U.S./World category, Page 605
Russians control 80% of contested city in eastern Ukraine
LVIV, Ukraine — Sievierodonetsk, the main focus of the fighting in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, isn’t yet blocked off by Russian troops even though they control about 80% of the city and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it, an official said Tuesday. “There is still an...
Biden to visit Israel and ‘pariah’ Saudi Arabia next month
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will make his first trip to the Middle East next month with visits to Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, the White House announced Tuesday. The decision to pay a call on Saudi leaders during the July 13-16 trip comes after Biden as a...
Musk to address Twitter employees for 1st time this week
Elon Musk will address Twitter employees Thursday for the first time since the billionaire and Tesla CEO offered $44 billion to buy the social media platform, the company said Tuesday. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced an all-hands meeting to employees in an email on Monday, saying they’d be able to...
Yellowstone floods wipe out roads, bridges, strand visitorsVideo
HELENA, Mont. — A torrent of rain combined with a rapidly melting snowpack caused a deluge of flooding that forced the evacuation of some parts of Yellowstone National Park, cutting off electricity and forcing park officials to close all entrances indefinitely, just as the summer tourist season was ramping up....
Former Philly elections official tells Jan. 6 panel that Trump tweet led to ‘graphic’ threatsVideo
Al Schmidt, the only Republican official in Philadelphia to oversee voting during the 2020 presidential election, on Monday told the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that with a single tweet, then-President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of death threats against him and his family...
Right-wing extremists amp up anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online
BOISE, Idaho — A few weeks before 31 members of a white supremacist group were arrested for allegedly planning to riot at a northern Idaho LGBTQ pride event, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender people should be executed by the government. Around the...
Ohio governor signs bill allowing armed school employees
COLUMBUS — Ohio school districts could begin arming employees as soon as this fall under a bill signed into law Monday by GOP Gov. Mike DeWine. The law, as enacted, requires up to 24 hours of training before an employee can go armed, and up to eight hours of annual...
Autopsy: Teen died of blunt trauma in Florida ride death
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Missouri teenager died of blunt force trauma after falling from a 430-foot Florida drop-tower amusement park ride, according to an autopsy released Monday. The report by the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office also ruled that 14-year-old Tyre Sampson’s death in March was an accident. Sampson slipped...
Justices rule against detained immigrants seeking release
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has ruled against immigrants who are seeking their release from long periods of detention while they fight deportation orders. In two cases decided Monday, the court said that the immigrants, who fear persecution if sent back to their native countries, have no right under a...
Search continues for missing men in Brazilian Amazon
The search for an Indigenous expert and a journalist who disappeared in a remote area of Brazil’s Amazon continued on Monday following the discovery of a backpack, laptop and other personal belongings submerged in a river. The items were taken by Federal Police officers by boat to Atalaia do Norte,...
North Korea plans crackdown as Kim pushes for internal unity
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top deputies have pushed for a crackdown on officials who abuse their power and commit other “unsound and non-revolutionary acts,” state media reported Monday, as Kim seeks greater internal unity to overcome a covid-19 outbreak and economic difficulties. It wasn’t clear what...
Kevin Spacey to face London court on sexual offense charges
LONDON — Actor Kevin Spacey has been formally charged with sexual offenses against three men in Britain and is expected to appear in a court in London this week, British police said Monday. Spacey, 62, is accused of four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person...
Iraqi held by U.S. at Guantanamo pleads guilty to war crimes
FORT MEADE, Md. — An Iraqi man who has been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center for more than 15 years pleaded guilty Monday to war crimes charges for his role in al-Qaida attacks against U.S. and allied forces along with civilians in Afghanistan. The pleas by the prisoner...
Union to vote on authorizing Atlantic City casino strike
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City’s main casino workers union will vote Wednesday on whether to authorize a strike against the city’s casinos, with whom they have yet to reach new contract agreements. Local 54 of the Unite Here union says its members will decide whether union leadership can call...
UK reports 104 more cases of monkeypox, mostly in men
British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease. The U.K.’s Health Security Agency said Monday there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or...
Bear market hits Wall Street as stocks, bonds, crypto dive
Wall Street tumbled into what’s called a bear market Monday after fears about a fragile economy and rising interest rates sent the S&P 500 more than 20% below its record set early this year. The index sank 3.9% in the first chance for investors to trade after getting the weekend...
Jan. 6 panel hears: Trump ‘detached from reality’ in defeat
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s closest campaign advisers, top government officials and even his family were dismantling his false claims of 2020 election fraud ahead of Jan. 6, but the defeated president seemed “detached from reality” and kept clinging to outlandish theories to stay in power, the committee investigating the Capitol...
Germany moves ahead with plan to legalize cannabis sales
BERLIN — The German government is setting in motion plans to legalize the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes, aiming to have legislation ready later this year. The Health Ministry said Monday that it will start holding expert hearings on various aspects of the issue Tuesday. It said that more...
European ‘star survey’ reveals celestial treasure trove
BERLIN — The European Space Agency has released a trove of data on almost 2 billion stars in the Milky Way, collected by its Gaia mission in an effort to create the most accurate and complete map of our galaxy. Astronomers hope to use the data to understand better how...
U.K. to introduce law unilaterally changing post-Brexit rules
LONDON — Britain’s government is expected to introduce legislation Monday that would unilaterally change post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland amid opposition from lawmakers who believe the move violates international law. The proposed bill aims to scrap parts of a trade treaty that Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed with the...
United Arab Emirates bans Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’ over lesbian kiss
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates on Monday banned the upcoming Pixar animated feature “Lightyear” from showing in movie theaters after its inclusion of a kiss between two lesbian characters. The decision by the UAE comes as Malaysia also reportedly will ban the film, raising the possibility...
Police investigating killings of 12,000 Ukrainians in war
The lush green beauty of a pine forest and singing birds contrasted with the violent deaths of newly discovered victims of Russia’s war in Ukraine, as workers exhumed bodies from another burial site near Bucha on Kyiv’s outskirts. The hands of several victims were tied behind their backs. The gruesome...
Brookings president resigns amid FBI foreign lobbying probe
The president of the Brookings Institution resigned Sunday amid a federal investigation into whether he illegally lobbied on behalf of the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. Retired Gen. John Allen wrote in a letter to the think tank that he was leaving with a “heavy heart” but did not...
Bill Stepien, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, to testify at hearing
Bill Stepien, who served as manager of Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, will be among five witnesses appearing in person Monday before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The hearing will be the second in a planned series by the panel, which intends...
1 dead in shooting at Ohio mall; 1 person in custody
DUBLIN, Ohio — One person died in a shooting at a northwest Ohio mall over the weekend, and one person was in custody, authorities said. Sgt. Joe Albert of the Columbus police department said offices were called to the Mall at Tuttle Crossing at about 2:40 p.m. Sunday because of...
