U.S./World category, Page 748
‘Feelings of dissatisfaction’: Cuba’s leader blames U.S. embargo for unprecedented protestsVideo
Without making any acknowledgment of the deep discontent with his government shown by protesters chanting “down with the dictatorship” across the island on Sunday, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel said Monday the massive uprisings were the “cumulative” result of U.S. policies. He said the majority of people participating in the massive...
Wildfires rage as U.S. West grapples with heat wave, drought
Firefighters were working in extreme temperatures across the U.S. West and struggling to contain wildfires, the largest burning in California and Oregon, as another heat wave baked the region, straining power grids. The largest wildfire of the year in California — the Beckwourth Complex — was raging along the Nevada...
Biden to talk crime with city, police leaders nationwide
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will host New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate and other city and law enforcement leaders from around the country to talk about reducing crime. Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president and the likely next mayor of New York, plus Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and San...
EU puts digital levy plans on hold in face of U.S. criticism
BRUSSELS — In a gesture of goodwill to the United States, the European Union on Monday put work on plans for a digital tax levy on hold for the moment to concentrate on finalizing the historic tax decision endorsed by the Group of 20 nations over the weekend. In the...
Coronavirus infects vaccinated leader at Florida condo site
MIAMI — A vaccinated Miami-Dade county commissioner who helped other local officials in Surfside following the collapse of a condominium building announced that he and his chief of staff tested positive for covid-19. The news release late Sunday from Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz said he and his...
Ex-Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards died; knew power and prison
NEW ORLEANS, La. — Edwin Washington Edwards, the high-living four-term governor whose three-decade dominance of Louisiana politics was all but overshadowed by scandal and an eight-year federal prison stretch, died Monday. He was 93. Edwards died of respiratory problems with family and friends by his bedside, family spokesman Leo Honeycutt...
Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan hands over command
KABUL, Afghanistan — The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan relinquished his command at a ceremony in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Monday, taking the United States a step closer to ending its 20-year war. The move came as Taliban insurgents continue to gain territory across the country. Another four-star...
Pfizer to discuss vaccine booster with U.S. officials
WASHINGTON — Pfizer says it plans to meet with top U.S. health officials Monday to discuss the drugmaker’s request for federal authorization of a third dose of its covid-19 vaccine as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser acknowledged that “it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely” that booster shots will be...
Schumer wants NRA investigated for bankruptcy fraud
NEW YORK — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on the Justice Department to investigate the National Rifle Association for bankruptcy fraud, saying the financially stable gun-rights group abused the system when it sought bankruptcy protection in the wake of a New York lawsuit seeking to put it...
Fires rage in several states as heat wave broils U.S. West
Firefighters working in searing weather struggled to contain a Northern California wildfire that continued to grow Sunday and forced the temporary closure of a major highway, one of several large blazes burning across the U.S. West amid another heat wave that shattered records and strained power grids. In Arizona, a...
Gangs complicate Haiti effort to recover from assassination
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Gangs in Haiti have long been financed by powerful politicians and their allies — and many Haitians fear those backers may be losing control of the increasingly powerful armed groups who have driven thousands of people from their homes as they battle over territory, kill civilians and...
Billionaire Richard Branson reaches space in his own ship
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. — Swashbuckling entrepreneur Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday, beating out fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos. The nearly 71-year-old Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company reached an altitude of about 53 miles (85 kilometers) over the New...
Bonus pay for essential workers varied widely across states
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — For putting their health on the line during the coronavirus pandemic, prison guards in Missouri got an extra $250 per paycheck. Teachers in Georgia received $1,000 bonuses. And in Vermont, nurses, janitors, retail workers and many others got as much as $2,000. Over the past year,...
Search in Florida collapse to take weeks; deaths reach 90
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Authorities searching for victims of a deadly collapse in Florida said Sunday they hope to conclude their painstaking work in the coming weeks as a team of first responders from Israel departed the site. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said 90 deaths have now been confirmed...
Officials across Florida rethink condo inspection polices
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Across Florida, people living in the thousands of condominiums rising above the state’s 1,350 miles of coastline wonder if the building collapse in Surfside could happen to their home as state and local officials discuss what they can do to make sure it doesn’t. Although building collapses...
Police arrest Bangladesh factory owners after fire kills 52
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Police in Bangladesh arrested eight people Saturday on murder charges in connection with a factory fire that killed at least 52 people, many of whom were trapped inside by an illegally locked door, a senior police official said. The blaze began Thursday night at the five-story Hashem...
Tears, politics and money: School boards become battle zones
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Local school boards around the country are increasingly becoming cauldrons of anger and political division, boiling with disputes over such issues as covid-19 mask rules, the treatment of transgender students and how to teach the history of racism and slavery in America. Meetings that were once...
Death toll reaches 86 in Florida collapse; site to be cleared ‘sooner than expected’
MIAMI — First responders continuing the search and recovery mission in the debris of the collapsed Surfside condo tower on Saturday morning worked through a thunderstorm that brought heavy downpours and strong wind gusts at times. The recovery effort — which overnight uncovered seven more bodies from the rubble of...
Robert E. Lee statue removed in Charlottesville
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was hoisted away from its place of prominence in Charlottesville on Saturday and carted off to storage, years after its threatened removal became a rallying point for white supremacists and inspired their violent 2017 rally that left a woman...
Biden fires Trump-appointed head of Social Security agency
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has fired the commissioner of Social Security after the official refused to resign, and Biden accepted the deputy commissioner’s resignation, the White House said. Biden asked commissioner Andrew Saul to resign, and his employment was terminated Friday after he refused the Democratic president’s request, a...
Haiti’s interim PM confirms request for U.S. troops to country
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s interim government said Friday that it asked the U.S. to deploy troops to protect key infrastructure as it tries to stabilize the country and prepare the way for elections in the aftermath of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. “We definitely need assistance and we’ve asked...
Grizzly bear is fatally shot after killing California woman
HELENA Mont. — A grizzly bear that pulled a California woman from her tent and killed her this week was fatally shot early Friday by wildlife officials using night-vision goggles to stake out a chicken coop that the animal raided near the small Montana town where the woman was attacked....
Report: Drugmakers’ spending on stock, dividends and executive pay exceeds research
The largest drug companies are far more interested in enriching themselves and investors than in developing new drugs, according to a House committee report that argues the industry can afford to charge Medicare less for prescriptions. The report, released Thursday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says that contrary...
Mysterious bird illness continues to kill wild birds in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Poultry farmers in Ohio are being warned by the state Department of Agriculture to implement strict biosecurity measures to protect wild birds dying from a mysterious illness. Ohio officials are concerned the illness could potentially spread to chickens. “Biosecurity refers to everything that owners do to keep...
Survivors of Capital Gazette newspaper attack testify at gunman’s trial
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Survivors of a mass shooting at a Maryland newspaper described the terror of hiding for their lives under desks in their newsroom during testimony Friday at the gunman’s trial to determine whether he is criminally responsible due to insanity. The sight of a shot colleague, the near...
