Japan PM, U.S. envoy pray in Hiroshima amid Russia nuke fears
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida escorted the U.S. ambassador to his hometown of Hiroshima on Saturday to pay respects to atomic bombing victims and warned that the world is again facing threats of nuclear attacks stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “As we face a possibility of Russia’s...
China says no survivors in plane crash with 132 on board
BEIJING — Chinese authorities officially confirmed Saturday that there were no survivors in the crash of a China Eastern 737-800 earlier this week with 132 people on board. The announcement by an official of the Civil Aviation Administration of China at a late-night news conference was followed by a brief...
A really cool planetary event is happening on Monday, then not again until 2040
A planetary event that will not happen again until 2040 will occur Monday morning when Venus, Mars and Saturn appear very close together near the horizon just before sunrise. And to make the show more fun, a crescent moon will appear nearby. They aren’t really close together, of course. Venus...
Shelled city in north Ukraine fears becoming ‘next Mariupol’
LVIV, Ukraine — Nights are spent huddling underground from Russian strikes pounding their encircled city into rubble. Daylight hours are devoted to hunting down drinkable water and braving the risk of standing in line for the little food available as shells and bombs rain down. In the second month of...
Explainer: Why the 14th Amendment has surfaced in midterms
RALEIGH, N.C. — An 1868 amendment to the U.S. Constitution best known for protecting the due process rights of previously enslaved Americans has resurfaced in certain congressional races this year. Some attorneys and voters believe a rarely cited section of the 14th Amendment dealing with insurrection can disqualify a handful...
China crash mystery grows as evidence signals midair breakup
At least one piece of the Boeing Co. 737-800 that crashed in China appears to have broken loose well before impact, a finding that adds mystery to the plane’s fatal dive. The piece suspected to have come from the China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. jet was found about 6 miles...
How would those accused of Ukraine war crimes be prosecuted?
LVIV, Ukraine — Each day searing stories pour out of Ukraine: A maternity hospital bombed in Mariupol. A mother and her children killed as they fled Irpin in a humanitarian corridor. Burning apartment blocks. Mass graves. A child dead of dehydration in a city under siege, denied humanitarian aid. Such...
Ice shelf collapses in previously stable East Antarctica
An ice shelf the size of New York City has collapsed in East Antarctica, an area long thought to be stable and not hit much by climate change, concerned scientists said Friday. The collapse, captured by satellite images, marked the first time in human history that the frigid region had...
New Orleans school board reverses little known ban on jazz
NEW ORLEANS — With its president saying it had racist origins, the New Orleans school board has unanimously reversed a little known but century-old ban on jazz in schools in a city that had a huge role in developing jazz and where it is still played nightly at various venues....
Scientists figure out how vampire bats got a taste for blood
WASHINGTON — Scientists have figured out why vampire bats are the only mammals that can survive on a diet of just blood. They compared the genome of common vampire bats to 26 other bat species and identified 13 genes that are missing or no longer work in vampire bats. Over...
House leaders call on Nebraska Rep. Fortenberry to resign
LINCOLN, Neb. — Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry on Friday faced growing pressure from congressional leaders and Nebraska’s GOP governor to resign after a California jury found him guilty of lying to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 campaign donation from a Nigerian billionaire. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House...
Amid gas woes, NYC ride-hail drivers seek fuel surcharges
NEW YORK — With fuel prices approaching $5 a gallon at some New York City gas stations, drivers for Uber and Lyft and the city’s taxi fleets are demanding rate surcharges to help offset the rising cost of keeping cars on the road. A group of upset taxi drivers rallied...
Kentucky lawmakers vote to put limits on death penalty
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky would make the death penalty off-limits for some defendants diagnosed with severe mental illnesses under a bill that won final legislative approval on Friday. The Republican-led Senate voted 25-9 to send the measure to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, capping a long effort led by death penalty...
Yemen rebels strike oil depot in Saudi city hosting F1 race
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked an oil depot on Friday in the Saudi city of Jiddah ahead of a Formula One race in the kingdom — their highest-profile assault yet that threatened to disrupt the upcoming grand prix. The attack targeted the same fuel depot that...
Rudy Giuliani associate pleads guilty in fraud scheme
NEW YORK — An associate of Rudy Giuliani pleaded guilty Friday to a conspiracy charge alleging that he defrauded investors in a company supposedly created to prevent people from being defrauded. Lev Parnas, 50, entered the plea to conspiring to commit wire fraud during a remotely held electronic proceeding in...
Supreme Court Justice Thomas released from hospital
WASHINGTON — Justice Clarence Thomas was discharged from the hospital Friday after a stay of nearly a week, the Supreme Court said. Thomas, 73, had entered the hospital last Friday evening after experiencing “flu-like symptoms.” He was treated for an infection with intravenous antibiotics, the court said Sunday in announcing...
Michigan’s top court rejects latest redistricting challenge
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday turned down a challenge by Democratic-aligned groups to a new map for state House seats. The groups claim the map unfairly favors Republicans and conflicts with the state Constitution, which says no party shall have a disproportionate advantage in redistricting. But...
Kosovo Serbs protest to get votes in Serbia’s April election
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Hundreds of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo protested Friday to pressure the government into allowing them to vote in neighboring Serbia’s April 3 general election. Demonstrators gathered in Mitrovica, 28 miles north of Pristina, with banners reading “We want our human rights” and “Kurti won’t drive us away...
Biden in Poland to see U.S. troops, Ukraine refugees
RZESZOW, Poland — President Joe Biden will hear directly from U.S. troops stationed near Poland’s border with Ukraine on Friday and learn about the growing humanitarian response to the millions of Ukrainians who are fleeing to Poland to escape Russia’s assault on their homeland. Biden planned to meet with members...
Female ministers urge Taliban to rethink decision on girls
BERLIN — Female foreign ministers from 16 countries around the world said Friday they are “deeply disappointed” that Afghan girls are being denied access to secondary schools and called on the Taliban to reverse their decision. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers unexpectedly decided against reopening schools on Wednesday to girls above the...
Ukraine reports 300 died in Russian strike on theater
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian authorities said Friday that about 300 people died when a Russian airstrike last week blew up a theater in Mariupol where hundreds of civilians were sheltering — a catastrophic loss of civilian life that, if confirmed, is likely to further crank up pressure on Western nations...
Teen falls to death from Florida amusement park ride
ORLANDO, Fla. — A 14-year-old boy fell to his death late at night from a free-fall amusement park ride that is taller than the Statue of Liberty along a busy street in the heart of Orlando’s tourist district. Sheriff’s officials and emergency crews responded to a call late Thursday at...
Nebraska U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry found guilty in campaign probe
LOS ANGELES — U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska was convicted Thursday of charges that he lied to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire at a 2016 Los Angeles fundraiser. A federal jury in California found the nine-term Republican guilty of one...
Pennsylvania to raise tip threshold for tipped minimum wage
HARRISBURG — Tipped employees in Pennsylvania will soon have to make more than four times as much money in tips to be paid below the state’s minimum wage, under a new regulation that adjusts for 45 years of inflation. The unanimous vote this week by the five-member Independent Regulatory Review...
Democrats seek SEC action on foreign influence in elections
WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission should adopt regulations to identify foreign-owned companies that spend corporate funds to influence elections, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and more than a dozen other House Democrats say in a letter they plan to send Thursday. The letter, shared first with CQ Roll Call,...
