U.S./World category, Page 769
Hezbollah leader: Breach of Jerusalem means regional war
BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah said Tuesday any violations of Jerusalem and the sites holy to Muslims and Christians would lead to a regional war. Speaking for the first time since the cease-fire ending the 11-day war between Hamas and Israel, Hassan Nasrallah said Gaza’s militant...
Biden to visit Tulsa for 100th anniversary of race massacre
TULSA, Okla. — President Joe Biden will visit Tulsa next week to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1921 massacre that claimed up to hundreds of lives in the city. The White House said Tuesday that Biden will visit Tulsa on June 1. His appearance will follow a weekend of...
How a teen’s TikTok birthday invite ended in arrests, clashes at beach
LOS ANGELES — It started with a 17-year-old from the Inland Empire planning a birthday bash in Huntington Beach. He sent the announcement on TikTok. And just like that, “Adrian’s kickback” ended up becoming a viral sensation, one that also became a serious problem for Huntington Beach police. Over the...
Moment of silence marks year since George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — George Floyd was honored Tuesday with a moment of silence in the city where he died at the hands of police, a death captured on a wrenching bystander video that galvanized the racial justice movement and continues to ripple a year later. Floyd’s sister Bridgett and other members...
South Carolina high court hears 1st suit in monument protection law
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court heard its first challenge to the state law protecting Confederate and other historical monuments since it passed 21 years ago with justices questioning Tuesday if parts or all of the act are constitutional. The Heritage Act was passed in 2000 to move...
Board fight at Exxon intensifies spotlight on climate change
NEW YORK — ExxonMobil is facing a major challenge from a group of investors in one of the biggest fights a corporate boardroom has endured over its stance on climate change, an issue of rising urgency for many shareholders. The investor group is pushing to replace four of the oil...
‘System worked’: Man wins prison release after 48 years
DETROIT — A Detroit man who spent 48 years in prison for a fatal robbery pleaded no contest to second-degree murder Tuesday in an extraordinary compromise that settles his claim of innocence and allows him to go free. Ray Gray, 69, wasn’t exonerated during the video court hearing. But the...
Southwest Airlines flight attendant bloodied, loses teeth in assault by rowdy passenger
A Southwest Airlines flight attendant lost two teeth and walked away bloodied after she was physically assaulted by a passenger Sunday morning, part of a disturbing uptick in traveler misconduct. “This past weekend, one of our Flight Attendants was seriously assaulted, resulting in injuries to the face and a loss...
In New Orleans, documenting history of iconic Black street
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans resident Raynard Sanders can detail the many ways Black businesses and culture thrived under the canopy of oak trees along Claiborne Avenue: the Black insurance companies, the corner lot home to the Black musicians union, the church that held a funeral to bury slavery. And...
100 years after Tulsa Race Massacre, the damage remains
TULSA, Okla. — On a recent Sunday, Ernestine Alpha Gibbs returned to Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church. Not her body. She had left this Earth 18 years ago, at age 100. But on this day, three generations of her family brought Ernestine’s keepsakes back to this place which meant so...
American Jews take stock of internal divisions, antisemitism
As fighting between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers raged before last week’s cease-fire, U.S. rabbinical student Max Buchdahl wanted to be considerate of those in his community who are emotionally connected to Israel — but he also wanted to support Palestinians. Buchdahl, 25, joined dozens of rabbinical and cantorial...
Tennessee bans teaching critical race theory in schools
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee is the latest state to ban teachers from teaching certain concepts of race and racism in public schools. Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed into law on Monday a measure that attracted some of the most impassioned debates inside the GOP-controlled General Assembly this year. He signaled...
Gunshots heard near Floyd square on anniversary of death
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis intersection where George Floyd died was disrupted by gunfire Tuesday, just hours before it was to be the site of a family-friendly street festival marking the anniversary of his death at the hands of police. Associated Press video from 38th Street and Chicago Avenue — informally...
White House: Biden to meet Putin for Geneva summit
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will hold a summit with Vladimir Putin next month in Geneva, a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders that comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Russia in the first months of the Biden administration. The White House confirmed details of the summit on...
Colorado supermarket shooting suspect heads back to court
DENVER — A 22-year-old man accused of fatally shooting 10 people at a Colorado supermarket was set to appear in court Tuesday for a hearing to discuss what will happen next in the case. The status hearing will be only the second court appearance for Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa since...
Rights group urges Japan to update law on changing gender
TOKYO — An international rights group on Tuesday urged Japan to change a law that it says puts “abusive and outdated” burdens on transgender people seeking to have their gender change legally recognized, including sterilization surgery and a psychiatric diagnosis. The report by New York-based Human Rights Watch said such...
Vatican issues a street art stamp, ends up getting sued
ROME — One night in early 2019, Rome street artist Alessia Babrow glued a stylized image of Christ she had made onto a bridge near the Vatican. A year later, she was shocked to learn that the Vatican had apparently used a reproduction of her image, which featured her hallmark...
Suspect arrested in South Florida synagogue harassment
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Police have arrested a man who they say yelled antisemitic remarks at a rabbi and dumped a bag of human feces in front of a South Florida synagogue. Hallandale Beach police arrested Jeffrey Carl Fleming on Monday on charges of felony stalking with a hate crime...
Justice Department appeals judge’s order on Russia probe memo
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Monday that it would appeal a judge’s order directing it to release a legal memo on whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice during the Russia investigation. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson earlier this month had ordered the Justice Department to release the...
Grand jury indicts ex-UCLA doctor on 21 sexual abuse counts
LOS ANGELES — A grand jury indicted a former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles on 21 counts of sexual abuse offenses Monday in a case where he is accused of sexually assaulting seven women, court documents say. Dr. James Heaps faces multiple counts each of sexual battery...
Nashville DA won’t enforce new bathroom sign law
NASHVILLE — Nashville’s top prosecutor said Monday that he will not enforce a newly enacted law that requires businesses and government facilities open to the public to post a sign if they let transgender people use multiperson bathrooms and other facilities associated with their gender identity. “I believe every person...
Texas poised to allow unlicensed carrying of handgunsVideo
AUSTIN — Texas is poised to remove one of its last major gun restrictions after lawmakers approved allowing people to carry handguns without a license, and the background check and training that go with it. The Republican-dominated Legislature approved the measure Monday, sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has...
Key impeachment witness sues Mike Pompeo over $1.8M in legal fees
WASHINGTON — Gordon Sondland, the Trump administration’s ambassador to the European Union and a pivotal witness in 2019 impeachment proceedings, sued former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday in an effort to recoup $1.8 million he racked up in legal expenses. Sondland alleges in the lawsuit, filed in federal...
Suspect arrested after deadly shooting at New Jersey birthday partyVideo
BRIDGETON, N.J. — A shooting at a birthday party in New Jersey that left two people dead and 12 injured was not a random act and was a reflection of gun violence that has swept the nation, Gov. Phil Murphy said. “A birthday party is supposed to be a joyous...
Grim western fire season starts much drier than record 2020
As bad as last year’s record-shattering fire season was, the western U.S. starts this year’s in even worse shape. The soil in the West is record dry for this time of year. In much of the region, plants that fuel fires are also the driest scientists have seen. The vegetation...
