US & Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plunged back into campaigning on Monday after groups of unusually vocal and abusive protesters disrupted his weekend election rallies, at one point forcing him to cancel an event. Trudeau, whose ruling Liberals are in a neck-and-neck race with their Conservative rivals ahead of the Sept. …

Fire officials ordered more evacuations near Lake Tahoe and told other residents to be ready to leave as a destructive fire roared through forests southwest of the alpine lake that straddles the California-Nevada state line. Several communities south of the lake were abruptly ordered to evacuate Sunday afternoon and residents …

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, forcing those who did not flee to brace themselves for the toughest test yet of the billions of dollars spent on levee upgrades following Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago. Ida gathered strength overnight and made …

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, said on Sunday he supports COVID-19 vaccine mandates for children attending schools as the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus continues to fuel a surge in cases in the nation. “I believe that mandating vaccines for children to appear in …

Ida could be worst direct hit in 170 years, governor says Storm surge, flooding rains to reach inland communities Hurricane Ida was on the verge of making landfall in the United States on Sunday as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm that could plunge much of the Louisiana shoreline underwater …

The Taliban and US forces are aiming for a swift handover of the Kabul airport to the militants who are prepared to take charge of the strategic facility, a Taliban official said. “We are waiting for the final nod from the Americans to secure full control over the Kabul airport …

Some of the dozens of civilians who were killed in this week’s bombing at the Kabul airport may have actually been shot dead by US troops amid the chaos caused by the blast, according to eyewitnesses. Russia Today, citing eyewitnesses reported on Saturday that not everyone who died on Thursday …

Two House Republicans have introduced articles of impeachment against Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. South Carolina Representative Ralph Norman and Maryland Rep. Andy Harris are seeking to impeach Blinken because they say he did not give President Joe Biden proper advice …

Only 300 American citizens still in Afghanistan are seeking to leave the country, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday, just days ahead of the US deadline for evacuations. “We are down to a population of 300 or fewer Americans who are still on the ground there, and we …

US President Joe Biden headed to Dover Air Force Base on Sunday to honor members of the U.S. military killed in a suicide bomb attack during the evacuation of civilians from Kabul airport last week. An Islamic State suicide bombing just outside Kabul airport on Thursday killed scores of Afghans …

Hospitals in the Southeast are running low on oxygen, with the worst-hit left only 12 to 24 hours’ worth, said Premier Inc., a hospital-supply purchasing group. This comes amid the region’s struggle over the summer with high numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Now Hurricane Ida is set to hit …

Hurricane Ida has been graded as a category four storm capable of “catastrophic” damage even more devastating than Katrina. Thousands on the south coast of the US are bracing themselves before Hurricane Ida is expected to slam ashore this weekend. It’s set to bring winds reaching 140mph (225kph) with torrential …

Health experts in the US are warning people against the use of Ivermectin, a drug that is often used to treat or prevent parasites in horses and other animals, as a home remedy for COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said recently of a growing trend interest in using …

A US warship and a US Coast Guard cutter sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, the latest in what Washington calls routine operations through the sensitive waterway that separates Taiwan from China, which claims the self-ruled island. The passage comes amid a spike in military tensions in the past …

Tropical Storm Ida strengthened into a hurricane and made landfall over the Isle of Youth in Cuba on Friday as it heads toward the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. The storm is forecast to become increasingly dangerous throughout Saturday and is expected to make landfall over the coast of Louisiana …

China, in the midst of a rapid nuclear weapons buildup, will soon surpass Russia as the United States’ top nuclear threat, a senior U.S. military official said on Friday, warning that the two countries have no mechanisms to avert miscommunication. U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas Bussiere, the deputy commander …

Numbers show a grim picture emerging, with 25,000 people currently in intensive care and daily deaths reaching 364. As the Delta variant of the coronavirus races across the United States, the number of people hospitalised with COVID-19 has risen to 100,000, the highest since January when the pandemic peaked in …

US President Joe Biden is shedding support from independents, a crucial voting bloc that helped Democrats win the White House and Congress last year, as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases slows the country’s return to normal from the pandemic, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. The drop in support comes at a precarious …

Seven U.S. Capitol Police officers on Thursday sued former President Donald Trump, alleging that he conspired with far-right extremist groups to provoke the deadly Jan. 6 attack on Congress. The officers in a lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. federal court allege the attack was the culmination of months of rhetoric …

US anti-mask protesters have confronted top officials during a back-to-school meeting at an elementary school in Connecticut, forcing the governor out of the building, after he suggested to extend mask-wearing mandate. A group of parents attending the meeting at the beginning of the school year, started to mob Governor Ned …