U.S./World category, Page 482
Paris Olympics sports bodies seek IOC clarity on Russia
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Ongoing uncertainty about letting Russian athletes try to qualify for the Paris Olympics affects “less than half” of its 32 sports, the umbrella group of Summer Games governing bodies said on Friday. Those sports have an urgent need for more clarity from the International Olympic Committee with...
Who’s benefiting from Russia’s war on Ukraine? Arms dealers and manufacturers
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — There’s always an element of the surreal at arms fairs. You catch it in the chipper tone of salespeople hawking new instruments of destruction; in the euphemisms — “defense” instead of “warfare,” “weapons platforms” rather than “guns” — sprinkled throughout glossy brochures; in the...
Abortion clinics crossing state borders not always welcome
BRISTOL, Va. — The pastors smiled as they held the doors open, grabbing the hands of those who walked by and urging many to keep praying and to keep showing up. Some responded with a hug. A few grimaced as they squeezed past. Shelley Koch, a longtime resident of southwest...
Alex Murdaugh’s fall from grace ends in life sentence for murder
WALTERBORO, S.C. — In the culmination of the once-prominent lawyer’s fall from grace, Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison without parole Friday after being convicted of murdering his wife and son. Judge Clifton Newman asked Murdaugh if he had anything he wanted to say before sentencing him to...
King Charles III picks France, Germany for 1st state visits
LONDON — King Charles III will travel to France and Germany for his first state visits since becoming monarch, Buckingham Palace said Friday, underscoring Britain’s efforts to build bridges with its European neighbors following years of strained relations caused by Brexit. Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, are set to...
U.S., South Korea announce largest field exercises in 5 years
SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean and U.S. militaries announced Friday they will hold their biggest joint field exercises in five years later this month, as the U.S. flew a long-range B-1B bomber to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against North Korea. The North has threatened...
2 Americans arrested on charges of selling tech to Russia
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Thursday arrested two Kansas men on allegations that the pair illegally exported aviation-related technology to Russia and provided repair services for the equipment. Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky and Douglas Robertson are charged with conspiracy, exporting controlled goods without a license, falsifying and failing to file...
Pentagon Papers leaker Ellsberg says he has terminal cancer
WASHINGTON — Daniel Ellsberg, who copied and leaked documents that revealed secret details of U.S. strategy in the Vietnam War and became known as the Pentagon Papers, said he has terminal cancer and months to live. Ellsberg posted on his Facebook page Thursday that doctors diagnosed the 91-year-old with inoperable...
Black Vietnam vet getting his due: Medal of Honor
WASHINGTON — Nearly 60 years after he was recommended for the nation’s highest military award, retired Col. Paris Davis, one of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat, received the Medal of Honor on Friday for his bravery in the Vietnam War. At a crowded...
Russia seeks explanation for Serbian rockets in Ukraine
BELGRADE, Serbia — Russia is seeking an official explanation from its ally Serbia about reports that the Balkan country has delivered thousands of rockets to Ukraine for its fight against Russia’s invasion. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed “deepest concern” about the reports, which first came from pro-government Russian...
Jury quickly finds Murdaugh guilty of murder of wife, son
WALTERBORO, S.C. — Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder Thursday in the shooting deaths of his wife and son in a case that chronicled the unraveling of a powerful Southern family with tales of privilege, greed and addiction. The jury deliberated for less than three hours...
As Tennessee, others target drag shows, many wonder: Why?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — “If I hadn’t been a girl, I’d have been a drag queen.” Dolly Parton has uttered those words famously and often. But if she really were a drag queen, one of Tennessee’s most famous daughters would likely be out of a job under legislation signed into law...
Deadly Greek train crash prompts strike; relatives give DNA
THESSALONIKI, Greece — Family members awaited the results of DNA testing to identify victims of a train crash that killed nearly 60 people in Greece, as workers went on strike Thursday saying the rail system is outdated, underfunded and dangerous. The government has blamed human error, and a railway official...
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ about to get 1st U.S. limits
The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose restrictions on harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water after finding they are dangerous in amounts so small as to be undetectable. But experts say removing them will cost billions, a burden that will fall hardest on small communities with few resources. Concerned...
Defense says zeal to convict Murdaugh derailed investigation
WALTERBORO, S.C. — A defense lawyer for Alex Murduaugh said Thursday that state agents were so determined to get the disgraced South Carolina attorney convicted of murder in the killings of his wife and son that they lied about or misrepresented evidence. Attorney Jim Griffin gave the defense’s closing, emphasizing...
Trump can be sued for Jan. 6 riot harm, Justice Dept. says
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump can be sued by injured Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department said Thursday in a federal court case testing Trump’s legal vulnerability for his speech before the riot. The Justice Department...
Pennsylvania unseals more search warrant details in Idaho killings
STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Law enforcement officials have revealed more details regarding items seized from the Pennsylvania home where they arrested a graduate student charged with stabbing four University of Idaho students to death. Additional court documents made public Thursday stated that a knife, a pocketknife, and a Glock 22 handgun...
Gunmen leave Argentine soccer star Messi a menacing message
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Gunmen left a threatening message Thursday for Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi and opened fire at a supermarket owned by his in-laws in Argentina’s third-largest city, police said. Nobody was injured in the early morning attack, and it was unclear why assailants would target Messi or...
Rehab on hold: covid devastated prison learning programs
CHOWCHILLA, California — Joseph Sena has spent nearly half his 27 years in prison for manslaughter. For almost as long, he’s been striving to make himself a better man than when he first arrived. He has taken courses in creative writing, addressed his addictions, and attended school in prison, hoping...
Egypt unveils newly discovered chamber inside Great Pyramid
CAIRO — Egypt’s antiquities authorities on Thursday unveiled a newly discovered, sealed-off chamber inside one of the Great Pyramids at Giza, just outside of Cairo, that dates back some 4,500 years ago. The corridor — on the northern side of the Pyramid of Khufu — was discovered using modern scanning...
Russia claims Ukraine crossborder sabotage raid; Kyiv denies
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian officials accused Ukrainian saboteurs of crossing into western Russia and attacking local villages Thursday, an accusation that Ukraine denied, warning that Moscow could use the claims to justify stepping up its own assaults in the ongoing war. The exact circumstances of the incident reported in the...
Blinken, Lavrov meet briefly as U.S.-Russia tensions soar
NEW DELHI — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov talked briefly Thursday at a meeting of top diplomats from the Group of 20 nations in the highest-level in-person talks between the two countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The short encounter came as relations...
NASA mission with North Allegheny grad launches to space stationVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched four astronauts, including a North Allegheny graduate, to the International Space Station for NASA early Thursday morning. The mission also includes the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended monthslong stay. The Falcon rocket bolted from Kennedy Space Center shortly...
Connecticut hunter who killed pet dogs says he thought they were coyotes
DANBURY, Conn. — A hunter who told authorities he killed and skinned what he thought were two coyotes, but later discovered they were a Connecticut family’s pet German shepherds, has been criminally charged. During a hearing Wednesday in Danbury Superior Court that drew dozens of people including the dogs’ owners...
Police: Worker shoots, kills manager at Hobby Lobby in Oklahoma City
OKLAHOMA CITY — An employee at a Hobby Lobby distribution center shot and killed a manger at a distribution facility on Wednesday, Oklahoma City police said. The shooting happened about 5 p.m. near the company’s headquarters on the city’s southwest side, said police Sgt. Rob Robertson. “The suspect produced a...
