Musk says he would reverse Twitter’s ban of Donald Trump
LONDON — Elon Musk said he will reverse Twitter’s permanent ban of former President Donald Trump if the Tesla CEO follows through with his plan to buy the social media company. Musk, speaking virtually at a Future of the Car summit hosted by the Financial Times, said Twitter’s Trump ban...
New York appeals court dismisses AG suit against Amazon
NEW YORK — An appeals court in New York dismissed New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against Amazon over its coronavirus safety protocols and a former employee who led the successful union organizing effort on Staten Island. Besides potentially exposing workers to the virus at two Amazon facilities in...
Pandemic gets tougher to track as covid testing plunges
Testing for covid-19 has plummeted across the globe, making it much tougher for scientists to track the course of the pandemic and spot new, worrisome viral mutants as they emerge and spread. Experts say testing has dropped by 70 to 90% worldwide from the first to the second quarter of...
Another Outer Banks beach house falls along the coastVideo
RODANTHE, N.C. — Another beach house has fallen into the waves along North Carolina’s coast and more are in danger of collapsing, U.S. National Park Service officials said in a statement Tuesday. The unoccupied home that collapsed was located along Ocean Drive in the Outer Banks community of Rodanthe. The...
Ukrainians make gains in east, hold on at Mariupol mill
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s military has made small gains in the east, pushing Russian forces out of four villages near Kharkiv, as his country’s foreign minister suggested Ukraine could go beyond just forcing Russia back to areas it held before the invasion began 11 weeks...
Explainer: What caused Sri Lanka’s economic collapse?
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The South Asian nation of Sri Lanka is experiencing an unprecedented economic collapse that has pushed the government into a deep crisis. The island is struggling to import basic necessities for its 22 million people because of diminishing foreign reserves and crippling debt, spurring weeks of...
Florida school yearbook on hold over student protest photos
LONGWOOD, Fla. — Yearbooks at a central Florida high school won’t be distributed until images of students holding rainbow flags and a “love is love” sign while protesting the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law can be covered up. District officials said they don’t want anyone thinking that the school...
Judge to decide how much pharmacies owe over opioid crisis
CLEVELAND — How much money should CVS, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies pay two Ohio counties in damages to help them ease the effects of the opioid crisis? That’s the question in front of a federal judge in Cleveland, who will begin hearing testimony on Tuesday after a jury found the...
Wisconsin anti-abortion office fire investigation ongoing
MADISON, Wis. — Police asked for the public’s help in tracking down those who vandalized and threw two Molotov cocktails into the office of a prominent Wisconsin anti-abortion lobbying group’s office that was damaged by fire. No one has been arrested and there are no suspects in custody in the...
Shanghai retightens on covid, frustrating trapped residents
BEIJING — The city of Shanghai is doubling down on pandemic restrictions after a brief period of loosening up, frustrating residents who were hoping a more than monthlong lockdown was finally easing as the number of new cases falls in China’s financial center. Teams in white protective suits have begun...
Bodies found in Lake Mead renew interest in Vegas mob lore
LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas is being flooded with lore about organized crime after a second set of human remains emerged within a week from the depths of a drought-stricken Colorado River reservoir just a 30-minute drive from the notoriously mob-founded Strip. “There’s no telling what we’ll find in Lake...
Biden reaps record tax haul on meme stocks’ once-and-done frenzy
The surge in individual stock trading by Americans last year contributed to a record tax haul for the federal government this spring — shrinking the budget deficit and surprising Wall Street, but likely leaving President Biden in no stronger shape as he battles for his fiscal agenda in Congress. Tax...
Trump doesn’t deny allegations in book, slams Esper
Former President Trump hit back at Mark Esper, his onetime secretary of Defense, as a “lightweight” and Republican in name only but did not deny bombshell allegations that he wanted to shoot racial justice protesters or fire missiles at drug targets in Mexico. The ex-president accused Esper of keeping quiet...
Coral reefs provide stunning images of a world under assault
MIAMI — Humans don’t know what they’re missing under the surface of a busy shipping channel in the “cruise capital of the world.” Just below the keels of massive ships, an underwater camera provides a live feed from another world, showing marine life that’s trying its best to resist global...
Mark Esper: Trump’s White House discussed blockade of Cuba and military action in VenezuelaVideo
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he prevented “dangerous things” from happening during the time President Donald Trump was in office, including military intervention in Venezuela and a blockade of Cuba. “At various times, certainly during the last year of the administration folks in the White House were proposing to...
Fugitive inmate captured after manhunt, ex-jail officer deadVideo
A former Alabama jail official on the run with a murder suspect she was accused of helping escape shot and killed herself Monday as authorities caught up with the pair after more than a week of searching, officials said. The man she fled with surrendered. The death of Vicky White,...
Rare cases of covid returning pose questions for Pfizer pill
WASHINGTON — As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful covid-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. Paxlovid has become the go-to option against covid-19 because of its at-home convenience and impressive results in heading off...
Bahamas calls on U.S. labs to help solve deaths of 3 touristsVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Samples extracted from three American tourists who died at a resort in the Bahamas under mysterious circumstances have been sent to a lab in the United States to expedite results and help authorities understand what happened, officials said Monday. The police commissioner of the Bahamas,...
Poll: Kathy Barnette is neck-and-neck with Oz, McCormick in Pa. Senate race
PHILADELPHIA — Maybe money really can’t buy everything. Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Kathy Barnette now appears to be running neck-and-neck with the two big-spending front-runners, Mehmet Oz and David McCormick, just days before the May 17 primary, according to a new poll. Barnette, a conservative commentator who has run a...
Philly cheesesteak shop founder, son plead in tax fraud case
PHILADELPHIA — The founder of a Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant and one of his sons have pleaded guilty in a federal tax fraud case alleging the hiding of nearly $8 million in sales over the course of a decade. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that 83-year-old Anthony Lucidonio Sr. and 55-year-old Nicholas...
Pulitzer Prizes award Washington Post for Jan. 6 coverage
NEW YORK — The Washington Post won the Pulitzer Prize in public service journalism Monday for its coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, an attack on democracy that was a shocking start to a tumultuous year that also saw the end of the United States’ longest...
Face-scanner Clearview agrees to limits in court settlement
CHICAGO — Facial recognition startup Clearview AI has agreed to restrict the use of its massive collection of face images to settle allegations that it collected people’s photos without their consent. The company in a legal filing Monday agreed to permanently stop selling access to its face database to private...
Death toll of Havana hotel explosion rises to 35
HAVANA — More bodies were pulled from the ruins of a luxury hotel in Cuba’s capital on Monday, bringing the official death toll of a powerful explosion at the iconic building to 35. Cuba’s Fire Department Chief Luis Guzmán told state TV that three more bodies were recovered overnight as...
Wall Street joins worldwide swoon on rate, China worries
NEW YORK — Wall Street is tumbling toward its lowest point in more than a year on Monday as renewed worries about China’s economy pile on top of markets already battered by rising interest rates. The S&P 500 was 2.2% lower in morning trading after coming off its fifth straight...
Russian envoy to Poland hit with red paint at war cemetery
WARSAW, Poland — Russia’s ambassador to Poland was splattered with red paint thrown at him by protesters opposed to the war in Ukraine, preventing him from paying respects on Monday at a Warsaw cemetery to Red Army soldiers who died during World War II. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova...
