North America

Haiti welcomes Kenyan offer to lead multinational force

Haiti has welcomed “with great interest” a Kenyan offer to lead a 1,000-strong multinational force to bolster security in the violence-torn Caribbean country. “Haiti appreciates this expression of African solidarity,” a statement from Foreign Minister Jean Victor Geneus said Sunday, “and looks forward to welcoming Kenya’s proposed evaluation mission.” Kenya announced Saturday that it was prepared to deploy 1,000 police agents to help train and support their Haitian counterparts in combating the violent gangs that […]

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Trump vows to continue presidential campaign if sentenced

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2023 (AFP) – Former US president Donald Trump said Friday he would not end his run for the White House if he were convicted and sentenced in any of the criminal investigations mounting against him. The 77-year-old Republican frontrunner was asked about his reaction to the federal and state charges he faces as he bids for a second term in 2024, a day after federal prosecutors added three felony counts to the […]

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US government faces lawsuit over immigration app

LOS ANGELES, July 28, 2023 (AFP) – Immigration advocates sued the US government on Thursday, arguing that conditioning asylum requests on the use of an app violates migrants’ human rights, according to the legal action filed in federal court. The suit, the latest legal challenge to the Biden administration’s immigration agenda, takes aim at the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) One app, which it says makes it impossible for many to seek asylum in the […]

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UN Command says in ‘conversation’ with N.Korea over US soldier

SEOUL, July 24, 2023 (AFP) – The UN Command has started a conversation with Pyongyang over American soldier Travis King, who ran across the border into North Korea last week, its deputy commander said Monday. “A conversation has commenced with the Korean People’s Army through the mechanism of the armistice agreement,” Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison said at a press briefing, referring to the deal that ended Korean War hostilities in 1953. The UN Command is […]

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‘Get him!’: Witness recalls US soldier’s dash to North Korea

SEOUL, July 21, 2023 (AFP) – When a member of a tour group visiting the Demilitarized Zone on South Korea’s border suddenly sprinted away from the pack, a US soldier shouted: “Get him”. But it was too late. Private Second Class Travis King had crossed the border into nuclear-armed North Korea, where he is now believed to be in Pyongyang’s custody, with the United States saying it was “very concerned” about how he would be […]

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UN chief eyes reforms to peacekeeping operations

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for a “serious, broad-based reflection” on reforming the global body’s peacekeeping operations, highlighting persistent “limitations” to their success. Presenting his most recent policy brief, entitled the “New Agenda for Peace,” Guterres praised the work of UN peacekeeping missions as “saving millions of lives” and preserving ceasefires. However, the former Portuguese prime minister cited “longstanding unresolved conflicts, driven by complex domestic, geopolitical and transnational […]

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Helicopter pilot dies fighting Canadian wildfires

MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — A pilot died in a helicopter crash in western Canada fighting wildfires that have ravaged the country, police said Thursday. He is the third person to die battling the huge blazes after two firefighters were killed last week during separate operations. His helicopter was reported missing early Wednesday evening, and the aircraft was later located near Haig Lake in northern Alberta province. The aircraft “collided with terrain during firefighting operations,” the […]

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Trump says he expects to be indicted in Capitol riot probe

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2023 (AFP) – Former US president Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected to be charged over the January 6 attack on the US Capitol — an indictment that would ramp up his legal woes as he makes another White House run. The 77-year-old Trump — in the hunt for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — is already facing criminal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith for mishandling top secret government documents […]

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World must prepare for more intense heatwaves: UN

GENEVA, July 18, 2023 (AFP) – The world should get ready to face increasingly intense heatwaves, the United Nations warned on Tuesday, as countries across the Northern Hemisphere reeled from soaring temperatures. Health authorities have sounded the alarm from North America to Europe and Asia, urging people to stay hydrated and shelter from the burning sun, in a stark reminder of the effects of global warming. “These events will continue to grow in intensity, and […]

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Rich-poor split could tighten ‘grip of poverty’: World Bank chief

By Bhuvan BAGGA Agence France-Presse GANDHINAGAR, India (AFP) — The new head of the World Bank said Tuesday that growing divides between rich and poor nations risked deepening poverty in the developing world, at a meeting of G20 finance ministers in India. Many countries are still recovering from the double blow of the coronavirus pandemic and fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine — which hit global fuel and commodity prices. Climate change, meanwhile, is most […]

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‘Oppressive’ heat wave scorches US west and south

LOS ANGELES, July 16, 2023 (AFP) – Swaths of the United States home to more than 80 million people were under heat warnings or advisories Sunday, as relentless, record-breaking temperatures continued to bake western and southern states. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of “a widespread and oppressive heat wave” in parts of the Southwest, western Gulf Coast and southern Florida, with sizzling temperatures carrying into the coming week raising health risks for millions. Southern […]

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Dangerous heatwaves strike globe as wildfires rage

ROME, July 16, 2023 (AFP) – Scorching weather gripped three continents on Sunday, whipping up wildfires and threatening to topple temperature records as the dire consequences of global warming take shape. Predictions of historic heat hung over swathes of Asia, Europe and the United States. In Japan, authorities issued heatstroke alerts to tens of millions of people in 20 of its 47 prefectures as near-record high temperatures scorched large areas and torrential rain pummelled other […]

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