U.S./World category, Page 1219
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters freed from Myanmar prison
HONG KONG — Two Pulitzer-winning Reuters journalists held in Myanmar for more than 500 days for their coverage of the crackdown on Rohingya Muslims were freed from jail Tuesday, ending a prolonged detention that has tainted Myanmar and its Nobel laureate civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Wa Lone and...
Nestle to cut 4,000 jobs in delivery changes
Nestle SA’s U.S. unit will lay off about 4,000 workers as it stops delivering frozen pizza and ice cream directly to stores and instead transitions to a warehouse model that’s becoming an industry standard for Big Food companies looking to trim costs. The company said Tuesday that it’s shutting down...
Cuba cancels Conga Against Homophobia parade
HAVANA — The Cuban government has cancelled a parade widely seen as a sign of progress on gay rights. The state-run Center for Sex Education run by Mariela Castro, the daughter of Communist Party First Secretary Raul Castro, said in a Facebook post Tuesday that the Conga Against Homophobia scheduled...
Google offers cheaper Pixel phones to spur sales
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google is releasing cheaper versions of its smartphone in an effort to appeal to budget-minded consumers who aren’t willing to spend $800 on the Pixel 3. The more affordable phones are a response to a worldwide slowdown in smartphone sales, which has been partially driven by...
Georgia governor signs abortion ban after fetal heartbeat
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday signed into law one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws, a measure that bans the procedure once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. Kemp, a Republican,...
China marriage market targets Pakistan’s Christian minority
GUJRANWALA, Pakistan — Muqadas Ashraf was just 16 when her parents married her off to a Chinese man who had come to Pakistan looking for a bride. Less than five months later, Muqadas is back in her home country, pregnant and seeking a divorce from a husband she says was...
World War II vet, 95, dies during ‘Honor Flight’ trip
SAN DIEGO — A 95-year-old former soldier died last weekend aboard a so-called Honor Flight carrying World War II veterans home to San Diego after an all-expenses-paid weekend trip to Washington, D.C. Frank Manchel collapsed about an hour before the chartered American Airlines jet was due to land Sunday, The...
What’s the line of succession for British throne, U.S. presidency?
With the birth of the first child for Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and his wife, Meghan Markle, the line of succession for the British throne is one notch longer. Where does the new — as yet unnamed — royal fall? Well, he’s seven in line, right behind his father....
Florida man who drove lawnmower into cop car says officers drugged him, police say
Weird or wasted? It was in Florida, after all. History would say it was a solid combination of both. A 68-year-old Florida man who cops say was too drunk to complete field sobriety tests also accused officers of drugging him after he drove his lawnmower into a police cruiser. WFLA-TV...
U.S.-Iran tensions rise ahead of anniversary of deal pullout
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A sudden White House announcement that a U.S. aircraft carrier and a bomber wing would be deployed in the Persian Gulf to counter Iran comes just days ahead of the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal. Iranian President...
Police: 3 Navy corpsmen dead in double murder and suicide
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Authorities in Virginia say they’re investigating the shooting deaths of three active duty service members in what appears to be a double murder and suicide. The Virginian-Pilot reported Tuesday that the two women and one man were Navy corpsmen. The two women were stationed at Naval Medical...
Climate change missing as U.S. defends Arctic policy
ROVANIEMI, Finland — The Arctic is melting, but don’t ask U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to talk about climate change. Nor even to agree on a text that mentions it. For the Trump administration, disappearing sea ice in the world’s “high north” appears to be first and foremost an...
Trump pardons former U.S. soldier who killed Iraqi prisoner
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has pardoned a former U.S. soldier convicted in 2009 of killing an Iraqi prisoner, the White House announced Monday. Trump signed an executive grant of clemency, a full pardon, for former Army 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, of Oklahoma, press secretary Sarah Sanders said. Behenna was...
Authorities: Woman pulls gator from pants during stop – May 7, 2019
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Sheriff’s officials say a Florida woman pulled a small alligator from her yoga pants during a traffic stop. The Charlotte County sheriff’s deputy stopped a pickup truck Monday afternoon after it ran a stop sign and 22-year-old driver Michael Clemons told him he and his 25-year-old...
Denver voters to decide legalizing ‘magic mushrooms’
DENVER — Voters decide this week whether Denver will become the first U.S. city to decriminalize the use of psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in “magic mushrooms.” A citizen-led initiative appearing on ballots Tuesday follows a path that led to marijuana’s legalization in Denver and later in Colorado. Campaign organizers, though,...
Survey shows ongoing rebound for Chesapeake’s blue crabs
BALTIMORE — Blue crabs are rebounding in the Chesapeake Bay, with an annual survey showing the highest estimates of the clawed critters in seven years. The dredging survey released Monday is the latest sign of a healthy crab population and welcome news for fisherfolk in America’s largest estuary and those...
Boeing held off for months on disclosing faulty alert on 737 Max
Boeing knew months before a deadly 737 Max crash that a cockpit alert wasn’t working the way the company had told buyers of the single-aisle jetliner. But the planemaker didn’t share its findings with airlines or the Federal Aviation Administration until after a Lion Air plane went down off the...
Meet the T. rex cousin who you could literally look down on
WASHINGTON — History’s most frightening dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus rex, came from a long line of pipsqueaks. Scientists have identified a new cousin of the T. rex as a dinosaur that only reached the 3-foot height of a toddler. If it stretched its duck-billed head, an adult human maybe “would be...
Pickup flattens California trailer home: 3 killed, 1 hurt
KNIGHTS LANDING, Calif. — Police say three family members sleeping in their trailer home have died and a girl was seriously injured after a suspected drunk driver plowed his pickup truck into the home. The California Highway Patrol says 33-year-old Ismael Huazo-Jardinez was driving “at a high rate of speed”...
Spain rescues over 400 migrants at sea in 3 days
MADRID — Spain’s maritime rescue service says that it has saved hundreds of migrants during the last three days trying to make the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea. The service says on Monday that it pulled 416 people from 10 different boats its rescue craft intercepted starting on Saturday....
Microsoft offers software tools to secure elections
Microsoft announced an ambitious effort it says will make voting secure, verifiable and more transparent with open-source software. Two of the three top U.S elections vendors have expressed interest in potentially incorporating the software into their voting systems. The software kit is being developed with Galois, an Oregon-based company separately...
U.S. warns China, Russia over Arctic amid environmental shifts
ROVANIEMI, Finland — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the Trump administration is moving to assert America’s presence in the Arctic. He’s warning China and Russia that the U.S. won’t stand for aggressive moves into the region that’s rapidly opening up to development and commerce as temperatures warm and...
Ecstatic Prince Harry says Meghan has ‘healthy’ baby boy
WINDSOR, England — A beaming Prince Harry said his wife Meghan gave birth to a baby boy early Monday morning. Harry says he’s “incredibly proud” of his wife and that they have a healthy baby boy who weighs 7 pounds 3 ounces. He has not yet been named. Harry said...
At least 55 dead after fuel tanker truck explodes near crowd
NIAMEY, Niger — Authorities in the West African nation of Niger say at least 55 people are dead after a tanker truck filled with fuel exploded near the country’s main airport. President Issoufou Mahamadou called the explosion a “national tragedy” after visiting a hospital where dozens were wounded, some with...
UN report says nature is in worst shape in human history
Nature is in more trouble now than at any other time in human history, with extinction looming over 1 million species of plants and animals, scientists said Monday in the United Nations’ first comprehensive report on biodiversity. It’s all because of humans, but it’s not too late to fix the...
