US & Canada

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the country’s military troops must receive their Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible. “To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force,” Austin said in the memo Wednesday. “After careful consultation with medical experts and military leadership, and with the support of …

A US congressional committee has demanded records related to members of former President Donald Trump’s inner circle, in an attempt to shed light on his administration’s possible role in the Jan. 6 deadly attack on the Capitol. According to Press TV, the House of Representatives Select Committee said in a …

Canada has ended evacuations from Kabul’s airport, a Canadian general said Thursday, as the clock ticks down on dramatic Western efforts to help people flee the Taliban takeover ahead of a full American withdrawal. General Wayne Eyre, the country’s acting chief of Defense Staff, said all the other countries have …

Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates pressed President Joe Biden on Wednesday to take new steps to end an immigration policy begun by his predecessor Donald Trump after the top U.S. court ordered that the “remain in Mexico” program be reinstated. The policy put in place by Trump, a Republican, forced …

Two US officials are being medically evacuated from Vietnam after reported cases of the so-called ‘Havana Syndrome.’ The “anomalous” health incidents caused VP Kamala Harris’ trip to be delayed for hours on Tuesday. Harris’ departure from Singapore to Hanoi was delayed several hours after US officials on the ground reported …

The US state of Arkansas is out of beds in the intensive care unit (ICU) to treat Covid-19 patients as the Delta variant is taking more lives. “Our ICU beds for Covid patients are full in Arkansas,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said during a weekly briefing. More than 92 percent of …

Canada’s ruling Liberal Party said on Wednesday that if re-elected it would raise the corporate tax rate paid by the most profitable banks and insurers by 3 percentage points on all earnings over C$1 billion ($793 million). The party also vowed to establish a special dividend, so that those same …

Enrique Tarrio, a leader of the right-wing extremist group the Proud Boys, has been sentenced to five months in prison for setting a Black Lives Matter banner on fire in Washington as part of protests supporting former president Donald Trump. “Henry ‘Enrique’ Tarrio, 37, of Miami, Florida, was sentenced today …

The Chinese government says Washington’s acts to smear and suppress China have harshly harmed the Asian Americans and intensified the racial discrimination in the US. The US Justice Department started the China Initiative three years ago under former President Donald Trump to counter what it termed China’s “national security threats” and …

China has called on the United States to stop pointing the accusing finger at other countries over the lab-leaking theory concerning the origin of the coronavirus pandemic and to investigate its own bio-labs instead. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin made the call on Monday as he stressed that the …

A dispute between progressive and centrist factions of the Democratic party has threatened passage of President Joe Biden’s nearly $5 trillion in spending plans for the United States, as Congress nears a key vote on the measures Monday. Biden’s Democratic allies controlling the House and Senate have for months been …

Far-right groups have clashed with leftist protesters in a chaotic street showdown in the US city of Portland, Oregon, which ended in a gunfight. Members of the Proud Boys, a frequently violent far-right group, and other extremists descended on Portland on Sunday for an event they called the “Summer of …

A top US lawmaker says America has “absolutely emboldened” Taliban in Afghanistan, suggesting that President Joe Biden should have reversed a deal clinched in the administration of former President Donald Trump. “We absolutely emboldened the Taliban,” said Rep. Liz Cheney on NBC News as the Biden administration was coming under …

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on an Eritrean official who is accused of being engaged in serious human rights abuse in the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, as Washington warned it would continue to target those involved in prolonging the conflict. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement …

The US State Department has reportedly come under a cyber attack with a possible breach of information. The extent of the attack and whether it has affected any operations is not clear in the Fox Business report, citing anonymous sources. According to Press TV, a US State Department spokesman, meanwhile, …

The US city of Portland has been rocked by rival rallies between far-right and left-wing groups, with right-wing Proud Boys and leftist Antifa members clashing in a violent street showdown. The violence erupted after a group of some 300 left-wing protesters swarming an area in central Portland and forcing a …

Twenty US Republican Party-governed states have kicked off a legal challenge to “unconstitutional” federal plans to ban so-called “ghost guns”. Attorneys general of West Virginia and Arizona led the states in issuing an official “comments” document opposing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) proposals to regulate the sale …

On Friday, US President Joe Biden questioned a rationale for staying in Afghanistan amid a barrage of criticism towards the West’s hasty withdrawal from the country that resulted in the Taliban’s takeover. “What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point with al Qaeda gone?” the president said, raising …

Severe flooding in Middle Tennessee on Saturday has killed at least 16 people and left approximately 30 people missing, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said. Between five and seven of the missing are children, Davis said in an interview Sunday. The missing are largely from an area of the county …

Hurricane Henri’s outer bands moved onshore in southern New England and Long Island early on Sunday as the storm threatened the region with high winds, a dangerous storm surge, and drenching rainfall. By 5 a.m. (0900 GMT), Henri was located about 80 miles (125 km) south-southeast of Montauk Point on …