North America

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- "I was the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) director. We lied, we cheated, we stole," then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said when addressing Texas A&M University in April 2019. "We had entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment."

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Nine activists from Bahrain had their iPhones hacked by advanced spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire firm, a cybersecurity watchdog reported on Tuesday.

Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said NSO Group’s Pegasus malware successfully hacked the phones between June 2020 and February 2021. Those reportedly hacked included members of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and two political dissidents living in exile. At least one of the activists lived in London when the hacking occurred, Citizen Lab said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military pulled off its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan by far on Monday, but deadly violence that has blocked many desperate evacuees from entering Kabul’s airport persisted, and the Taliban signaled they might soon seek to shut down the airlifts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The lightning-fast changes in Afghanistan are forcing the Biden administration to confront the prospect of a resurgent al-Qaida, the group that attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001, at the same time the U.S. is trying to stanch violent extremism at home and cyberattacks from Russia and China.

With the rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces and rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, “I think al-Qaida has an opportunity, and they’re going to take advantage of that opportunity,” says Chris Costa, who was senior director for counterterrorism in the Trump administration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Confronting moderates, House Democratic leaders tried to muscle President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar budget blueprint over a key hurdle, working overnight to ease an intraparty showdown that risks upending their domestic infrastructure agenda.

Tensions flared and spilled into early Tuesday as a band of moderate lawmakers threatened to withhold their votes for the $3.5 trillion plan. They were demanding the House first approve a $1 trillion package of road, power grid, broadband and other infrastructure projects that’s already passed the Senate.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Kathy Hochul became the first female governor of New York on Tuesday, inheriting immense challenges as she takes over an administration facing criticism for inaction during Andrew Cuomo’s distracted final months in office.

Hochul, a Democrat and former member of Congress from Western New York, took the oath of office just after midnight in a brief, private event overseen by the state’s chief judge, Janet DiFiore.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two months ago, the leaders of the world’s seven major industrialized democracies met in summer sunshine on England’s southwest coast. It was a happy occasion: the first in-person summit of the Group of Seven nations in two years due to the coronavirus pandemic and the welcomed appearance of President Joe Biden and his “America is back” message on matters ranging from comity to COVID-19 to climate change.

WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (APP): Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Asad Majeed Khan, has disputed a claim by a US lawmaker that Pakistani military strategy led to the defeat of the Afghan Army at the hands of the Taliban, telling him that Islamabad and Washington have in fact been working together towards an inclusive political settlement in the war-torn country.

MIRAMICHI, New Brunswick, Aug 23 (Reuters) - In Canadian federal elections, it is a tradition for candidates to knock on people's doors to ask for their support. Ahead of next month's vote, most of the contenders doing the rounds will be vaccinated against COVID-19 - but not all of them.

The Conservatives, led by the still little-known Erin O'Toole, and the small right-wing People's Party of Canada (PPC) are not requiring inoculations for their candidates as a fourth wave builds mainly among the unvaccinated.

WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on an Eritrean official it accused of being engaged in serious human rights abuse in the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, where thousands have been killed and over 2 million displaced.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it had blacklisted Filipos Woldeyohannes, the chief of staff of the Eritrean Defense Forces, accusing the forces of being responsible for massacres, sexual assaults and purposely shooting civilians in the streets, among other human rights abuses.