U.S./World category, Page 316
Pope Francis skips Palm Sunday homily at start of busy Holy Week that will test his health
ROME — Pope Francis decided at the last minute to skip his homily during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, avoiding a strenuous speech at the start of a busy Holy Week that will test his increasingly frail health. Hobbled by bad knees and persistent respiratory problems, Francis also...
3 of 4 suspects charged in Russia concert hall attack admit guilt during court hearing
MOSCOW — Three of the four suspects charged with carrying out the concert hall attack in Moscow that killed more than 130 people admitted guilt for the incident in a Russian court Sunday. Moscow’s Basmanny District Court formally charged Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19; and Shamsidin...
Biden views LGBTQ flag restriction as abusive, White House says
WASHINGTON — The White House criticized congressional Republicans for adding a ban on U.S. embassies flying the LGBTQ pride flag to a government funding bill, saying it abused the budget process and that President Joe Biden will work for its repeal. House Speaker Mike Johnson promoted the flag restriction as...
Kamala Harris tours bloodstained building where 2018 Parkland massacre happened
PARKLAND, Fla. — Vice President Kamala Harris toured on Saturday the bloodstained classroom building where the 2018 Parkland high school massacre happened, then announced a program to assist states that have laws allowing police to temporarily seize guns from people judges have found to be dangerous. Harris saw bullet-pocked walls...
Fulton County DA Fani Willis: Despite efforts to slow down Trump case, ‘the train is coming’
ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said Saturday the election interference prosecution against Donald Trump hasn’t been delayed by proceedings over her romantic relationship with a special prosecutor she hired for the case. “I don’t feel like we have been slowed down at all,” Willis told CNN in...
Rain helps contain wildfires in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley
RICHMOND, Va. — Crews who have been battling wildfires in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley this week have gotten an assist from rain and from the state government, which has deployed new resources to the area, officials said Saturday. “Without a doubt, the rain is helping” said Cory Swift, a spokesperson for...
New England battling a mix of wind, rain, sleet and heavy snow
BOSTON — It might officially be spring, but New England is battling a wintry weather combination across the region Saturday with more than a foot of snow expected in ski country, and rain, wind and possible flooding in southern areas and along the coast. In Maine, the National Weather Service...
Wyoming governor vetoes bill to allow concealed carry in public schools and meetings
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming Republican Gov. Mark Gordon has vetoed a bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed guns in public schools and government meetings. In his veto letter Friday night, Gordon said he had concerns the bill would exceed the separation of powers provision in the state...
Heavy rains kill at least 7 in Rio de Janeiro state, 4-year-old rescued after 16 hours under mud
PETROPOLIS, Brazil — Heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro state have killed at least seven people, authorities said Saturday, while a 4-year-old girl was rescued after more than 16 hours under mud. The girl was pulled out alive in the city of Petropolis, 43 miles north of Rio. Rescue teams...
Biden signs $1.2T funding package after Senate’s early morning passage ended shutdown threat
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a $1.2 trillion package of spending bills after Congress had passed the long overdue legislation just hours earlier, ending the threat of a partial government shutdown. “This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted,” Biden said...
2 crew members die during ‘incident’ on Holland America cruise ship
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Two crew members on a Holland America cruise ship died during an “incident” in the ship’s engineering space, the cruise line said. The unidentified crew members died Friday while the Florida-based Nieuw Amsterdam was at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, Holland America said in a...
Russia detains 11 in an attack on Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that authorities have detained 11 people in the attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people and left the sprawling venue a smoldering ruin. In an address to the nation, Putin called it “a bloody, barbaric terrorist...
Russian Soyuz rocket with 3 astronauts blasts off to the International Space Station
MOSCOW — A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station blasted off Saturday, two days after its launch was aborted at the last minute. The spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus launched smoothly from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch...
With all the recent headlines about panels and tires falling off planes, is flying safe?
DALLAS — It has been 15 years since the last fatal crash of a U.S. airliner, but you would never know that by reading about a torrent of flight problems in the last three months. There was a time when things like cracked windshields and minor engine problems didn’t turn...
Worldwide support pours in for Kate, the Princess of Wales, after shocking cancer reveal
LONDON — Support poured in from around the world Saturday for Kate, the Princess of Wales, after she revealed in a candid video message that she is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer following major abdominal surgery. The princess’s poignant video, in which she spoke about the “huge shock” and “incredibly tough...
Catherine, Princess of Wales, says she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy
LONDON — Catherine, the Princess of Wales, said Friday she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. The video announcement came after weeks of speculation spread on social media about her whereabouts and health since she was hospitalized in January for unspecified abdominal surgery. Catherine, 42, hadn’t been seen publicly since...
Russia attacks Ukrainian electrical power facilities, including major hydroelectric plant
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia attacked electrical power facilities in much of Ukraine, including the country’s largest hydroelectric plant, causing widespread outages and killing at least five people, officials said Friday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 60 drones and about 90 rockets were used in the attack. The attack came...
U.S. surgeons transplant a gene-edited pig kidney into a patient for the first time
NEW YORK — Doctors in Boston have transplanted a pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient, the latest experiment in the quest to use animal organs in humans. Massachusetts General Hospital said Thursday that it’s the first time a genetically modified pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. Previously,...
Refugee camps in Chad are overcrowded and running out of aid, and Sudanese refugees keep coming
METCHE CAMP, Chad — Overcrowded refugee camps in eastern Chad are set to run out of money soon, exacerbating a dire humanitarian crisis caused by the spillover from a deadly conflict in Sudan, the United Nations said. More than a million people in Chad, including refugees, face losing access to...
Cheating on your spouse is a crime in New York, but the 1907 law may finally be repealed
ALBANY, N.Y. — For more than a century, it has been a crime to cheat on your spouse in New York. But adultery may soon be legal in the Empire State thanks to a bill working its way through the New York Legislature, which would finally repeal the seldom-used law...
Former executive given death sentence in poisoning of founder of high-flying Chinese gaming company
BEIJING — A former executive at Yoozoo Games was sentenced to death on Friday in the 2020 poisoning of the founder of the high-profile Chinese gaming company, which has links to “Game of Thrones” and the new Netflix series, “The Three-Body Problem.” Xu Yao poisoned the food of company founder...
Congress rushes to approve final package of spending bills before shutdown deadline
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are racing Friday to pass the final spending package needed for the current budget year, a long overdue action that will set funding for federal agencies and push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall. With spending set to expire for several key federal agencies...
U.S. calls for vote Friday on UN resolution declaring that immediate Gaza cease-fire is ‘imperative’
UNITED NATIONS — The United States called for a vote Friday on a newly revised and tougher U.N. resolution declaring that “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is “imperative” to protect civilians and enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to more than 2 million hungry...
White former officers get sentences of 10 to 40 years in torture of 2 Black men in Mississippi
JACKSON, Miss. — The last of six former law enforcement officers who tortured two Black men outside Mississippi’s capital has been sentenced. Former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield was given an approximately 10-year federal prison sentence on Thursday. The six white officers were fired and pleaded guilty to subjecting Michael...
Congress unveils $1.2 trillion plan to avert federal shutdown and bring budget fight to a close
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers introduced a $1.2 trillion spending package Thursday that sets the stage for avoiding a partial government shutdown for several key federal agencies this weekend and allows Congress, nearly six months into the budget year, to complete its work in funding the government through September. Democrats were largely...
