U.S./World category, Page 525
Keep covid military vaccine mandate, defense chief says
ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he wants to keep the military’s covid-19 vaccine mandate in place to protect the health of the troops, as Republican governors and lawmakers press to rescind it. This past week more than 20 Republican governors sent a letter to...
Pentagon chief: U.S. faces pivotal years in countering China
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The U.S. is at a pivotal point with China and will need military strength to ensure that American values, not Beijing’s, set global norms in the 21st century, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday. Austin’s speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum capped a week in...
Both sides see high stakes in gay rights Supreme Court case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is being warned about the potentially dire consequences of a case next week involving a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for same-sex couples. Rule for the designer and the justices will expose not only same-sex couples but also Black people, immigrants,...
FDA change ushers in cheaper, easier-to-get hearing aids
It’s now a lot easier — and cheaper — for many hard-of-hearing Americans to get help. Hearing aids can now be sold without a prescription from a specialist. Over-the-counter, or OTC, hearing aids started hitting the market in October at prices that can be thousands of dollars lower than prescription...
Non-religious voters wield clout, tilt heavily Democratic
When members of the small Pennsylvania chapter of Secular Democrats of America log on for their monthly meetings, they’re not there for a virtual happy hour. “We don’t sit around at our meetings patting ourselves on the back for not believing in God together,” said David Brown, a founder from...
Jury begins deliberations in Harvey Weinstein rape trial
LOS ANGELES — Jurors began deliberating Friday in the Los Angeles rape and sexual assault trial of Harvey Weinstein, after a final push from the prosecution. “You have irrefutable, overwhelming evidence of the nature of this man, and what he did to these women,” Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson told...
Flu season worsens as 44 states report high activity
NEW YORK — The U.S. flu season keeps getting worse. Health officials said Friday that 7.5% of outpatient medical visits last week were due to flu-like illnesses. That’s as high as the peak of the 2017-18 flu season and higher than any season since. The annual winter flu season usually...
FBI director raises national security concerns about TikTok
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Chris Wray is raising national security concerns about TikTok, warning Friday that control of the popular video sharing app is in the hands of a Chinese government “that doesn’t share our values.” Wray said the FBI was concerned that the Chinese had the ability to control...
Explainer: Deaths of 4 Idaho students fuel online sleuths
BOISE, Idaho — The deaths of four University of Idaho students nearly three weeks ago has riled up thousands of would-be armchair sleuths, many of whom are posting speculation and unfounded rumors about the fatal stabbings online. Relatively few details have been released in the horrific case that has left...
Negotiations begin for a global treaty on plastic pollution
On Friday afternoon more than 2,000 experts will wrap up a week of negotiations on plastic pollution at one of the largest global gatherings ever to address what even industry leaders in plastics say is a crisis. It was the first meeting of a United Nations committee set up to...
Russia rejects pullout from Ukraine as condition for talks
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia said Friday that Western demands it should pull out completely from Ukraine as part of any future talks to end the war effectively rule out any such negotiations, as Russian strikes continued and a Ukrainian official set his country’s battle losses at up to 13,000 troops....
Prosecution resumes closing argument at Trump Org. trial
NEW YORK — Prosecutors resumed their closing argument Friday in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial, promising to share previously unrevealed details about Donald Trump’s knowledge of a tax dodge scheme hatched by one of his top executives. “Donald Trump knew exactly what was going on with his top...
Infowars host Alex Jones files for personal bankruptcy
Infowars host Alex Jones filed for personal bankruptcy protection in Texas on Friday as he faces nearly $1.5 billion in court judgments over conspiracy theories he spread about the Sandy Hook school massacre. Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in bankruptcy court in Houston. His filing lists $1 billion...
Pentagon debuts its new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider
WASHINGTON — America’s newest nuclear stealth bomber is making its public debut after years of secret development and as part of the Pentagon’s answer to rising concerns over a future conflict with China. The B-21 Raider is the first new American bomber aircraft in more than 30 years. Almost every...
Elon Musk suspends Kanye West’s Twitter account
Early Friday, Kanye West’s Twitter account was suspended after the rapper posted a picture of a swastika merged with the Star of David. New Twitter CEO Elon Musk confirmed the suspension in a tweet replying to West’s post of an unflattering photo of the billionaire, which West called his “final...
Bidens entertain more than 330 guests at 1st state dinnerVideo
WASHINGTON — The first White House state dinner of President Joe Biden’s administration drew big names Thursday from fashion, entertainment, politics and business who turned out to help celebrate French President Emmanuel Macron and the return of large social events after the pandemic. There were kisses all around as the...
82-year-old woman arrested for not paying $77 trash bill
VALLEY, Ala. — An 82-year-old Alabama woman was arrested for not paying a $77.80 trash bill. Court records show the Valley woman was arrested Sunday for not paying the garbage service bill that covered the months of June, July and August. She was charged with a misdemeanor offense of “failure...
Matt Gaetz friend gets 11 years for sex crime, other countsVideo
ORLANDO — A former Florida tax collector whose arrest led to a federal probe into U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and other offenses. Joel Greenberg, former tax collector for Seminole County, was accused of stalking a political...
Trump probe: Court halts Mar-a-Lago special master review
WASHINGTON — A unanimous federal appeals court on Thursday ended an independent review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, removing a hurdle the Justice Department said had delayed its criminal investigation into the retention of top-secret government information. The decision by the three-judge panel represents a...
Senate moves to avert rail strike amid dire warnings
WASHINGTON — The Senate moved quickly Thursday to avert a rail strike that the Biden administration and business leaders warned would have had devastating consequences for the nation’s economy. The Senate passed a bill to bind rail companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached between the rail...
High court to rule on Biden student loan cancellation plan
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to decide whether the Biden administration can broadly cancel student loans, keeping the program blocked for now but signaling a final answer by early summer. That’s about two months before the newly extended pause on loan repayments is set to expire. The administration...
Russian shelling cuts off power again in liberated Kherson
KHERSON, Ukraine — Russian shelling cut off power in much of the recently liberated Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday, just days after it was restored amid Moscow’s ongoing drive to destroy key civilian infrastructure as freezing weather sets in. In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned the capital’s millions of...
Israel’s Netanyahu puts hardliner in charge of settlements
JERUSALEM — Israel’s designated prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday a coalition deal that will give a hardline, pro-settler party control over a number of key government ministries and a senior role in overseeing the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The agreement with the Religious...
Hawaii volcano’s lava oozes toward key Big Island highway
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — Rivers of glowing lava oozing from the world’s largest volcano could swallow the main highway linking the east and west coasts of Hawaii’s Big Island as early as this weekend, and there’s nothing humans can do to stop it, experts said. Mauna Loa awoke from its 38-year...
U.K. royals arrive in Boston to showcase youthful monarchy
BOSTON — The Prince and Princess of Wales embarked Wednesday on their first overseas trip since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, aiming to showcase the younger face of a monarchy that is tackling important issues like climate change as it attempts to remain relevant in a modern, multicultural Britain....
