Drought takes toll on U.S. cotton production
LUBBOCK, Texas — The cotton harvest is about to get underway in the Texas High Plains, the windswept region that grows most of the crop in the nation’s top cotton-producing state. But Barry Evans, like many others, has already walked away from more than 2,000 acres of his bone-dry fields....
Stocks extend their losses on fears recession may be looming
NEW YORK — Good news on the economy remains bad news for Wall Street, and stocks are falling sharply Friday on worries a still-strong U.S jobs market may actually make a recession more likely. The S&P 500 was 3.1% lower in afternoon trading after the government said employers hired more...
Fatal crash, gunfire interrupt Ohio teenager’s funeral procession
AKRON, Ohio — At least two cars crashed during a funeral procession for a teen who died of a suspected drug overdose, killing a 12-year-old boy and critically injuring his 6-year-old brother, police in Ohio said. Two episodes of gunfire followed the crash, wounding at least one person. A marked...
Uvalde schools suspend entire police force after outrage
AUSTIN, Texas — The Uvalde school district on Friday pulled its embattled campus police force off the job following a wave of new outrage over the hiring of a former Texas state trooper who was part of the hesitant law enforcement response during the May shooting at Robb Elementary School....
Dispelling the myths: A look at what didn’t happen this week, Oct. 2
Harris comments on addressing climate inequity misrepresented Claim: Vice President Kamala Harris said that Hurricane Ian relief will be distributed based on race, with communities of color receiving aid first. The facts: Speaking at the Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum in Washington last week, Harris discussed distributing resources equitably...
Biden order promises EU citizens better data privacy
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday designed to allay European concerns that U.S. intelligence agencies are illegally spying on them. It promises strengthened safeguards against data collection abuses and creates a forum for legal challenges. The order builds on a preliminary agreement Biden announced in March with European...
U.K.’s Truss fires trade minister over alleged misconduct
LONDON — A British trade minister was fired by Prime Minister Liz Truss and suspended by the Conservative Party on Friday over misconduct allegations. The government said Truss asked Conor Burns to leave the government “with immediate effect” after “a complaint of serious misconduct.” “The prime minister took direct action...
Tropical Storm Julia forms near Colombia, forecast to be a hurricane soon
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Julia formed off the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia Friday morning and is forecast to turn into a hurricane this weekend while it moves across the Caribbean Sea toward Nicaragua. The National Hurricane Center announced the formation of Julia in its advisory at 11 a.m. Friday. Julia...
Hurricane Ian floods leave mess, insurance questions behind
NORTH PORT, Fla. — Christine Barrett was inside her family’s North Port home during Hurricane Ian when one of her children started yelling that water was coming up from the shower. Then it started coming in from outside the house. Eventually the family was forced to climb on top of...
Bosnia election officials investigate possible vote-rigging
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnia’s election authorities expressed concerns Friday over widespread problems at polling stations and reports of irregularities and vote-rigging in the general election last weekend. They ordered ballot checks at over 1,000 polling stations and promised to investigate all potential failings before certifying the results of the vote....
Biden’s ‘Armageddon’ talk edges beyond bounds of U.S. intel
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s warning that the world is at risk of a nuclear “Armageddon” was designed to send an unvarnished message that no one should underestimate the extraordinary danger if Russia deploys tactical nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine, administration officials said Friday. The president’s grim assessment,...
Nobel Peace Prize to activists from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Human rights activists from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, a strong rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine has outraged the international community, and to the Belarusian president, his authoritarian ally. The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2022...
Ex-Oath Keeper: Group leader claimed Secret Service contactVideo
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes told a member of the extremist group before the 2020 election that he had a contact in the Secret Service, a witness testified Thursday in Rhodes’ Capitol riot trial. John Zimmerman, who was part of the North Carolina chapter, told jurors that Rhodes...
Biden: Nuclear ‘Armageddon’ risk highest since ’62 crisis
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at a...
Ian evacuees return to mud, rubble as death toll hits triple digitsVideo
SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. — Rotting fish and garbage lie scattered in Sanibel Island’s streets. On the mainland, debris from washed-away homes is heaped in a canal like matchsticks. Huge shrimp boats sit perched amid the remains of a mobile home park. “Think of a snow globe. Pick it up and...
Fetterman raised ‘record-breaking’ $22M in latest quarter; Oz loaned himself $7M
Democrat John Fetterman has reported raising a whopping $22 million in the most recent reporting period, easily outpacing Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, who plowed $7 million of his own fortune into the U.S. Senate race. Campaign finance reports for the third quarter are due to be filed with the Federal...
Shooting suspect in hotel near Detroit surrenders to policeVideo
DEARBORN, Mich. — An armed man accused of shooting and wounding one person and who then barricaded himself inside a room at a suburban Detroit hotel surrendered Thursday night and was taken into custody, Michigan State Police said. “The barricaded gunman has been taken into custody without incident,” state police...
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse sole finalist for University of Florida president
WASHINGTON — Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse is the sole finalist to become the president of the University of Florida, the school said Thursday, and the Republican senator has indicated that he will take the job. That means he could resign in coming weeks. The school said in a statement that...
Proud Boys leader pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy for Capitol attack
WASHINGTON — A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Thursday to plotting with other members of the far-right Proud Boys to violently stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election, making him the first member of the extremist group to plead guilty to a seditious conspiracy charge. Jeremy Joseph...
Police: 2 dead, 6 injured in stabbings along Las Vegas StripVideo
LAS VEGAS — An attacker with a large kitchen knife killed two people and wounded six others in stabbings along the Las Vegas Strip before he was arrested Thursday, police said. Three people were hospitalized in critical condition and another three were in stable condition, according to Las Vegas police,...
Report: Federal agents looking at possible tax charges against Hunter BidenVideo
After a multiyear probe, federal agents believe they have assembled a sufficient case for tax crime charges to be filed against Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware will make the call on whether to charge the younger...
Biden pardons thousands for ‘simple possession’ of marijuana
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana under federal law, as his administration takes a dramatic step toward decriminalizing the drug and addressing charging practices that disproportionately impact people of color. Biden’s move also covers thousands convicted of the crime in...
Florida drop tower will be taken down after teen’s death
ORLANDO, Fla. — A towering amusement ride in central Florida’s tourism district where a Missouri teen fell to his death will be taken down because of the accident, the owner said Thursday. The decision to remove the more than 400-foot ride which opened last December in Orlando’s International Drive district...
Rochester to pay $12M to family of Daniel Prude, Black man killed by police
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — City officials agreed to pay $12 million to the children of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died after police held him down until he stopped breathing on a snowy street in Rochester, New York. A federal judge approved the settlement in a court document filed Thursday....
New survey suggests little progress against U.S. teen vaping
NEW YORK — The latest government study on teen vaping suggests there’s been little progress in keeping e-cigarettes out of the hands of kids. The data seems to show more high school students vaping, with 14% saying they had done so recently, according to survey results released Thursday. In last...
