North America

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — When Irwing López made it to Ciudad Juarez on the U.S.-Mexico border in January, the 35-year-old construction worker thought he had survived the worst and was steps away from his goal.

He’d traversed jungle and raging rivers, and evaded Mexico’s notorious cartels, traveling thousands of miles from his native Venezuela. But then he found himself in a purgatory between U.S. immigration policies that pushed him back to Mexico and the unrelenting pursuit of Mexican immigration agents.

SAULSALITO, Calif. (AP) — Under intense scrutiny from Washington that could lead to a potential ban, the top attorney for TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance defended the social media platform’s plan to safeguard U.S. user data from China.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fights over increasing the nation’s borrowing authority have been contentious in Congress, yet follow a familiar pattern: Time and again, lawmakers found a way to step back from the brink before markets began to panic and the nation risked a dangerous default on its debt.

But this year’s fight has a different feel, some lawmakers say.

NEW YORK (AP) — When Donald Trump steps before a judge next week to be arraigned in a New York courtroom, it will not only mark the first time a former U.S. president has faced criminal charges. It will also represent a reckoning for a man long nicknamed “Teflon Don,” who until now has managed to skirt serious legal jeopardy despite 40 years of legal scrutiny.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A monster storm system tore through the South and Midwest on Friday, spawning deadly tornadoes that shredded homes and shopping centers in Arkansas and collapsed a theater roof during a heavy metal concert in Illinois.

At least one person was killed and more than two dozen were hurt, some critically, in the Little Rock area, authorities said. The town of Wynne in northeastern Arkansas was also devastated, and officials reported two dead there, along with destroyed homes and people trapped in the debris.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Without billions of dollars more to feed millions of hungry people, the world will see mass migration, destabilized countries, and starving children and adults in the next 12 to 18 months, the head of the Nobel prize-winning U.N. World Food Program warned Friday.

David Beasley praised increased funding from the United States and Germany last year, and urged China, Gulf nations, billionaires and other countries “to step up big time.”

MEXICO CITY (AP) — As Taiwan’s diplomatic partners dwindle and turn instead to rival China, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is aiming to shore up ties with the self-governing island’s remaining allies during a trip this week to Central America.

Tsai touched down in Guatemala on Friday afternoon, walking from the plane along a red carpet alongside Guatemala’s foreign minister.

In a speech addressed to leaders of Guatemala and Belize shortly before departing on her visit, Tsai framed the trip as a chance to show Taiwan’s commitment to democratic values globally.

Toronto, Mar 31 (PTI) Members of an Indian family were among six people who drowned in the St Lawrence River while attempting to cross into the US from Canada illegally, authorities said on Friday, in the latest tragedy involving Indians seeking greener pastures abroad.

Six bodies were recovered by police Thursday afternoon in a marshy area of Quebec near an overturned boat during an aerial search with the Canadian Coast Guard., according to Canadian news outlets CBC and CTV.

UNITED NATIONS, March 31. /TASS/: The West will not be able to "sweep under the carpet" the topic of sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said in an exclusive interview with TASS. Russia will take the chair of the UN Security Council in April.

WASHINGTON, March 31. /TASS/: The US Administration is not planning right now to expel any of the Russian diplomats accredited in the United States in response to the arrest of Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal correspondent, US President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House on Friday before traveling to Mississippi.

"That’s not the plan right now," Biden said when asked by a reporter if Washington would expel Russian diplomats over the detention of US citizen Gershkovich.