North America

Florida students to march on Washington in call for gun reform

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Students who survived a mass shooting at their Florida school on Sunday announced plans to march on Washington in a bid to “shame” lawmakers into reforming laws that make powerful firearms readily available. The “March for our Lives” will take place on March 24, with sister marches planned across the country, a group of students told ABC News, vowing to make Wednesday’s shooting a turning point in America’s deadlocked debate […]

Trump visits Florida school shooting survivors, FBI admits it missed tip

  by Leila Macor / with Andrew Beatty in Washington Agence France Presse POMPANO BEACH, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Friday visited a Florida hospital to offer comfort to those wounded in a mass school shooting, after the FBI admitted it mishandled a tip about the troubled teen behind the massacre that left 17 dead. The arrival of Trump and his wife Melania came at the end of a difficult day […]

Trump visits Florida hospital to pay respects after shooting

POMPANO BEACH, United States (AFP) – US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited a Florida hospital Friday to offer their respects to the victims of a mass shooting that claimed 17 lives at a nearby high school. The first couple visited Broward Health North Hospital, where a White House official said they would thank medical staff “for their life-saving assistance.” The pair are also expected to visit the Broward County sheriff’s office “to meet […]

US indicts 13 Russians for election interference

by Andrew Beatty Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – US Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Friday indicted 13 Russian nationals and three companies accused of running a secret campaign to tilt the 2016 presidential election. The unsealed indictment details a stunning operation that began in 2014 and aimed to sow social division inside the United States, influence US politics “including the presidential election of 2016.” Mueller alleges the campaign — under the direction of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a […]

FBI warned about Florida school shooter but failed to act

by Leila Macor with Chris Lefkow in Washington Agence France-Presse PARKLAND, United States – The FBI admitted Friday that it had received a detailed warning from a tipster over a month ago that Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz might be planning such a massacre — and that it failed to take any action. The stunning admission by the top US law enforcement agency came two days after Cruz, a 19-year-old with a long history of troubling behavior, killed […]

US wants UN action over report on Iranian missiles to Yemen

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — US Ambassador Nikki Haley said Thursday that it was “time for the Security Council to act” following the release of a report by UN experts concluding that Iran had violated the arms embargo on Yemen. The report found that Tehran had failed to block supplies to Yemen’s Huthi rebels of ballistic missiles that were fired at Saudi Arabia. “This report highlights what we’ve been saying for months: Iran has […]

Trump inches toward meeting with Mexico leader

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The White House on Thursday said that Donald Trump and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto are working towards a meeting, amid tense relations between the two neighbors. “Both delegations look forward to arranging a meeting, in the near future,” The White House said, adding it would provide the pair an opportunity to “discuss various open issues.” Trump has threatened to tear up a joint trade deal with Mexico and Canada, build […]

US Senate rejects several immigration reform proposals

by Michael Mathes © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Senate on Thursday shot down a series of immigration reform proposals including one championed by President Donald Trump, dashing hopes that Congress will soon decide on the fate of hundreds of thousands of young migrants brought to the country illegally as children. The Republican-controlled Senate had given itself until the end of the week to reach a deal on putting 1.8 million “Dreamer” immigrants […]

‘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 […]