U.S./World category, Page 1176
Planned Parenthood: States should oppose Trump ‘gag rule’
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — It’s time for states with leaders who support abortion rights to go on the offensive against Trump administration attempts to restrict abortion that would reduce access to health care, the president of Planned Parenthood said Tuesday. “States are a critical backstop at a time when we have...
Even light rain increases your risk of a deadly car crash
WASHINGTON — Even light rain significantly increases your risk of a fatal car crash, a new study finds. The wetter the roads, the deadlier they become, with rain, snow and ice increasing the risk of deadly car crashes by 34 percent, according to a study this week in the Bulletin...
Defense funds being used for Arizona, New Mexico border wall
YUMA, Ariz. — The U.S. government is moving forward with plans to use military funds to build border barriers in Arizona and New Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security issued waivers to environmental laws last week to build and replace 46 miles of barriers near Columbus, New Mexico, and 11...
Supreme Court justices seem ready to OK asking citizenship on census
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed ready Tuesday to uphold the Trump administration’s plan to ask about citizenship on the 2020 census, despite evidence that millions of Hispanics and immigrants could go uncounted. There appeared to be a clear divide between the court’s liberal and conservative justices in...
Transgender plaintiffs want birth certificate gender change
NASHVILLE — When Jason Scott wanted to attend community college in Seattle, he needed a high school transcript, and he couldn’t get that without a birth certificate. The only problem was that Scott is transgender and his Tennessee birth certificate lists him as female. The resulting confusion prevented Scott from...
Trump baby blimp is back, could be even bigger for UK visit
The balloon that depicted Donald Trump in a diaper during protests against his visit to the United Kingdom in July will return in June. The Donald Trump baby blimp will fly again during Trump’s three-day state visit in the first week of June and could be joined by an even...
Study: Gaps in California arrest data make it easier for violent felons to get guns
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Before authorities charged Anton Lemon Paris last year with murder and attempted murder in the shooting of a Rancho Cordova sheriff’s deputy and his partner, the most serious offense on his rap sheet had been a 2010 conviction for the possession of homemade nunchucks. Such possession is...
33 reported dead in South Africa flooding, mudslides
JOHANNESBURG — South African media report that 33 people are dead from flooding and mudslides in the country’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. State broadcaster SABC on Tuesday cites provincial authorities on the number of fatalities. The flooding has been caused by heavy rains that began on Monday. The report says hundreds...
Walgreens to hike minimum age for store tobacco sales
Walgreens has decided to raise its minimum age for tobacco sales several weeks after a top federal official chastised the drugstore chain for violating laws restricting access to cigarettes and other products. Walgreens said Tuesday that it will require customers to be at least 21 years old to purchase tobacco...
Proposal would require Maine students learn about Holocaust
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine lawmakers are considering a bill designed to require students to learn about the Holocaust. Democratic Sen. Louie Luchini of Ellsworth introduced the bill, which received a public hearing before a legislative committee Monday. Luchini says it’s time for Maine to join the less than a quarter...
Ex-USC coach, parent to plead guilty in college bribery scam
BOSTON — A former University of Southern California soccer coach and a California insurance executive became the latest people to agree to plead guilty in a college admissions cheating scandal that has netted prominent parents and Hollywood stars, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Laura Janke, who was an assistant women’s soccer...
Connecticut teen shot by police during traffic stop dies
WETHERSFIELD, Conn. — An 18-year-old Connecticut man shot by local police while allegedly driving toward an officer during a traffic stop died Monday, state police said. Anthony Jose Vega Cruz succumbed to injuries suffered Saturday, police said in an emailed statement. The announcement came hours after two dozen activists held...
Jared Kushner downplays Russia election interference
NEW YORK — Jared Kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, is downplaying Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Kushner, one of the most influential voices in the White House, minimized Russia’s involvement by describing it “as buying some Facebook ads” and trying to “sow dissent.” He...
$768M Wisconsin Powerball winner Manuel Franco ‘pretty much felt lucky’Video
MADISON, Wis. — A 24-year-old Wisconsin man stepped forward Tuesday to claim a $768 million Powerball prize, the nation’s third-largest lottery jackpot, saying he “pretty much felt lucky” the day he bought his tickets and has been worried that people want to steal his ticket. Manuel Franco, of West Allis,...
Auction of 100 exotic pets includes cassowary that killed Florida man
More than 100 exotic animals need homes after one of them killed their owner. Earlier this month, Marvin Hajos, 75, was killed by a cassowary he kept at his 6-acre farm near Alachua, Florida, the Gainsville Sun reports. That large bird is now one of the animals being auctioned by...
Hearing set over possible leak of Robert Kraft massage video
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Attorneys for two Florida massage parlor employees plan to ask a judge to hold police and prosecutors responsible for the possible unauthorized release of video that they say shows New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft paying for sex. The New York Daily News reported last...
Saudi Arabia beheads 37 citizens for terrorism crimes; pins bodies to poles
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia beheaded 37 Saudi citizens for what it said Tuesday were terrorism-related crimes, the Interior Ministry said, publicly pinning two of the bodies to a pole as a warning to others. The report said the executions were carried out by beheading and that two...
Video: Man in Easter bunny costume hops into fight in OrlandoVideo
A viral video shows a person in an Easter bunny costume jumping into a street-fight between a man and a woman on an Orlando, Fla. street on Sunday. And getting the best of the guy. The video shows a man and woman engaged in a fight when the person in...
Back to Earth: Washington set to allow ‘human composting’
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington appears set to become the first state to allow a burial alternative known as “natural organic reduction” — an accelerated decomposition process that turns bodies into soil within weeks. The bill legalizing the process, sometimes referred to as “human composting,” has passed the Legislature and is...
Woman held for allegedly dumping puppies in California trashVideo
COACHELLA, Calif. — A woman has been arrested for allegedly throwing seven newborn puppies into a Southern California dumpster. Riverside County authorities arrested 54-year-old Deborah Culwell on Monday at her Coachella home. Surveillance video showed a woman get out of a car and drop a bag containing the pups into...
Palace: Trump to pay state visit to Britain in June
LONDON — U.S. President Donald Trump will pay a state visit to Britain in June as a guest of Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace said Tuesday. Trump and his wife, Melania, have “accepted an invitation from Her Majesty The Queen to pay a State Visit to the United Kingdom,” officials...
Swole, buzzy, among new words in Merriam-Webster dictionary
BOSTON — Get swole, prepare a bug-out bag, grab a go-cup and maybe you’ll have a better chance of surviving the omnicide. Translation: Hit the gym and bulk up, put a bunch of stuff essential for survival in an easy-to-carry bag, grab a drink for the road, and perhaps you’ll...
Override possible of Kansas abortion reversal veto
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday vetoed a bill that would have required doctors to inform patients that the abortion pill is reversible — a controversial practice that Democrats and abortion rights advocates have criticized for being scientifically unproven. The Republican-held legislature, however, could override Kelly’s veto...
Wisconsin woman pleads guilty to terrorism charges
MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin mother of seven pleaded guilty Monday to trying to plan terrorist attacks on behalf of the Islamic State group by distributing information online on how to make explosives and biological weapons. Waheba Issa Dais initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of providing material support to...
Officials say 6 people died in Texas small plane crashVideo
DALLAS — A man who was part-owner of a plane that crashed Monday in Texas, killing all six people aboard, said he and his friend who owned the plane regularly volunteered to fly sick people in remote parts of the country to hospitals in Houston and Dallas. Officials have not...
