U.S./World category, Page 1166
New analysis: Trump deficits worse than promised
WASHINGTON — A new nonpartisan analysis says President Donald Trump’s budget plan would produce significantly larger budget deficits than promised when it was released in March, mostly because its estimates of economic growth are too rosy. The Congressional Budget Office estimate says Trump’s budget, if enacted in its entirety, would...
Popular Virginia children’s singer faces child porn charge
RESTON, Va. — A popular children’s performer in northern Virginia has been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography. Fairfax County Police said on Thursday that 58-year-old Steven Rossi of Reston was arrested April 30 on 10 felony counts. Rossi performed under the name M. Knick Knack and has been...
White House misspells Red Sox as ‘Red Socks’ for team’s Trump visit
A misspelling Thursday is irking some baseball fans. The Boston Red Sox were due for a visit with President Donald Trump at 3:45 in the afternoon but the White House misspelled the team’s name as “Red Socks” on the schedule. Ace White House staff work strikes again --> Glenn...
U.S. prosecutors add hate crime charges in California synagogue shooting
SAN DIEGO — Federal officials announced Thursday that they have filed 109 hate crime charges against the 19-year-old man accused of opening fire in a Southern California synagogue. Prosecutors say the gunman, identified as John T. Earnest, killed a woman and wounded an 8-year-old girl, her uncle and Rabbi Yisroel...
China Mobile blocked from offering phone service in U.S.
U.S. communications regulators on Thursday rejected a Chinese telecom company’s application to provide service in the U.S. due to national security risks amid an escalation in tensions between the two countries. The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted unanimously, 5-0 across party lines, to reject China Mobile International USA Inc.’s...
U.S. seizes North Korean cargo ship for violating sanctions
WASHINGTON — The United States said Thursday that it has seized a North Korean cargo ship that was used to violate international sanctions, a first-of-its kind enforcement action that comes amid a tense moment in relations between the two countries. The “Wise Honest,” North Korea’s second largest cargo ship, was...
U.S. sanctions to hit Iran’s metals industry, a major employer
TEHRAN, Iran — U.S. sanctions have targeted Iran’s government, its paramilitary forces and the oil exports that fund them. Now they are hitting its vital steel, aluminum, copper and iron industries. The new sanctions, imposed as Tehran announced its partial withdrawal from its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, seem...
Britain goes first week without coal power since 1882
Britain is moving closer to not using any coal to generate electric power. The country went a week without using the fuel to produce electricity for the first time since it opened a coal-fired plant in 1882, reports The Guardian. I am proud that Britain has gone a record week...
The costliest $29 they’ll ever win: NJ levies $25K gambling fine
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A gambler from Nevada lost $29 on a New Jersey internet gambling site, but the transactions cost a technology company $25,000. New Jersey regulators have fined Gaming Innovation Group for a flaw in its geolocation technology, which is designed to make sure people are within the...
Sister: 9-year-old boy accused of killing mom just ‘snapped’
FAWN RIVER TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The adult sister of a 9-year-old boy who is charged with killing their mother said he has mental health problems and probably just “snapped” on the day of the shooting. “My mom would not want him to be labeled a murderer,” Reagan Martin, 23, told...
Facebook auto-generates videos celebrating extremist images
WASHINGTON — The animated video begins with a photo of the black flags of jihad. Seconds later, it flashes highlights of a year of social media posts: plaques of anti-Semitic verses, talk of retribution and a photo of two men carrying more jihadi flags while they burn the stars and...
‘Archie’ causing some royal name drama
The inspiration for Prince Harry and Meghan’s newborn son’s name seems to be causing as much drama as the wait for his birth. Little Archie — full name Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor — came as a surprise to those betting on his name. In fact, Archie was not even in the...
Fake German heiress gets up to 12 years in prison
NEW YORK — The German con artist who passed herself off as a wealthy heiress was sentenced Thursday to four 12 years behind bars for swindling New York banks and hotels out of tens of thousands of dollars. Judge Diane Kiesel says she was “stunned by the depth of the...
Berlin park’s drug dealer solution panned by authorities
BERLIN — A creative attempt by a downtown Berlin park manager to keep drug dealers away from families and joggers has been met with an emphatic “nein” from German officials. Cengiz Demirci demarcated certain areas in the popular Goerlitzer Park with pink spray-painted lines for the dealers to stand behind,...
Chef stopped at Los Angeles airport with 40 frozen piranhas
LOS ANGELES — A famous South American chef says he was stopped as he brought 40 piranhas in a duffel bag through Los Angeles International Airport. Virgilio Martinez, chef-owner of Central restaurant in Peru, tells the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that he hoped to serve the predatory, sharp-toothed fish...
Parents can’t delete what kids tell Amazon voice assistant
Amazon met with skepticism from some privacy advocates and members of Congress last year when it introduced its first kid-oriented voice assistant , along with brightly colored models of its Echo Dot speaker designed for children. Now those advocates say the kids’ version of Amazon’s Alexa won’t forget what children...
Notre Dame’s melted roof leaves astronomical lead levels
PARIS — Notre Dame Cathedral’s melted roof has left astronomically high lead levels in the plaza outside and adjacent roads. Paris police say lead levels from the roof were found to be between 10 and 20 grams per kilogram of ground — between 32 and 65 times the recommended limit...
‘Art of the Deal’ co-author calls for Trump book to be pulled or ‘recategorized’ as fiction
Decorated in eye-catching gold lettering, President Donald Trump’s 1987 memoir - a self-described “common sense guide to personal finance” - is touted as “a firsthand account of the rise of America’s foremost deal-maker.” But following news this week that Trump reported more than $1 billion in financial losses to the...
Australia takes responsibility for typos on 46M bank notes
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s central bank has taken responsibility for typos on 46 million bank notes after a radio station posted an image of the microscopic error on social media. Triple M radio posted on Instagram on Thursday a magnified photograph of a 50 Australian dollar ($35) note showing the...
North Korea fires 2 suspected missiles in possible new warning
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Thursday fired two suspected short-range missiles from the country’s western area, South Korea’s military said, the North’s second weapons launch in the last five days and a possible warning that nuclear disarmament talks with Washington could be in danger. The South’s Joint Chiefs...
Vatican law: Priests, nuns must report sex abuse, cover-up
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking law Thursday requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by their superiors to church authorities, in an important new effort to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for failing to protect their flocks. The...
Records: 9-year-old boy charged in mother’s shooting death
FAWN RIVER TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A 9-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of his mother in their southern Michigan home, according to court documents. The woman was found early Monday morning in Fawn River Township, St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough told WWMT-TV. Fawn River...
A frustrated Trump questions his administration’s Venezuela strategy
WASHINGTON — President Trump is questioning his administration’s aggressive strategy in Venezuela as a result of the failure of a U.S.-backed effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro, complaining he was misled about how easy it would be to replace the socialist strongman with a young opposition figure, according to administration...
New Jersey woman charged in death of puppy found submerged in pond
WEST MILFORD, N.J. — A woman has been charged in the death of a 10-week-old puppy whose body was found submerged and in a weighted cage in a northern New Jersey pond. Passaic County prosecutors say Tonya Fea faces animal cruelty charges. It wasn’t known if the 47-year-old Jefferson Township...
Denver voters approve decriminalization of ‘magic mushrooms’
Voters in Denver approved the nation’s first referendum on decriminalizing hallucinogenic mushrooms Tuesday. Though it took election officials until Wednesday afternoon to tabulate the vote, 50.6% of the 176,000 voters picked “yes,” and 49.4% voted no. The voters endorsed a change in Denver law that will require police to make...
