U.S./World category, Page 436
Ex-Trump aide appears at Miami court to testify before federal grand jury
WASHINGTON — A former top aide to Donald Trump appeared Wednesday in federal court in Miami for testimony to a grand jury investigating potential classified-document mishandling and obstruction at the ex-president’s Palm Beach property, according to a person familiar with the matter. Taylor Budowich, who had served as a spokesman...
CNN head Chris Licht is out at the global news network after a brief, tumultuous tenureVideo
NEW YORK — The chief executive CNN pushed out of a job on Wednesday faced mounting problems in his first year leading the struggling network: viewership and profits were declining, programming blunders were growing and the network’s journalists were losing confidence by the day. Chris Licht’s very bad year culminated...
Japan supports Sweden’s NATO membership as defense ministers strengthen ties
TOKYO — Japan’s defense minister expressed his country’s support for Sweden’s NATO membership during talks Wednesday with his Swedish counterpart, as the two sides called for stronger military ties amid shared concern over threats from Russia and China. Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said that Sweden sees the need for...
Pope Francis undergoes abdominal surgery, will stay in hospital for several days
ROME — Pope Francis underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a hernia in his abdominal wall, the latest malady to befall the 86-year-old pontiff who had part of his colon removed two years ago. The Vatican said there were no complications after the three-hour surgery, during which Francis was under general...
Florida grand jury involved in Trump documents probe by Justice Department
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are using a grand jury in Florida as part of their investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach property, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday night. The grand jury is in addition to a separate panel...
Why is it so smoky outside? Canada wildfires lead to air-quality alerts in northeastern U.S.Video
Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. The effects of hundreds of wildfires burning across the western provinces to Quebec could be felt as far away as New...
2 dead in shooting after high school graduation ceremony in Virginia capitalVideo
RICHMOND, Va. — Seven people were shot, two fatally, when gunfire rang out Tuesday outside a downtown theater where a high school graduation ceremony had recently concluded, causing attendees to flee in panic, weep and clutch their children, authorities and witnesses reported. A 19-year-old suspect tried to flee but was...
Sheriff probes self-defense claim of white woman who fatally shot Black neighbor in front of kids
OCALA, Fla. — Authorities came under intense pressure Tuesday to arrest and charge a white woman who killed a Black neighbor on her front doorstep in a case that has put Florida’s divisive stand your ground law back into the spotlight. About three dozen mostly Black protesters gathered outside the...
Chesapeake Bay report cites environmental justice disparities
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A report on the Chesapeake Bay released Tuesday found strong disparities between communities in different parts of the bay’s watershed in terms of health, economics and social justice concerns. The findings show a larger context for the challenges of improving the health of the nation’s largest estuary,...
Peruvian judge affirms extradition to U.S. of chief suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance
LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian judge on Tuesday affirmed this week’s planned extradition to the U.S. of the main suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway. The judge’s ruling came less than 24 hours after the attorney for Dutchman Joran van der Sloot filed a writ...
Plane that crashed in Virginia lost contact with air traffic controllers during ascent, feds say
Only minutes into a doomed journey that ended on a remote Virginia mountain, the pilot of a business jet was not responding to air traffic control instructions and the situation was soon reported to a network that includes military, security and law enforcement agencies, according to federal aviation officials. Despite...
Abortion providers sue Kansas over new medication rule, longstanding waiting period
TOPEKA, Kan. — Abortion providers sued Kansas on Tuesday, challenging a new law requiring them to tell patients that an abortion medication can be stopped but also existing restrictions that include a decades-old requirement that patients wait 24 hours to terminate their pregnancies. The lawsuit filed in state district court...
OpenAI CEO suggests international agency like UN’s nuclear watchdog could oversee AI
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates— Artificial intelligence poses an “existential risk” to humanity, a key innovator warned during a visit to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, suggesting an international agency like the International Atomic Energy Agency oversee the ground-breaking technology. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is on a global tour...
Detroit clerk who locked door before customers were shot will face trial
DETROIT — A judge on Tuesday ordered a Detroit gas station clerk to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter, saying his decision to lock the door and then taunt an angry customer contributed to the fatal shooting of a bystander. Al-Hassan Aiyash “continued to pour gasoline on the fire,” said Judge...
Ex-Indiana attorney general eyes GOP governor’s race after groping case derailed 2020 reelection
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is considering whether to join the 2024 Republican governor’s race, nearly three years after his reelection bid was derailed by allegations that he drunkenly groped four women during a party. Hill built a following among social conservatives during his time in office...
Judge blocks Florida ban on trans minor care in narrow ruling, says ‘gender identity is real’
TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, saying in a Tuesday ruling that gender identity is real and the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment. Judge Robert...
Ukrainian dam breach: What is happening and what’s at stake
KYIV, Ukraine — The dramatic rupture of the dam that upheld Ukraine’s largest reservoir released a torrent of water Tuesday, raising fears of widespread damage and flooding in areas where tens of thousands of people live. It’s not clear what caused the breach in the Kakhovka dam, which was already...
Protests in France as unions make last-ditch bid to resist higher retirement age
PARIS— French union activists marched on the headquarters of the Paris Olympics and slowed traffic at the capital’s Orly Airport with strikes Tuesday as they sought to reignite resistance to a higher retirement age. But the last-ditch effort drew fewer followers than at the height of the movement earlier this...
European Union urges probe into ‘horrible and heinous’ poisoning of Afghan schoolgirls
KABUL, Afghanistan — The European Union called on Afghan authorities Tuesday to investigate the poisoning of primary schoolgirls in the country’s north after 77 students were hospitalized. Two separate attacks took place in Sar-e-Pul province on Saturday and Sunday, local authorities said. Sixty schoolgirls were poisoned in Naswan-e-Kabod Aab School...
D-Day: Historical photos of Americans storming Normandy beaches
On June 6, 1944, during World War II, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on D-Day as they began the liberation of German-occupied Western Europe. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Over 156,000 Allied troops landed...
Atlanta project decried as ‘Cop City’ gets funding approval from City Council
ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council early Tuesday approved funding for the construction of a proposed police and firefighter training center, rejecting the pleas of hundreds of activists who packed City Hall and spoke for hours in fierce opposition to the project they decry as “Cop City.” The 11-4 vote...
EU parliament criticized for slow pace of anti-corruption reform as offices searched over Qatargate
BRUSSELS — Six months after a group of European Union lawmakers was swept up in a cash-for-influence scandal, no new anti-corruption rules are in place at the European Parliament and the ones that do exist are not being enforced anyway, anti-corruption officials and parliamentarians said Tuesday. The criticism came as...
Normandy marks D-Day’s 79th anniversary, honors WWII veterans
ON OMAHA BEACH, France — An overwhelming sound of gunfire and men’s screams. That’s how World War II veteran Marie Scott described D-Day, as Tuesday’s ceremonies got underway in honor of those who fought for freedom in the largest naval, air and land operation in history. This year’s tribute to...
LGBTQ+ ‘State of emergency’ declared, ‘Americans Fight Back’ guidebook released
WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. on Tuesday and a released a guidebook summarizing what it calls discriminatory laws in each state, along with “know your rights” information and health and safety resources. Sounding the alarm about the current...
Dozens of dangerous rail crossings will be eliminated with $570 million in grants
OMAHA, Neb. — With the rail industry relying on longer and longer trains to cut costs, the Biden administration is handing out $570 million in grants to help eliminate many railroad crossings in 32 states. The grants announced Monday will contribute to building bridges or underpasses at the sites of...
