U.S./World category, Page 1133
New Florida law authorizes statewide needle exchanges
MIAMI — Jose Garcia carried a drawstring backpack full of used syringes as he walked into the converted shipping container that serves as the base for Florida’s only hypodermic needle exchange program. The 57-year-old carefully counted as he dropped 115 syringes one-by-one into a locked biohazard bin brimming with hundreds...
U.S. gets no commitment from NATO for help on Iran threat
BRUSSELS — NATO allies gave the United States no firm commitments that they will participate in a global effort to secure international waterways against threats from Iran, Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday, wrapping up his first alliance meeting. Esper said the United States will come back next month...
Trump’s next tweet could get a warning label
SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump’s next tweet might come with a warning label. Starting Thursday, tweets that Twitter deems in the public interest, but which violate the service’s rules, will be obscured by a warning explaining the violation. Users will have to tap through the warning to see the...
Couples can officiate their own wedding in the District of Columbia
WASHINGTON — When he spotted the small white fountain in a downtown area of the District of Columbia, Scott Bovarnick knew. He knew the same way he knew he would marry Lucille Convery after a shared glance years ago on a drive. “This is pretty,” he said, turning to Convery,...
Police arrest man accused of stealing 26 street signs
GEORGIA, Vt. — Deputies have arrested a Vermont man who is accused of stealing more than two dozen street signs. Mynbc.com reports 19-year-old Joshua Hanselman has been charged with larceny and unlawful mischief after acknowledging that he and others stole the 26 street signs. The signs were stolen between April...
Lightning strikes injure 3 during heavy storm in Hawaii
Three people were injured by lightning strikes during heavy storms in Hawaii, a report said. A 10-year-old boy and two men sustained serious injuries in two separate lightning strikes on Oahu Tuesday, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Wednesday. As heavy rain continued Wednesday, a brown-water advisory warning the public to avoid...
Alabama woman charged in fetal death, her shooter goes free
A 27-year-old Alabama woman was indicted on manslaughter charges Wednesday in the shooting death of her own unborn child, even though, police say, another woman pulled the trigger. The moment quickly became a flashpoint in the broader debate over abortion, particularly in Alabama, and raised questions over how fairly manslaughter...
Supreme Court blocks Trump administration’s census citizenship question
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court put a hold on the Trump administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. On the court’s final day of decisions before a summer break, the court said the Trump administration’s explanation for wanting to add the question was “more of a...
Dalai Lama says Trump has a ‘lack of moral principle’
The Dalai Lama accused President Donald Trump of having a “lack of moral principle” during a television interview that aired Thursday in which the Tibetan spiritual leader also voiced renewed concerns about Trump’s “America first” policies. Speaking to the BBC, the Dalai Lama described Trump’s emotions as a “little bit...
American woman dies of injuries sustained in shark attack in the Bahamas
An American woman has died of injuries sustained in a shark attack in the Bahamas, the State Department said Thursday. Jordan Lindsey, 21, of Torrance, Calif., was snorkeling with her family during a vacation in the Bahamas when she was attacked by three sharks on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported....
U.S. Customs records largest cocaine seizure in its historyVideo
Last week’s cocaine seizure in Philadelphia, nearly 20 tons, is the largest in the history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officials announced. “Today, I can officially report that CBP has seized a historic amount of cocaine, in fact, the largest cocaine seizure in our 230-year history, with a weight...
Asylum officers: Trump policy threatens migrants’ lives
WASHINGTON — U.S. asylum officers slammed President Trump’s policy of forcing migrants to remain in Mexico while they await immigration hearings in the United States, urging a federal appeals court Wednesday to block the administration from continuing the program. The officers, who are directed to implement the policy, said it...
EPA’s top air policy official steps down amid scrutiny over possible ethics violations
Bill Wehrum, a top Environmental Protection Agency official who helped reverse Obama-era rules aimed at cutting emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants, is stepping down amid scrutiny over possible violations of federal ethics rules. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s announcement Wednesday did not cite a specific reason for the...
NRA’s top lobbyist Christopher Cox resigns amid chaos at the gun rights organization
The National Rifle Association plunged further into chaos Wednesday as its top lobbyist resigned, its television arm shut down and the organization severed all business ties with its longtime public relations firm. Christopher Cox, who was on administrative leave, officially stepped down days after being accused in court papers of...
Graves of U.S. WWII servicemen found on remote Pacific island
A nonprofit organization that searches for the remains of U.S. servicemen lost in past conflicts has found what officials believe are the graves of more than 30 Marines and sailors killed in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. A team working on the remote Pacific atoll of...
Arby’s unveils carrot made of meat: The Marrot
We all know that Arby’s has the meats. Now they have the “megetables.” Arby’s new food category, “meat vegetables,” has its pilot offering: The Marrot. It looks and tastes like a carrot, but it’s made from turkey. “Plant-based meats are the latest incarnation of making vegetables look like what Americans...
Target again offering teachers discount on school supplies
Target is bringing back their school supply discount for teachers. The retailer’s Teacher Prep Event runs July 13 - 20 and gives teachers a 15% break on selected merchandise. The discount coupon is available to K-12 educators and also teachers who work in daycare centers, early childhood learning centers and...
Pole artist not ‘family-friendly’ enough for Rotary Ribfest; apology forthcomingVideo
Dancing on a pole and eating barbecued pork are incompatible activities, according to event organizers. Christine Johnson had spent weeks working up a pole art performance for Moncton’s Rotary Ribfest in New Brunswick. The event was hosted by the Rotary Club of Moncton West and Riverview. Johnson’s show was canned...
Google Maps routed dozens of drivers into a muddy field
Motorists following a detour soon found themselves axle-deep in mud. Dozens of drivers on Sunday were making their way through traffic in the Denver area when their navigation apps led them astray, reports TheDenverChannel.com. “Google Maps asked us to take the Tower exit, so I did because it was supposed...
Bishop to spray town with holy water from helicopter to ‘get rid of the devil’
When it comes to getting rid of the devil, it’s by any means necessary, right? And that includes air dropping holy water on a Columbian town. Newsweek reports that Monsignor Rubén Darío Jaramillo Montoya, the appointed Catholic bishop of Buenaventura, Colombia, said he’s planning on using a navy helicopter to...
Supreme Court strikes down Tennessee liquor sales law
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a Tennessee law that makes it hard for outsiders to break into the state’s liquor sales market. The court voted 7-2 in ruling that a state requirement that someone live in Tennessee for two years to be eligible for a license...
Report: For 1st time, U.S. renewables produced more electricity than coal in April
Renewable sources of energy produced more electricity than coal in April — a first for the United States, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Renewable sources — hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass — provided 23% of total electricity generation to coal’s 20% in April, according to EIA’s Electric...
ACLU objects to nicotine’s addition on school drug test list
FAIRBURY, Neb. — A southeast Nebraska school district’s decision to add nicotine to random drug tests given to students involved in extracurricular activities has drawn criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska. A letter from ACLU legal director Amy Miller to the Fairbury Public Schools district said that...
Malaysia detains 4 Indian travelers, seizes drugs, 5,255 turtles
SEPANG, Malaysia — Malaysia authorities have arrested four Indians and seized more than 14 kilograms of drugs and over 5,000 turtles from their luggage at the Kuala Lumpur airport. Senior customs official Zulkurnain Mohamed Yusof said Wednesday that agents found a total 5,255 red-ear slider baby turtles kept in small...
Facebook to help French police identify hate speech suspects
PARIS — Facebook is agreeing to help French police identify hate speech suspects, in what the French government is celebrating as a global first. France’s digital affairs minister, Cedric O, said that Facebook will provide authorities “IP addresses to help identify authors of hateful content.” Speaking on broadcaster France-Info, he...
