U.S./World category, Page 774
New law makes inmates choose electric chair or firing squad in South CarolinaVideo
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has signed into law a bill that forces death row inmates for now to choose between the electric chair or a newly formed firing squad in hopes the state can restart executions after an involuntary 10-year pause. South Carolina had been one...
Gaetz associate pleads guilty to sex trafficking charges
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida politician who emerged as a central figure in the Justice Department’s sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz pleaded guilty Monday to six federal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of a plea deal. Joel Greenberg, a longtime associate of Gaetz, appeared...
3 existing conditions approved for Ohio medical marijuana
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Medical Board of Ohio panel has added three existing conditions for Ohioans to buy medical marijuana. The panel earlier this year determined that arthritis, chronic migraines and complex regional pain syndrome fall into the existing category of chronic or intractable pain. State residents must obtain a...
Begging for air: India’s oxygen crisis imperils its covid-19 response
MEERUT, India — The men stood shoulder to shoulder in the blazing heat, their chests leaning against empty oxygen cylinders lodged in the dirt. They had come from all over to this makeshift oxygen tank-refilling center in a city 40 miles northeast of the Indian capital of New Delhi in...
Supreme Court to weigh rollback of abortion rights
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Monday it would hear a major challenge to the reach of the landmark Roe vs. Wade abortion ruling and decide whether states may bar nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of a pregnancy. The justices said they had voted to hear an appeal from...
Covid relief continues: Here’s how parents can get a monthly tax payment this summer
WASHINGTON — Eligible parents can get up to $300 per child from Washington as a monthly tax payment starting July 15, the Treasury Department said Monday. That means the 2020 tax return that’s due to be filed by the end of Monday with the Internal Revenue Service now could determine...
Oprah and CNN: AT&T is merging media business with DiscoveryVideo
NEW YORK — The merger of Discovery and AT&T’s WarnerMedia operations, marrying the likes of HBO and CNN with HGTV and Oprah Winfrey, is another illustration of the head-spinning speed in which streaming has transformed the media world. The companies are essentially placing a $43 billion bet that they’ll still...
Israeli strikes hit Gaza tunnels as diplomats work for truce
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli military unleashed a wave of heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Monday, saying it destroyed 9 miles of militant tunnels and the homes of nine Hamas commanders, as international diplomats worked to end the week of fighting that has killed hundreds of...
Police: 2 arson suspects detained in Los Angeles wildfire
LOS ANGELES — A smoky wildfire churning through a Los Angeles canyon community gained strength Sunday as about a thousand residents remained under evacuation orders while others were warned they should get ready to leave, authorities said. The cause of the fire near Topanga State Park has been deemed “suspicious”...
Second Amendment sanctuaries facing 1st court test in Oregon
SALEM, Ore. — The first court test of whether local governments can ban police from enforcing certain gun laws is playing out in a rural Oregon county, one of a wave of U.S. counties declaring itself a Second Amendment sanctuary. The measure that voters in the logging area of Columbia...
Albuquerque police ID 2 victims in a triple homicide case
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Authorities have released the names of two men who died in a triple homicide case. Albuquerque police say 44-year-old Brandon Torres and 41-year-old James Fisher were identified as two of the victims found Wednesday in a bullet-riddled car outside a city hospital. The name of the third...
Arrest made after boy, 4, found slain on Dallas streetVideo
DALLAS — An 18-year-old man has been arrested after the body of a 4-year-old boy was found lying on a neighborhood street in Dallas, police said Sunday. Police said that Darriynn Brown has been charged with kidnapping and theft. Police say they also anticipate additional charges pending the results of...
AP’s top editor calls for independent investigation into Israeli airstrikeVideo
WASHINGTON — The Associated Press’ top editor on Sunday called for an independent investigation into the Israeli airstrike that targeted and destroyed a Gaza City building housing the AP, broadcaster Al-Jazeera and other media, saying the public deserves to know the facts. Separately, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders asked the...
Islamic nations slam Israel — and each other’s ties to it
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A league of Muslim nations on Sunday demanded that Israel halt attacks killing Palestinian civilians amid heavy fighting between it and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, even as fissures between countries over their recognition of Israel emerged. A statement by the 57-nation Organization of Islamic...
CDC’s big mask change went from science to secret to surprise
WASHINGTON — For a nation mired in a pandemic for more than a year, the biggest step toward a return to normal came suddenly, even to President Joe Biden. After warning the country on Monday to stay vigilant amid the threat of coronavirus variants, the president found himself three days...
Afghan cease-fire ends amid calls for fresh peace talks
KABUL, Afghanistan — A three-day cease-fire marked by violent attacks — most claimed by the Islamic State group — ended Sunday in Afghanistan amid calls for renewed peace talks between the government and Taliban. Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the negotiating teams of the government and the Islamic Emirate,...
Israel stages new round of heavy airstrikes on Gaza CityVideo
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes unleashed a series of heavy airstrikes at several locations of Gaza City early Monday, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled the fourth war with Gaza’s Hamas rulers would rage on. Explosions rocked the city from north to south for 10 minutes...
Colonial Pipeline operator says ‘normal operations’ have resumed
ATLANTA — The operator of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline — hit earlier this week by a ransomware attack — announced Saturday that it has resumed “normal operations,” delivering fuel to its markets, including a large swath of the East Coast. Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline had begun the process of restarting...
Italy’s Berlusconi leaves hospital amid post-virus struggles
MILAN — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was released from Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital on Saturday, where he was treated for complications related to his earlier bout with coronavirus. Berlusconi, 84, recovered from covid-19 last September but has been in and out of the hospital in recent weeks. He was...
Police fire tear gas on banned Palestinian march in Paris
PARIS — French riot police fired tear gas and used water cannons Saturday in Paris as protesters supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip defied a ban on marching in the French capital. Thousands of people marched peacefully in other cities in France and elsewhere in Europe — including in London,...
U.S. climate envoy Kerry meets with pope on climate crisis
VATICAN CITY — John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, met privately with Pope Francis on Saturday, afterward calling the pope a “compelling moral authority on the subject of the climate crisis” who has been “ahead of the curve.” The former U.S. Secretary of State told Vatican News that the...
Ex-Border agent admits illegally bringing woman into U.S.
LAREDO, Texas — A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in Texas has pleaded guilty to illegally bringing a Mexican woman into the U.S. to work as her nanny, according to federal court documents. Rhonda Lee Walker, 40, of Laredo, admitted in a signed plea agreement Friday in U.S....
Israeli strike destroys Gaza building with AP, other media
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike on Saturday targeted and destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed offices of the Associated Press and other media outlets. AP’s president said the agency was “shocked and horrified” at the strike. AP staffers and other tenants safely evacuated the...
Ethiopia again delays national election amid deadly tensions
NAIROBI, Kenya — Ethiopia has again delayed its national election after some opposition parties said they wouldn’t take part and as conflict in the country’s Tigray region means no vote is being held there. The head of the national elections board, Birtukan Mideksa, in a meeting with political parties’ representatives...
China lands on Mars in latest advance for its space program
BEIJING — China has landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time in the latest advance for its space program. The official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday that the lander had touched down, citing the China National Space Administration. Plans call for a rover to stay in the lander...
