Browsing: US News

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday removed the overall limit on contributions a donor can make to political candidates, a move that could open the floodgates to campaign funding by rich individuals. The move was immediately hailed by Republicans, who…

More than 40 activist organizations and companies called Tuesday for an overhaul of US government surveillance authority that goes beyond President Barack Obama’s proposal. The coalition said Obama’s proposal to end bulk collection of telephone data…

US Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled plans to travel Wednesday to Ramallah after both the Israelis and the Palestinians announced moves likely to scuttle the peace talks. “We are no longer travelling tomorrow,” a senior State Department official…

A man who opened fire on the White House with an assault rifle after telling friends he was on a mission from God to kill President Barack Obama was jailed for 25 years on Monday. Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez drove more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers…

“Noah,” the big screen adaptation of the biblical tale starring Russell Crowe in the lead role, topped the North American Box Office at the weekend, estimates showed Sunday. The action drama, which reunites Crow with Jennifer Connelly whom he starred…

The United States is giving ex-Soviet Moldova $10 million to strengthen security on its border with Ukraine, Washington’s top diplomat in Europe Victoria Nuland said Sunday. Part of Moldova’s eastern border with Ukraine is occupied by the breakaway…

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake rattled Los Angeles on Saturday, a day after a similar seismic shock spooked the sprawling Californian metropolis. The building housing AFP’s office on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood swayed gently after the latest temblor,…

US President Barack Obama met a Saudi women’s rights activist on Saturday, the same day women have pledged to defy a driving ban, as he wrapped up a reassurance visit to the longtime ally. In talks with King Abdullah late on Friday, Obama told his host…

Barack Obama will meet Pope Francis for the first time Thursday for talks on a shared agenda to fight inequality which the US President hopes will help boost support at home. The talks between the first Latin-American pope and first African-American…

A New York jury on Wednesday found Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law guilty of conspiracy to kill Americans and supporting terrorists as an impassioned Al-Qaeda spokesman in 2001-2002. Suleiman Abu Ghaith, 48, now faces life in a maximum security American…

A US jury will deliberate Wednesday for a second day on whether Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law conspired to kill Americans and provided support to terrorists. The 12-person New York jury, which received the case Tuesday at the end of a three-week trial…

A crew of two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut blasted off Tuesday from Kazakhstan on a Russian Soyuz rocket for the International Space Station, with US-Russia space cooperation pressing on despite the diplomatic standoff over Ukraine.…

US stocks Tuesday finished higher as biotechnology companies and other high-tech equities steadied following a two-day skid. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 91.19 (0.56 percent) to 16,367.88. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 8.18 (0.44 percent)…

The United States on Tuesday urged Egypt not to execute 529 supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who were given the death penalty in a mass sentencing which has triggered an international outcry. Deputy State Department spokeswoman…

Fugitive former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden said Tuesday he sees a “turning point” in the surveillance reform plans unveiled by the White House and Congress. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked documents which…

The United States will send 1,150 Marines to Australia in April, bolstering the roughly 200-member force already in Darwin, officers said Monday. The reinforcements are part of a planned deployment of up to 2,500 US Marines in Australia by 2016-2017…

A second straight sell-off of popular technology shares dragged US stocks lower Monday, as tensions with Russia over Ukraine kept investors on edge. At the closing bell the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25.88 points (0.16 percent) at 16,276.…

Back in December, news got out about Google’s big push to enter the field of robotics: former Android boss Andy Rubin was promoted to head the robotics division, while the company scooped up bunches of robotics companies in the United States and Asia…

At least eight people were killed and 18 were missing when a massive landslide slammed “like a freight train” into a mountainside community in the northwestern United States, rescue officials said late Sunday. The wall of mud, rocks and trees smashed…

Visiting US first lady Michelle Obama toured China’s Great Wall on Sunday, after her arrival at the US embassy in Beijing earlier in the day sparked a minor security alert. She and her daughters strolled along a popular section of the wall and rode…