U.S./World category, Page 660
Popcorn toss key in trial of 2014 Florida theater shooting
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The role of a tossed bag of movie popcorn played a central part Monday as a trial opened for a retired Florida police captain who fatally shot a man in a theater eight years ago. The question isn’t whether Curtis Reeves shot and killed Chad Oulson...
Mazars accounting firm: Trump financial statements aren’t reliable
NEW YORK — The accounting firm that prepared former President Donald Trump’s annual financial statements says the documents, used to secure lucrative loans and burnish Trump’s image as a wealthy businessman, “should no longer be relied upon” after New York’s attorney general said they regularly misstated the value of assets....
Police: Louisville mayoral candidate unharmed in shooting
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Democratic mayoral candidate in Kentucky’s largest city said he is “shaken but safe” after a man stormed his campaign headquarters Monday morning and fired a weapon point-blank at him. Craig Greenberg, who is running for mayor of Louisville, said he was at his campaign office with...
Judge tosses George Zimmerman’s lawsuit against Trayvon Martin’s parents
ORLANDO, Fla. — A judge in Florida has dismissed a defamation and conspiracy lawsuit former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman had filed against the parents of Trayvon Martin, the teen he fatally shot almost a decade ago in a case that drew international attention about race and gun violence. Judge...
Judge dismisses Palin libel lawsuit against New York Times
NEW YORK — A judge said Monday he’ll dismiss a libel lawsuit that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin filed against The New York Times, claiming the newspaper damaged her reputation with an editorial falsely linking her campaign rhetoric to a mass shooting. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff made the ruling...
Official: Justin Trudeau to use emergency powers across CanadaVideo
OTTAWA, Ontario — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has decided to invoke emergency powers across all of Canada to quell the protests by demonstrators who have paralyzed Ottawa and blocked border crossings in anger over the country’s covid-19 restrictions, a senior government official said Monday. The prime minister met virtually with...
Sliver of hope: Kremlin sees a diplomatic path on Ukraine
MOSCOW — The Kremlin signaled Monday it is ready to keep talking with the West about security grievances that led to the current Ukraine crisis, offering hope that Russia might not invade its beleaguered neighbor within days as the U.S. and European allies increasingly fear. Questions remain about Russian President...
Investigated Colorado clerk wants to run state’s elections
A Colorado official who repeats former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential contest and is under investigation for alleged election security breaches announced Monday she is running to be her state’s top elections officer. Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, whom a judge suspended from overseeing last year’s election...
Ohio mayor quits after saying ice shanties may bring prostitution
HUDSON, Ohio — The mayor who suggested that allowing ice fishing shanties on a lake could lead to prostitution resigned Monday after days of being mocked and drawing national attention to the city. Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert said in his resignation letter that his comments at a City Council meeting...
Tripwire for real war? Cyber’s fuzzy rules of engagement
BOSTON — President Joe Biden couldn’t have been more blunt about the risks of cyberattacks spinning out of control. “If we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major power, it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach of great consequence,” he told...
Spiked Champagne in Bavarian bar leaves 1 dead, 8 sick
BERLIN — One man died and eight other people were hospitalized in serious condition after unknowingly drinking Champagne spiked with Ecstasy at a bar in Bavaria, German prosecutors said Monday. The man who died was 52, and the others were between 33 and 52, police told the German news agency...
Woman killed by man who followed her into NYC apartment
NEW YORK — A woman was stabbed to death inside her lower Manhattan apartment by a man who followed her from the street into her building, authorities said. Christina Yuna Lee, 35, was found fatally wounded in her bathtub at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, police said. The suspected killer was...
Democrats eye key governors’ races as backstop against GOP
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers was in a familiar spot earlier this month when Republican legislators sent him a bill that would have banned anti-racist teachings in schools. For the 66th time since taking office in 2019, he pulled out his veto pen. The rejection was the latest reminder of the...
Trump distortions before Capitol riot are a focus of House probe
WASHINGTON — The House investigation into last year’s Capitol insurrection will move its work into the public eye as soon as April, laying out for voters evidence that they say shows former President Donald Trump and his allies stoked the violence. The select committee of five Democrats and two Republicans...
West Virginia school district investigating religious eventVideo
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia school superintendent is investigating a Feb. 2 religious revival event that occurred at Huntington High School, saying he believes some students’ rights have been violated. Cabell County Schools Superintendent Ryan Saxe announced the investigation in a statement issued on Friday. About 100 students at...
From campus to Congress, colleges urged to end legacy boost
America’s elite colleges are facing growing calls to end the decades-old tradition of giving an admissions boost to the children of alumni — a practice that critics say is rooted in racism and bestows an unfair advantage to students who need it least. Fueled by the national reckoning with racial...
Graham becomes early player to watch in Supreme Court drama
WASHINGTON — The list of Republicans willing to support President Joe Biden’s forthcoming nominee to the Supreme Court “is longer than you would initially imagine,” the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat recently teased to reporters. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin declined to name names. But it’s clear that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is...
Key U.S.-Canada bridge reopens after police clear protesters
WINDSOR, Ontario — The busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing reopened late Sunday after protests against covid-19 restrictions closed it for almost a week, while Canadian officials held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa. Detroit International Bridge Co. said in a statement that “the Ambassador Bridge...
Paris police fire tear gas to disperse banned virus protest
Paris police fired tear gas Saturday against a handful of demonstrators on the Champs-Elysees Avenue who defied a police order by taking part in a vehicle protest against virus restrictions inspired by Canada’s horn-honking truckers. In the Netherlands, dozens of trucks and other vehicles — ranging from tractors to a...
Canada border blockade clearing peacefully as police move in
A tense standoff at a U.S.-Canadian border crossing crucial to both countries’ economies appeared to be dissolving peacefully Saturday as Canadian police moved in to disperse the nearly weeklong blockade and protesters began leaving without resistance. Many demonstrators drove away from the Ambassador Bridge spanning the river between Detroit and...
Biden warns Putin of ‘severe costs’ of Ukraine invasion
President Joe Biden told Russia’s Vladimir Putin that invading Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said Saturday. It offered no suggestion that the hourlong call diminished the threat of...
Many faith leaders wary of religious exemptions for vaccine
By the thousands, Americans have been seeking religious exemptions in order to circumvent covid-19 vaccine mandates, but generally they are doing so without the encouragement of major denominations and prominent religious leaders. From the Vatican, Pope Francis has defended the vaccines as “the most reasonable solution to the pandemic.” The...
Afghans protest U.S. order to give $3.5B to 9/11 victims
Demonstrators in Afghanistan’s capital Saturday condemned President Joe Biden’s order freeing up $3.5 billion in Afghan assets held in the U.S. for families of America’s 9/11 victims — saying the money belongs to Afghans. Protesters who gathered outside Kabul’s grand Eid Gah mosque asked America for financial compensation for the...
Phoenix police say man shot ex-girlfriend before ambush
A man who shot his ex-girlfriend at a Phoenix home early Friday ambushed the first officer on the scene, seriously injuring him, then opened fire on other police as they tried to rescue a baby that was left outside the door. The woman later died. In all, five officers were...
Victim’s son: 9/11 family members short-changed by Biden plan for frozen Afghan funds
President Biden’s executive order meant to free up $3.5 billion in frozen Afghan funds for the benefit of the Afghan people, while leaving at least that amount to settle claims of 9/11 victims’ families in the United States, has drawn fire from one of those family members. Brett Eagleson, son...
