U.S./World category, Page 442
U.S. cities reporting fewer killings hope crime strategies prevent a summer surge
CHICAGO — An expected bump in violent crime this summer has mayors and police officials around the U.S. rolling out familiar strategies of making officers more visible and engaging with community groups, in some cases leaning on civilians to enforce curfews and keep the peace. Chicago is among the U.S....
No ‘joke’: Biden celebrating LSU, UConn champion basketball teams at White House
WASHINGTON — It’s sports Friday at the White House. President Joe Biden was hosting the NCAA championship men’s and women’s basketball teams at separate events. His wife, Jill, planned to join the celebration for Louisiana State’s women’s team. After the Tigers beat Iowa for the title in April in a...
Disney opposes DeSantis request to disqualify judge in free speech lawsuit
ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney is opposing a request by Gov. Ron DeSantis to disqualify a judge overseeing the company’s First Amendment lawsuit against the Florida governor and others in which Disney says it was punished for speaking out against Florida legislation that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” Disney said...
Biden releases new strategy to tackle rise in antisemitism, says ‘hate will not prevail’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced what he said is the most ambitious and comprehensive undertaking by the U.S. government to fight hate, bias and violence against Jews, outlining more than 100 steps the administration and its partners can take to combat an alarming rise in antisemitism. Speaking...
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick refuses to say if Texas Senate has votes to convict AG Ken Paxton
AUSTIN — Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick declined to say if enough senators would vote to remove Attorney General Ken Paxton from office should the Capitol’s high chamber hold an impeachment trial. The Texas House is poised to vote on articles of impeachment for Paxton, which include allegations of bribery...
Pope runs fever, skips meetings, Vatican says
Pope Francis skipped meetings Friday because he was running a fever, the Vatican said. There were no details about how sick Francis was. The last time he spiked a serious fever, in March, the 86-year-old pontiff was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with acute bronchitis. He received...
Flight cancellations, strikes raise fears of new summer travel chaos in Europe
LONDON — British Airways canceled dozens of flights Friday, blaming computer problems for disrupting plans for thousands of passengers at the start of a busy holiday weekend — a rocky kickoff to the summer travel season in Europe. The technical glitches and strikes by airport staff across Europe are stirring...
Russia says Ukraine attacks border regions; Moscow’s forces strike Dnipro clinic
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s southern Belgorod region bordering Ukraine came under attack from Ukrainian artillery fire, mortar shells and drones Friday, authorities said, hours after two drones struck a Russian city in a region next to the annexed Crimea Peninsula. The Kremlin’s forces, meanwhile, struck a clinic in Dnipro, in...
Report: Trump workers moved classified documents at Mar-a-Lago before prosecutors arrived
Former President Donald Trump’s workers at Mar-a-Lago reportedly moved boxes of classified documents just a day before federal prosecutors came to collect papers pursuant to a subpoena. The two Trump employees, including longtime valet Walt Nauta, brought boxes of documents to a basement storage room on June 2, just hours...
Murder, cruelty charges dismissed in Georgia toddler’s hot car death
ATLANTA — A father from Georgia will not face another trial over his toddler’s death in a hot car, prosecutors said Thursday, after the Georgia Supreme Court last year reversed his murder and child cruelty convictions. Justin Ross Harris, 42, was found guilty in November 2016 on eight counts including...
Supreme Court limits EPA protection for wetlands, ruling for property rights over clean waterVideo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday limited federal protection for millions of acres of wetlands, ruling for property rights over clean water. In a 5-4 decision, the justices said the Clean Water Act does not forbid discharges of pollutants into marshy areas or dry creek beds because water does...
7-year-old West Virginia child charged with arson of family home
RIPLEY, W.Va. — A 7-year-old West Virginia child has been charged with first-degree arson after intentionally setting the family home on fire while the child’s parents were asleep inside, officials said. The juvenile was taken into custody Wednesday evening after the blaze, which caused minor burn injuries to two people,...
Attorney demands firing of Mississippi police officer after 11-year-old boy is shotVideo
JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi police officer who shot and wounded an unarmed 11-year-old Black boy in the child’s home should be fired, an attorney for the child’s mother said Thursday. The child, Aderrien Murry, was hospitalized five days for a collapsed lung, lacerated liver and fractured ribs after an...
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 attack
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers extremist group founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison for orchestrating a weekslong plot that culminated in his followers attacking the U.S. Capitol in a bid to keep President Joe Biden out of the White House after winning the 2020 election. Rhodes,...
Target on the defensive after removing LGBTQ+-themed products
NEW YORK — Target once distinguished itself as being boldly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. Now that status is tarnished after it removed some LGBTQ+-themed products and relocated Pride Month displays to the back of stores in certain Southern locations in response to online complaints and in-store confrontations that it...
Baby boomers push nation’s median age to almost 39 as fewer children are born
The United States grew older, faster, last decade. The share of residents 65 or older grew by more than a third from 2010 to 2020 and at the fastest rate of any decade in 130 years, while the share of children declined, according to new figures from the most recent...
Man shot roommate after accusing him of eating the last Hot Pocket, police say
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A man in Kentucky’s largest city is facing criminal charges after allegedly shooting his roommate during a dispute over a Hot Pocket, authorities say. Clifton Williams, 64, was arrested on assault charges Sunday after he accused his roommate of eating their last Hot Pocket and attacked him,...
Capitol rioter who propped feet on Pelosi’s desk in photo sentenced to over 4 yearsVideo
WASHINGTON — An Arkansas man who propped his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in a widely circulated photo from the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in prison. Richard “Bigo” Barnett became one of the faces of the Jan. 6...
Fuzzy falcon chicks who nest at Michigan State football stadium get tracking bands
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Newly fitted with tracking bands, four peregrine falcon chicks named Pickles, Muhammad, Egbert and Swooper have a nest in one of the best seats — make that perches — at Michigan State University’s football stadium. Scientists and college students on Wednesday carefully attached metal tracking bands...
1 year after Uvalde shooting, investigation of police response continues
AUSTIN, Texas — A criminal investigation in Texas over the hesitant police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting is still ongoing as Wednesday marks one year since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde. The continuing probe underlines the lasting fallout over...
Amanda Gorman’s poem for Biden’s inauguration banned by Florida school
MIAMI — A poem written for President Joe Biden’s inauguration has been placed on a restricted list at a South Florida elementary school after one parent’s complaint. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, poet Amanda Gorman vowed to fight back. Her poem, “The Hill We Climb” was challenged by the...
Yellowstone baby bison put to death after visitor picks it up, leading herd to reject it
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park officials killed a newborn bison because its herd wouldn’t take the animal back after a man picked it up. The calf became separated from its mother when the herd crossed the Lamar River in northeastern Yellowstone on Saturday. The unidentified man pushed...
Debt ceiling explained: Why it’s a struggle in Washington and how the impasse could end
WASHINGTON — Pushing to strike a debt ceiling deal, the Republican negotiating team headed Wednesday to the White House for more discussions with the sides still far apart. Time is short: There are just days left before the government could run out of cash to pay its bills. The White...
1st seditious conspiracy sentences in Jan. 6 attack to be handed down
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and members of his antigovernment group will be the first Jan. 6 defendants sentenced for seditious conspiracy in a series of hearings beginning this week that will set the standard for more punishments of far-right extremists to follow. Prosecutors will urge the judge...
Montana 1st to ban those in drag from reading to children in schools, libraries
HELENA, Mont. — Montana has become the first state to specifically ban people dressed in drag from reading books to children at public schools and libraries, part of a host of legislation aimed at the rights the LGBTQ+ community in Montana and other states. Bills in Florida and Tennessee also...
