U.S./World category, Page 320
North Korea’s Kim test drives a new tank and orders troops to prepare for war
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un joined troops training on a new model of tank and drove one himself, state media reported Thursday, as his rivals South Korea and the U.S. wrapped up their annual military exercises. It’s the third time Kim was reported to have...
Report claims Yemen’s Houthis have a hypersonic missile, possibly raising stakes in Red Sea crisis
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their ongoing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war on Hamas in the...
What’s Pi Day all about? Math, science, pies and more
Math enthusiasts around the world, from college kids to rocket scientists, celebrate Pi Day on Thursday, which is March 14 or 3/14 — the first three digits of an infinite number with many practical uses. Around the world many people will mark the day with a slice of pie —...
Evangelical Christians are fierce Israel supporters. Now they are visiting as war-time volunteers
TEL AVIV, Israel — When Shawn Landis, an evangelical Christian from Pennsylvania, heard about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, he knew he would come to Israel to volunteer as soon as it was safe. Five months later, he was chopping vegetables in a Tel Aviv kitchen, preparing...
Georgia governor signs law reviving prosecutor sanctions panel. Democrats fear it’s aimed at Fani Willis
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law Wednesday that lets a state commission begin operating with powers to discipline and remove prosecutors, potentially disrupting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ prosecution of former President Donald Trump. “This legislation will help us ensure rogue and incompetent prosecutors are held...
Death of nonbinary teen Nex Benedict after school fight is ruled a suicide, medical examiner says
OKLAHOMA CITY — The death of a nonbinary high school student the day after a fight inside an Oklahoma high school restroom has been ruled a suicide, the state medical examiner’s office said Wednesday. “From the beginning of this investigation, Owasso Police observed many indications that this death was the...
Rats are high on marijuana evidence at an infested police building, New Orleans chief says
NEW ORLEANS — Rats have gotten into confiscated pot at New Orleans’ aging police headquarters, munching the evidence as the building is taken over by mold and cockroaches, said the city’s police chief. “The rats eating our marijuana, they’re all high,” Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told New Orleans City Council...
3 men charged with federal firearms counts after Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting
Three Missouri men have been charged with federal firearms counts after a shooting at last month’s Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade and rally left one person dead and roughly two dozen others injured, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The charges were filed Monday and unsealed Wednesday, after the men were...
A Massachusetts town spent $600k on shore protection. A winter storm washed it away days laterVideo
BOSTON — A Massachusetts beach community is scrambling after a weekend storm washed away $600,000 in sand that was trucked in to protect homes, roads and other infrastructure. The project, which brought 14,000 tons of sand into Salisbury over several weeks, was completed just three days before Sunday’s storm clobbered...
What to know about the bill that could ban TikTok
WASHINGTON — TikTok once again finds itself in a precarious position as lawmakers in Washington move forward with a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban on the platform. The House on Wednesday passed legislation that would ban TikTok if its China-based owner ByteDance doesn’t sell its stakes in...
Author Mitch Albom, 9 others evacuated by helicopter from violence-torn Port-au-Prince
DETROIT — Author and Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom and nine others have been rescued by helicopter from Haiti after becoming stranded in the poverty-stricken and violence-torn Caribbean nation while visiting an orphanage. The group was forced to shelter inside the Have Faith Haiti Mission & Orphanage in Port-au-Prince,...
Massachusetts governor to pardon those convicted of cannabis possession
BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday said she would issue pardons for tens of thousands of people convicted of misdemeanor marijuana charges going back decades in the latest example of a state ambitiously seeking to forgive low-level drug offenders. If approved, the pardons will apply to all adult...
Landslide destroys Los Angeles home and threatens at least 2 others
LOS ANGELES — A landslide destroyed a hillside home and imperiled at least two others in Los Angeles early Wednesday. The slide occurred just before 3 a.m. in Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood of expensive homes about 12 miles northwest of downtown. An initial search found no victims, but several people...
Judge dismisses some charges against Trump in the Georgia 2020 election interference case
ATLANTA — The judge overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case on Wednesday dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump and others, but the rest of the sweeping racketeering indictment remains intact. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee quashed six counts in the indictment, including three...
Haiti is preparing itself for new leadership. Gangs want a seat at the table
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Politicians across Haiti are scrambling for power after Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created. But elbowing their way into the race are powerful gangs that control 80% of Haiti’s capital and demand a say in the...
New AI tools can record your medical appointment or draft a message from your doctor
Don’t be surprised if your doctors start writing you overly friendly messages. They could be getting some help from artificial intelligence. New AI tools are helping doctors communicate with their patients, some by answering messages and others by taking notes during exams. It’s been 15 months since OpenAI released ChatGPT....
House passes a bill that could lead to a TikTok ban if Chinese owner refuses to sellVideo
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app TikTok if its China-based owner doesn’t sell, as lawmakers acted on concerns that the company’s current ownership structure is a national security threat. The bill, passed by a vote...
Putin warns again that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty is threatened
President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is threatened, issuing another blunt warning to the West just days ahead of an election in which he’s all but certain to win another six-year term. The Russian leader has repeatedly talked...
At least 2 dead, dozens injured in a suspected gas explosion outside Beijing
BEIJING — An explosion caused by a suspected gas leak ripped through a building in northern China on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring 26 others, authorities said. The blast occurred early in the morning at a fried chicken shop in the city of Sanhe, authorities said in...
House GOP launches new probe of Jan. 6 and tries shifting blame for Capitol attack away from Trump
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are launching a vast reinvestigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, seeking to push the blame away from Donald Trump, who has been indicted over his actions or his supporters in the mob siege trying to overturn the 2020 election. As Trump...
Top Alexei Navalny strategist attacked in Lithuania’s capital
TALLINN, Estonia — Associates of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny said late Tuesday that the politician’s close ally and top strategist was attacked near his home in Lithuania’s capital. Kira Yarmysh, who had been Navalny’s spokesperson, said the assailant smashed a window of Leonid Volkov’s car, sprayed tear gas into...
Supreme Court extends order blocking Texas law that allows police to arrest migrants
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Tuesday extended an order blocking Texas from enforcing a new law that gives the state a role in arresting and deporting immigrants. Alito — who handles emergency petitions in cases out of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi — had originally blocked Texas from enforcing...
Pentagon to give Ukraine $300 million in weapons even as it lacks funds to replenish U.S. stockpile
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will rush about $300 million in weapons to Ukraine after finding some cost savings in its contracts, even though the military remains deeply overdrawn and needs at least $10 billion to replenish all the weapons it has pulled from its stocks to help Kyiv in its...
Most automated driving systems are lousy at making sure drivers pay attention, insurance group says
DETROIT — Most electronic systems that take on some driving tasks for humans don’t adequately make sure drivers are paying attention, and they don’t issue strong enough warnings or take other actions to make drivers behave, according to an insurance industry study published Tuesday. Only one of 14 partially automated...
Double-swiping the rewards card led to free gas for months — and a felony theft charge
LINCOLN, Neb. — A Nebraska woman allegedly found a lucrative quirk at a gas station pump — double-swipe the rewards card and get free gas! Unfortunately for her, you can’t do that, prosecutors said. The 45-year-old woman was arrested March 6 and faces felony theft charges accusing her of a...
