North America

‘Elusive’ brain injuries seen in study of US diplomats in Cuba

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A study of 21 American diplomats who claimed they were victims of mysterious sonic attacks in Cuba shows they sustained brain injuries without any apparent head trauma, US researchers said Thursday. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine examined 21 US government staff members who complained of symptoms resembling a concussion after serving in Havana in 2016 and 2017. “These individuals appeared to have sustained injury to widespread brain networks […]

Florida shooter a troubled loner with white supremacist ties

PARKLAND, United States (AFP) — Nikolas Cruz was expelled from school, threatened fellow students and posted “very disturbing” messages on social media, along with pictures of his favorite guns. But despite broad signs suggesting he was a deeply troubled young man, Cruz was able to return to his Parkland, Florida high school Wednesday with an assault rifle and open fire, killing 17 students and adults. A mugshot of Cruz, released after his arrest, depicts a young man […]

The Florida shooter, a troubled teenager and gun lover

PARKLAND, United States (AFP) — Nikolas Cruz, the shooter who opened fire on a Florida school Wednesday killing 17 people, was a teenage gun lover previously expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons. The gunman, 19, showed up at the end of the school day at his former school — Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland — with a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle and a large amount of ammunition. Local police later arrested him […]

Worst mass shootings in the modern United States

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A gunman opened fire at a high school in southern Florida on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people. Here are some of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States in the past three decades: Vegas concert: 58 killed A 64-year-old man whose father had been on the FBI’s most wanted list in the late 1960s shoots down from his hotel room at a crowd attending an outdoor country music […]

Trump pushes immigration plan as Senate mulls narrower path

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday was on a collision course over immigration with US senators including some within his own party, as they struggled to reach a solution protecting 1.8 million immigrants from deportation. With senators racing against a self-imposed deadline to strike a deal this week, Trump demanded the chamber rally around his proposal, which puts the “Dreamer” immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children on a pathway […]

Second US judge blocks Trump order to end ‘Dreamer’ program

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A second US judge on Tuesday blocked an order by President Donald Trump to end a program protecting from deportation migrants who had been brought illegally to the country as children. The decision comes after a federal judge in San Francisco in January ruled against repealing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. In September, Trump said he was scrapping the DACA program but delayed enforcement to […]

Trump threatens China sanctions, vows to rework S.Korea trade deal

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump threatened retaliatory action against two major Asian trading partners Tuesday, warning of sanctions against China while vowing to revise or scrap a free trade deal with South Korea. Accusing Beijing of decimating American steel and aluminum industries, Trump said he was “considering all options,” including tariffs and quotas. Trump recently received two Commerce Department reports concerning alleged Chinese subsidies for steel and aluminum exports — materials […]

New York bomber sentenced to life in prison

  NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – A New York judge on Tuesday sentenced a US restaurant worker to life in prison following a September 2016 bombing that wounded 31 people in Manhattan’s upscale Chelsea neighborhood. Afghan-born Ahmad Khan Rahimi, 30, was convicted at trial last October on eight counts linked to two bombs he planted in New York, and others found in New Jersey. “There is nothing that could justify anything but a life […]

US Congress takes up fate of 1.8 million young immigrants

by Michael Mathes and Paul Handley Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The citizenship hopes of 1.8 million immigrants brought to the United States as children hung in the balance Monday as Congress launched debate on the hot-button issue, with President Donald Trump eager to “make a deal” on new legislation. In offering a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers, Trump has exceeded the demands of opposition Democrats — but only in exchange […]

Trump offers Putin condolences over plane crash

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday to offer his condolences after a deadly plane crash near Moscow, a White House official said. The call between the two leaders — who are at the center of an FBI investigation into Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US election — took place after a plane crashed minutes after takeoff from Domodedovo airport, killing all 71 people […]

Trump daughter-in-law taken to hospital after ‘suspicious’ mail

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Vanessa was taken to a New York hospital Monday as a precaution after a “suspicious package” containing unidentified powder was mailed to the family home, police said. Donald Trump Jr, an outspoken defender of his father and who was the intended recipient of the letter, called the incident “truly disgusting.” “The powder was tested and was found to be not hazardous,” a police spokeswoman […]

Trump budget includes infrastructure plan, steep social cuts, rising deficits

by Douglas Gillison © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Monday unveiled an ambitious proposal to renew American infrastructure as part of a budget that calls for a stunning rise in debt and trillions in cuts to the social safety net and other spending. The blueprint for the 2019 fiscal year abandons the long-held Republican goal of balancing the federal budget within a decade, with deficits projected to peak in 2020 and […]