U.S./World category, Page 731
Pro-Trump activists Jacob Wohl, John Burkman face $5 million fine for robocalls, FCC says
Two pro-Trump activists who orchestrated a campaign to discourage voting in large cities face a record $5.13 million fine under a tougher law governing robocalls, the Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday. Jacob Wohl, John Burkman and J.M. Burkman & Associates LLC made more than 1,100 prerecorded robocalls to wireless numbers...
Supreme Court orders ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy reinstated
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block a court ruling ordering the Biden administration to reinstate a Trump-era policy that forces people to wait in Mexico while seeking asylum in the United States. With the three liberal justices in dissent, the court said the administration likely violated...
Missouri man drowns in Lake Michigan after saving 2 boys
RACINE, Wis. — A Missouri man who died after rescuing two young relatives from the choppy waters of Lake Michigan is the fourth person to drown in the lake this summer in the southeastern Wisconsin city of Racine. Racine County sheriff’s officials on Monday identified the man who drowned Sunday...
Crews scour debris for more victims after Tennessee floodsVideo
WAVERLY, Tenn. — Crews with chainsaws and heavy equipment cleared their way through trees densely matted with vegetation, garbage and building debris Tuesday as searchers scoured a normally shallow creek for more flooding victims in rural Tennessee. Even cars and sheds were woven into the tangle of debris lining Trace...
Law named for dead Penn State student boosts hazing penalty
BRANCHBURG, N.J. — Hazing in New Jersey will be met with harsher penalties under a new law named after Tim Piazza, a state native and Penn State student who died in 2017. Gov. Phil Murphy signed Timothy J. Piazza’s Law on Tuesday at Raritan Valley Community College, not far from...
Harris rebukes China in speech on Indo-Pacific vision
HANOI — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a sharp rebuke to China for its incursions in the South China Sea, warning its actions there amount to “coercion” and “intimidation” and affirming that the U.S. will support its allies in the region against Beijing’s advances. “We know that Beijing continues...
A Bronze Star recipient watches the fall of Afghanistan from Congress — and wants answers
WASHINGTON — Jimmy Panetta can’t stop thinking about the narrow streets leading to Kabul’s airport. The former Navy intelligence officer remembers how the snarls of traffic, poor roads and crowds of pedestrians made airport access such a challenge during his tour of duty in 2007 and 2008, and again on...
Disney reaches vaccination agreement with union workers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s Walt Disney World will now require union employees as well as non-union and salaried workers to be fully vaccinated against covid-19 to keep their jobs at the theme park. The company also said Wednesday it would soon require vaccines for its cruise passengers ages 12...
CIA head meets Taliban leader as fears for Afghanistan grow
The director of the CIA met with the Taliban’s top political leader in Kabul, an official said Tuesday, as more reports emerged of abuses in areas held by the fighters, fueling concerns about Afghanistan’s future and the fate of those racing to leave the country before the looming U.S. withdrawal....
Biden tells G-7 allies he aims to stick to Afghanistan withdrawal deadlineVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden appeared unwilling to bend to pressure, including from European allies, to continue a massive evacuation effort from Afghanistan, planning — for now — to stick to his Aug. 31 deadline for troop withdrawal. On a chaotic day at the White House, Biden delayed scheduled remarks...
Fossil leaves may reveal climate in last era of dinosaurs
WASHINGTON — Richard Barclay opens a metal drawer in archives of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum containing fossils that are nearly 100 million years old. Despite their age, these rocks aren’t fragile. The geologist and botanist handles them with casual ease, placing one in his palm for closer examination. Embedded...
9 women now serving as governors in U.S., tying recordVideo
Taking over on short notice for a scandal-plagued predecessor in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul began her tenure Tuesday with more than enough challenges for a new administration. She also began with an historic opportunity: Hochul is the first woman to hold one of...
Giuliani associate Igor Fruman to change plea in campaign finance case
NEW YORK — A man who helped Rudy Giuliani try to unearth damaging information about President Joe Biden in Ukraine is expected to plead guilty in a case alleging illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians, according to a court filing. Igor Fruman was charged in 2019 with arranging hundreds of...
Taliban warn of ‘consequences’ if U.S. extends evacuation past AugustVideo
KABUL — In the eight days since tens of thousands converged on Kabul’s airport to flee an Afghanistan under Taliban rule, critics and allies alike have blasted President Joe Biden’s insistence on the Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. and NATO troop withdrawal, urging him to delay so as to complete...
Crews search for missing in Tennessee deluge that killed 22Video
WAVERLY, Tenn. — Search crews worked through shattered homes and tangled debris on Monday, looking for about a dozen people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through rural Tennessee, killing at least 22 people. Saturday’s flooding took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving people uncertain about...
Enrique Tarrio, Proud Boys leader who burned BLM flag, gets 5 months in jail
The leader of the Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced to more than five months in jail on Monday for burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was torn down from a historic Black church in downtown Washington and bringing two high-capacity firearm magazines into the nation’s capital days shortly...
Igor Vovkovinskiy, tallest man in U.S., dies in Minnesota
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Igor Vovkovinskiy, the tallest man in the United States, has died in Minnesota. He was 38. His family said the Ukrainian-born Vovkovinskiy died of heart disease on Friday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. His mother, Svetlana Vovkovinska, an ICU nurse at Mayo, initially posted about his...
Internal probe clears officer in Capitol riot shooting
WASHINGTON — An officer who shot and killed a woman during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as she began to climb through the broken part of a door leading into an area known as the Speaker’s Lobby acted lawfully and in line with police department policy, the...
Diner leaves $10,000 tip for workers at Florida restaurant
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A diner at a north Florida restaurant gathered the staff of 10 together to thank them for their hard work before leaving them a $10,000 tip to share. It happened last Tuesday night as the man, his wife and son finished their dinner at the Wahoo Seafood...
Pentagon to mandate covid-19 vaccine, as Pfizer is approved
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says it will require service members to receive the covid-19 vaccine now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is making good on his vow earlier this month to require the shots once the...
U.S. regulators give full approval to Pfizer covid-19 vaccine
WASHINGTON — The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the nation battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the...
Gunfire at Kabul airport kills 1 amid chaotic evacuations
KABUL, Afghanistan — A firefight just outside Kabul’s international airport killed at least one Afghan soldier early Monday, German officials said, the latest chaos to engulf Western efforts to evacuate those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country. The airport shooting came as the Taliban sent fighters north of the...
Henri’s lazy remnants hinder cleanup, threaten inland floods
The slow and sprawling storm system named Henri drenched much of the inland Northeast with rain Monday, hampering cleanup efforts and threatening further flooding in areas with ground already saturated from a wet summer. Rains from the storm, which spared coastal areas of New York and New England major damage...
As Cuomo exits, Hochul to take office minus ‘distractions’
ALBANY, N.Y. — Andrew Cuomo neared the end of his decade as New York’s governor Monday, as he prepared to relinquish his tight grip on government to Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul in a midnight power transfer that will break another glass ceiling for women in state politics. Cuomo, a Democrat,...
Poll: School mask, vaccine mandates supported in U.S.
As covid-19 cases surge around the country, a majority of Americans say they support mask mandates for students and teachers in K-12 schools, according to a new poll, but their views are sharply divided along political lines. About 6 in 10 Americans say students and teachers should be required to...
