North America

USA: DeSantis' biggest donor warns he will cut funding if campaign changes aren't made

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual donor to a group supporting Ron DeSantis' presidential bid, told Reuters on Friday he will not donate more money unless the Florida governor attracts new major donors and adopts a more moderate approach.

The comments by Bigelow, who gave $20 million to the pro-DeSantis "Never Back Down" super PAC in March, underscore donor concerns about the Florida governor's struggling campaign, which has been unable to make a dent in former President Donald Trump's huge lead for the 2024 Republican nomination.

USA: Social media influencer faces multiple charges after giveaway sparks chaos in Manhattan

NEW YORK, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Kai Cenat, a popular livestreamer on the American online streaming platform Twitch, will face multiple charges after a giveaway event he hosted Friday in New York City's Manhattan erupted into chaos, said local police.

Cenat will be charged with multiple counts of inciting a riot, unlawful assembly and possibly other crimes, New York City Police Department chief Jeffrey Maddrey said at a Friday night news conference.

Mexico finds 491 migrants being held at vacant lot, almost all are from Guatemala

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s immigration agency said late Friday it found 491 migrants being held at a compound by the side of a highway east of Mexico City.

All but six of the migrants were from Guatemala; the others are Hondurans.

There were 277 children and adolescents among the migrants, most of whom were traveling with relatives. But there were also 52 unaccompanied minors.

USA: NASA restores contact with Voyager 2 spacecraft after mistake led to weeks of silence

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft was back chatting it up Friday after flight controllers corrected a mistake that had led to weeks of silence.

Hurtling ever deeper into interstellar space billions of miles away, Voyager 2 stopped communicating two weeks ago. Controllers sent the wrong command to the 46-year-old spacecraft and tilted its antenna away from Earth.

Fewer Americans got jobs in July than expected. But a steady market suggests US may avoid recession

WASHINGTON (AP) — The job market has cooled over the summer. But it’s still strong enough to defy predictions that higher interest rates would tip the United States into recession.

U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs last month, fewer than expected. But the unemployment rate dipped to 3.5% in a sign that the job market remains resilient.

Hiring was up from 185,000 in June, a figure that the Labor Department revised down from an originally reported 209,000. Economists had expected to see 200,000 new jobs in July.

USA: Pence seizes on Trump’s latest indictment as he looks to break through in crowded GOP field

NEW YORK (AP) — As Donald Trump was being arraigned in Washington on yet another round of criminal charges, his running mate-turned-rival Mike Pence hurried to capitalize on the news.

Pence’s campaign unveiled new T-shirts and baseball caps for sale featuring the phrase “Too Honest” in big red letters — a reference to an episode in the indictment in which the former president called Pence to berate him over his refusal to go along with Trump’s scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

USA: Pentagon warns of disruptions as Army, Marines both lack confirmed leaders for first time

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that troop readiness and retention is at risk as the Army’s chief stepped down Friday, leaving the military’s two ground combat forces without Senate-confirmed leaders for the first time in history.

Speaking during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Austin said the Senate’s failure to confirm the services’ new leaders is disruptive to the force and could impact relationships with allies and partners around the globe.

USA: Person in connection with dancer’s stabbing death at Brooklyn gas station is in custody, police say

NEW YORK (AP) — Police have a person in custody in connection with the death of O’Shae Sibley, a gay man who was fatally stabbed after a confrontation between a group of friends dancing to a Beyoncé song and several young men who taunted them, authorities said Friday.

The New York City Police Department declined to immediately identify the person or say what criminal charges they would face, if any, describing them only as a “person of interest.”

USA: Prosecutors ask judge to issue protective order after Trump post appearing to promise revenge

(AP) --- The Justice Department has asked a federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after he released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him.

USA: Trump boasts at Alabama fundraiser that he needs ‘one more indictment to close out this election’

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump, fresh off his third appearance in court as a criminal defendant, delivered a speech full of defiance and bluster on Friday night, insulting prosecutors and declaring that the charges he faces only help his 2024 presidential campaign.

“Any time they file an indictment, we go way up in the polls,” Trump said at a Republican Party dinner in Alabama. “We need one more indictment to close out this election. One more indictment, and this election is closed out. Nobody has even a chance.”

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