North America

Of course I don’t think about leaving’: Mattis

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis dismissed Tuesday a fresh round of rumors suggesting his days at the Pentagon might be numbered due to deteriorating relations with President Donald Trump. The buttoned-up former Marine general is loathe to discuss politics or his dynamic with his mercurial boss, but a new book by veteran political reporter Bob Woodward has thrust the two mens’ relationship into the spotlight. Among other claims, Woodward said […]

Trump accuses China of election meddling in trade war

by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused China of seeking to influence knife-edge midterm congressional elections by taking aim at his political base in the economic giants’ rapidly escalating trade war. The allegation raised the temperature in the escalating dispute after Trump pulled the trigger late Monday on 10 percent tariffs against another $200 billion in Chinese goods from next week, with a threat […]

US McDonald’s staff walk out over sexual harassment

by Nova SAFO Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — McDonald’s workers in 10 US cities staged a one-day strike Tuesday inspired by the #MeToo movement, accusing the fast food giant of failing to address pervasive sexual harassment at its restaurants. Organizers said the strike was the first of its kind and aimed at getting the company to start taking serious action to curb incidents including groping, lewd comments and propositions for sex in […]

Trump defends Supreme Court pick after sex assault allegation

  by Paul Handley Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump stood firmly by his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh Monday after allegations that the conservative judge sexually assaulted a woman when they were teenagers threatened to derail the nomination process. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley canceled a vote on Kavanaugh planned for Thursday and said the nominee and his accuser, California university professor Christine Blasey Ford, would both […]

Florence death toll jumps to 31: US officials

RALEIGH, United States (AFP) — Emergency management authorities in storm-weary North Carolina said Monday that 25 people had died since Hurricane Florence, now a tropical depression, struck the US East Coast, bringing the death toll to 31. At least six more deaths have been recorded in neighboring South Carolina, as rain-bloated waterways threatened more flooding with the potential for dam failures and landslides. © Agence France-Presse

Florence death toll jumps to 31 as flooding wreaks havoc

by Sébastien Duval RALEIGH, United States (AFP) — Rain-gorged rivers threatened further flooding on the storm-battered US East Coast Monday as the death toll from Hurricane Florence, now a tropical depression, jumped to 31. Emergency management authorities in North Carolina said an earlier toll of 17 had risen to 25 since Florence made landfall Friday as a Category 1 hurricane, with its aftermath threatening further flooding as well as potential dam failures and landslides. Six […]

Floodwaters rise as killer storm stalks southeastern US

https://youtu.be/3NOOg9ip4c8   by Sébastien Duval Agence France Presse GRIFTON, United States (AFP) — Catastrophic floods raised the threat of landslides and dam failures across the southeastern United States on Monday, prolonging the agony caused by a killer hurricane that has left more than a dozen people dead and caused billions of dollars in damage. Downgraded to a tropical depression, Florence crept over South and North Carolina, dumping heavy rains on already flood-swollen river basins that […]

Residents of hurricane-hit US town start to pick up the pieces

by Sébastien DUVAL Agence France Presse NEW BERN, United States (AFP) — With rain still falling and no electricity, residents of New Bern, North Carolina are starting to pick up the pieces after devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Florence. At the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers, where several hundred people were rescued from flood waters, uniformed national guardsmen tour an area to provide assistance. “Do you need anything?” one asks. “Power!” a weary […]

College professor speaks out about ‘sexual assault’ by Trump Supreme Court pick

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A college professor has gone public for the first time to accuse President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s, prompting calls by the opposition to postpone the nomination vote. Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, initially detailed the allegations about Brett Kavanaugh in confidential letters to her congresswoman and later to California Senator Diane Feinstein, a senior Democrat on the […]

Tropical storm Florence leaves at least four dead in the US

  by Sebastien Duval with Leila Macor in Myrtle Beach Agence France Presse WILMINGTON, United States (AFP) — A woman and her baby were killed when a tree fell on their house and at least two other storm-related deaths were reported on Friday as Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas, dousing the eastern US states with torrential rain and causing rivers to burst their banks. Hundreds of people needed to be rescued after becoming trapped […]

Teen dead as gas explosions rock US towns

  NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A teenager was killed and 25 residents injured after a series of gas explosions and fires rocked three US towns north of Boston, according to the state government. Massachusetts police said they had responded to 70 reports of fires, explosions and the smell of gas that began Thursday afternoon and triggered mass evacuations across the east coast towns of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover “The incidents have been […]

CNN poll shows popularity of Catholic church’s Pope Francis plummeting in US

  (Eagle News) — A recent poll published by CNN, a US news channel, showed Catholic Church’s Pope Francis’s popularity plummeting in the United States among Catholics in that country. The poll conducted by SSRS showed that only 48 percent of Americans in general supported the Argentinian pontiff, and his popularity has also plummeted by 20 percent among US Catholics, from  83 percent 18 months ago to 63 percent at present. The CNN poll was […]