Tag: US

US charges nine in art, sports memorabilia theft conspiracy

NEW YORK, June 15, 2023 (AFP) – An Andy Warhol silkscreen, Jackson Pollock painting and World Series rings awarded to baseball legend Yogi Berra — those were just a few of the high-value items US prosecutors charged nine people Thursday with stealing. In a plot worthy of a Hollywood film, the suspects allegedly broke into multiple museums and institutions in several US states over 20 years to pilfer objects totalling millions of dollars. The accused […]

NATO chief hopes Ukraine offensive will force Russia to negotiate

By Sebastian Smith Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told US President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday that Western-backed Ukraine is “making progress” in its offensive to push Russia back from occupied territories. “Ukrainians are making progress, are making advances,” he said in the Oval Office. Stoltenberg, visiting ahead of July’s NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, gave insight into how the powerful Western military bloc […]

Body pulled from debris of US interstate collapse

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – A body was recovered from the debris of a collapsed overpass on one of the busiest highways in the United States, authorities said Monday, after a tanker crossing underneath burst into flames. On Sunday the vehicle carrying gasoline crashed and caught fire in northeast Philadelphia on Interstate 95, a major artery connecting large cities along the US East Coast. Parts of an elevated roadway fell onto lanes below, with […]

Golden Globes journalist group to be dissolved as awards taken private

By Andrew MARSZAL Agence France-Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The scandal-hit association of foreign journalists that created the Golden Globes will be wound down as the Hollywood award show is formally purchased by private investors including US billionaire Todd Boehly, it was announced Monday. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association — a group of around 100 entertainment writers with links to overseas publications — has handed out the Globes to A-list film and television […]

NATO begins unprecedented air drill in ‘show of strength’

By Deborah COLE Agence France-Presse BERLIN, June 12, 2023 (AFP) — NATO will begin the largest air force deployment exercise in Europe in the alliance’s history on Monday in a display of unity toward partners and potential threats such as Russia. The German-led “Air Defender 23” will run until June 23 and include some 250 military aircraft from 25 NATO and partner countries including Japan and Sweden, which is bidding to join the alliance. Up […]

Crypto exchange Binance suspends US deposits after govt suit

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2023 (AFP) – The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance said late Thursday it was halting US dollar deposits and encouraged clients to withdraw their dollars by early next week, following charges leveled by the government. The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged the crypto giant with securities law violations that it said amounted to “an extensive web of deception” and “calculated evasion of the law.” Binance is alleged to have […]

Trump indicted in classified documents probe

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2023 (AFP) – Donald Trump said Thursday he has been indicted over his handling of classified documents after leaving office, the US ex-president’s most serious legal threat yet as he pursues a second White House term. “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform as he broke the bombshell news of a historic moment for […]

Canada wildfires spark ‘ecoterrorist’ conspiracy theory

By Gwen Roley Agence France-Presse MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — As Canada hurtles towards its worst wildfire season in history, a conspiracy theory has taken off online claiming environmentalists intentionally set some of the blazes. “I bet a good portion of the wildfires raging across the country were started by green terrorists who want to give their climate change campaign a little boost,” Maxime Bernier, a former foreign minister-turned fringe party leader, said in a June […]

US, Britain forge pact to counter new threats

By Jitendra JOSHI Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States — The United States and Britain on Thursday announced a new strategic pact as their leaders rededicated the “special relationship” to counter Russia, China and economic instability. In a White House summit, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak presented a united front on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lightning-fast evolution of artificial intelligence. But Sunak came away empty-handed on Britain’s ambitions for […]

US haze from Canada fires rare and extreme event: expert

By Lucie AUBOURG Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The air pollution swamping the northeast United States this week from smoke spewed by fires in Canada is “exceptionally rare” and “extreme”, said Ryan Stauffer, a NASA scientist specializing in air pollution. This episode should last for at least the next two days, the expert told AFP on Wednesday. How out of the ordinary is this event? “In the last 20 or 25 years, the […]

2 dead, 5 injured in US school graduation shooting

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2023 (AFP) — Two people were killed and five injured Tuesday during a shooting near a high school graduation in the US state of Virginia, police said, the latest in an epidemic of mass shootings plaguing the country. The shooting took place around 5 pm (2100 GMT) outside a theater in the state capital of Richmond, where students from a local high school were celebrating their graduation, Richmond interim police chief Rick […]

10 billion global population ‘unsustainable’: US climate envoy Kerry

OSLO, Norway, June 7, 2023 (AFP) — US special climate envoy John Kerry told AFP that the world’s population will not be tenable in 2050, when it is projected to hit nearly 10 billion, but refrained from asking Americans to give up steaks. Since November, the global population has officially crossed eight billion, more than three times the figure in 1950. This has already stretched food and energy needs and supplies. UN projections say the […]