KAHULUI, United States, Aug 11, 2023 (AFP) – The death toll from a terrifying wildfire that razed a historic Hawaiian town hit 53 Thursday, making it one of the deadliest disasters to strike the islands since they became a US state. Brushfires on the west coast of Hawaii’s Maui island — fueled by high winds from a nearby hurricane — broke out Tuesday and rapidly engulfed the seaside town of Lahaina. The flames moved so […]
North America
Hawaii wildfire death toll rises to 36: Maui county government
The death toll from a wildfire that turned a historic Hawaiian town to ashes has risen to 36 people, officials said Wednesday. “As the firefighting efforts continue, 36 total fatalities have been discovered today amid the active Lahaina fire,” the Maui county government said in a statement. The fires began burning early Tuesday, putting homes, businesses and utilities at risk, as well as more than 35,000 people on the island of Maui, the Hawaii Emergency […]
At least 6 dead as wildfire razes Hawaiian town
LOS ANGELES, Aug 9, 2023 (AFP) – At least six people have been killed in a wildfire that has razed a Hawaiian town, officials said Wednesday, with desperate residents jumping into the ocean in a bid to escape the fast-moving flames. US Coast Guard officers plucked at least a dozen people from the water as emergency services were overwhelmed by a disaster that appeared to have erupted almost without warning. “I’m sad to report that […]
Two dead, thousands without power as storms batter eastern US
WASHINGTON, Aug 8, 2023 (AFP) – Much of the eastern United States was lashed by intense storms Monday, leaving at least two people dead, hundreds of thousands without power and thousands of flights canceled or delayed. Millions of people were under severe weather alerts, including tornado watches, as rain, strong winds and hail swept east along nearly the entire eastern seaboard, from Alabama to New York. The National Weather Service (NWS) had predicted a “moderate […]
Influencer faces riot charge over PS5 giveaway melee in New York
NEW YORK, Aug 6, 2023 (AFP) – A popular online influencer who drew a massive crowd to a Manhattan square with promises of a game console giveaway, only for the gathering to turn into a bottle-tossing melee, was charged on Saturday with rioting, New York police said. The alleged instigator of the fracas, 21-year-old Kai Cenat, drew the crowd Friday night with promises that he would give away PlayStation 5 consoles. Word of the event […]
NASA back in touch with Voyager 2 after ‘interstellar shout’
WASHINGTON, Aug 4, 2023 (AFP) – NASA has succeeded in re-establishing full contact with Voyager 2 by using its highest-power transmitter to send an “interstellar shout” that righted the distant probe’s antenna orientation, the space agency said Friday. Launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets and serve as a beacon of humanity to the wider universe, it is currently more than 12.3 billion miles (19.9 billion kilometers) from our planet — well beyond the […]
Two US Navy men arrested on China spying charges
LOS ANGELES, Aug 3, 2023 (AFP) – Two serving members of the US Navy have been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, the Department of Justice said Thursday. The men are suspecting of selling secret information to Beijing that included manuals for warships and their weapons systems, as well as blueprints for a radar system and plans for a huge US military exercise. “These arrests are a reminder of the relentless, aggressive efforts of […]
Trump pleads not guilty to election conspiracy charges
WASHINGTON, Aug 3, 2023 (AFP) – Former president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to criminal charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election and defraud the American people. Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, entered his plea during a nearly 30-minute hearing at the same Washington courthouse where hundreds of his supporters have been convicted for their roles in January 6, 2021 attack on the US […]
US says concerned over Chinese reclamation in Manila Bay
MANILA, Aug 2, 2023 (AFP) – US diplomats have raised security and environmental concerns with the Philippines over the involvement of a Chinese company in a land reclamation project in Manila Bay, a US embassy spokesman said Wednesday. A subsidiary of China Communications Construction Co, which was blacklisted by Washington in 2020, has been contracted to reclaim 318 hectares (786 acres) in waters fronting the US embassy and Philippine Navy headquarters, the Philippine Reclamation Authority […]
Trump indicted over efforts to overturn 2020 election
WASHINGTON, Aug 1, 2023 (AFP) – Donald Trump was indicted on Tuesday over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election — the most serious legal threat yet to the former president as he campaigns to return to the White House. Trump is charged with three counts of conspiracy and one count of obstruction in the 45-page indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Trump is accused of conspiracy to defraud the United […]
For Trump, the more indictments, the more loyal his fans
By Frankie TAGGART Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — As mushrooming criminal probes threaten his political ambitions and his liberty, Donald Trump has been able to console himself with one encouraging constant: blockbuster polling numbers. “I’m the only person (who) ever got indicted who became more popular,” the former president and 2024 Republican primary frontrunner grinned in Iowa recently, an observation added to his stump speech in recent months. Trump has been indicted in […]
Possible Chinese malware in US systems a ‘ticking time bomb’: report
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2023 (AFP) – The Biden administration believes China has implanted malware in key US power and communications networks in a “ticking time bomb” that could disrupt the military in event of a conflict, The New York Times reported Saturday. The Times, quoting US military, intelligence and security officials, said the malware potentially gave China’s People’s Liberation Army the ability to disrupt US military operations if Beijing were to move against Taiwan at […]