WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) Wednesday 5/18/2016 -The US Senate approved legislation Tuesday that would allow September 11 victims and their relatives to sue Saudi Arabia over its possible role in the 2001 attacks, a bill which could trigger a diplomatic firestorm. Senators unanimously approved the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act which now heads to the House of Representatives, where Speaker Paul Ryan has voiced reservations. The White House has repeatedly stated that President Barack […]
North America
Kentucky, Oregon primaries open, more ripe turf for Clinton Primary voting in
by Michael Mathes HOPKINSVILLE , United States (AFP) — Presidential primaries opened Tuesday in Kentucky and Oregon, giving Hillary Clinton a chance to widen her almost insurmountable delegate lead over Democratic rival Bernie Sanders who has vowed to slog on despite long odds. Though Clinton holds a slim poll lead, Sanders was gunning for victory in Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, building on his win last week in neighboring West Virginia as he battles to keep […]
Flare-ups, thick smoke from Canadian wildfires delay residents’ return
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Thick smoke and a risk of flare-ups are delaying residents’ return to fire-ravaged Fort McMurray in Canada, the province of Alberta’s premier said Monday. “There’s active fire growth on all fronts surrounding the community and a number of hotspots within the town,” Premier Rachel Notley told a nationally televised press conference. Elsewhere in the province new forest fires broke out over the weekend for a total of 15 separate blazes, three […]
First case of Zika reported in Belize
BELMOPAN, Belize (AFP) — Belize has joined the growing number of Latin American nations grappling with the Zika virus, after the health ministry confirmed the country’s first known case. Authorities said Monday the infected person resides in Belize City, adding that efforts would be taken to prevent the virus from spreading. “An immediate investigation was launched and several actions were simultaneously initiated to minimize and contain a potential outbreak,” a health ministry statement said. The […]
IS has lost nearly half the area it once claimed in Iraq: Pentagon
WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — The Islamic State group has continued losing control over territory across Iraq and Syria, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday, including almost half of what it had once held in Iraq. The Defense Department had previously estimated that IS fighters had lost control of about 40 percent of the territory they claimed in Iraq and about 10 percent of the land they held in Syria. Those tallies had gone up […]
Obama Hiroshima trip stirs debate on Truman’s fateful choice
by Andrew BEATTY WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima next week has reignited an emotive debate over former US president Harry Truman’s epoch-making decision to drop the first atomic bomb. On April 25, 1945, thirteen days after Franklin Roosevelt’s death thrust Truman into the White House, the strained new commander-in-chief got a startling top secret briefing. “Within four months we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon […]
Kerry unavailable on date of Paris-Middle East peace talks
WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry is unavailable the day a Paris meeting to relaunch negotiations over the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is set to occur, the State Department said Monday. However the United States and France are looking into a possible alternative date for the ministerial discussions, which fall on the US Memorial Day holiday honoring members of the armed forces who died in combat. “We’ve made it clear […]
Trump warns of bad relationship with Cameron
LONDON , United Kingdom (AFP) — Donald Trump warned Monday he may end up having a bad relationship with British Prime Minister David Cameron, who branded the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s proposal to stop Muslim immigration to the US “stupid”. “It looks like we are not going to have a very good relationship,” Trump told Britain’s ITV television. “Who knows, I hope to have a good relationship with him but he’s not willing to address […]
Ban fishing to save world’s smallest porpoise: WWF
MEXICO CITY , Mexico (AFP) — The World Wildlife Fund urged Mexican authorities on Monday to ban all fishing in the upper Gulf of California to save the vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise, from extinction. The environmentalist group made the plea three days after an international team of scientists revealed that only 60 of the sea creatures were left and that they could vanish by 2022. “It’s a drastic measure but maybe the most […]
US woman rushed to hospital with shark stuck to arm
MIAMI , United States (AFP) — A woman in the US state of Florida was rushed to a hospital Sunday after being bitten by a shark — with the whole animal still clutching on to her right arm, local media reported. The small nurse shark, which was about two feet (61 centimeters) long, was killed by a beachgoer soon after the attack, the Palm Beach Post reported. The victim was an unidentified 23-year-old woman who […]
A determined Clinton woos wary voters: blue-collar whites
by Michael Mathes PADUCAH , United States (AFP) — No Democratic presidential candidate has won Kentucky since 1980 except Hillary Clinton’s husband Bill, but she is treating the state as an opportunity to appeal to a demographic that has consistently snubbed her: working-class white men. The Bluegrass State holds its Democratic primary on Tuesday, and Clinton’s rival Bernie Sanders is gunning for a victory here like his one last week in neighboring West Virginia, as […]
Incumbent favored to win in early Dominican presidential result
by Maria Isabel SANCHEZ SANTO DOMINGO , Dominican Republic (AFP) — Dominican Republic incumbent leader Danilo Medina seemed destined for a sweeping victory in the country’s presidential election Sunday, according to early official results, in a vote marked by long lines, technical difficulties and staff walkouts. With just over a quarter of the results in, Medina had won 61.7 percent of the vote, according to preliminary figures released by government election authorities. If the results […]
