U.S./World category, Page 570
Finnish PM defends dancing, takes drug test to clear herself
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Friday she has taken a drug test “for her own legal protection” after a video was leaked of her dancing and lip-syncing songs at a private party. Marin defended her actions, saying she drank alcohol with friends but did not do any drugs. A...
Utah judge reverses law banning transgender kids from sports
Transgender girls in Utah will be given the opportunity to participate in female sports as the school year begins after a judge on Friday reversed a ban pending legal challenges from parents. Instead of an outright ban, transgender girls will now go before a state commission of political appointees who...
Walmart expands abortion coverage for employees
Walmart, the nation’s largest employer, is expanding its abortion coverage for employees after staying largely mum on the issue for months following the Supreme Court ruling that scrapped a nationwide right to abortion. In a memo sent to employees on Friday, the company said its health care plans will now...
Foot found in Yellowstone hot spring linked to July death
Part of a human foot found in a shoe floating in a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park earlier this week is believed to be linked the death of a person last month, park officials said Friday. The July 31 death is being investigated but officials do not suspect foul...
Russia probe memo wrongly withheld under Barr, court rules
The Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr improperly withheld portions of an internal memo Barr cited in announcing that then-President Donald Trump had not obstructed justice in the Russia investigation, a federal appeals panel said Friday. The department had argued that the 2019 memo represented private deliberations of its...
Judge: Prosecutors cannot enforce Michigan’s abortion ban
A Michigan judge on Friday blocked county prosecutors from enforcing the state’s 1931 ban on abortion for the foreseeable future, after two days of witness testimony from abortion experts, providers and the state’s chief medical officer. The ruling follows a state Court of Appeals ruling this month that county prosecutors...
Pittsburgh woman bitten by shark at Myrtle Beach; she’s one of 2 victims
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Two swimmers survived being bitten by sharks this week at South Carolina’s most popular beach. Both people were attacked in Myrtle Beach on Monday with one suffering a serious injury to the forearm and the second a more glancing bite to the leg, police told media...
Nicaraguan police arrest bishop, other priests in raid
MEXICO CITY — Nicaraguan police on Friday raided the residence of a Roman Catholic bishop who is an outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega’s government, apparently detaining the senior clergyman and several other priests holed up inside for two weeks after police set up a cordon. The pre-dawn raid came...
Biden to host unity summit against hate-fueled violence
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden will host a White House summit next month aimed at combating a spate of hate-fueled violence in the U.S., as he works to deliver on his campaign pledge to “heal the soul of the nation.” The White House announced Friday that Biden will host...
GOP candidate says call for Merrick Garland’s death was ‘facetious’
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Republican candidate for Congress in western New York said in a radio interview that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland “should be executed” for authorizing a search former President Donald Trump’s home, before clarifying later in the show that he wasn’t being serious. Buffalo-area businessman Carl Paladino...
Brain-eating amoeba suspected in 2nd Midwest death
OMAHA, Neb. — A child likely died from a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in an eastern Nebraska river, health officials said, making it the second such probable death in the Midwest this summer and raising the question of whether climate change is playing a role....
U.S. offers extra monkeypox vaccine doses for gay pride eventsVideo
NEW YORK — The U.S. is setting aside an extra 50,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine for places with upcoming gay pride events, health officials said Thursday. The number of doses sent to each place will be based on factors like the size of the event, how many health workers will...
Rhino horns trafficker sentenced to over 5 years in prison
NEW YORK — A citizen of Liberia and resident of Uganda was sentenced to over five years in prison Thursday after admitting that he participated in wildlife trafficking that authorities say moved rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory worth at least $3.4 million. Moazu Kromah, 49, of Kampala, Uganda, was sentenced...
Justice Department: 3 men charged in Whitey Bulger’s killing
BOSTON — Three men, including a Mafia hitman, have been charged in the killing of notorious Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger in a West Virginia prison, the Justice Department said Thursday. The charges against Fotios “Freddy” Geas, Paul J. DeCologero and Sean McKinnon come nearly four years after Bulger’s...
Judge appears willing to unveil some of Mar-a-Lago affidavit
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Justice Department to put forward proposed redactions as he committed to making public at least part of the affidavit supporting the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s estate in Florida. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart gave prosecutors...
Russia deploys hypersonic missiles to its Baltic exclave
MOSCOW — The Russian military said Thursday that it has deployed warplanes armed with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to the country’s Kaliningrad region, a move that comes amid soaring tensions with the West over Moscow’s action in Ukraine. Russia’s Defense Ministry said three MiG-31 fighters with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles arrived at...
A look at the world’s skinniest skyscraper: Steinway TowerVideo
NEW YORK — One skyscraper stands out from the rest in the Manhattan skyline. It’s not the tallest, but it is the skinniest — the world’s skinniest, in fact. The 84-story residential Steinway Tower, designed by New York architecture firm SHoP Architects, has the title of “most slender skyscraper in...
Lawyer’s group text causes 2nd Florida murder case mistrial
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A prosecutor in a murder case complained about a judge’s ruling in a group text message that included the judge, resulting in a second mistrial for a man charged with killing his girlfriend’s young son. Now the defense wants the case dismissed altogether. Broward County Judge...
U.S. to hold trade talks with Taiwan
HUALIEN, Taiwan — The U.S. government will hold trade talks with Taiwan in a sign of support for the island democracy that China claims as its own territory, prompting Beijing to warn Thursday it will take action if necessary to “safeguard its sovereignty.” The announcement of trade talks comes after...
Accused Pelosi laptop thief wants off house arrest to visit Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire
A Mechanicsburg woman accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol wants to be let out of house arrest to visit the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire this weekend, according to court documents. Riley Williams, 25, filed the request in federal court to...
Trump supporters’ threats to judge spur democracy concerns
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of federal judges face the same task every day: review an affidavit submitted by federal agents and approve requests for a search warrant. But for U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the fallout from his decision to approve a search warrant has been far from routine. He has...
Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg to plead guilty, testify against company
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s chief financial officer is expected to plead guilty to tax violations Thursday in a deal that would require him to testify about illicit business practices at the former president’s company, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Allen Weisselberg is charged with...
Children’s hospitals harassed over transgender care programs
BOSTON — Doctors and other staffers at Boston Children’s Hospital are being threatened with violence over its surgical program for transgender youths, administrators said, and other U.S. children’s hospitals are also being harassed online. Boston Children’s is home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United...
Giant sharks once roamed the seas, feasting on huge meals
NEW YORK — Today’s sharks have nothing on their ancient cousins. A giant shark that roamed the oceans millions of years ago could have devoured a creature the size of a killer whale in just five bites, new research suggests. For their study published Wednesday, researchers used fossil evidence to...
Judge: Pharmacies owe 2 Ohio counties $650M in opioids suit
CLEVELAND — A federal judge in Cleveland awarded $650 million in damages Wednesday to two Ohio counties that won a landmark lawsuit against national pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, claiming the way they distributed opioids to customers caused severe harm to communities and created a public nuisance. U.S. District...
