National Guard to help D.C. control traffic for truck convoys
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital as it prepares for trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the request Tuesday from the District of Columbia government and the...
U.S. House candidate from Oklahoma apologizes for intoxication during sleepover
OKLAHOMA CITY — A U.S. House candidate in Oklahoma has apologized after reports that she became intoxicated at a Valentine’s Day weekend sleepover for middle-school-aged girls, berated several of the children and vomited in a hamper. Democrat Abby Broyles, 32, told television station KFOR that she had an adverse reaction...
Sentence upheld for Coast Guard officer tied to terror plot
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld a prison sentence of more than 13 years for a former Coast Guard officer accused of stockpiling weapons and plotting politically motivated killings inspired by a far-right mass murderer. Christopher Hasson argued the district court judge who sentenced him in...
Biden announces sanctions against Russia for invasion of UkraineVideo
MOSCOW — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the United States will impose its first tranche of economic sanctions against Moscow in response to what he described as “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.” “I’m going to begin to impose sanctions in response far beyond the steps we...
Lawsuit seeks halt to Pa. justices picking congressional map
HARRISBURG — A federal lawsuit claims the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would overstep its authority by selecting a new set of congressional district maps, and the plaintiffs also want a restraining order to prevent the state justices from changing the election calendar. Two Republicans running for Congress, a member of the...
Supreme Court shuts down Trump bid to shield records from Jan. 6 investigation
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has formally rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to block release of documents from his administration to the House Jan. 6 Select Committee, bringing a formal end to his executive privilege claims in connection with the records. The decision follows the court’s Jan. 19 order...
Beekeepers turn to anti-theft technology as hive thefts rise
For a few frenzied weeks, beekeepers from around the United States truck billions of honeybees to California to rent them to almond growers who need the insects to pollinate the state’s most valuable crop. But as almond trees start to bloom, blanketing entire valleys in white and pink flowers, so...
Man tries to enter Boston zoo’s tiger cage, arrested
A Worcester man was arrested Monday for trying to enter a tiger enclosure after breaking into Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo. The Massachusetts State Police said that when questioned, the man only said he was very interested in tigers. Matthew Abraham, 24, allegedly climbed over a gate into the zoo at...
What are the U.S.’s toughest sanctions against Putin, Russia?
WASHINGTON — With the White House calling Russian deployments in eastern Ukraine an invasion, it’s expected to follow up with tough sanctions. President Joe Biden has made clear the United States intends to deploy sweeping financial penalties, not American troops, to hit Russia over President Vladimir Putin’s moves against Ukraine....
All 3 defendants convicted of hate crimes in Arbery killingVideo
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The three men convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s fatal shooting were found guilty of federal hate crimes and other lesser charges Tuesday for violating Arbery’s civil rights and targeting him because he was Black. In addition to the federal hate crimes, the jury also found father...
High court takes case involving refusal to serve gay couples
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a new clash involving religion and the rights of LGBT people. The high court said Tuesday it would hear the case of Colorado-based web designer Lorie Smith. Smith offers graphic and website design services and wants to expand to wedding website...
Lawmakers give Putin permission to use force outside Russia
MOSCOW — Russia’s upper house of parliament has given President Vladimir Putin permission to use military force outside the country. That could presage a broader attack on Ukraine after the U.S. said an invasion was already underway there. Putin asked the country’s parliament on Tuesday for the permission. Several European...
Queen Elizabeth still has mild covid symptoms, cancels online meetings
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II canceled scheduled online engagements on Tuesday because she is still experiencing mild cold-like symptoms after testing positive for covid-19, Buckingham Palace said. The 95-year-old monarch “has decided not to undertake her planned virtual engagements today, but will continue with light duties,” a palace spokesman said....
Woman accused of stabbing husband 140 times in Florida home
PALM SPRINGS, Fla. — A 61-year-old Florida woman is accused of stabbing her physically disabled husband more than 140 times and hitting him on the head with a meat cleaver to make sure he was dead. Joan Burke was arrested Sunday and charged with first-degree murder, according to Palm Springs...
4 Pennsylvania state troopers hurt in crash during pursuit
CHAMBERSBURG — A crash during a police pursuit left four Pennsylvania state troopers injured, authorities said. The chase began in Chambersburg around 11:45 p.m. Monday when the troopers attempted to stop the driver of a vehicle after observing traffic violations, state police said in a news release. The driver failed...
World leaders focus on how to punish Russia over Ukraine
BRUSSELS — With the smell of war in the air over Europe, world leaders got over the shock of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to deploy troops to separatist regions of eastern Ukraine and they are focused on producing as forceful a reaction as possible. Germany made the first big...
Ukraine crisis: Putin gets OK to use force outside Russia
MOSCOW — Russian lawmakers on Tuesday authorized President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside the country — a move that could presage a broader attack on Ukraine after the U.S. said an invasion was already underway there. Several European leaders said Russian troops rolled into rebel-held areas in eastern...
Libya’s embattled PM says replacing him could trigger war
CAIRO — Libya’s embattled prime minister is warning that the appointment of a new interim government could set off war and chaos in a Mediterranean country mired for a decade in turmoil. Addressing Libyans late Monday, Prime Minister Abdul Hamdi Dbeibah reiterated his insistence that he will hand over power...
Prosecutor: Fentanyl likely killed 5 in Colorado apartmentVideo
DENVER — Preliminary evidence suggests that five people found dead in an apartment in suburban Denver overdosed on fentanyl while taking what they believed to be cocaine, the district attorney said Monday. Drug tests done at the apartment in Commerce City, about 7 miles northeast of Denver, found an “overwhelming...
What to do with 500-pound bear ‘Hank the Tank’ raiding California homes
Wildlife authorities are trying to trap a 500-pound black bear — known as Hank the Tank — that has broken into dozens of homes in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Residents, the state’s wildlife service and the nonprofit BEAR League are deciding what to do with the enormous bear that has...
University of Alabama VP resigns, accused of soliciting prostitution
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A University of Alabama official has resigned after being arrested on a charge of soliciting prostitution. Tuscaloosa police said Former Vice President of Student Life Myron Pope, 50, is free on $1,000 bond after his arrest Thursday on the misdemeanor charge, news outlets reported. “I have difficult...
Was Ahmaud Arbery killing a hate crime? Jury begins deliberations
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Three white men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery on a residential street acted out of “pent-up racial anger” and should be convicted of hate crimes, a federal prosecutor told a jury Monday. Defense attorneys argued that the Black man was fatally shot in self-defense and had...
2 firefighters injured in explosion at illegal pot operation
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Two firefighters were injured in an explosion during a fire at an illegal marijuana extract operation hidden at a commercial building in Southern California, authorities said. The blast occurred while fire crews were battling the blaze Sunday at the single-story structure in Anaheim, fire officials said. One...
Like in Arizona, botched baptisms roiled Michigan church
DETROIT — One word caught the ear of a young priest a few years ago when his father shared a video of his 1990 baptism at a suburban Detroit church. “Wait,” the Rev. Matthew Hood recalled thinking. “Something doesn’t seem right here.” Indeed, an error by a deacon who said...
Trump’s social media app launches year after Twitter ban
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump’s social media app that he hopes will rival Twitter launched Monday as he seeks a new digital stage to rally his supporters and fight Big Tech limits on speech, a year after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. His Truth Social...
