U.S./World category, Page 699
Wind storm: Thousands without power in Washington stateVideo
SEATTLE — More than 64,000 customers were without power Tuesday morning in Washington state as strong winds and rain blew through the Northwest. The Seattle Times reports the number of customers without power throughout Washington fluctuated Tuesday afternoon because of multiple large outages. As of 5:15 p.m., 12,024 outages were...
Montana soldier is 1st female Army sniper course graduate
FORT HARRISON, Mont. — A Montana soldier is the first woman to graduate from the U.S. Army’s sniper course, the Montana National Guard announced. “We are extremely proud of this soldier’s achievement and recognize that this is a milestone for not only Montana, but the entire National Guard and Army,”...
Oklahoma court overturns $465M opioid ruling against J&J
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a $465 million opioid ruling against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, finding that a lower court wrongly interpreted the state’s public nuisance law in the first case of its kind in the United States to go to trial. The ruling was...
GOP Rep. Fred Upton receives death threats after backing public works billVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Rep. Fred Upton said he has received well over 1,000 calls including multiple “nasty” death threats since the Michigan congressman voted for a bipartisan infrastructure bill that he helped write with GOP and Democratic colleagues earlier this year. More than 90% of the calls are coming...
House Jan. 6 panel subpoenas 10 former White House aides
WASHINGTON — House investigators have issued subpoenas to 10 more former officials who worked for Donald Trump at the end of his presidency, an effort to find out more about what the president was doing and saying as his supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in a...
Pfizer asks FDA to OK covid-19 booster shots for all adults
Pfizer asked U.S. regulators Tuesday to allow boosters of its covid-19 vaccine for anyone 18 or older, a step that comes amid concern about increased spread of the coronavirus with holiday travel and gatherings. Older Americans and other groups particularly vulnerable to the virus have had access to a third...
Police: Defendant changed story on why he suspected Arbery
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The man who initiated the chase that ended in Ahmaud Arbery’s death quickly changed his story about why he suspected the 25-year-old Black man running in his neighborhood was a criminal, two police officers testified Tuesday. Glynn County police Officer Jeff Brandeberry told a jury that Greg...
Rittenhouse trial highlights rise of livestreamed video
When Andrew Mercado found himself in the middle of a protest following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last year, he was just figuring out how to livestream on Facebook. A few months later, though, thousands watched as he streamed footage from the Wisconsin streets where Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people....
Despite reopening, the U.S. is still closed to many in the world
NEW YORK — The U.S. says that it’s inviting the global community to visit now that the government has ended the ban on travelers from 33 countries. In reality, however, it will still be difficult — if not impossible — for much of the globe to enter the country and...
Global pandemic produced tons of plastic waste, study says
BEIJING — The coronavirus pandemic has led to a significant increase in plastic waste worldwide. According to an estimate, around 8.4 million tons of plastic waste in 193 countries have been generated by the pandemic up to August, as researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences write in the Proceedings...
TikTok rescue: Girl got help using silent distress signal
LONDON, Ky. — A 16-year-old girl held captive by a 61-year-old man was rescued on an interstate highway in Kentucky after another driver noticed her using a distress signal with her hand that was made popular on TikTok, law enforcement officials said. The girl’s parents reported their daughter missing from...
Small fire set at memorial to victims of Pulse nightclub shooting
ORLANDO, Fla. — Some banners were burned at a temporary memorial honoring the 49 victims who died in a massacre at a Florida gay nightclub five years ago, and the foundation that runs it is seeking the public’s help in catching the vandal. The onePulse Foundation over the weekend released...
Houston concert deaths spur calls for independent review
The Houston police and fire departments were deeply involved in safety measures for the music festival where a surging crowd killed eight people, playing key roles in crowd control measures, on-site security staffing and the emergency response. The police chief even met with the headlining performer before the show. Now...
Astronaut conducts 1st spacewalk by Chinese woman
Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk as part of a six-month mission to the country’s space station. Fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the station’s main module on Sunday evening and Wang followed later. They installed equipment and carried out tests alongside the station’s robotic...
Air-scrubbing machines gain momentum, but long way to go
On a field ringed by rolling green hills in Iceland, fans attached to metal structures that look like an industrial-sized Lego project are spinning. Their mission is to scrub the atmosphere by sucking carbon dioxide from the air and storing it safely underground. Just a few years ago, this technology,...
UN says over 3 million in Myanmar need ‘life-saving’ aid
The U.N. humanitarian chief urged Myanmar’s military leaders on Monday to provide unimpeded access to the more than 3 million people in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance since government forces seized power on Feb. 1 “because of growing conflict and insecurity, covid-19 and a failing economy.” Martin Griffiths warned that...
Jan. 6 panel subpoenas 6 more Trump associates in probe
WASHINGTON — Further expanding its probe, the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas to six additional associates of former President Donald Trump who were closely involved in his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. The committee’s chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson,...
Obama hits Russia, China for ‘lack of urgency’ on climate
GLASGOW, Scotland — Barack Obama expressed confidence at U.N. climate talks Monday that the Biden administration will ultimately get its $555 billion climate package through Congress, and faulted U.S. rivals China and Russia for what he called a “dangerous lack of urgency” in cutting their own climate-wrecking emissions. As nations...
Vaccine proof required as strict mandate takes effect in Los Angeles
People entering a wide variety of businesses in the city of Los Angeles had to show proof of covid-19 vaccination starting Monday as one of the country’s strictest measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus took effect. The new rule covers businesses ranging from restaurants to shopping malls...
High court struggles with government secrets case
The Supreme Court struggled Monday with whether to allow a lawsuit by Muslim men claiming religious bias by the FBI to go forward despite the government’s objection that doing so could reveal national security secrets. The case the high court was considering involves a group of three men from Southern...
Oscar Pistorius up for parole, but he must meet victim’s parents
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Eight years after he shot dead his girlfriend, Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius is up for parole, but first he must meet with her parents. Pistorius, a world-famous double-amputee athlete who competed at the 2012 Olympics, has been eligible for parole since July after he was...
SpaceX returns 4 astronauts to Earth, ending 200-day flight
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Four astronauts returned to Earth on Monday, riding home with SpaceX to end a 200-day space station mission that began last spring. Their capsule streaked through the late night sky like a dazzling meteor before parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola,...
Migrants aided by Belarus try to storm border into Poland
Hundreds if not thousands of migrants sought to storm the border from Belarus into Poland on Monday, cutting razor wire defenses and using branches to try and climb over them. The siege escalated a crisis along the European Union’s eastern border that has been simmering for months. Poland’s interior ministry...
Shooting victim says he was pointing his gun at Rittenhouse
A protester and volunteer medic wounded on the streets of Kenosha by Kyle Rittenhouse testified Monday that he was pointing his own gun at the rifle-toting Rittenhouse when the young man shot him. Gaige Grosskreutz, the third and final man gunned down by Rittenhouse during a night of turbulent racial-justice...
U.S. charges 2 suspected major ransomware operators
WASHINGTON — A suspected Ukrainian hacker has been arrested and charged in the United States in connection with a string of costly ransomware attacks, including one that snarled businesses around the globe on the Fourth of July weekend, U.S. officials said Monday. Yaroslav Vasinskyi was arrested last month after traveling...
