North America

US Coast Guard still focused on sub ‘rescue’ despite oxygen crunch

BOSTON, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – A multinational mission to find a missing submersible near the Titanic wreck is still focused on rescuing the five-member crew alive, the US coast guard insisted Thursday, despite fears that the vessel’s oxygen may already have run out. Two more unmanned subs were deployed Thursday as the massive hunt for the Titan, lost somewhere in a vast swathe of the North Atlantic between the ocean’s surface and more than […]

Musk and Zuckerberg call out each other for cage fight

PARIS, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – Tech titans Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are in a fierce business rivalry that has spilt over into a playground spat, with the two men offering to fight each other in a cage. Months after Musk took over Twitter, Zuckerberg’s Meta hinted it was planning to launch its own text-based social media platform — essentially a direct rival. Musk has trolled Zuckerberg ever since with messages on Twitter, telling […]

US rolls out red carpet for Modi even as criticism grows

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday opened a state visit to Washington as the United States steps up its wooing of India despite simmering disagreements on Ukraine and human rights. President Joe Biden is putting on the full pomp for only the third state visitor of his administration, with the billion-plus country seen as a pivotal partner in a growing global competition with China. Modi — flying in […]

Rescuers in all-night race to save Titanic sub crew

BOSTON, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – A massive search and rescue effort for a missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic was at a critical stage late Wednesday, with just hours left before the oxygen supply for the five people on board runs out. While coast guard officials insisted they remained “hopeful,” with a surge of assets and experts joining the operation and sonar picking up unidentified underwater noises, the challenge of locating and […]

Pregnant US woman fatally shot by toddler son

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – A pregnant woman and her unborn child died last week in the US state of Ohio after her two-year-old son shot her in the back with a handgun left loaded in the house, police said. Police chief David Smith told local media on Tuesday that 31-year-old Laura Ilg had called 911 on the afternoon of June 16. “She explained she was 33 weeks pregnant and her two-year-old had accidentally […]

Biden equates China’s Xi with ‘dictators’ at donor reception

SAN FRANCISCO, June 21, 2023 (AFP) — US President Joe Biden equated his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping with “dictators” on Tuesday as he addressed a Democratic Party donors reception in the presence of journalists. Speaking at a campaign fundraiser in northern California, Biden said Xi had been angered over an incident in February when a Chinese balloon — which Washington says was used for spying — flew over the United States before being shot down […]

Four dead after latest New York e-bike fire

NEW YORK, June 20, 2023 (AFP) – Four people have died after lithium batteries for e-bikes sparked a fire in a New York building, officials said Tuesday, sounding the alarm over the skyrocketing number of such incidents. The fire broke out overnight in a maintenance shop for electric bicycles and scooters, on the ground floor of a building in Chinatown. A large pile of blackened two-wheelers was seen strewn outside the charred facility on Tuesday, […]

UN chief urges ‘prevention’ in terror fight

UNITED NATIONS, United States, June 19, 2023 (AFP) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that countries must tackle the “underlying conditions that can lead to terrorism,” such as poverty, to prevent such violence from spreading. “While we have made some significant gains over the years, terrorism and violent extremism continue to take root and grow,” he told a conference on the subject in New York. Guterres called on nations to “stand as one against […]

Submersible exploring Titanic wreck missing over 24 hours

By Joseph Prezioso Agence France-Presse BOSTON, June 19, 2023 (AFP) – US and Canadian coast guard teams were racing Monday to locate and rescue a submersible tourist vessel with five people aboard that went missing on a dive to the Titanic’s wreckage in the North Atlantic. The 21-foot (6.5-meter) craft, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent early Sunday and lost contact with the surface less than two hours later. One of those on board […]

Eight people die in Mexico heatwave

MEXICO CITY, June 17, 2023 (AFP) – Eight people have died in the third heatwave to hit Mexico since mid-April, the country’s health ministry said on Friday. Temperatures reached a record high of 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) in the capital Mexico City this week. Seven of the victims died of heatstroke and one of dehydration between April 14 and June 12, the ministry said in a statement. In the northeastern city of Monterrey, temperatures […]

Boeing expects number of planes in air to double by 2042

PARIS, June 18, 2023 (AFP) – Boeing expects the number of commercial planes in service around the world to double in the next 20 years, according to estimates published on Sunday, anticipating a slightly larger increase than competitor Airbus. The American aircraft manufacturer estimates 48,575 planes will be in service in 2042, compared with 24,500 last year. This will require producing, across all manufacturers combined, 42,595 planes — half to replace existing aircraft, and the […]

US trafficking report highlights forced labor, exploited boys

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2023 (AFP) – The United States on Thursday denounced the scourge of human trafficking, calling out forced labor and the little-known but growing problem of boys and young men caught up the trade. The condemnation came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented a report on what he called “concerning trends” in human trafficking. Blinken blasted the rise in forced labor as worldwide supply chains were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. “Exploitative […]