U.S./World category, Page 688
Biden-Putin square off as tension grows on Ukraine border
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin squared off Tuesday over the massive buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border, the U.S. president eager to use his video call with Putin to serve notice that Moscow will face economy-jarring sanctions if it invades neighboring Ukraine. Just hours...
Israel announces completion of security barrier around Gaza
JERUSALEM — Israel on Tuesday announced the completion of an enhanced security barrier around the Gaza Strip designed to prevent militants from sneaking into the country. The 40-mile barrier includes radar systems, maritime sensors and a network of underground sensors to detect militant tunnels. Existing fencing was replaced with a...
Bidens honor Pearl Harbor’s fallen in visit to WWII Memorial
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Tuesday marked the 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor with a somber visit to the World War II Memorial in the nation’s capital. The Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor and other locations in Hawaii...
Gunman opens fire in Moscow service center, kills 2 people
MOSCOW — A gunman opened fire in a Moscow city customer services facility, killing two people Tuesday and wounding three others, city authorities said. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Twitter that a suspect was detained. Sobyanin didn’t offer any details about the assailant or his possible motive, saying only...
Hedge fund founder Michael Steinhardt will return looted antiquities
NEW YORK — Billionaire hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt has agreed to turn over $70 million worth of stolen antiquities and will be subject to an unprecedented lifetime ban on acquiring antiquities, the Manhattan district attorney announced Monday. In return, Steinhardt, a philanthropist who is chair of the Steinhardt Foundation...
Storm sweeps Hawaii, brings threat of ‘catastrophic’ floodsVideo
HONOLULU — A strong storm packing high wind and extremely heavy rain flooded roads and knocked out power across Hawaii, with officials warning Monday of potentially worse conditions ahead. The National Weather Service said the storm brings the threat of “catastrophic flooding” in the coming days as a low pressure...
Mike Pence’s former top aide cooperating with Jan. 6 panel
WASHINGTON — The former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence is cooperating with the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, according to a person familiar with the matter. Marc Short was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and accompanied Pence as he fled his post presiding...
Emmett Till investigation closed by feds; no new charges
JACKSON, Miss. — The U.S. Justice Department said Monday it is ending its investigation into the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, the Black teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed after witnesses said he whistled at a white woman in Mississippi. The announcement came after the head of...
Michigan prosecutor criticizes high school over run-up to mass shootingVideo
OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The prosecutor overseeing the case against the student accused in last week’s deadly Michigan school shooting and who took the rare step of charging his parents left open the possibility Monday that school officials could also face charges, saying “in this case, a lot could have...
Biden to confront Putin about amassing Russian troops on Ukraine’s border
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden expressed cautious optimism after meeting in June with Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggesting the next three to six months would reveal whether their frank face-to-face discussion in Geneva was yielding progress. “Did the things we agreed to sit down and try to work out, did...
Bob Dole to lie in state at Capitol as nation honors senator
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Dole’s casket will lie in state Thursday in the U.S. Capitol as congressional leaders honor the former Republican presidential candidate and World War II veteran who served in Congress for 36 years. Dole died Sunday at the age of 98. He was a leader known for...
Hunter charged after fatal shooting in West Virginia
MADISON, W.Va. — A West Virginia hunter who fatally shot a man he said he mistook for a bear has been arrested, authorities said. The man was charged last week with negligent shooting and failure to render aid, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Sgt. Larry Harvey told WCHS-TV. The...
China seethes as Biden prepares Olympic diplomatic boycott
The White House is expected to soon announce that the U.S. will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest Chinese human rights abuses, a move that China has vowed to greet with “firm countermeasures.” U.S. athletes would still compete under such a boycott, a...
101-year-old returns to Pearl Harbor to remember those lost
When Japanese bombs began falling on Pearl Harbor, U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class David Russell first sought refuge below deck on the USS Oklahoma. But a split-second decision on that December morning 80 years ago changed his mind, and likely saved his life. “They started closing that hatch. And I...
Proposed bill aimed at recruiting, retaining Ohio students
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Graduates of any Ohio college, public or private, who take a full-time job in the state would be exempt from state income tax for up to three years, under legislation proposed Monday by a Republican lawmaker with an aim of recruiting and retaining Ohio college students. Businesses...
Report says Russian hackers haven’t eased spying efforts
WASHINGTON — The elite Russian state hackers behind last year’s massive SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign hardly eased up this year, managing plenty of infiltrations of U.S. and allied government agencies and foreign policy think tanks with consummate craft and stealth, a leading cybersecurity firm reported Monday. On the anniversary of the...
German government deal clears last hurdle, Scholz set to take over
BERLIN — A three-party deal to form a new German government under center-left leader Olaf Scholz cleared its final hurdle on Monday, setting the scene for Scholz to succeed longtime Chancellor Angela Merkel this week. Germany’s environmentalist Greens said their rank-and-file members approved the agreement reached last month, with 86%...
NYC Mayor: Vaccine mandates to be required for all city employers
NEW YORK — All New York City employers will have to mandate covid-19 vaccinations for their workers under new rules announced Monday by Mayor Bill de Blasio. The vaccine mandate for private businesses will take effect Dec. 22 and is aimed at preventing a spike in covid-19 infections during the...
Sentence for Myanmar’s Suu Kyi reduced to 2 years in prison
BANGKOK — State television in Myanmar announced Monday night that country’s military leader reduced Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence by two years. Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a de facto coup this year, was sentenced to four years in prison earlier in the day after being convicted on charges...
Pandemic stress weighs heavily on Gen Z: AP-NORC, MTV poll
Isolation. Anxiety. Uncertainty. The stresses of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on Americans of all ages, but a new poll finds that teens and young adults have faced some of the heaviest struggles as they come of age during a time of extreme turmoil. Overall, more than a...
Scientist behind U.K. vaccine says next pandemic may be worse
LONDON — One of the scientists behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine is warning that the next pandemic may be more contagious and more lethal unless more money is devoted to research and preparations to fight emerging viral threats. In excerpts released before a speech Monday, Professor Sarah Gilbert says the...
Report: U.S. to declare diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics
The United States is poised to announce a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, CNN reports, a move that will escalate tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The decision not to send any U.S. government officials to the games beginning Feb. 4 will be announced this week, the...
Lawyer: Artist didn’t know Michigan parents stayed in studio
A Detroit-area artist whose studio was where the parents of the Oxford High School student charged in a deadly shooting were found by police is cooperating with authorities and didn’t know the couple had stayed overnight, his attorney said Sunday. James and Jennifer Crumbley, who face involuntary manslaughter counts, were...
Cruise ship with covid-19 infections arrives in New OrleansVideo
NEW ORLEANS — A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 10 passengers and crew members infected with covid-19 docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said they were trying to disembark people without worsening the spread of the coronavirus illness. Local news outlets in New Orleans confirmed the...
Chris Cuomo was accused of harassment days before CNN firing
NEW YORK — A new allegation of sexual harassment against Chris Cuomo emerged just days before CNN announced it was firing the anchor amid an investigation into work he did defending his brother from similar harassment allegations. Attorney Debra Katz said Sunday her client was the victim of “serious sexual...
