Tag: United States

Fiat Chrysler announces creation of 2,000 US jobs

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Fiat Chrysler on Sunday announced it was creating 2,000 jobs in the United States, coming as President-elect Donald Trump has been publicly scolding automakers for investing in Mexico. The American-Italian firm will invest $1 billion by 2020 in two of its factories in the Midwestern states of Michigan and Ohio, where the new jobs will be based, the company said in a statement coming on the eve of the Detroit […]

Golf: Tiger impressed with how far Trump can hit at 70

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Tiger Woods said Thursday he was impressed with how far US President-elect Donald Trump can hit a golf ball at age 70 in his first public comments about the December 23 round. The two played at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach about three weeks after Woods, a 14-time major champion and former world number one, made his comeback from a 16-month layoff following back surgery. “What most […]

US health authorities: eating peanuts as baby prevents peanut allergy

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US health authorities recommended Thursday feeding infants foods containing peanuts as a way to prevent an allergy to them. The guidelines were issued by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on the basis of a clinical study sponsored by the same organization. The study showed that eating peanut-containing foods from the age of four months to five years reduces by 81 percent the risk of peanut allergy […]

US puts bin Laden’s son on terror blacklist

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States added Hamza bin Laden, son and heir of the late global jihadist leader Osama bin Laden, to its terrorist blacklist on Thursday. Hamza, who is in his mid-twenties, has become active as an Al-Qaeda propagandist since his father’s death at the hands of US special forces in 2011. According to letters found in the Navy SEAL raid on Osama’s hideout in Pakistan, Hamza wrote to the Saudi-born […]

US spy chiefs stand firm on Russia findings

by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – US spy chiefs insisted Thursday they have strong evidence that Russia mounted an unprecedented bid to disrupt the American election, standing firm in the face of Donald Trump’s refusal to accept their conclusions. One day before the heads of four intelligence bodies brief the president-elect on their assessment of Russian meddling in last year’s race, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate hearing […]

Obama urges military to make Trump transition smooth

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday huddled with top military commanders, urging a smooth transition of power and praising their respect for civilian rule. “We have to make sure that during this transition period that there is a seamless passing of the baton,” Obama said in remarks before a closed-door meeting with his Joint Chiefs of Staff and regional combatant commanders. Obama will leave the White House on January 20, when […]

S. Korea vows US missile system as opposition lawmakers head to China

SEOUL , South Korea (AFP) — South Korea is committed to deploying an advanced US missile defense system this year despite opposition from China, a minister said Wednesday, even as opposition lawmakers headed to Beijing with a different message. Seoul and Washington agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the South after a string of North Korean nuclear and missile tests — prompting strong objections from China. “THAAD deployment is […]

Obama moves to stop Trump gutting signature healthcare law

by Andrew BEATTY WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Barack Obama will make a short but politically charged trip from the White House to Capitol Hill Wednesday, calling allied lawmakers to arms in defense of his signature healthcare reforms. Obama’s eight-year drive to extend medical coverage to tens of millions of Americans will come under sustained assault when President-elect Donald Trump takes office January 20 with Republican majorities in both house of Congress. In […]

North Korea nuclear threat Trump’s first challenge

by Nicolas REVISE Dave Clark Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — North Korea’s determined quest for a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland is the first major US foreign policy challenge of the Donald Trump era. And, less than three weeks before he takes office, Trump has already plunged into these most dangerous of waters with a warning to unpredictable dictator Kim Jong-un. Kim marked the New Year by announcing that […]

Obama to deliver farewell speech next week in Chicago

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Barack Obama will deliver a farewell speech next week from his political stronghold of Chicago, one of the last times he will be able to advocate for his policies before the inauguration of Donald Trump. The Republican political novice has vowed to rip up key Obama initiatives such as the so-called Obamacare healthcare reform act, to back out of climate change agreements and to reassess ties with foreign […]

Putin refuses to expel US diplomats, Trump applauds

by Olivia HAMPTON with Max Delany in Moscow WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised President Vladimir Putin for refraining from tit-for-tat expulsions of Americans in response to US punitive measures over alleged Russian interference in the November election. Putin’s decision came despite the foreign ministry asking him to send home 35 US diplomats after President Barack Obama had expelled the same number of Russian staff. Trump’s intervention — in a tweet […]

Trump praises ‘very smart’ Putin for holding off on reprisals against US

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for not quickly hitting back at Washington for the punitive measures imposed over alleged interference in the November election. “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!” Trump tweeted. Russia’s embassy in Washington quickly retweeted the comment, which Trump pinned so it would appear at the top of his feed for several […]