Tag: US

Trump announces news conference on coronavirus crisis

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump announced a news conference from the White House on the coronavirus epidemic Wednesday, with experts warning they expect it to spread in the United States. “I will be having a News Conference at the White House, on this subject, today at 6:00 P.M.” Trump tweeted, adding that officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would attend. Officials have urged Americans to develop plans […]

US military reports South Korea virus case

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — An American soldier stationed in South Korea has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, commanders said Wednesday, as the country’s case total jumped again. The soldier, a 23-year-old man, is the first infection among the 28,500 troops Washington stations in the South to defend it against the nuclear-armed North. Based at Camp Carroll 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Daegu, the serviceman has been put in self-quarantine at his home, […]

Nine killed, many injured in India capital as Trump visits

  NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Clashes over a contentious citizenship law roiled India’s capital for a second day Tuesday — coinciding with a visit by US President Donald Trump — as the death toll in rose to at least nine. There have been widespread protests since the law that critics say is anti-Muslim was passed in mid-December, with more than 25 people killed. “There have been nine confirmed deaths,” Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital official […]

Harvey Weinstein convicted of sexual assault and rape in ‘new era’ for #MeToo

  by Peter HUTCHISON Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Harvey Weinstein was convicted Monday of sexual assault and rape but cleared of the most serious predatory sexual assault charges, a verdict hailed as a historic victory by the #MeToo Movement against sexual abuse. The jury of seven men and five women, delivering their decision before a packed New York courtroom, found the once powerful Hollywood producer guilty of criminal sexual acts […]

Sanders would ‘absolutely’ use military if needed

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders has said that if elected president he would “absolutely” use the military if warranted, both to protect US interests and to support its allies. He also said he would be willing to meet with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, as President Donald Trump has done. Sanders has emerged with an early lead in the Democratic nominating process, and as a self-declared democratic socialist his […]

Mega rally to kick off Trump’s first official visit to India

by Jérôme CARTILLIER / Bhuvan BAGGA AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to welcome his US counterpart Donald Trump to India with a massive rally on Monday, kicking off a two-day visit likely to be more about pomp and ceremony than concrete agreements. The American president, in his first official visit to India, will deliver a speech at the world’s biggest cricket stadium at a “Namaste Trump” rally watched by at […]

US says, preparing to sign deal with Taliban on February 29

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — The United States is preparing to sign a deal with the Taliban on February 29, building on an agreement on reducing violence across Afghanistan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday. “Upon successful implementation of this understanding, signing of the US-Taliban agreement is expected to move forward,” he said in a statement released after visiting Saudi Arabia. A week-long “reduction in violence” between the Taliban, the US and Afghan security […]

How climate change reduced the flow of the Colorado River

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The massive Colorado River, which provides water for seven US states, has seen its flow reduced by 20 percent over the course of a century — and more than half of that loss is due to climate change, according to new research published Thursday. Two scientists at the US Geological Survey developed a mathematical model of the water movements — snowfall, rainfall, run-off, evaporation — in the upper Colorado River […]

China to waive tariffs on US medical imports amid virus outbreak

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China will waive trade-war tariffs on imports of selected US medical equipment from March 2, the government said Tuesday, as the country battles to contain the new coronavirus epidemic. More than 72,000 people have been infected by the outbreak of the new COVID-19 strain in China, which has claimed the lives of over 1,800 people. Products that will qualify for the exemptions include patient monitors, blood transfusion equipment and instruments to […]

13 US citizens at ‘high risk’ of coronavirus being treated in Nebraska

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Thirteen US citizens deemed “high risk” for the deadly new coronavirus are being treated at a federally designated facility in the University of Nebraska following their evacuation from a cruise ship in Japan, officials said Monday. A total of 338 Americans were flown home from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan’s Yokohama, touching down first at Travis Air Force Base in California shortly before midnight Sunday. The second flight […]

14 test positive among US plane evacuees from Japan virus ship

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Fourteen people who had tested positive for the new coronavirus were among more than 300 US citizens and family members evacuated by plane from a quarantined ship in Japan, the US State Department said Monday. The passengers had already disembarked from the Diamond Princess and were preparing to return to the United States on chartered aircraft when US officials were informed 14 of them who had been tested days […]

40 US nationals infected on Japan ship as others fly home

by Harumi Ozawa with Sara Hussein in Tokyo YOKOHAMA, Japan (AFP) — Forty Americans are among hundreds with the new coronavirus on a cruise ship quarantined off Japan, a US official said on Sunday, after other Americans on board left for chartered flights home. The evacuation coincided with stepped-up warnings from Japanese authorities over the deadly outbreak, urging citizens to avoid crowds and “non-essential gatherings.” The Diamond Princess was placed in 14-day quarantine in early […]