North America

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of 25,419 federal employees filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending Jan. 12, up from 10,454 in the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

During the same period last year, only 1,658 claims were filed. Federal employees file jobless claims under a separate program than regular state programs, and the figure is reported with a one-week lag.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that the United States had imposed sanctions against two Syria-based, Iran-backed militias and two aviation entities linked to Iranian airline Mahan Air.

The Treasury accused that the fighters of the two Syria-based militias, mostly Afghan and Pakistani refugees and migrants residing in Iran, are recruited by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Democrat-backed bill to temporarily open the U.S. government without funding a border wall requested by the White House failed to pass the U.S. Senate on Thursday.

The bill, which would fund government agencies until Feb. 8 and needs 60 yes-votes to process, was supported by 52 and opposed by 44.

Toronto, Jan 24 (AP) Canada's ambassador to China said he thinks a top Chinese executive has a strong case to avoid extradition to the United States and said he hopes she will be released soon in remarks one of his predecessors called "mind-boggling."

Ambassador John McCallum told Chinese language media in Markham, Ontario, on Tuesday that Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has "quite good arguments," including "political involvement by comments from Donald Trump on her case."

NEW YORK (AP) — Bryan Singer, the director of the Oscar-nominated “Bohemian Rhapsody,” has been accused of sexually assaulting minors in an expose published by the Atlantic.

The Atlantic on Wednesday published a lengthy article based on a 12-month investigation. It details the stories of four alleged victims who said they were seduced and molested by the “Bohemian Rhapsody” director while underage. Three of the men spoke on the condition of anonymity. Victor Valdovinos said he was molested by Singer on the set of 1998′s “Apt Pupil” when he was in the seventh grade.

NEW YORK (AP) — A white supremacist pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing a black man with a sword as part of an attack that authorities said was intended to incite a race war in the United States.

James Jackson admitted to fatally stabbing 66-year-old Timothy Caughman in March 2017 after stalking a number of black men in New York City.

Jackson, who is white, told police he traveled from Baltimore to carry out the attack because New York is the media capital of the world. He said the slaying was intended to be practice for further assaults on black people.

WASHINGTON (AP) — At this time of year, John Sprinkle and his wife would normally be planning their summer vacation. Not now. Sprinkle, a furloughed federal employee, is about to miss his second paycheck since the partial government shutdown began just before Christmas.

With no end in sight to the longest shutdown in American history, Sprinkle and his family are postponing all manner of spending.

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nervous neighbors were burning lights at night in a northern Nevada community where Connie Koontz and Sophia Renken were killed this month in slayings that authorities blame on a 19-year-old from El Salvador said to be in the U.S. illegally.

Residents also were on edge about an hour’s drive north, where Gerald David, 81, and his 80-year-old wife, Sharon, were found shot dead Jan. 16 in their south Reno home. The Davids were prominent members and officers of the Reno Rodeo Association.

SEBRING, Fla. (AP) — A former prison guard trainee who recently moved to Florida from Indiana killed five people during a standoff at a small town bank before surrendering to a SWAT team that stormed the building, police said.

Investigators said Zephen Xaver, 21, called police from inside the SunTrust Bank branch Wednesday to report that he had opened fire. He barricaded himself inside and when negotiations failed, the SWAT team burst in, capturing Xaver and discovering the bodies, police said.

24 Jan 2019; DW: Donald Trump says he won't deliver the State of the Union address until the government shutdown is over after all. He made the announcement after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked him from making the speech in Congress.

US President Donald Trump said late Wednesday he would wait until the partial government shutdown has ended before delivering his State of the Union address following a standoff with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.