North America

08 Sep 2022; MEMO: Canada will accept some 1,000 Afghans who fled the Taliban takeover of their homeland and have been held for months in a makeshift refugee centre in the United Arab Emirates awaiting resettlement to the United States and elsewhere, seven sources said, Reuters reports.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 08 (APP): The UN flash appeal for $160 million to help millions of people affected by record-breaking floods in Pakistan is so far 21 percent funded, having received $34 million, a UN spokesman said Thursday, as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres headed to Islamabad for a solidarity visit.

The UN chief launched the appeal on Aug 30, and Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said more contributions were expected in the coming days.

WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - A number of oil-importing countries are considering joining the G7's plan to cap the price of Russian oil, Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Thursday, adding that the group would issue related rules in the next few days.

Adeyemo, in an interview with Yahoo! News, said that India, a major importer of Russian oil, had agreed to continue talks about whether to join the Group of Seven's price cap initiative and that Washington hoped China would also consider it.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- A wildfire sparked Tuesday displayed "extreme" fire behavior Wednesday, prompting mandatory evacuations including in Foresthill, a town of about 1,500 people, and sending up a large smoke plume visible from many counties in Northern California.

As of Wednesday at local time 4:03 p.m. (0003 GMT Thursday), the Mosquito Fire had charred 4,223 acres (17.1 square km) and is zero percent contained, according to the Fire Integrated Real-time Intelligence System, or FIRIS, which is a state program that gathers aerial data of wildfires.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for collective action to reduce air pollution and maintain a healthy planet.

"Together, we can reduce air pollution and keep people and the planet healthy and safe," the UN chief said Wednesday in a video message on the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.

The secretary-general warned that air pollution denies billions of people their human rights. Dirty air affects 99 percent of people on the planet, and the poor suffer the worst.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Price levels remained "highly elevated," with some districts reporting "some degree of moderation" in the rate of increase, the U.S. Federal Reserve said in a survey released on Wednesday.

Economic activity was unchanged, on balance, since early July, with five districts reporting "slight to modest growth in activity" and five others reporting "slight to modest softening," the Fed said in its latest Beige Book, a survey on economic conditions based on information collected from its 12 regional reserve banks.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas-area elected public official was arrested Wednesday as the suspect in the fatal stabbing of a veteran newspaper reporter whose investigations of the official’s work preceded his primary loss in June.

Clark County Public Administrator Robert “Rob” Telles, a Democrat, was taken into custody at his home by police SWAT officers hours after investigators served a search warrant and confiscated vehicles in the criminal probe of the killing of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the newspaper.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon surrendered Thursday to face state money laundering and conspiracy charges in New York alleging he duped donors who gave money to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In recent days, President Joe Biden has sharpened his attacks against Donald Trump and the so-called MAGA Republicans for posing a threat to democracy. He’s likened the philosophy undergirding the dominant strain of the modern-day GOP to “semi-fascism.”

And Democrats are taking notice.

The gloves-off, no-holds-barred approach from Biden as of late has emboldened Democrats across the country, rallying the party faithful ahead of the November elections even as his harshest rhetoric makes some vulnerable incumbents visibly uncomfortable.

ROSTHERN, Saskatchewan (AP) — The last suspect in a horrific stabbing rampage that killed 10 and wounded 18 in western Canada is dead following his capture, but how he died after being taken into custody has prompted fresh investigations.

One official said Myles Sanderson, 32, died from self-inflicted injuries Wednesday after police forced the stolen car he was driving off a highway in Saskatchewan. Other officials declined to discuss how he died .