North America

HOUSTON, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- An investigation is underway after six people were killed and five others injured in a road crash involving three vehicles in the south-central U.S. state of Texas, local authorities said on Monday.

The accident occurred on Friday evening near George West in eastern Texas, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a press release.

Local media reported that a minivan traveling south on Highway 59 tried to overtake a vehicle in a no-passing zone and crashed head-on into a northbound SUV, which was then rear-ended by a sedan.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A scandal over U.S. Congressman-elect George Santos lying about his resume has been snowballing, casting a bleak shadow over Washington ahead of the sworn-in of a new and divided Congress.

Santos, elected in the 2022 midterm elections to represent New York's 3rd congressional district, admitted to The New York Post last week that he had lied about his work experience and education on the campaign trail.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The new Congress opens with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy grasping for his political survival, with the potential to become the first nominee for speaker in 100 years to fail to win initial support from his own colleagues in a high-stakes vote for the gavel.

New York, Jan 2 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that Europe has imported six times the fossil fuel energy from Russia than India has done since February 2022 and if a USD 60,000-per-capita society feels it needs to look after itself, “they should not expect a USD 2,000-per-capita society to take a hit.”

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 02 (APP):India’s abstention on a UN General Assembly’s landmark resolution calling on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to give an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, reflected New Delhi’s drive to pursue Israeli model of demographic engineering in Indian Illegal Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) to turn Muslim majority into a minority, diplomats said.

OTTAWA, Jan 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A ban on foreigners buying residential property in Canada took effect on Sunday, aiming to make more homes available to locals facing a housing crunch.

Several exceptions in the act allow individuals such as refugees and permanent residents who are not citizens to buy homes.

In late December, Ottawa also clarified that the ban would apply only to city dwellings and not to recreational properties such as summer cottages.

WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A third of the global economy will be in recession this year, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

Kristalina Georgieva said 2023 will be “tougher” than last year as the US, EU and China see their economies slow.

It comes as the war in Ukraine, rising prices, higher interest rates and the spread of Covid in China weigh on the global economy.

“We expect one third of the world economy to be in recession,” Georgieva said on the CBS news programme Face the Nation.

MEXICO CITY, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Ten guards and four inmates died after an attack on a prison Sunday in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office reported.

On Sunday morning, gunmen in armored vehicles opened fire against the security personnel of the prison, the office said in a statement.

Mexican soldiers and state police regained control of the prison later Sunday, it said, adding 13 people were injured and 24 inmates fled during the incident.

Local police killed two gunmen in a vehicle, according to the statement.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Residents of a Northern California community were ordered to evacuate ahead of imminent flooding, and evacuation warnings were in place elsewhere in rural parts of the region on New Year’s Day after a powerful storm brought drenching rain or heavy snowfall to much of the state, breaching levees, snarling traffic and closing major highways.

NEW YORK (AP) — Both political parties are opening the new year confronting critical questions about the people and policies they want to embrace as the next election speeds into view.