WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –North Korea, believed poised to test a new nuclear weapon, has ignored multiple US overtures for discussions as well as offers to help in its Covid-19 outbreak, a US diplomat said Tuesday. Speaking after Pyongyang test-launched eight ballistic missiles in a single day Sunday, Sung Kim, the US Special Representative to North Korea, said the country has not responded to months of public and private communications seeking to engage over tensions. […]
Tag: US
US, South Korea fly warplanes after North’s missile tests
South Korea and the United States flew warplanes including stealth fighter jets over waters around the Korean peninsula Tuesday in a fresh show of force following recent missile tests by the North, Seoul said. Sixteen South Korean warplanes, including F-35 stealth fighters and four US F-16 jets, formed an attack squadron over the West Sea — also known as the Yellow Sea — to “respond to the enemy threat,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff […]
Two-year-old accidentally shoots and kills father in Florida
A two-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his father in Florida after his parents left a loaded gun unattended, local authorities said Monday. When police officers, alerted by a 911 call, arrived at the victim’s home near Orlando on May 26, they found the child’s mother Marie Ayala providing CPR to her husband, Reggie Mabry. Law enforcement initially believed the 26-year-old, who died shortly afterward in hospital, had shot himself, but the eldest of the […]
Paramount sued over ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ copyright
The heirs of an author whose article inspired the 1986 film “Top Gun” have sued Paramount Pictures for copyright infringement, according to court documents. Three decades after the blockbuster original, which was based on Ehud Yonay’s 1983 magazine article “Top Guns”, Paramount released a sequel last month that has topped North America’s box office. In their complaint filed Monday to a California court, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay, the writer’s widow and son who live in […]
At US border hole, asylum is still possible
by Paula Ramon Agence France-Presse YUMA, United States (AFP) — When a young Colombian man and his family arrived at the US border early one morning, they helped themselves to bananas and water, then sat down in the shade and waited for American patrol officers. Like dozens of others who enter the United States every day through this gap in the fence, they are not trying sneak into the country unnoticed. “We don’t want to cross […]
Mexico snub throws Americas’ summit into disarray
by Shaun Tandon Agence France-Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden’s plan to reboot US engagement with Latin America — especially on critical topics like migration — took a hit after key partner Mexico snubbed a regional summit opening Monday in Los Angeles to protest Washington’s exclusion of three far-left countries. What was meant to be a week-long showcase of cooperation risks becoming a display of division, underlining diminishing US clout over […]
Update: US suspending solar panel tariffs on four ASEAN nations, not China
President Joe Biden on Monday will suspend tariffs for two years on solar panel imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam — but not China — as the US seeks to boost domestic clean energy manufacturing, the White House said. Biden’s administration will also invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to accelerate domestic production, and use the federal government’s purchasing power to increase demand, a fact sheet said. China is excluded as the Commerce Department […]
UPDATE: Musk accuses Twitter of withholding data, says may withdraw takeover bid
Elon Musk threatened Monday to withdraw his bid to buy Twitter, accusing it of failing to provide data on fake accounts, in the latest twist in the Tesla billionaire’s push to acquire the social network. Twitter has committed “a clear material breach” of its “obligations under the merger agreement and Mr. Musk reserves … his right not to consummate the transaction,” according to a document filed with securities regulators. The filing marks an escalation of Musk’s […]
At least 10 killed in four weekend shootings across US
by Kriston Jae Bethel Agence France Presse PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — At least 10 people were killed and more than two dozen wounded in four shootings across the United States this weekend, as lawmakers struggle to respond to the country’s long-running epidemic of gun violence. The shootings came after a spate of mass killings that have sparked renewed calls for reform of the nation’s gun laws. An eruption of violence in Chattanooga, Tennessee […]
S. Korea, US fire ballistic missiles in response to N. Korea tests
South Korea and the United States fired eight ballistic missiles on Monday in response to North Korean weapons tests the previous day, Seoul’s military said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the allies launched the ground-to-ground Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile at targets in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, in the early morning. The 10-minute volley comes a day after North Korea launched eight short-range ballistic missiles following a […]
Fugitive shot dead after allegedly killing Texas family: sheriff
Texas law enforcement officers have shot dead a convicted murderer who escaped prison and was suspected of killing a family close to his last known location, authorities said Thursday. The bodies of five people — one adult and four children — were found in a house near the town of Centerville, Leon County on Thursday, the local sheriff’s office said. Gonzalo Lopez was shot in the city of Jourdanton after gunfire ensued when law enforcement […]
China’s diplomatic gambit heralds new ‘Battle for the Pacific’
by Andrew Beatty Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A 10-day South Pacific island-hopping tour by China’s top diplomat focused world attention on a usually overlooked region, opened a new front in Beijing’s quest for global influence and challenged decades of Western primacy. On the face of it, Wang Yi’s trip was a failure. His centerpiece proposal — a regional pact to turbocharge China’s role in Pacific island security — was leaked to the press […]





