Tag: United States

Melania Trump threatens People Magazine with lawsuit

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Melania Trump threatened People Magazine and a former staff reporter with legal action late Thursday over “false and completely fictionalized” statements in the writer’s account of Donald Trump forcing himself on her during a 2005 interview. The Republican presidential candidate’s wife denied that she encountered or conversed with writer Natasha Stoynoff in New York, tweeting a letter from her lawyer demanding a “prominent retraction and apology” of certain statements in […]

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Obama pays tribute to late Thai king as ‘close friend’ of US

PITTSBURGH, United States (AFP) — US President Barack Obama extended condolences Thursday to Thailand for the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, calling him a “close friend” and partner of the United States. Obama paid tribute to the king, whose death at age 88 was announced Thursday, as a “tireless champion” for Thailand’s development, praising his “unflagging devotion” to improving the lives of his subjects. Obama’s warm words for the monarch belie difficult recent relations with […]

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Michelle Obama leads charge against ‘disgraceful’ Trump

by Daniel WOOLLS WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Michelle Obama has said she looks forward to a quieter, calmer life after politics. But on Thursday she hit the campaign trail with a vengeance. Her voice quivering with emotion, the wildly popular first lady launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump’s sexually aggressive talk about women, calling it “disgraceful,” especially coming from a man running for president. “It has shaken me to my core in a […]

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Philippines’ Duterte to visit China

    MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday he would soon visit China and hoped also to travel to Russia, as he again criticized longtime ally the United States for “arrogance”. The mission to China will be Duterte’s first outside of Southeast Asia since assuming the presidency on June 30, in a symbolic move highlighting the importance he places on improving ties with Beijing that soured over competing claims to the […]

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Trump trails Clinton by 8 points after tape scandal, debate – Reuters/Ipsos poll

  By Chris Kahn NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump has fallen further behind Hillary Clinton and now trails her by 8 points among likely voters, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, with 1 in 5 Republicans saying his vulgar comments about groping women disqualify him from the presidency. The national tracking poll was launched after Sunday night’s second presidential debate, where Trump was pressed to explain his comments in a 2005 videotape about […]

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Drake sets new record for American Music Award nods

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Rap chart-topper Drake on Monday earned a record 13 nominations for the American Music Awards, topping the mark set by late king of pop Michael Jackson. The Toronto rapper, whose “Views” has been the top-selling album released this year in the United States, was in the running for Artist of the Year and raked in other nominations thanks to his slew of collaborations. But on the same day as […]

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Climate change doubles US forest-fire burn areas: study

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Climate change is making the planet hotter and drier, and has about doubled the area burned by forest fires in the western United States in the past three decades, a study said Monday. Researchers found that since 1984, drier conditions and higher temperatures have caused fires to spread across an additional 16,000 square miles (41,500 square kilometers) — an area about 30 times the size of Los Angeles. This “approximately […]

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Monster hurricane pummels Florida coast with wind and rain

MIAMI, United States (AFP) – by Kerry Sheridan with Leila Macor in Jacksonville Hurricane Matthew unleashed torrential rains and up to 120 mile-an-hour winds as it hugged the Florida coast Friday, after a blast through the Caribbean that reportedly left more than 300 dead in Haiti. Matthew was downgraded to a Category Three storm early Friday by the National Hurricane Center, as its wind speed dropped slightly. But Florida still faced its most dangerous hurricane […]

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DND chief Lorenzana: We can live without US aid

(Reuters)– The United States-Philippines ties are going through “bumps on the road” and the Armed Forces of the Philippines could manage if treaty ally the United States were to withdraw aid, Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana said Friday. The Philippines intended to buy arms from China and Russia and there had been no adverse reaction from within the military to President Rodrigo Duterte’s vows to scale back defense ties with the United States, Lorenzana said. Lorenzana’s […]

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The US presidential election: a how-to guide

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The American presidential election falls this year on November 8. The quadrennial exercise always takes place on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November, as prescribed by the US Constitution. How the voting system works The vote, by universal suffrage, is conducted in a single round in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (the city of Washington, which is not part of any state). Voters choose among […]

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Creepy clown sightings spook America

by Jocelyne ZABLIT LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A series of creepy clown sightings across the United States has caused a wave of hysteria, forcing police and schools to scramble to contain spreading jitters, and even the White House to weigh in. The spooky sightings were first reported in August in South Carolina when police were called in to investigate what turned out to be bogus accounts of men dressed as clowns trying to […]

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Deadly Hurricane Matthew strengthens, threatening US

MIAMI, United States (AFP) – by Kerry SHERIDAN with Daniel Woolls in Washington Residents of the US state of Florida scrambled to escape the path of Hurricane Matthews on Thursday as it pounded the Bahamas after leaving 27 people dead in the Caribbean. The storm, which is swirling near the northwest Bahamas, is expected to intensify to a Category Four hurricane as it moves northwest towards Florida. Matthew, the worst storm to hit the Caribbean […]

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