U.S./World category, Page 330
Alabama hospital puts pause on IVF in wake of ruling saying frozen embryos are children
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A large Alabama hospital has paused in vitro fertilization treatments as health care providers weigh the impact of a state court ruling that frozen embryos are the legal equivalent of children. The University of Alabama Birmingham said in a statement Wednesday that its UAB Division of Reproductive...
Oklahoma police investigating a nonbinary teen’s death after a fight in a high school bathroom
OKLAHOMA CITY — Police in Oklahoma are investigating the death of a 16-year-old student who died a day after an altercation in a high school bathroom that may have been prompted by bullying over gender identity. Neither police nor school officials have said what led to the fight. But the...
Private U.S. spacecraft enters orbit around the moon ahead of landing attempt
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A private U.S. lunar lander reached the moon and eased into a low orbit Wednesday, a day before it will attempt an even greater feat — landing on the gray, dusty surface. A smooth touchdown would put the U.S. back in business on the moon for...
After 2-year-old girl shoots self, man becomes first person charged under Michigan’s gun storage law
FLINT, Mich. — A Michigan man whose 2-year-old daughter shot herself in the head with his revolver last week became the first person charged under the state’s new law requiring safe storage of guns, just days after the new measure took effect as part of a sweeping reform of gun...
Georgia drivers could refuse to sign traffic tickets and not be arrested under bill
ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers are seeking to change state law to say that officers don’t have to arrest people who refuse to sign traffic tickets after a church deacon died in August after initially refusing to sign a citation and struggling with an Atlanta police officer. The state House voted...
Ghost gun manufacturer agrees to stop sales to Maryland residents
BALTIMORE — A leading manufacturer of ghost guns has agreed to stop selling its untraceable, unassembled firearms to Maryland residents under a settlement agreement announced Wednesday by the city of Baltimore. City leaders sued the company, Nevada-based Polymer80, two years ago “in response to the rapid escalation of ghost guns...
Young girl killed when a hole she dug in the sand collapsed on a Florida beach, authorities said
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The collapse of a sand hole that killed a 5-year-old Indiana girl who was digging with her brother on a Florida beach is an underrecognized danger that kills and injures several children a year around the country. Sloan Mattingly died Tuesday afternoon at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea’s beach when...
A pacemaker for the brain helped a woman with crippling depression. It may soon be available to more
NEW YORK — Emily Hollenbeck lived with a deep, recurring depression she likened to a black hole, where gravity felt so strong and her limbs so heavy she could barely move. She knew the illness could kill her. Both of her parents had taken their lives. She was willing to...
Colorado man dies after a pet Gila monster bite
A Colorado man has died after being bitten by his pet Gila monster in what would be a rare death by one of the desert lizards if the creature’s venom turns out to have been the cause. Christopher Ward, 34, was taken to a hospital shortly after being bitten by...
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 67 Palestinians
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 67 Palestinians overnight and into Wednesday, including in areas where civilians have been told to seek refuge. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah says it received 44 bodies after multiple strikes in central Gaza. Associated Press reporters saw...
1st federal trial for a hate crime based on gender identity starts over trans woman’s killing
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The first federal trial over a hate crime based on gender identity began Tuesday in South Carolina, where a man faces charges that he killed a Black transgender woman and then fled to New York. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that in August 2019, Daqua Lameek...
Ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens had Russian intelligence contacts, prosecutors say
WASHINGTON — A former FBI informant charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company had contacts with Russian intelligence-affiliated officials, prosecutors said in a court paper Tuesday. Prosecutors revealed the alleged contact as they urged a judge to...
Divers find body in Texas river of Audrii Cunningham, 11, who had been missing since last week
LIVINGSTON, Texas — Divers have recovered the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham from a Texas river days after the girl went missing, and authorities are preparing to file a murder charge against a friend of her father who lived on her family’s property, a sheriff said Tuesday afternoon. Polk County...
Alabama Supreme Court rules frozen embryos are ‘children’ under state law
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, a decision critics said could have sweeping implications for fertility treatments. The decision was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed...
Saturated California gets more rain and snow, but so far escapes severe damage it saw only weeks agoVideo
LOS ANGELES — Much of saturated California faced the threat of flooding Tuesday with winter storms blowing through, but so far the state has escaped the severity of damage from mudslides, wind and rain spawned by an atmospheric river only weeks ago. While the rainfall was focused on Southern California,...
2 adults charged with murder in the deadly shooting at Kansas City’s Super Bowl celebrationVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri prosecutors said Tuesday that two men have been charged with murder in last week’s shooting that killed one person and injured 22 others after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade. Dominic Miller and Lyndell Mays are charged with second-degree murder and other counts. They...
YouTube mom Ruby Franke apologizes at sentencing in child abuse caseVideo
SALT LAKE CITY — Ruby Franke, a Utah mother of six who gave parenting advice to millions via a once-popular a YouTube channel, shared a tearful apology to her children for physically and emotionally abusing them before a judge delivered a sentence that could put her in prison for years,...
A Russian court extends the pretrial detention for an American reporter accused of spying
MOSCOW — A court in the Russian capital ruled Tuesday to keep Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in custody pending his trial on espionage charges that he denies. The Moscow City Court rejected an appeal against Gershkovich’s detention filed by his lawyers, upholding an earlier ruling to keep him...
Attacks on ships and U.S. drones show Yemen’s Houthis can still fight despite U.S.-led airstrikes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Despite a month of U.S.-led airstrikes, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels remain capable of launching significant attacks. This week, they seriously damaged a ship in a crucial strait and apparently downed an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars. The continued assaults by the Houthis...
Adult and 4 kids die in Missouri house fire that police deem ‘suspicious’
FERGUSON, Mo. — Police are investigating a “suspicious” fire near St. Louis that killed a woman and four children. Firefighters were called to a home in Ferguson at 4:23 a.m. Monday and found the building engulfed in flames. St. Louis County police Sgt. Tracy Panus said the five people who...
U.S. casinos won $66.5 billion in 2023 — their best year ever as gamblers showed no economic fear
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — America’s commercial casinos won $66.5 billion from gamblers in 2023, the industry’s best year ever, according to figures released by its national trade association Tuesday. The American Gaming Association said that total was 10% higher than in 2022, which itself was a record-setting year. When revenue...
White House is distributing $5.8 billion from infrastructure law for water projects
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it is distributing another $5.8 billion for water infrastructure projects around the country, paid for by one of its key legislative victories. The new allocations will go to projects in all 50 states, bringing the total awarded to states for water infrastructure...
White House promises ‘major sanctions’ on Russia in response to Alexei Navalny’s death
WASHINGTON — The U.S. plans to unveil a “major” sanctions package against Russia on Friday following the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, President Joe Biden said. “I told you we’d be announcing sanctions on Russia. We’ll have a major package announced on Friday,” Biden told reporters Tuesday at the...
Supreme Court leaves in place the admissions plan at an elite Virginia public high school
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday left in place the admissions policy at an elite public high school in Virginia, despite claims that it discriminates against highly qualified Asian Americans. A panel of the federal appeals court in Richmond upheld the constitutionality of a revamped admissions policy at the...
WikiLeaks founder Assange faces his last legal roll of the dice in Britain to avoid U.S. extradition
LONDON — Julian Assange’s lawyers opened a final U.K. legal challenge Tuesday to stop the WikiLeaks founder from being sent to the United States to face spying charges, arguing that American authorities are seeking to punish him for exposing serious criminal acts by U.S. authorities. Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said there...
