North America

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors are seeking at least 25 years in prison for a U.S. Army sergeant who fatally shot an armed man during a Black Lives Matter protest in Texas, saying his history of racist and provocative texts and social media posts expose a threat of violence likely to resurface.

Daniel Perry, 36, is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday. He was convicted of murder in April for killing Garrett Foster during the downtown Austin protest in July 2020.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Rep. George Santos, who faced outrage and mockery over a litany of fabrications about his heritage, education and professional pedigree, has been charged with federal criminal offenses, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The charges against Santos, filed in the Eastern District of New York, remain under seal.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and congressional leaders confronted each other on the debt limit impasse Tuesday, ending their meeting with no breakthrough but agreeing to meet again this week to try to avert the looming risk of an unprecedented government default.

Speaking at the White House, Biden described the talks as “productive” even though House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said after the high-stakes Oval Office meeting that he “didn’t see any new movement” toward resolving the stalemate.

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment that could haunt the former president as he campaigns to regain the White House.

The verdict was split: Jurors rejected Carroll’s claim that she was raped, finding Trump responsible for a lesser degree of sexual abuse. The judgment adds to Trump’s legal woes and offers vindication to Carroll, whose allegations had been mocked and dismissed by Trump for years.

WASHINGTON, May 09 (APP): The visiting Minister of State for Petroleum, Musadik Masood Malik, Monday discussed with senior U.S. officials ways and means to enhance productivity in the energy sector and plug Pakistan into Global Value Chains, the cross-border networks that bring a product or service from conception to market.

May 9 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's onetime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen asked a court to throw out the former U.S. president's $500 million lawsuit against him, calling it an "abusive act of pure retaliation and witness intimidation."

Cohen's lawyers in a filing late Monday in Miami federal court said the lawsuit combined the "worst of Mr. Trump's vindictive impulses," and that its timing was no coincidence.

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - The Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Texas billionaire Harlan Crow to detail gifts he or his companies have made to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the panel said on Tuesday.

"Recent investigative reporting has identified multiple instances in which you or entities you own or control have made payments, purchased real estate, or provided gifts, travel, or other items of value to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and members of his family," read the letter from committee Democrats including its chairman, Senator Dick Durbin.

May 8 (Reuters) - A Texas man accused of crashing his car into a group of pedestrians near a Brownsville homeless shelter housing migrants, killing eight people, has been charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault, police said on Monday.

The driver, identified as 34-year-old George Alvarez, ran a red light, lost control of his sports utility vehicle, and struck 18 people as the car flipped on its side, Brownsville Police Chief Felix Sauceda said.

OTTAWA, May 9 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday Canada will not be intimidated by retaliation from China after Beijing expelled a Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat response to Ottawa's decision to eject a Chinese diplomat on Monday.

Canada expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei over allegations related to foreign interference, and hours later, China asked a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai to leave by May 13 in response to what it called Ottawa's "unreasonable actions".

TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian government is expelling a Chinese diplomat whom Canada’s spy agency alleged was involved in a plot to intimidate an opposition lawmaker and his relatives in Hong Kong.

A senior government official said Toronto-based diplomat Zhao Wei has five days to leave the country. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. It’s wasn’t immediately clear if he’s left yet.