U.S./World category, Page 620
McConnell: Finland, Sweden ‘important additions’ to NATO
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday that Finland and Sweden would be “important additions” to NATO as he led a delegation of GOP senators to the region in a show of support against Russia’s aggression. McConnell also called on President Joe Biden to designate Russia as state...
Finland, Sweden inch closer to seeking NATO membership
BERLIN — Finland’s government declared a “new era” is underway as it inches closer to seeking NATO membership, hours before Sweden’s governing party on Sunday backed a plan to join the trans-Atlantic alliance amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia has long bristled about NATO moving closer to its borders, so...
Small wins buoy Ukraine; West says Russians losing momentum
KYIV, Ukraine — Almost three months after Russia shocked the world by invading Ukraine, its military faced a bogged-down war, the prospect of a bigger NATO and an opponent buoyed Sunday by its wins on and off the battlefield. Finland decided to seek NATO membership as top diplomats from the...
In early primaries, voters favor polling places over mail
ATLANTA — The great vote-by-mail wave appears to be receding just as quickly as it arrived. After tens of millions of people in the United States opted for mail ballots during the pandemic election of 2020, voters in early primary states are returning in droves to in-person voting this year....
Buffalo shooter targeted Black neighborhood, officials say
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The white 18-year-old who shot and killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket had researched the local demographics and arrived in the area a day in advance to conduct reconnaissance with the “express purpose” of killing as many Black people as possible, officials said Sunday. The chilling...
UAE prince who reshaped region named ruler of oil-rich power
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the man who has long controlled the levers of power in the United Arab Emirates, has succeeded his late brother as ruler. The UAE’s federal council elected Sheikh Mohammed, commonly referred to as MBZ, as the country’s president, according to state media on Saturday....
No sea serpents or mobsters, but Tahoe trash divers strike gold
STATELINE, Nev. — They found no trace of a mythical sea monster, no sign of mobsters in concrete shoes or long-lost treasure chests. But scuba divers who spent a year cleaning up Lake Tahoe’s 72-mile shoreline have come away with what they hope will prove much more valuable: tons and...
Shootings near Milwaukee Bucks playoff game prompt curfew
Downtown Milwaukee will be under a limited curfew for the rest of the weekend and a massive watch party scheduled for Sunday has been called off after at least 20 people were injured in three separate shootings near an entertainment district where thousands gathered for an NBA playoff game. In...
10 dead in mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A teenage gunman wearing military gear and livestreaming with a helmet camera opened fire with a rifle at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket in what authorities described as “racially motived violent extremism,” killing 10 people and wounding three Saturday before he surrendered, authorities said. Police officials said the...
Putin warns Finland NATO membership would harm relations
HELSINKI — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his Finnish counterpart Saturday that relations between the two neighbors could be “negatively affected” if Finland follows through with plans to apply for NATO membership. The Kremlin’s press service said in a statement that Putin told Sauli Niinisto Finland’s abandonment “of its traditional...
McConnell, GOP senators meet Zelenskyy in surprise Kyiv stop
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and a delegation of GOP senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv during an unannounced visit Saturday, delivering the latest show of American solidarity with the country at war with Russia. A video posted on Zelenskyy’s Telegram account showed McConnell, R-Ky.,...
20 injured in Milwaukee shootings after Bucks playoff game
MILWAUKEE — Twenty people were injured in two shootings in downtown Milwaukee near an entertainment district where thousands had been watching the Bucks lose to the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals, authorities said. None of the injuries from either shooting after Friday night’s game...
‘Chrisley Knows Best’ stars to stand trial in Atlanta
ATLANTA — A federal trial for reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley on charges including bank fraud and tax evasion is set to start Monday in Atlanta. The trial is getting underway just days after E! announced that it is moving forward with a new dating series, “Love Limo,”...
Abortion rights backers rally in anger over post-Roe future
WASHINGTON — Supporters of abortion rights took to the streets across America on Saturday to make clear their anger at the prospect that the Supreme Court will soon strike down the constitutional right to abortion. Cries of “My body, my choice” rang out as activists committed to fighting for what...
Clarence Thomas says abortion leak has changed Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — Justice Clarence Thomas says the Supreme Court has been changed by the shocking leak of a draft opinion earlier this month. The opinion suggests the court is poised to overturn the right to an abortion recognized nearly 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade. The conservative Thomas, who...
U.S., Russian defense chiefs speak for 1st time since invasion
WASHINGTON — Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu spoke with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday after months of refusing direct contact with his American counterpart. But officials said the call didn’t appear to signal any change in Moscow’s war in Ukraine. A senior Defense Department official said Friday...
Kentucky Christian school asks students to write warning against homosexuality
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Christian school in Louisville gave an assignment this week asking middle school students to write a letter to a hypothetical friend warning against homosexuality, resulting in public criticism and a review by school leaders. The Christian Academy of Louisville School System assignment calls for a seventh...
Mixed Texas ruling allows trans youth parent investigations
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday allowed the state to investigate parents of transgender youth for child abuse while also ruling in favor of one family that was among the first contacted by child welfare officials following an order by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The court did...
Former national security adviser Robert McFarlane dies at 84
WASHINGTON — Former White House national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane, a top aide to President Ronald Reagan who pleaded guilty to charges for his role in an illegal arms-for-hostages deal known as the Iran-Contra affair, has died. He was 84. McFarlane, who lived in Washington, died Thursday from complications...
Judge refuses to drop elections suit against Trump, media
NEW YORK — A Colorado judge on Friday denied motions to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by an election systems worker against former President Donald Trump’s campaign, two of its lawyers and a handful of conservative media figures and outlets. District Court Judge Marie Avery Moses, in a 136-page decision,...
Russia takes losses in failed river crossing, officials say
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces suffered heavy losses in a Ukrainian attack that destroyed a pontoon bridge they were using to try to cross a river in the east, Ukrainian and British officials said in another sign of Moscow’s struggle to salvage a war gone awry. Ukrainian authorities, meanwhile, opened...
Ex-nurse sentenced to probation in patient medication death
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A former Tennessee nurse whose medication error killed a patient was sentenced to three years of probation Friday as hundreds of health care workers rallied outside the courthouse, warning that criminalizing such mistakes will lead to more deaths in hospitals. A state judge imposed the sentence on...
Wisconsin chairman rescinds killer’s parole at Evers request
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Parole Commission’s leader agreed Friday to rescind a convicted murderer’s parole at Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ request after the governor came under criticism from the victim’s family and rival Republicans looking to unseat him in November. Evers sent a letter Friday to John Tate, the...
U.S. grappling with Native American boarding school history
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Deb Haaland is pushing the U.S. government to reckon with its role in Native American boarding schools like no other Cabinet secretary could — backed by personal experience, a struggle with losing her own Native language and a broader community that has felt the devastating impacts. The...
UAE’s long-ailing leader Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed dies at 73
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates’ long-ailing ruler and president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, died Friday, the government announced in a brief statement. He was 73. Sheikh Khalifa oversaw much of the country’s blistering economic growth and his name was immortalized on the world’s tallest...
