North America

2 Aug 2018; AFP; Kurdish refugee turned Cambridge University math professor Caucher Birkar was among four winners Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro of the prestigious Fields prize, dubbed the Nobel for mathematics, but had his gold medal stolen minutes later.

It was an embarrassing debut for crime-ridden Rio, the first Latin American city ever to host the Fields ceremony, which takes place every four years.

2 Aug 2018; AFP; The United States on Wednesday hit two top Turkish officials with sanctions over the ongoing detention of an American pastor facing terror charges, heaping pressure on Ankara to release the prisoner fueling a bitter diplomatic feud.

2 Aug 2018; AFP; Sixty-five years after the Korean War ended, the remains of dozens of American soldiers killed during the brutal conflict are finally coming home.

Wednesday's repatriation marks an important step after US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a summit, during which Kim agreed to send home the war dead.

2 Aug 2018; AFP; Donald Trump on Wednesday told his attorney general to end the high-profile investigation into Russian election meddling that has ensnared key members of his presidential campaign and cast a long shadow over his White House.

In a series of tweets that quickly sparked accusations that Trump was publicly trying to pervert justice, the president decried the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller as "a disgrace."

Jarrod Ramos 38, accused of killing four Capital Gazette journalists and a sales assistant in Annapolis, Maryland, has entered a plea of not guilty to all 23 charges against him.

Ramos’ lawyers entered the plea with the Anne Arundel county circuit court. Ramos did not appear in court. He remains jailed without bond.

A Wisconsin man has had four limbs amputated after contracting a blood infection caused by his dog’s saliva.

Greg Manteufel, 48 from West Bend, Wisconsin, had flue like symptom, including fever, vomiting and diarrhea, when he went to hospital on June 27 but went into septic shock within hours of being admitted.

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada

1 Auig 2018; AA; Canada on Tuesday put a positive spin at being left out of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks, saying it is a good sign that the U.S. and Mexico are trying to work out differences between themselves.

The U.S. excluded Canada at NAFTA renegotiation meetings later this week with Mexico in Washington.

1 Aug 2018; AFP; A US judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the online publication of blueprints for 3D-printed firearms, in a last-ditch effort to stop a settlement President Donald Trump's administration had reached with the company releasing the digital documents.

Eight states and the District of Columbia, that houses the capital Washington, had filed a lawsuit against the federal government, calling its settlement with Texas-based Defense Distributed "arbitrary and capricious."

SAN FRANCISCO, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Facebook announced Tuesday that its security unit has found a coordinated campaign on its platform aiming to exerting political influence ahead of the upcoming U.S. mid-term elections in the next few months.

The world's largest social media network said it has removed 32 Pages and accounts from Facebook and Instagram for being "involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior."

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- American scientists identified a substance in blood as a biomarker for depression and pointed to a new class of antidepressants that could be freer of side effects and faster-acting than those in current use.

People with depression have low blood levels of acetyl-L-carnitine (LAC), a nutritional supplement that is being sold in drugstores, according to a study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.