U.S./World category, Page 1219
Pompeo pledges continued pressure on Venezuela’s Maduro
WASHINGTON — The United States will continue to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro until he understands his days are “numbered,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday. Pompeo’s comments came the day after clashes between activists trying to deliver U.S-backed humanitarian aid into Venezuela and troops loyal to Maduro....
White House manages expectations for second Kim summit
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is trying to manage expectations for his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, predicting a “continuation of the progress” made last time. Trump tweeted Sunday that he was leaving early the next day for the meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, adding a tantalizing...
Unclaimed $1.5B Mega Millions jackpot mystery: Winner died? Ticket lost?
SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. — Nearly everyone in this small South Carolina town has a theory for the city’s billion-dollar mystery: Who won the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot announced last October? Maybe the winner was so overwhelmed upon seeing the winning numbers that she or he died on the spot? Maybe...
UN: Last year saw highest number of Afghan civilian deaths
KABUL, Afghanistan — More civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year than in any of the previous nine years of the increasingly bloody conflict, according to a U.N. report released Sunday, which blamed the spike in deaths on increased suicide bombings by the Islamic State group and stepped up aerial...
Hanoi summit nightmare scenario: Bad deals and little change
HANOI, Vietnam — The nightmare scenario heading into the second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un isn’t so much “fire and fury” and millions dead. Rather, some experts fear the meeting could result in an ill-considered deal that allows North Korea to get everything...
Priest speaks publicly about how McCarrick allegedly ruined his life
Less than a week after Theodore McCarrick became the first cardinal ever defrocked, a New Jersey priest has for the first time agreed to be interviewed about his accusations that McCarrick sexually abused him in the 1990s and the effect the alleged abuse has had on his life and career....
Sheriff: No likely survivors in cargo plane crash near Houston
HOUSTON — A Boeing 767 cargo jetliner heading to Houston with three people aboard disintegrated after crashing Saturday into a bay east of the city, according to a Texas sheriff. Witnesses told emergency personnel that the twin-engine plane “went in nose first,” leaving a debris field three-quarters of a mile...
Iceland to keep hunting up to 2,130 whales over 5 years
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland’s whaling industry will be allowed to keep hunting whales for at least another five years, killing up to 2,130 baleen whales under a new quota issued by the government. The five-year whaling policy was up for renewal when Fisheries Minister Kristjan Juliusson announced this week an...
R. Kelly ordered jailed on $1M bond at Chicago hearing
CHICAGO — R. Kelly was ordered jailed on $1 million bond Saturday at his first court hearing since the R&B star was charged with sexually abusing four people, including three minors, in a case that seemed likely to produce another #MeToo trial involving a celebrity. The 52-year-old Grammy winner turned...
Pentagon chief getting firsthand look at US-Mexico border
EL PASO, Texas — Top defense officials toured sections of the U.S.-Mexico border Saturday to see how the military could reinforce efforts to block drug smugging and other illegal activity, as the Pentagon weighs diverting billions of dollars for President Donald Trump’s border wall. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, accompanied...
Soldiers unleash tear gas amid tension on Venezuela’s border
CUCUTA, Colombia — Venezuela’s National Guard fired tear gas on residents clearing a barricaded border bridge to Colombia on Saturday, heightening tensions over blocked humanitarian aid that opposition leader Juan Guaido has vowed to bring into the country despite President Nicolas Maduro’s defiant refusal to accept assistance. The opposition is...
Actor brothers take center stage in Serbia’s street protests
BELGRADE, Serbia — Taking center stage in the weekly protests against Serbia’s autocratic president was a role that actors Sergej and Branislav Trifunovic felt compelled to play. The two brothers are among the main public faces of the demonstrations against populist leader Aleksandar Vucic’s firm grip on power that started...
California parents of 13 plead guilty to torture, abuse – Feb. 23, 2019
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — As prosecutors brought charges of cruelty and torture against a California couple who had shackled and starved their children for years, they had two goals in mind: Punish the perpetrators and ensure they could never victimize those 13 children in any way again. On Friday they appeared...
Judge grants citizenship to twin son of gay couple
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California ruled Thursday that a twin son of a gay married couple has been an American citizen since birth, handing a defeat to the U.S. government, which had only granted the status to his brother. The State Department was wrong to deny citizenship...
San Francisco authorities search for woman in landslide
SAN FRANCISCO — Rescue workers switched from search to recovery mode Friday night in their efforts to find a woman believed to be buried by a landslide near a San Francisco beach. One woman was rescued after the landside above a beach popular with dog walkers. Dozens of search-and-rescue workers...
Chicago police: Singer R. Kelly arrested at precinct
CHICAGO — R&B star R. Kelly was taken into custody after arriving Friday night at a Chicago police precinct, hours after authorities announced multiple charges of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17. The 52-year-old singer, whose real name is...
Trump vows veto as Democrats try to block emergency order
WASHINGTON — Democrats controlling the House have teed up a vote next week to block President Donald Trump from using a national emergency declaration to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, accelerating a showdown in Congress that could divide Republicans and lead to Trump’s first veto. The Democrats introduced...
Pentagon sending another 1,000 troops to the Mexico border
The Pentagon will increase the number of active-duty troops along the U.S.-Mexico border to about 6,000 by the start of next month, a return to the peak force size deployed shortly after the mission began last fall, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday. About 1,000 additional personnel will join...
Giraffe dies in accident at Kansas City Zoo barn
KANSAS CITY, Mo.— Kansas City Zoo officials say an adult male giraffe died after suffering a spinal cord injury in a zoo barn. The zoo says that on Wednesday the 9-year-old male, named Hamisi, caught his head in an area of the barn that allows keepers to reach the animals....
Southwest hit by computer outage, adding to its problems
DALLAS — Hundreds of Southwest Airlines flights have been delayed as the carrier deals with winter weather and a computer outage. The outage occurred early Friday and grounded Southwest flights around the country for nearly an hour. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration says Southwest had a problem with...
Patriots owner Robert Kraft charged with soliciting prostitution in Florida
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is being charged with misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution after he was twice videotaped paying for a sex act at an illicit massage parlor, police in Florida said Friday. Jupiter police told reporters Friday that the 77-year-old Kraft hasn’t been arrested. A warrant will be...
EU says it’s ready to hit back if U.S. imposes car tariffs
BUCHAREST, Romania — A European Union official says “there is full support” from member states to hit back if President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on cars and car parts. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said EU trade ministers had discussed the bloc’s trading relationship with Washington during an informal meeting...
Church of England says Sunday services no longer mandatory
LONDON — The Church of England has acknowledged the reality of shrinking congregations and overworked priests and lifted a 400-year-old rule requiring that all churches hold services every Sunday. Canon law dating from 1603 required priests to hold morning and evening prayers and a communion service each Sunday in every...
Swede gets 4½ years for royal jewels heist
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A 22-year-old Swede was sentenced Friday to four and a half years in prison after he was convicted of stealing 17th-century Swedish royal treasures estimated to be worth $7 million from a cathedral last year. The Eskiltuna District Court said Johan Nicklas Backstrom stole two crowns and...
Powerful 7.5-magnitude quake hits eastern Ecuador
LONDON — A very powerful magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck southern Ecuador in the early hours of Friday close to the country’s border with Peru, although no immediate reports of possible casualties or damage were available. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake happened at 5:17 a.m. (EST) 71 miles southeast...
