WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Earth’s concentration of greenhouse gases and sea levels hit new highs in 2021, a US government report said Wednesday, showing that climate change keeps surging ahead despite efforts to curb emissions. “The data presented in this report are clear — we continue to see more compelling scientific evidence that climate change has global impacts and shows no sign of slowing,” said Rick Spinrad, administrator of the National Oceanic and […]
Tag: US
US says latest Iran response on nuclear deal ‘not constructive’
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States said Thursday it had received a new response from Iran on reviving a nuclear deal but that it was not “constructive.” It is the latest in a back and forth between the adversaries via mediators from the European Union, whose foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Wednesday had hoped for a resolution within days to revive the 2015 nuclear accord. The European Union put forward on August […]
Biden slams Trump ‘extremist’ assault on democracy
by Jim WATSON / with Aurelia END in Washington Agence France-Presse PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden took fierce aim Thursday at Donald Trump and his “extremist” supporters, labeling them enemies of American democracy in a prime-time address that sought to fire up voters ahead of key midterm elections. Speaking in Philadelphia, the cradle of US democracy, the president launched an extraordinary assault on those Republicans who embrace Trump’s “Make America Great […]
Sexual assaults in US military reach new record
Washington, United States (AFP) The number of sexual assaults in the US military increased by 13 percent in fiscal year 2021, reaching a record high, according to an annual report published Thursday by the Pentagon. The Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPR) said there were 8,866 reported assaults “involving service members as either victims or subjects” in the year to September 30, 2021, compared to 7,813 the previous year. But only […]
Gorbachev and Reagan: a friendship that ended the Cold War
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse Mikhail Gorbachev stepped onto a Washington street and began shaking hands to cheers and applause in 1990 — a bit of unaccustomed political showmanship worthy of his friend Ronald Reagan. Ana Maria Guzman was in the park on her lunch break that May when she saw the Soviet leader, who died on Tuesday at 91. “We knew he was in town and we saw his motorcade. Then he […]
Biden talks crime, guns in key election battleground
by Jim Watson with Frankie Taggart in Washington Agence France-Presse WILKES-BARRE, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden touted his plans to curb gun crime and framed Trumpist Republicans as a threat to the rule of law Tuesday on the first of multiple visits to the key swing state of Pennsylvania. The Keystone State — which is hosting Biden three times over the coming days, including for a rare prime-time address to the nation […]
‘Dangerous’ heat wave hits southwestern US
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A “dangerous” heat wave was taking hold of the southwestern United States Tuesday, with punishing temperatures expected for the next week. Forecasters said the mercury could reach as high as 112 Fahrenheit (44 Celsius) in the densely populated Los Angeles suburbs as a heat dome settles in over parts of California, Nevada and Arizona. “Dangerously hot conditions expected through the week,” the National Weather Service warned. “A prolonged period […]
Solomon Islands suspends all naval visits
Honiara, Solomon Islands (AFP) Solomon Islands has suspended visits from all foreign navies, citing a need to review approval processes, the country’s leader said Tuesday, after a US coast guard was unable to refuel at its port. The decision comes amid concerns over the Solomons’ growing ties with China in recent years, switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 2019 and signing a security pact with the Asian power in April. Western governments are […]
Engine issue forces NASA to scrub launch of giant Moon rocket
by Lucie AUBOURG (AFP) NASA called off a test flight on Monday of its largest-ever rocket in a setback to the ambitious program to send humans back to the Moon and eventually to Mars. “We don’t launch until it’s right,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said after an engine temperature issue forced liftoff from Kennedy Space Center to be scrubbed. “This is a very complicated machine,” Nelson said. “You don’t want to light the candle until […]
Engine issue threatens delay of NASA Moon rocket
United States (AFP) by Lucie AUBOURG An engine problem threatened to delay the launch on Monday of NASA’s most powerful rocket yet on an uncrewed test flight to take humans back to the Moon and eventually to Mars. Blastoff, which had been planned for 8:33 am (1233 GMT), was put on hold because of a temperature issue with one of the four engines on the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the US space […]
Asian, European markets tumble after Powell’s rates warning
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Markets sank Monday and the dollar rallied after Fed boss Jerome Powell warned of more interest rate hikes to fight inflation and poured cold water on the prospects of a cut in the new year. The hefty selling tracked a painful day on Wall Street, where all three main indexes tanked between three and four percent as investors contemplated an extended period of monetary tightening. In a much-anticipated speech […]
Detroit gunman who killed 3 people nabbed by US police
Washington, United States (AFP) Police in the US city of Detroit on Sunday caught a suspect believed to have shot four people at “random”, killing three of them, authorities said. The Midwestern city’s police chief, James White, told media that the first three victims — two women and a man — were found shot multiple times in separate locations around Detroit in the early hours of the morning. A fourth man spotted the suspect peering […]





