U.S./World category, Page 1269
Ex-Vegas headliner faints at 20-year sentence in porn case
LAS VEGAS — A former Las Vegas illusion show headliner from Germany appeared to faint Thursday while being sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined more than $500,000 in a federal child pornography case. Jan Rouven Fuechtener, 40, stiffened and fell backward over his chair after Chief U.S. District...
Trump’s interior secretary misusing post to aid California water district, complaint says
WASHINGTON — Complaints are mounting against Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt over allegations he used his position to help the interests of his former lobbying client, California’s powerful Westlands Water District. The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint accusing Bernhardt of ethics violations by partaking in decisions directly related...
Ohio man who pleaded guilty in 4 slayings sentenced to death
IRONTON, Ohio — A man who pleaded guilty in the deadly Ohio shootings of four relatives, including a young boy, has been sentenced to the death penalty. A panel of three judges sentenced 24-year-old Arron Lawson on Thursday in the 2017 slayings near Ironton in southern Ohio’s Lawrence County. Prosecutors...
German town defends seizing family’s pet, selling it on eBay
BERLIN — Officials in Germany are defending their decision to seize an indebted family’s pet pug and sell it on eBay, saying the move was a last resort because authorities were unable to find anything else to take. The incident in the western town of Ahlen prompted criticism on social...
Colorado, Rocky Mountain highs bring in billions through recreation pot sales
Denver long ago laid title to being the Mile High City, but with more than $6 billion in retail sales of cannabis and cannabis-infused products in four years of legalized recreational marijuana in Colorado, the state’s capital city might now want to claim being at least a mile and half...
Judge won’t make Mongols biker gang surrender trademark logo
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge has refused to order the Mongols motorcycle gang to forfeit its trademarked logo, delivering a blow to prosecutors. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter said Thursday that such an order would have been unconstitutional. Mongols attorney Joe Yanny says the ruling...
Protesters in Ukraine call for president’s impeachment
KIEV, Ukraine — Hundreds of demonstrators marched across the Ukrainian capital Thursday calling for the impeachment of the country’s president over embezzlement claims. President Petro Poroshenko, who is seeking re-election in a March 31 vote, has come under fire over a media investigation that implicated one of his senior associates...
Moscow court orders prominent U.S. investor to remain in jail
MOSCOW — A Moscow court on Thursday rejected an appeal by a prominent U.S. foreign investment manager and ordered him to remain in jail for at least the next month-and-a-half in connection with an embezzlement probe. The Moscow City Court’s decision to keep Michael Calvey behind bars until April 13...
Trump accepts Kim’s ‘word’ he had no role in Otto Warmbier death
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday he takes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “at his word” that Kim was unaware of the alleged mistreatment of an American college student who died after being imprisoned there. Trump said in Vietnam that Kim “tells me he didn’t know about it,...
Arizona town bans phone use by drivers
FLORENCE, Ariz. — A town in central Arizona has banned the use of phones while driving beginning in March. The Casa Grande Dispatch reported Thursday that the Florence Town Council passed an ordinance on Feb. 19 prohibiting the use of “portable wireless communication devices” while behind the wheel. The ordinance...
DeVos to pitch federal tax credit for ‘educational freedom’
The Trump administration is proposing a federal tax credit for donations made to groups offering scholarships for private schools, apprenticeships or other educational programs. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is unveiling the plan Thursday, while legislation is being proposed by Republicans in the House and Senate. The proposal, called the Education...
U.S. economic growth just missed 3 percent mark in 2018
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy slowed in the final three months of last year to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent, the slowest pace since the beginning of 2018, as the government shutdown and other factors took a toll on growth. Economists believe growth has slowed even more in...
Hyundai, Kia recall over 500K vehicles as fire risk spreads
DETROIT — Hyundai and Kia have added more than a half-million vehicles to 3½-year string of U.S. recalls for engine failures and fires. Three recalls released Thursday by the government add new problems and vehicles to the Korean automakers’ list of safety woes, which have brought hundreds of complaints about...
Rescuers pass water, food to Indonesia mine buried
BOLAANG MONGONDOW, Indonesia — Rescuers have passed water and food to some of the dozens of people trapped in a collapsed Indonesian gold mine, an official said Thursday, calling the grueling rescue effort in a remote inaccessible location a race against time. The national disaster agency said 19 people had...
Ice castles turn farmland into winter wonderlandVideo
NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. — On a clear, frigid night in a courtyard made of walls of ice, Bruce McCafferty and his young son stand mesmerized, bathed in the pulsating rainbow light emanating from a series of stout ice formations. McCafferty and his son Dougie have come out to Ice Castles...
Trump, Kim summit collapses amid failure to reach deal
HANOI, Vietnam — The nuclear summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un collapsed Thursday after the two sides failed to reach a deal due to a standoff over U.S. sanctions on the reclusive nation, a dispiriting end to high-stakes meetings meant to disarm a global threat....
Man, 19, accused of assaulting 81-year-old over MAGA hat
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Authorities say a young man at a New Jersey supermarket assaulted an 81-year-old who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. Somerset County prosecutors have charged 19-year-old Ryan Salvagno with assault and harassment. Officials say Salvagno exchanged words with the older man about the hat...
Israel AG recommends charging Netanyahu with with bribery, breach of trust
JERUSALEM — Israel’s attorney general on Thursday recommended indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with bribery and breach of trust in a series of corruption cases, a momentous move that shook up Israel’s election campaign and could spell the end of the prime minister’s illustrious political career. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit...
WTO panel rules China over-subsidized grain production to undercut global pricesVideo
World Trade Organization officials ruled earlier this week that the Chinese government over-subsidized the country’s grain producers, artificially raising Chinese prices for grain and reducing imports. The WTO’s panel report “is a significant victory for U.S. agriculture that will help American farmers compete on a more level playing field,” USDA...
Coast Guard officer accused of plotting terrorist attack may face more than 30 years
A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant accused of planning a domestic terrorist attack illegally possessed silencers among the arsenal of weapons prosecutors contend he stockpiled for his plot, according to new court filings. A federal grand jury indicted Christopher Hasson, 49, of Maryland, on Wednesday, adding two new charges related to...
Va. first lady Pam Northam reportedly gave out cotton to black students during tour
Virginia first lady Pam Northam, who told her husband not to moonwalk during a news conference about wearing blackface, reportedly handed out cotton to black students on a tour of the governor’s mansion. Last week, the first lady and her husband, Ralph Northam, hosted about 100 students who had worked...
Jared Kushner seeks better U.S.-Saudi ties after Khashoggi killing
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the administration continues to weather criticism over its relationship with Riyadh following the murder of a U.S.-based columnist. Kushner and two other senior administration officials met with the crown prince and...
Coal official allegedly cheated on safety tests, putting miners at risk of black lung
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A coal company manager took part in cheating on tests designed to protect miners from contracting deadly black lung disease, a federal grand jury has charged. The grand jury issued a new indictment adding Glendal “Buddy” Hardison to a group of mine officials charged with conspiring to...
AAA study: Drivers are spending more time on the road
U.S. motorists are spending more time on the road these days, adding about 20 minutes per week of drive time since 2014, according to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Released this week, the study compares results of two editions of the foundation’s American Driving Survey, from...
California mother detained in infant death, son’s injuries from plunge off balcony
UPLAND, Calif. — Investigators on Wednesday were trying to determine why a California woman allegedly fatally injured her infant daughter, dropped her young son off a second-story apartment building landing and then jumped herself. After being medically cleared, Tierra Ortega, 24, was booked for investigation of homicide, attempted homicide and...
