North America

Kerry accuses Israeli right of sabotaging peace process

WASHINGTON,United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday accused right-wing Israelis of deliberately thwarting efforts to broker a peace deal with the Palestinians. In unusually stark terms, Washington’s top diplomat warned that Israeli settlement building was undermining any hope of an agreement to allow two states to live side-by-side. At the Saban Forum, an annual gathering of senior Israeli and US policymakers, Kerry said some members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s […]

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Trump talk with Taiwan leader just a ‘courtesy call’: US VP-elect Pence

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial telephone conversation with the leader of Taiwan was just a “courtesy call,” US Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday. “It was nothing more than taking a courtesy call from a democratically elected leader,” Pence told ABC’s “This Week” program, speaking about the Friday call between Trump and Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen, which broke decades of US diplomatic policy and risks creating a serious rift with China. Washington […]

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Fidel Castro’s dying wish: No monuments in his name

  SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (AFP) — Cuba will respect Fidel Castro’s dying wish that no statues be erected in his honor and no streets be named after him, President Raul Castro said Saturday. The national assembly will introduce legislation at its next session later this month so that “his wish is fulfilled,” Raul Castro told a massive rally for his brother on the eve of his burial in the eastern city of Santiago de […]

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Up to 40 feared dead in blaze at California party

  by Glenn Chapman with Jocelyne Zablit in Los Angeles Agence France Presse   OAKLAND, United States (AFP — Up to 40 people were feared dead in a huge fire that tore through a rave party in a warehouse near San Francisco, as authorities warned Saturday of a prolonged search and recovery effort. The building lacked permits for people to live and work as a group of artists did, and for the party to take […]

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General James Mattis: a ‘Mad Dog’ with a big library

by Brian KNOWLTON WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Retired general James “Mad Dog” Mattis — who for years oversaw US war efforts in the Middle East and was tapped Thursday by President-elect Donald Trump as his new defense secretary — did not come by his nickname lightly. Mattis, 66, commanded a Marine battalion during the First Gulf War and a marine division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2010, the tough-talking native of Washington […]

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Trump ‘thank you’ tour begins with low-key crowd

by Ivan Couronne CINCINNATI, United States (AFP) — For the first event on his post-election “thank you” tour, US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday drew a crowd of several thousand people to a Cincinnati arena — but perhaps one that lacked the fervor seen at his campaign rallies. The US Bank Arena in the Ohio city has a capacity of more than 17,000, but on Thursday night before the Republican billionaire was due to take […]

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In Trump’s victory lap, a warning to US firms: stay or pay

by Timothy A. Clary, with Michael Mathes in Washington INDIANAPOLIS, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump launched into a post-election victory lap Thursday by visiting a company where he claimed credit for saving American jobs, as he warned other US firms they will face consequences if relocating abroad. The president-elect, who made guaranteeing jobs for blue-collar American workers a key plank of his campaign, strode triumphantly through an Indiana factory that makes Carrier air conditioners, […]

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UN chief Ban apologizes to Haitian people over cholera epidemic

by André VIOLLAZ UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday apologized for the first time to the people of Haiti for the role played by the world body’s peacekeepers in sparking a devastating cholera epidemic in the country. “On behalf of the United Nations, I want to say very clearly we apologize to the Haitian people,” he said three times — in Haitian Creole, French and English — to […]

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Fidel Castro’s ashes reunited with ‘Che’ Guevara

by Rigoberto DIAZ SANTA CLARA, Cuba (AFP) — Fidel Castro’s ashes were taken Thursday to a symbolic reunion with his fallen comrade-in-arms Ernesto “Che” Guevara in Santa Clara, the first stop in the late Cold War titan’s last trip across Cuba. After two days of tributes in Havana, hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Cubans lined the streets to bid farewell as a military jeep began a four-day journey on Wednesday morning with the cedar urn […]

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Ex-South Carolina police officer’s murder trial goes to jury

  SOUTH CAROLINA, Unite States (Reuters) — Defense attorneys urged a South Carolina jury on Wednesday (November 30) to look beyond a shocking video of a white police officer shooting a fleeing black motorist to death last year and consider all the evidence presented at the former policeman’s murder trial. Lawyers were making their closing arguments to jurors who will decide whether Michael Slager, 35, committed a crime when he killed 50-year-old Walter Scott in […]

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Experts, officials trash Trump claim of mass fraud

by Jennie MATTHEW NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Experts and elected officials on both sides of the political aisle on Monday dismissed Donald Trump’s claim that “millions” of Americans voted illegally on Election Day, as efforts expanded to organize recounts in swing states. The Republican billionaire’s victory on November 8 saw him clinch the crucial Electoral College count, which determines the presidency, but lose the popular vote to rival Hillary Clinton by more than […]

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Neighborhoods west of Denver evacuated ahead of fast-moving wildfire

  COLORADO, United States (Reuters) —  fast-growing wildfire prompted the evacuation on Monday (November 28) from an area of Green Mountain, Colorado, NBC said. The blaze charred about 300 acres and could be seen as far as 12 miles (19.31 km) away from Denver, according to local media. Firefighters managed to contain some 70 percent of the blaze, officials said. The fire was spreading in the mountains despite the cold weather with temperatures as low […]

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