WASHINGTON, July 23, 2024 (AFP) – Vice President Kamala Harris is narrowly beating rival Donald Trump in a national presidential poll released Tuesday, one of the first conducted since US President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign. Harris holds a two-point lead over Trump, 44 percent to 42 percent, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll. It was conducted in the two days after Biden announced Sunday he was dropping out of the race and endorsing his […]
International
Scramble to send aid after Ethiopia landslide kills over 200
By Aymeric VINCENOT ADDIS ABABA, July 23, 2024 (AFP) – Humanitarian agencies were scrambling Tuesday to send desperately needed aid to a remote area of southern Ethiopia where a landslide has killed more than 200 people in the deadliest such disaster recorded in the Horn of Africa nation. Crowds gathered at the site of the tragedy in an isolated and mountainous area of South Ethiopia regional state as residents used shovels or their bare hands […]
Trash balloons from North Korea hit South’s presidential compound
SEOUL, July 24, 2024 (AFP) – Trash-carrying balloons sent by North Korea hit the South Korean presidential compound Wednesday, security officials told AFP, prompting Seoul to mobilise chemical response teams in the escalating tit-for-tat propaganda war. It is the first time the South Korean leader’s office in downtown Seoul, which is protected by scores of soldiers and a no-fly zone, has been directly hit by any of the thousands of trash-carrying balloons launched by Pyongyang […]
US Secret Service director resigns after Trump assassination bid
By Chris Lefkow WASHINGTON, July 23, 2024 (AFP) – US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday, a day after acknowledging that the agency had failed in its mission to prevent an assassination attempt against Donald Trump. Cheatle was facing bipartisan calls to step down after a 20-year-old gunman wounded the former Republican president and current White House candidate at a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “It is overdue, she should have […]
Western US faces wildfires as millions under heat warnings
LOS ANGELES, United States, July 24, 2024 (AFP) – Several western US states including California and Utah were battling wildfires on Monday as millions of Americans in the region were once again under heat alerts. Evacuation orders were issued east of Los Angeles in Riverside County, where fires destroyed a handful of buildings and burned through more than 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of land, according to local authorities. Across California, firefighters were battling 21 blazes […]
Canada’s Jasper National Park evacuated over wildfire
MONTREAL, July 24, 2024 (AFP) – Authorities in the western Canadian province of Alberta have ordered evacuations of the popular Jasper National Park and nearby towns due to approaching forest fires. An alert was sent to tourists late Monday evening in the park — famous for its mountain peaks, glaciers and waterfalls — as well as residents living nearby, ordering them to leave by 3:00 am local time (0900 GMT). Authorities continued to issue evacuation […]
July 21 hottest day ever recorded globally: EU climate monitor
PARIS, July 24, 2024 (AFP) – July 21 was the hottest day ever registered globally, according to preliminary data published Tuesday by the EU’s climate monitor. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said the global average surface air temperature of 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.7 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday was the warmest in their record books, which go back to 1940. It comes as heatwaves and wildfires ravage swathes of Europe and the United States. […]
From Trump shooting to Biden dropping out: 8 days upending US politics
WASHINGTON, July 22, 2024 (AFP) – If a week is a long time in politics, the last eight days of the US presidential campaign have proved a drama of epic proportions. Joe Biden’s shock decision Sunday to drop out of the 2024 presidential race capped a head-spinning week that began with the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, and has left Americans reeling. Here is how the week unfolded: – Saturday: Trump assassination bid – Republican […]
Harris will be ‘even worse’ than Biden: Trump campaign team
WASHINGTON, July 21, 2024 (AFP) – Donald Trump’s campaign team on Sunday lashed into Vice President Kamala Harris after Joe Biden endorsed her to take his place atop the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket, saying she would be “even worse” than the outgoing leader. “Harris will be even worse for the people of our nation than Joe Biden. Harris has been the Enabler in Chief for Crooked Joe this entire time. They own each other’s records, […]
Kamala Harris, trailblazer eying America’s last glass ceiling
By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, July 21, 2024 (AFP) – For years Kamala Harris faced criticism that she was not up to the job of being a heartbeat away from the US presidency. Now, she finds herself feted by Democrats as their best hope to stop Donald Trump’s comeback. Despite blazing a trail as the first woman, Black and South Asian vice president in the nation’s history, the 59-year-old Democrat long struggled with approval ratings as […]
Philippines ‘to assert our rights’ after China sea deal
MANILA, July 22, 2024 (AFP) – Manila insisted Monday it will continue to “assert our rights” over a hotspot South China Sea reef, after reaching a deal with Beijing for resupplying Filipino troops stationed on a grounded warship. The Philippine foreign ministry also rejected suggestions by China that the “provisional arrangement” announced Sunday required Manila to give Beijing “prior notification” and verification of deliveries to the BRP Sierra Madre on Second Thomas Shoal. China claims […]
Japan sees 17. 78 million foreign visitors in first half of 2024, new half-year record
By Kyoko Hasegawa and Tomohiro Osaki TOKYO, July 19, 2024 (AFP) – Japan welcomed a million more foreign visitors in the first half of 2024 compared to pre-pandemic levels, logging a new record of 17.78 million, the national tourism organisation said Friday. The weak yen is attracting large crowds to Japan, with tourists splashing out on everything from kimonos to knives and pricey meals. The January-June figure beat the previous high from 2019 of 16.63 […]