North America

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for the U.S. government to forbid Central American immigrants from seeking asylum at the two busiest stretches of the southern border in a partial legal victory for the Trump administration.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — More than two dozen local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Federal Protective Service, were in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday to help police there monitor a right-wing rally that’s expected to draw demonstrators from around the U.S.

Self-described anti-fascists have vowed to confront the rally while leaders from the far right urged their followers to turn out in large numbers to protest the arrests of six members of right-wing groups in the run-up to the event.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday the U.S.-Israel relationship can withstand the “weakness” of President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who shook diplomatic norms this week in barring two members of Congress from visiting the country.

Pelosi told The Associated Press that the “weakness of Netanyahu and the weakness of Donald Trump combined” into a policy that’s “a no.”

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s medical examiner ruled Jeffrey Epstein’s death a suicide Friday, confirming after nearly a week of speculation that the financier faced with sex trafficking charges hanged himself in his jail cell.

Epstein, 66, was found dead at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Aug. 10, touching off outrage that such a high-profile prisoner could have gone unwatched at the Manhattan federal lockup where infamous inmates Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff came and went without incident.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is warning of an economic crash if he loses reelection, arguing that even voters who personally dislike him should base their ballots on the nation’s strong growth and low unemployment rate.

But privately, Trump is growing increasingly worried the economy won’t look so good come Election Day.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — When Jordan Ballard read that one of the victims of the El Paso massacre had few relatives and the public was invited to her funeral, the Los Angeles resident bought a plane ticket and flew to Texas to honor a woman she had never met.

She was one of hundreds of strangers who braved 100-degree (38 Celsius) heat to pay their respects to 63-year-old Margie Reckard. Feeling heartbroken and alone after her death, Reckard’s companion of 22 years, Antonio Basco, had welcomed anyone to attend.

16 August 2019; AFP: July 2019 temperatures were the hottest ever recorded globally, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday, while satellite data showed polar ice shrank to its lowest levels.

According to the NOAA, the average global temperature for the month was 0.95 degrees Celsius (1.71 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th century average of 15.8 degrees Celsius (60.4 Fahrenheit), making it the hottest July in its records, which go back to 1880.

16 August 2019; DW: Mexican authorities have rescued 65 migrants from South Asia who were found starving and severely dehydrated. Once their nationalities are identified and confirmed they will be sent back to their countries.

Federal police have found 65 severely dehydrated and starving migrants from Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka on a highway in the coastal state of Veracruz.

United Nations, Aug 16 (PTI) The UN Security Council will meet here on Friday to discuss India revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistan wrote a letter on the issue to the world body.

China, the closest ally of Pakistan, asked for "closed consultations" in the Council, which will meet at 10 am (7:30pm IST) to discuss the matter.

A UN diplomat had told PTI that China had asked for closed consultations on the Security Council agenda item 'India Pakistan Question'.

OTTAWA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Canadian opposition Conservative Party called for an emergency meeting of the Canadian House of Commons Ethics Committee on Thursday to introduce a motion to get Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion to appear for his report on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's violation of the Conflict of Interest Act in SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal.

Dion's report, released Wednesday, found that Trudeau violated the act by attempting to interfere in the corruption case against the Quebec engineering giant.