North America

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — More than two dozen men and women say they were physically, sexually and emotionally abused as children at New Hampshire’s state-run youth detention center over the course of three decades, according to attorneys who have filed a class action lawsuit on their behalf.

Montreal, Jan 11 (AFP/PTI) Canada's Department of Justice said a Huawei executive arrested in Vancouver could be extradited to the United States, because her offense is a crime in both countries, according to documents released Friday.

Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who was originally detained on a US warrant in late 2018, faces an extradition hearing in Vancouver that begins on January 20.

The United States accuses Meng of lying to banks about violating Iran sanctions.

Washington, Jan 12 (AFP/PTI) The United States will expel at least a dozen Saudi military students accused of extremist links and child pornography, after an investigation into a shooting rampage by a Saudi officer in Florida, media reported Saturday.

In December, Mohammed Alshamrani, who was in the United States as part of a Saudi military training program, opened fire in a classroom at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, killing three sailors and wounding eight other people before being shot dead by police.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and China have agreed to resume semiannual talks on economic and trade issues, according to a published report. These discussions had been conducted in previous administrations but had been halted by the Trump administration.

The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that the resumption of the talks, which were started in the George W. Bush administration and continued in the Obama administration, was set to be announced on Wednesday when the Trump administration signs a Phase One trade agreement with China in Washington.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates descended on Nevada on Saturday in an attempt to build relationships with Latino voters and win the coveted endorsement of the powerful casino workers’ Culinary Union.

Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, both running as Midwestern moderates who’ve warned against liberal plans to move the U.S. to a government-run health insurance system, pitched themselves Saturday morning to Culinary Union workers, who prize their robust health plans.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The reins of political power in the U.S. for the next decade could be determined in this year’s elections — not necessarily by who wins the presidency, but by thousands of lower-profile contests for state legislative seats across the country.

In many states, the winners of those legislative races will have a role in drawing new districts for Congress or state legislatures based on the 2020 census. If a political party can win control of those state legislative chambers now, it can draw voting districts to boost its chances in future elections.

HOUSTON (AP) — Severe storms sweeping across southern portions of the U.S. and up into the Midwest were blamed Saturday in the deaths of at least 11 people, including two first responders, as high winds, tornadoes and unrelenting rain battered large swaths of the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defining week for President Donald Trump on the world stage, national security adviser Robert O’Brien was a constant presence at the president’s side as the U.S. edged to the brink of war with Iran and back again.

The contrasts with O’Brien’s predecessor along the way — in secret consultations at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, in the Oval Office and in basement deliberations in the White House Situation Room — could not have been more stark.

11 Jan 2019; MEMO: The United States wants a thorough and independent investigation into the crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane in Iran that killed 176 people, the State Department’s top diplomat for the Middle East said on Friday, Reuters reports.

“It is my understanding that we will certainly ask for an independent investigation into this, whether this is through our European partners, the Canadians being on the ground,” David Schenker told a news briefing in the United Arab Emirates.

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Negotiations for the second phase of a pending US-China trade deal will begin promptly but the outcome may wait until after this year’s elections, President Donald Trump said.

Trump’s remarks come days before Beijing’s trade envoy is due in Washington to sign a “phase one” agreement, marking a pause in the two sides’ nearly two-year trade war.

The US leader also openly cast doubt on whether American farmers would be able to supply China with the massive increases in agricultural exports expected to be part of the deal.