U.S./World category, Page 589
South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh charged with murder in death of wife, son
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was charged with murder Thursday in the deaths of his wife and younger son, who were fatally shot outside their home more than a year ago. Murdaugh is already jailed and faces dozens of criminal charges that have piled up in...
Ashes of 8,000 WWII victims found in 2 Poland mass graves
WARSAW, Poland — Special investigators in Poland say they have found two mass graves containing the ashes of at least 8,000 Poles slain by the Nazis during World War II in forest executions that the Nazis later tried to hide by incinerating the bodies and planting trees on the burial...
Russian missiles kill at least 23 in Ukraine, wound more than 100
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian missiles struck a city in central Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukraine’s president accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in locations without military value. Officials said Kalibr cruise missiles fired from a Russian submarine...
Venezuela’s alarmingly low vaccine rate among worst in world
CARACAS, Venezuela — Wails pierced the walls of the walk-in clinic tucked among rundown homes in the heart of Venezuela’s capital. Artemis Parra got one vaccine in each arm, for polio and measles. The shots were free at the government site, and they filled gaps in the 1-year-old’s vaccination record....
Southwest Virginia flooding damages homes, prompts rescuesVideo
WHITEWOOD, Va. — Flooding in a remote pocket of southwest Virginia has damaged more than 100 homes and left some 40 people unaccounted for, but there are no confirmed deaths or injuries, authorities said Wednesday. First responders in Buchanan County began receiving reports of rising water and damage Tuesday night,...
Ex-CIA engineer convicted in largest theft ever of secret information
NEW YORK — A former CIA software engineer was convicted Wednesday of federal charges accusing him of the biggest theft of classified information in CIA history. Joshua Schulte, who chose to defend himself at a New York City retrial, had told jurors in closing arguments that the CIA and FBI...
Witness tampering at Jan. 6 hearing? Rep. Liz Cheney raises prospectVideo
WASHINGTON — In the latest Jan. 6 hearing, already standing out for its notable moments, Rep. Liz Cheney saved the most startling for last. In her closing remarks, the co-chair of the House investigating committee said the panel had learned that former President Donald Trump had recently tried to contact...
Explainer: Why U.S. inflation is so high, and when it may ease
WASHINGTON — Inflation’s relentless surge didn’t merely persist in June. It accelerated. For the 12 months ending in June, the government’s consumer price index rocketed 9.1%, the fastest year-over-year jump since 1981. And that was nothing next to what energy prices did: Fueled by heavy demand and by Russia’s invasion...
Federal prosecutor: Pa. dentist confessed to wife’s safari death
DENVER — A wealthy Western Pennsylvania dentist killed his wife of 34 years with a shotgun blast at dawn on a remote African safari in 2016, collected nearly $5 million in insurance proceeds and later blurted out to his longtime lover that “I killed my (expletive) wife for you!,” a...
Amazon handed Ring footage to police without user consent
Amazon has provided Ring doorbell footage to law enforcement 11 times this year without the user’s permission, a revelation that’s bound to raise more privacy and civil liberty concerns about its video-sharing agreements with police departments across the country. The disclosure came in a letter from the company that was...
Capitol rioter with Confederate flag gets 5 months in prison
A Maryland man who used a lacrosse stick attached to a Confederate battle flag to shove a police officer during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Wednesday to five months in prison, according to a Justice Department spokesman. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also sentenced David Alan Blair, to...
Bill Gates gives $20 billion to stem ‘significant suffering’
Bill Gates, concerned about the “significant suffering” caused by global setbacks including the covid-19 pandemic, announced Wednesday that he will donate $20 billion to his foundation so it can increase its annual spending. The donation, combined with longtime board member Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett’s $3.1 billion gift last month,...
Man charged with rape of girl, 10, who traveled for abortion
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl whose case drew national attention following a doctor’s comments that the child had to travel to Indiana for an abortion, an account that had led some prominent Republicans — including Ohio’s attorney general and a congressman...
Sri Lanka in crisis: President flees and ire turns to PM
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s president fled the country Wednesday, plunging a country already reeling from economic chaos into more political turmoil. Protesters demanding a change in leadership then trained their ire on the prime minister and stormed his office. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife left aboard an...
Demand for monkeypox vaccine overwhelms NYC system
NEW YORK — Soaring demand for the monkeypox vaccine caused the appointment system to crash in New York City, one of many places where supplies have been running out almost as soon as they arrive. City health officials acknowledged the frustration over the limited supply of the vaccine and vowed...
South Africa’s many illegal guns a factor in bar shootings
JOHANNESBURG — South African police are patrolling the streets of Johannesburg’s Soweto township, following a spate of bar shootings that have rocked the nation. The country’s abundance of guns held illegally is partially to blame for the shootings in which 22 people were killed at three different taverns this past...
Russia, Ukraine discuss UN plan to free up grain exports
ISTANBUL — Russia said Wednesday it has presented a package of proposals for a “practical and quick solution” to unblock the export of Ukrainian grain during talks between Russian and Ukrainian military officials in Istanbul. Both sides were seeking an agreement on a United Nations plan for the grain’s shipment...
Wall Street opens lower after another hot inflation report
NEW YORK — Early gains on Wall Street were doused Wednesday after the government reported that surging prices for gas, food and rent catapulted U.S. inflation to a new four-decade peak in June, likely sealing the case for another large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Futures for the...
Prominent Greek actor-director found guilty of 2 rapes
ATHENS, Greece — A prominent Greek stage actor and director has been found guilty of raping two men when they were minors. Dimitris Lignadis, 57, was found guilty by an Athens court Wednesday in two out of four cases of rape. Lignadis was acquitted for insufficient evidence in a third...
Heard faces high legal hurdles seeking to reverse Depp win
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard libel trial, which generated intense interest for two months earlier this year as a livestreamed, no-holds-barred soap opera featuring one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, is not fading away quietly. Earlier this month, Heard’s lawyers filed a 51-page motion asking Judge Penney Azcarate...
U.S. inflation surges again in June, raising risks for economy
WASHINGTON — U.S. inflation surged to a new four-decade high in June because of rising prices for gas, food and rent, squeezing household budgets and pressuring the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively — trends that raise the risk of a recession. The government’s consumer price index soared 9.1%...
Video shows police milling in hallway during Uvalde massacre
AUSTIN, Texas — Surveillance footage captured the gunman in the Uvalde school shooting enter the building with a AR-15 style rifle and later shows officers in body armor milling in the hallway outside the fourth-grade classrooms where 19 children and two teachers were killed. The video published Tuesday by the...
Prosecutor: Ohio escapee had woman at knifepoint, was killed
MASON, Ohio — A member of a law enforcement tactical team shot and killed an escaped prison inmate on Tuesday after the team entered an Ohio hotel room where authorities said he was holding a woman at knifepoint, prosecutors said. Authorities in Hamilton County had been seeking Thomas Cromwell, 27,...
Superbug infections, deaths rose at beginning of pandemic
NEW YORK — The toll of drug-resistant “superbug” infections worsened during the first year of the covid-19 pandemic, U.S. health officials said Tuesday. After years of decline, 2020 ushered in a 15% increase in hospital infections and deaths caused by some of the most worrisome bacterial infections, according to a...
Baby stars, dancing galaxies: NASA shows new cosmic views
GREENBELT, Md. — A sparkling landscape of baby stars. A foamy blue and orange view of a dying star. Five galaxies in a cosmic dance. The splendors of the universe glowed in a new batch of images released Tuesday from NASA’s powerful new telescope. The unveiling from the $10 billion...
