and continues to envelop the city. The upcoming winter storm is expected to leave the city with 15-20 centimetres of snow Monday evening to Tuesday morning the next day. Because of the heavy snowfall, commuters are dealing with […]
Harris emerges as frontrunner to oust Trump as rivals circle
by Michael Mathes Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Kamala Harris faces questions from US voters Monday as an official White House candidate, a day after the Democratic senator formally declared her 2020 bid to become America’s first black female president. By launching her campaign early — a year before any primary votes are cast — the California lawmaker leapfrogs several party luminaries waiting in the wings, and a few already in the […]
US charges Huawei in technology theft, sanctions violations
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Justice Department on Monday unveiled sweeping charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in two cases likely to ratchet up tensions between the two superpowers — including that of a top executive arrested in Canada on a US warrant. The department unveiled 13 charges against Huawei Technologies, its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou — the daughter of the company’s founder who is currently out on bail in Canada — […]
