Sri Lankan ministers sacked for criticizing economic policy
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s president has dismissed two more Cabinet ministers after they publicly criticized the government’s handling of the economy, which they said is causing severe hardships for people. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sacked Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila and Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa, the president’s office said...
Justices allow new defense of blocked Kentucky abortion law
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Kentucky’s Republican attorney general may continue defending a restriction on abortion rights that had been struck down by lower courts. The underlying issue in the case is a blocked state law that abortion rights supporters say would have effectively banned a standard...
UN atomic watchdog: Iran further raising nuclear stockpile
VIENNA — The United Nations’ atomic watchdog says it believes that Iran has further increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in breach of a 2015 accord with world powers. The International Atomic Energy Agency told member nations in its confidential quarterly report Thursday that Iran has an estimated stock...
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant on fire after shelling
KYIV, Ukraine —Russian forces shelled Europe’s largest nuclear plant early Friday in the battle for control of a crucial energy-producing city, and the power station was on fire. Plant spokesman Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television that shells were falling directly on the Zaporizhzhia plant and had set fire to one...
Democrats see ‘no reason to wait’ on Supreme Court vote
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson began courting senators on Capitol Hill, making her case for confirmation in private meetings as Democrats worked to move her through the Senate within weeks. Senate Democrats concerned about their narrow 50-50 majority — Vice President Kamala Harris breaks the tie —...
China denies asking Russia not to invade until post-Olympics
BEIJING — China on Thursday denounced a report that it asked Russia to delay invading Ukraine until after the Beijing Winter Olympics as “fake news” and a “very despicable” attempt to divert attention and shift blame over the conflict. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also repeated China’s accusations that Washington...
U.S. car crash death rate rose 21% in 2020, even as motorists drove less
WASHINGTON — Car crash fatality rates increased 21% in 2020, even as total crashes and injuries decreased, according to a final report released Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It’s the most recent crash data, indicating a major uptick in deaths between 2019 and 2020, when many Americans...
Jan. 6 panel claims Trump engaged in ‘criminal conspiracy’
WASHINGTON — The House Committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection said Wednesday night that its evidence shows former President Donald Trump and his associates engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election, spread false information about it and pressured state officials to...
Biden’s State of the Union speech draws 38 million viewers
LOS ANGELES — An estimated 38.2 million TV viewers watched President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, according to Nielsen ratings. That surpassed the audience of 37.2 million for Donald Trump’s last such address in 2020, but fell short of the 45.6 million who tuned in for Trump’s first...
Judge blocks Texas investigation of trans teen’s parents
A Texas judge on Wednesday blocked the state from investigating the parents of a transgender teenager over gender-confirmation treatments, but stopped short of preventing the state from looking into other reports about children receiving similar care. District Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued a temporary order halting the investigation by the...
Alabama man first convicted of seditious conspiracy in riot
An Alabama man affiliated with the far-right Oath Keepers militia group pleaded guilty Wednesday to seditious conspiracy for his actions leading up and through the Jan. 6 riot, marking the first person involved in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol to be convicted of the rarely used charge. The...
U.S. House ‘staunchly, proudly’ passes resolution for Ukraine
WASHINGTON — The U.S House has overwhelmingly approved a resolution “steadfastly, staunchly, proudly and fervently” in support of Ukraine. Lawmakers said Wednesday that history was watching the way the world responds as Ukrainians fight to save their Western-style democracy from invasion by Russia. With intensifying urgency, many in Congress said...
US Rep. Van Taylor drops Texas reelection bid, admits affair
DALLAS — U.S. Rep. Van Taylor of Texas said Wednesday that he was ending his reelection campaign and admitted having an affair following reports that he had been in a relationship with the widow of an American-born recruiter for the Islamic State group. The North Texas congressman’s announcement came the...
Philadelphia police: Boy, 12, killed after officers in car fired uponVideo
PHILADELPHIA — A plainclothes Philadelphia police officer fatally shot a 12-year-old boy in the back Tuesday night, moments after a bullet was fired into an unmarked car, police said. Police identified the youth as Thomas Siderio Jr., saying officers took him to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where he was pronounced...
Illinois’ ex-House speaker charged with racketeering
CHICAGO — Michael Madigan, the former speaker of the Illinois House and for decades one of the nation’s most powerful legislators, was charged with racketeering and bribery on Wednesday, becoming the most prominent politician swept up in the latest federal investigation of entrenched government corruption in the state. Madigan, 79,...
Massive cargo ship carrying luxury cars sinks in mid-Atlantic
LISBON, Portugal — A large cargo vessel carrying cars from Germany to the United States sank Tuesday in the mid-Atlantic, 13 days after a fire broke out on board, the ship’s manager and the Portuguese navy said. The Felicity Ace sank about 250 miles off Portugal’s Azores Islands as it...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admonishes high school students for wearing face masksVideo
TAMPA, Fla. — A visibly annoyed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admonished a group of students for wearing face masks at an indoor news conference Wednesday, saying it was time to stop what he called “this covid theater.” DeSantis, a fierce opponent of virus mask and vaccine mandates, approached the students...
Rep. Lauren Boebert outburst on Afghanistan jolts State of the UnionVideo
WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden was coming to the end of his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a somber moment about his son’s death turned into a stunning outburst by one of the Republicans’ most outspoken members. Delivering the loudest heckling of Biden during the speech, Rep....
Biden admin: Covid should no longer ‘dictate how we live’
WASHINGTON — It’s time for America to stop letting the coronavirus “dictate how we live,” President Joe Biden’s White House declared Wednesday, outlining a strategy to allow people to return to many normal activities safely after two years of pandemic disruptions. One highlight is a new “test to treat” plan...
Space junk on 5,800-mph collision course with moon
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The moon is about to get walloped by 3 tons of space junk, a punch that will carve out a crater that could fit several semitractor-trailers. The leftover rocket will smash into the far side of the moon at 5,800 mph (9,300 kph) on Friday, away...
Some Russian oligarchs speak out, cautiously, against war
There have been social media messages calling for peace, an image of a murdered Russian opposition figure, a newspaper editorial demanding President Vladimir Putin “stop this war.” As Russian forces pound Ukraine’s cities, the sentiments might not be surprising. Their source is — they come from rich Russians, including billionaires...
South African court rules new Zulu king can be crowned
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A new Zulu king can be crowned in South Africa after a court settled a dispute Wednesday over whether the prince named as heir to the throne last year had a rightful claim to it. A KwaZulu-Natal high court judge in the city of Pietermaritzburg...
Powell tells Congress that Fed will raise rates this month
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made clear Wednesday that the Fed will begin raising interest rates this month in a high-stakes effort to restrain surging inflation. In prepared testimony he will deliver to a congressional committee, Powell cautions that the financial consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are...
Economic dangers from Russia’s invasion ripple across globe
WASHINGTON — Moscow’s war on Ukraine and the ferocious financial backlash it has unleashed are not only inflicting an economic catastrophe on President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The repercussions are also menacing the global economy, shaking financial markets and making life more perilous for everyone from Uzbek migrant workers to European...
Refugee count tops 1 million; Russians besiege Ukraine ports
KYIV, Ukraine — The number of people sent fleeing Ukraine by Russia’s invasion topped 1 million on Wednesday, the swiftest refugee exodus this century, the United Nations said, as Russian forces kept up their bombardment of the country’s second-biggest city, Kharkiv, and laid siege to two strategic seaports. The tally...
