U.S./World category, Page 617
Russia claims to have taken full control of Mariupol
POKROVSK, Ukraine — Russia claimed to have captured Mariupol on Friday in what would be its biggest victory yet in its war with Ukraine, following a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of the strategic port city to a smoking ruin, with over 20,000 civilians feared dead. There was no...
Police: Chicago shooting leaves 2 people dead, 8 wounded
CHICAGO — Two people are dead and another eight wounded following a shooting near a fast food restaurant just blocks from Chicago’s famed Magnificent Mile shopping district that sent bystanders scattering, authorities said. The shooting happened about 10:40 p.m. Thursday near a McDonald’s on the city’s Near North Side. One...
African scientists baffled by monkeypox cases in Europe, U.S.
LONDON — Scientists who have monitored numerous outbreaks of monkeypox in Africa say they are baffled by the disease’s recent spread in Europe and North America. Cases of the smallpox-related disease have previously been seen only among people with links to central and West Africa. But in the past week,...
Finland says Russia suspending natural gas supplies
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Russia will cut off natural gas to Finland after the Nordic country that applied for NATO membership this week refused President Vladimir Putin’s demand to pay in rubles, the Finnish state-owned energy company said Friday, the latest escalation over European energy amid the war in Ukraine. Finland...
Jan. 6 panel asks GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk to testify about Capitol tour
WASHINGTON — The congressional committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection is asking a House Republican for more information about a tour of the building the panel says he led the day before the deadly attack. The committee’s letter to Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk on Thursday is the latest attempt by...
Blowback as George Bush gaffes Iraq war, not Ukraine, ‘unjustified’Video
Former President George W. Bush is facing criticism after mistakenly describing the invasion of Iraq — which he led as commander in chief — as “brutal” and “wholly unjustified,” before correcting himself to say he meant to refer to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The result is an absence of checks...
Oklahoma approves the nation’s most restrictive abortion ban
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s Legislature gave final approval Thursday to another Texas-style anti-abortion bill that providers say will be the most restrictive in the nation once the governor signs it. The bill is part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states across the country to scale back abortion rights. It...
Congress OKs latest $40B to help Ukraine repulse Russians
WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly approved a $40 billion infusion of military and economic aid for Ukraine and its allies on Thursday as both parties rallied behind America’s latest, and quite possibly not last, financial salvo against Russia’s invasion. The 86-11 vote gave final congressional approval to the package, three...
Biden forest plan stirs dispute over what counts as ‘old’
BILLINGS, Mont. — President Joe Biden’s order to protect the nation’s oldest forests against climate change, wildfires and other problems devastating vast woodlands is raising a simple yet vexing question: When does a forest grow old? Millions of acres are potentially on the line — federal land that could eventually...
Abortion-friendly states prep for more patients if Roe falls
JACKSON, Miss. — Leaders of a Tennessee abortion clinic calculated driving distances and studied passenger rail routes as they scanned the map for another place to offer services if the Supreme Court lets states restrict or eliminate abortion rights. They chose Carbondale in Illinois — a state that has easy...
Germany’s Schroeder loses office amid anger over Russia ties
BERLIN — German lawmakers agreed Thursday to strip former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of his office and staff after he maintained and defended his long-standing ties with Russia and its energy sector despite the invasion of Ukraine. Sven Kindler, a financial policy spokesman for the Greens, one of the governing parties,...
Ukrainian troops surrendering at Mariupol registered as POWs
KYIV, Ukraine — Hundreds more Ukrainian fighters who made their stand inside Mariupol’s bombed-out steel plant surrendered, bringing the total to over 1,700, Russia said Thursday, amid international fears about the fate of the prisoners in Moscow’s hands. The Red Cross worked to register the soldiers as prisoners of war...
Fed nominee Michael Barr calls inflation ‘far too high’
WASHINGTON — Michael Barr, President Joe Biden’s pick to be the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator, pledged Thursday to help reduce high inflation and provide “clear rules” to govern financial innovation. “I would be strongly committed to bringing down inflation to the Federal Reserve’s target” of 2%, Barr said in...
Turkey’s leader says ‘no’ to Sweden and Finland’s NATO bid
ISTANBUL — Turkey will oppose Sweden and Finland joining NATO, the country’s president flatly stated in a video released Thursday, as Turkish officials emphasized Ankara’s security concerns. “We have told our relevant friends we would say ‘no’ to Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, and we will continue on our...
McDonald’s finds a buyer for Russian restaurants
McDonald’s has begun the sale of its restaurants in Russia 30 years after the burger chain became a powerful symbol of easing of Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union. The Chicago burger giant said its existing licensee Alexander Govor, who operates 25 restaurants in Siberia, has...
Germany: 1 person wounded, 1 detained in school attack
BERLIN — German police said they detained a suspect following an attack at a high school in the northern city of Bremerhaven on Thursday morning in which a school employee was wounded. Police said the incident happened at the Lloyd high school in the center of the city, which is...
Accused Buffalo gunman followed familiar radicalization path
The 18-year-old gunman accused of a deadly racist rampage at a Buffalo supermarket seems to fit an all-too-familiar profile: an aggrieved white man steeped in hate-filled conspiracies online, and inspired by other extremist massacres. Payton Gendron of Conklin, New York, appears to have been driven to action roughly two years...
U.S. case of monkeypox reported in Massachusetts man
NEW YORK — Massachusetts on Wednesday reported a rare case of monkeypox in a man who recently traveled to Canada, and health officials are looking into whether it is connected to small outbreaks in Europe. Monkeypox is typically limited to Africa, and rare cases in the United States and elsewhere...
President Biden invokes Defense Production Act for formula shortage
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act to speed production of infant formula and authorized flights to import supply from overseas, as he faces mounting political pressure over a domestic shortage caused by the safety-related closure of the country’s largest formula manufacturing plant. The Defense...
Teen dies, sister rescued in New Jersey beach sand collapseVideo
TOMS RIVER, N.J. — An 18-year-old male died while playing with his sister at a New Jersey beach when a large hole they were digging in the sand collapsed, police said. His sister was also trapped but was rescued and treated at the scene, the Toms River Police Department said...
DHS warns abortion ruling could increase extremist violence
WASHINGTON — The leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion striking down the constitutional right to abortion has unleashed a wave of threats against officials and others and increased the likelihood of extremist violence, an internal government report says. Violence could come from either side of the abortion issue or...
Stocks fall sharply as Target’s woes renew inflation fears
NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 1,100 points and the S&P 500 had its biggest drop in nearly two years Wednesday, as big earnings misses by Target and other major retailers stoked investors’ fears that surging inflation could cut deeply into corporate profits. The broad...
Global pollution kills 9 million people a year, study findsVideo
A new study blames pollution of all types for 9 million deaths a year globally, with the death toll attributed to dirty air from cars, trucks and industry rising 55% since 2000. That increase is offset by fewer pollution deaths from primitive indoor stoves and water contaminated with human and...
After Buffalo massacre, NY governor seeks action on guns
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York would require state police to seek court orders to keep guns away from people who might pose a threat to themselves or others under a package of executive orders and gun control bills touted Wednesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul in the aftermath of a racist...
‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli freed from prison for halfway house
NEW YORK — Convicted pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli was freed Wednesday from prison after serving much of a seven-year prison sentence for lying to hedge fund investors and cheating investors in a drug company. His attorney, Ben Brafman, said Shkreli, 39, was released early from a prison in Allenwood, Pa....
