US & Canada

The US Forest Service has announced it is closing several sites at California’s scenic South Lake Tahoe after discovering bubonic plague in the chipmunk population. The agency announced this week that “based on positive plague tests” in the rodent population around hiking areas, it would close popular hiking spots including …

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo should resign in light of a report by the state attorney general that found the Democratic governor had sexually harassed 11 women. “I think he should resign,” Biden told reporters at the White House. New York’s attorney …

The Pentagon went into lockdown on Tuesday after multiple injuries in a shooting at its nearby Metro, bus, and rail transit center. A police officer is said to be among the wounded, and the suspect reportedly fled on a Metro train. The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia – the headquarters …

A five-month investigation has found that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women in violation of federal and state law, creating a “climate of fear” within his office, state Attorney General Letitia James, said on Tuesday. The independent inquiry showed that Cuomo engaged in unwanted groping, kissing and …

At least 5 Americans have been killed and 50 others injured in a spate of shootings across Chicago in the US State of Illinois. A man was killed and another was wounded after being shot multiple times in the city’s Near West Side on Sunday. The 30-year-old was pronounced dead …

The United States has surpassed 35 million recorded COVID-19 cases as experts warn that the worst is yet to come with the Delta variant driving a new surge in infections. The country is now averaging a daily caseload of about 70,000 and recorded more than 100,000 on Friday, according to …

Even though Barack Obama plans to celebrate his 60th birthday adhering to all the current health guidelines, the former president has come under fire – mainly from the Republican camp – for throwing a large party amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases due to the Delta variant. The celebration is …

A DC police officer who responded to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building has died by suicide, according to the Metropolitan Police Department, the third officer to do so. MPD spokesperson Kristen Metzger said Monday that Officer Gunther Hashida, an 18-year veteran on the force, was found …

Donald Trump now has a $100 million weapon to wield against US democracy. The defeated and disgraced ex-President’s huge war chest, nearly all amassed within six months of leaving office, was built on his ravenous calls for cash from supporters bought into his delusional lie that the 2020 election was …

Russia’s ambassador to the United States said Washington had asked 24 Russian diplomats to leave the country by Sept. 3 after their visas expired. Anatoly Antonov did not say whether the U.S. request was prompted by any particular dispute, and there was no immediate comment from Washington. “Almost all of …

The Biden administration has taken heavy flak for its response to the surge in illegal immigration to the US via a porous southern border with Mexico. Authorities in Guatemala and Mexico have accused the White House of sparking the crisis by its ‘confusing’ messaging to potential immigrants and people smugglers. …

US Ambassador Matthew Tueller announced the closure of the US Consulate in Basra Governorate for security reasons. Tueller told a number of media outlets that “Washington and Baghdad agreed on partnership between the two countries and strengthening relations between them,” stressing that “Iraq is a great country and has strategic …

A pandemic-related US government ban on residential evictions expired at midnight on Saturday, putting millions of American renters at risk of being forced from their homes. The expiration was a blow to President Joe Biden, who on Thursday made a last-ditch request to Congress to extend the moratorium, citing the …

Firefighters in Oregon reported good progress in the battle against the nation’s largest wildfire, while authorities canceled evacuation orders near a major blaze in Northern California and another in Hawaii Firefighters in Oregon reported good progress in the battle against the nation’s largest wildfire, while authorities canceled evacuation orders near …

A day after it recorded the newest daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke a previous record for current hospitalizations set more than a year ago before vaccines were available. The Sunshine State had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported …

A preponderance of evidence proves the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic leaked from a Chinese research facility, said a report by U.S. Republicans released on Monday, a conclusion that U.S. intelligence agencies have not reached. The report also cited “ample evidence” that Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) scientists – …

US President Joe Biden’s administration will launch a new program to resettle certain Afghans as refugees in the US, an administration official and two knowledgeable sources said on Sunday. The US State Department was expected to announce the setting-up of the so-called Priority Two refugee program on Monday, the three …

A pandemic-related U.S. government ban on residential evictions expired at midnight on Saturday, putting millions of American renters at risk of being forced from their homes. The expiration was a blow to President Joe Biden, who on Thursday made a last-ditch request to Congress to extend the moratorium, citing the …

Two men strode up to a crowd outside a barbershop in the New York City borough of Queens and opened fire, wounding 10 people before fleeing on mopeds, police said Sunday morning. The shooting in the borough’s Corona neighborhood took place just before 11 p.m. Saturday. The eight men and …

The top Republican in the US House of Representatives faced calls to apologize or resign Sunday after joking about hitting Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the head with a gavel. It was the latest round in a nasty spat between the Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy and Pelosi, the chamber’s top …