US & Canada

Canada is on track for its worst-ever year of wildfire destruction as warm and dry conditions are forecast to persist through to the end of the summer after an unprecedented start to the fire season, officials said on Monday. Blazes are burning in nearly all Canadian provinces and territories, and …

After tough negotiations to reach a tentative deal with the White House on the US borrowing limit, the next challenge for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is pushing it through the House, where hardline Republicans are already threatening to sink it. As Democratic and Republican negotiators iron out the final details …

Top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy said on Saturday he was making “progress” in negotiations with Democratic President Joe Biden on raising the federal government’s debt ceiling, as the nation faced the risk of default in little more than a week. Time is tight. The Treasury Department on Friday said the …

The White House and congressional Republicans on Friday aim to put the final touches on a deal to raise the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling for two years while capping spending on many government programs, according to a U.S. official. Negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and House of …

Asian markets tracked losses in Wall Street on Wednesday as investors grow increasingly concerned about stalled US debt ceiling talks to avert a painful default. The optimism that flowed through trading floors at the start of the week has given way to trepidation, with several Republicans questioning an early June …

The way to reign in the persisting US debt crisis is to “stop America’s wars of choice and slash its military outlays,” a US-based author-academic and former United Nations official has emphasized in an article. “To surmount the debt crisis, America needs to stop feeding the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC), the …

US President Joe Biden on Sunday said he believes he has the legal right to invoke the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to raise the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling but does not have the time to do so. Some fellow Democrats have been urging him to try …

US President Joe Biden has announced a new $375 million package of military aid to Ukraine on Sunday despite warnings from Russia, saying that the United States was making every effort to “bolster Ukraine’s defense” in its war against Russia. “Together with the entire G7, we have Ukraine’s back and I …

Firefighters in Alberta are on high alert for a surge in blazes over a long weekend in the oil-rich Canadian province, which is enduring throttled energy production, home evacuations and property damage after an intense start to the wildfire season. Record-high temperatures and lack of rain this year have led …

A second meeting on Friday between White House and Republican congressional negotiators on raising the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling broke up with no progress cited by either side and no additional meeting set. That came at the end of a day of acrimonious talks that were broken off …

ChatGPT creator and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman urges lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence during a hearing. Sam Altman, the chief executive of ChatGPT’s OpenAI, testified before members of a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday about the need to regulate the increasingly powerful artificial intelligence technology being created inside his company and …

The US Justice Department said on Tuesday it has charged a former Apple Inc engineer with attempting to steal the firm’s technology related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars, and then fleeing to China. The case was among five announced on Tuesday aimed at countering efforts to illicitly acquire American …

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned once more that the United States is on track for default in June if the opposing Republican lawmakers do not approve the proposed budget bill hinged on debt increase and decrease in public spending. It is likely that the US could default on …

China has sentenced a 78-year-old U.S. citizen to life in prison for espionage, a court said Monday, but revealed few details about the previously unreported case. Such heavy terms are relatively rare for foreign citizens in China, and the jailing of American passport holder John Shing-wan Leung is likely to …

US President Joe Biden and congressional Republicans enter a critical week for debt-ceiling talks hoping they can find common ground on spending levels and energy regulations to avert a devastating default. Though the two sides did not appear close to an agreement, the White House has not ruled out the …

Washington’s number-two diplomat, a key foreign policy player, will soon end her three-decade career in government. US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is set to retire, the State Department said on Friday. The 73-year-old official was heavily involved in devising Washington’s current strategy toward China and the broader Asia-Pacific, …

Washington has pledged to finally dispose of its Cold War-era toxic arsenal. The US will destroy its last remaining chemical weapons by the fall of 2023, President Joe Biden announced on Friday, ahead of next week’s international arms control conference in The Hague. “We are on track to complete the …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned of severe consequences for the global economy if the United States defaults on its debt. The IMF raised the alarm on Thursday ahead of a rapidly-approaching deadline for US lawmakers to suspend or approve the raising of the government’s colossal debt ceiling. “Our …

A bipartisan group of American lawmakers have introduced a bill that will prohibit the United States from normalizing diplomatic relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and levy further sanctions on the regional countries resuming their ties with Damascus, amid Washington’s indignation about Syria’s readmission to the Arab League. The …

The United States rolled out a new regulation on Wednesday that will deny asylum to most migrants crossing the US-Mexico border illegally, a key part of President Joe Biden’s enforcement plan as COVID-19 border restrictions known as Title 42 end this week. The final version of the regulation, which becomes effective on …