North America

US targets Myanmar military over Rohingya violence

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The United States announced Monday it was withdrawing military assistance from Myanmar units and officers involved in violence against Rohingya Muslims that has triggered a massive exodus. “We express our gravest concern with recent events in Rakhine state and the violent, traumatic abuses Rohingya and other communities have endured,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in announcing the punitive measures. “It is imperative that any individuals or entities responsible for atrocities, including […]

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Widow of US soldier killed in Niger says Trump ‘made me cry’

by Thomas Watkins Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The pregnant widow of an American soldier killed in an ambush in Niger said Monday that Donald Trump struggled to remember his name during a condolence call, in an account the president immediately disputed. Trump’s call to Myeshia Johnson, whose husband Sergeant La David Johnson was one of four US soldiers killed in the October 4 jihadist attack, has generated a storm of controversy and comes as […]

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McCain takes swipe at Trump military service record

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Senator John McCain has taken a barely-veiled jab at President Donald Trump’s avoidance of military service, sharply escalating their war of words. Republican McCain was interviewed by broadcaster CSPAN on the 50th anniversary of his being shot down over Vietnam, which led to his five-year stay as a prisoner in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison. “One aspect of the conflict, by the way, that I will never ever countenance is that […]

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Trump says US ‘totally prepared’ for potential NKorea threat

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States is “totally prepared” to respond to threats from Pyongyang, US President Donald Trump said in an interview aired Sunday, while also emphasizing his “exceptional relationship” with China’s leader. “We’re so prepared like you wouldn’t believe,” Trump told the Fox News program Sunday Morning Futures while discussing tensions with North Korea, which have soared over Pyongyang’s nuclear program. “You would be shocked to see how totally prepared we […]

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Pentagon chief, French minister meet amid Niger ambush questions

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis thanked his French counterpart Friday for France’s assistance in the immediate aftermath of a Niger ambush that killed four US troops, as questions mounted in Washington about what happened. French warplanes flew overhead and armed helicopters evacuated the US wounded following the October 4 attack near the Mali border, which is thought to have been carried out by jihadists. The Pentagon chief has previously praised the less […]

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Trump order allows Air Force to tackle pilot shortage

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing the Air Force to bring up to 1,000 pilots back to active duty as it grapples with an aviator shortage, the Pentagon said Friday. The Air Force has complained for years that it is struggling to retain pilots, who are often lured away by better-paying commercial airlines. Additionally, pilots often choose to leave the military due to the strains of extended deployments overseas. […]

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White House chief cites son’s loss in emotive Trump defense

by Andrew Beatty Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – White House chief of staff John Kelly — a former general whose son died in Afghanistan — made an emotive defense of Donald Trump Thursday, amid a scandal over the president’s phone call with a military widow. Kelly, who spent nearly four decades in the Marine Corps, said he had advised Trump not to call the families of four servicemen killed in Niger personally, but was disgusted […]

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D-SNAP assists Irma victims in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Eagle News) – Hundreds of Jacksonville residents in Duval County lined up at Regency Square Mall on Wednesday to receive food assistance from Florida’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP). “Food for Florida,” a program sponsored by D-SNAP offers emergency food benefits to disaster survivors. Assistance eligibility is based on a resident’s monthly income and the number of members in a household. Residents need to pre-register online prior to receiving a food assistance […]

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Police arrest suspect in double shooting that killed three

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Police arrested a gunman suspected of killing three people and wounding two Wednesday at a suburban Maryland business park before shooting another man in neighboring Delaware. “The suspect in this incident has been located and is in police custody,” the Wilmington, Delaware police department said of Radee Prince, 37. Wilmington Police Chief Robert Tracy earlier told reporters that Prince “is a dangerous individual. This person shot six people in one day” in […]

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Trump accused of disrespecting family of slain US soldier

by Thomas Watkins Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – US President Donald Trump was snarled in fresh controversy Wednesday after he was accused of being disrespectful to a US soldier slain in an ambush in Niger, as well as showing insensitivity to the grieving family. Trump moved quickly to dispute descriptions of his conversation with the pregnant widow of Sergeant La David Johnson, 25, who was one of four US service members killed in a jihadist ambush […]

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Texas delays serial killer execution amid last-minute revelations

by Nova Safo Agence France-Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) – Texas delayed a confessed serial killer’s execution Wednesday to investigate last-minute revelations that potentially connect him to another murder for which someone else is awaiting execution. Anthony Shore was to be put to death for raping, torturing and murdering three girls and a young woman in Houston between 1986 and 1995. But prosecutors feared he was going to posthumously via a note — and falsely — confess […]

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Trump warns McCain: ‘I fight back, and it won’t be pretty’

by Jerome Cartillier Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – US President Donald Trump reignited a long-standing feud with John McCain Tuesday, warning “I fight back, and it won’t be pretty” after the respected senator appeared to take aim at him in a speech. The relationship between the pair — one a veteran lawmaker and war hero, the other a real estate tycoon and political neophyte before he assumed the presidency — has long been testy. But […]

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