North America

HOUSTON (AP) — Kenneth Roberson’s lyrics chronicled the gang violence he saw in his hometown of Houston.

“Momma’s crying, son is dying on this crime scene,” he rapped. Those words became prophetic as the aspiring artist was killed during a September 2018 drive-by shooting that left his mother, Yvonne Ferguson-Smith, heartbroken.

“I don’t know how to move on,” said Ferguson-Smith, who has started a nonprofit group called TEARS to help grieving mothers. “It’s like he was speaking (in his songs) on his own death.”

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of California residents braced for another possible power outage as the state’s two largest utilities warned that a return of dangerous fire weather could prompt shut-offs across the state.

The warning from Pacific Gas & Electric about a possible blackout Wednesday in Northern California prompted a feeling of resignation among residents and business owners and renewed rushes to stock up on emergency supplies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stirring up painful memories of America’s racist past, President Donald Trump on Tuesday compared the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry to a lynching, a practice once widespread across the South in which angry mobs killed thousands of black people.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s plan to reverse America’s involvement in “endless wars” has run up against a difficult truth: When it comes to national security, rarely can a simple solution solve a complex problem.

After abruptly announcing last week that he would “bring our soldiers home” from Syria, Trump recalibrated, and his administration said it would instead redeploy more than 700 to western Iraq to help counter the Islamic State group.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top U.S. diplomat testified Tuesday that President Donald Trump was holding back military aid for Ukraine unless the country agreed to investigate Democrats and a company linked to Joe Biden’s family, providing lawmakers with a detailed new account of the quid pro quo central to the impeachment probe.

22 October 2019; AFP: US President Donald Trump on Monday said progress in developing the text of a partial trade pact with China means he will likely be able to sign it next month.

Trump remains upbeat on the chances Beijing and Washington will seal the mini-deal he announced earlier this month -- marking a cooling-off period in the two nations' damaging trade war.

"We'll be able to, we think, sign a completed document with China on phase one," Trump said at the White House.

22 Oct 2019; MEMO: Facebook said it had removed four networks from its social networking platforms that were run by Iranian and Russian groups seeking to influence elections in the run-up to the US 2020 presidential vote, as reported by Anadolu Agency. 

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), a five-day conference devoted to discussing innovation and advances in the space industry, began in Washington D.C. on Monday.

The congress, which runs until Friday, has drawn more than 6,000 industry delegates from around the world to discuss the space industry growth, solar and deep space exploration, liquid water search on Mars, defense against asteroids and space transportation management.

USA (AP) -- Some Democrats are putting up caution signs for Hillary Clinton as she wades back into presidential politics by casting 2020 candidate Tulsi Gabbard as a “Russian asset,” mocking President Donald Trump’s dealings with a foreign leader and drawing counterattacks from both.

Bernie Sanders, who lost the 2016 nomination to Clinton and is running again in 2020, took to Twitter with implicit criticisms of his erstwhile rival. “People can disagree on issues,” Sanders wrote Monday, “but it is outrageous for anyone to suggest that Tulsi is a foreign asset.”

TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won a second term in Canada’s national elections Monday, losing the majority but delivering unexpectedly strong results despite having been weakened by a series of scandals that tarnished his image as a liberal icon.

Trudeau’s Liberal party took the most seats in Parliament, giving it the best chance to form a government. However, falling short of a majority meant the Liberals would have to rely on an opposition party to pass legislation.