U.S./World category, Page 17
Trump administration asks the Supreme Court to allow an end to legal protections for Syrian migrants
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow it to end legal protections for migrants from Syria for now, in the latest emergency appeal to the nation’s highest court. The Department of Justice wants the court to lift a New York judge’s ruling halting the...
U.S. moves to cut off a Swiss bank over alleged Iran and Russia money flows
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is moving to sever a small Swiss bank from access to the U.S. financial system for its alleged support for Iranian and Russian actors, as U.S. and Iranian officials hold indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a...
Instagram says it will notify parents if teens ‘repeatedly’ search for terms related to suicide
Instagram said Thursday it will start alerting parents if their kids repeatedly search for terms clearly associated with suicide or self-harm. The alerts will only go to parents who are enrolled in Instagram’s parental supervision program. Instagram says it already blocks such content from showing up in teen accounts’ search...
New York sues Counter-Strike game developer saying ‘loot boxes’ promote gambling
NEW YORK — New York’s attorney general has sued video game developer Valve, claiming the “loot boxes” found in Counter-Strike and other popular video game franchises illegally promote gambling. State Attorney General Letitia James said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York state court that games such as Counter-Strike...
Hillary Clinton testifies she has no information on Epstein’s crimes and doesn’t recall meeting him
WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told members of Congress on Thursday that she had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s or Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes, starting off two days of depositions that will also include former President Bill Clinton. “I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do...
Israeli strike kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza, health officials say, the latest deaths as truce stalls
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on Thursday killed at least two Palestinians and wounded five others east of Gaza City, according to Fadel Naeem, director of Al-Ahli Hospital, where the casualties arrived. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Deadly Israeli strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce...
Fire at an Ohio farm complex kills about 6,000 hogs and smoke is visible for miles
LONDON, Ohio — A fire at an Ohio hog farm complex has killed about 6,000 of the animals, an official said. A large column of smoke could be seen in the distance on Wednesday from Fine Oak Farms in London, Chief Brian Bennington of the Central Townships Joint Fire District...
U.S. filings for jobless aid rise modestly to 212,000 as layoffs remain at historically healthy levels
WASHINGTON — Slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs remain at relatively healthy levels. The number of Americans filing for jobless aid for the week ending Feb. 21 rose by 4,000 to 212,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s in line with...
Memorial services for Jesse Jackson begin at Chicago headquarters of his civil rights organization
CHICAGO — Crowds of mourners lined up in Chicago as cross-country memorial services for the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. began Thursday in the city the late civil rights leader called home. The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two...
FBI searches Los Angeles school district headquarters and the superintendent’s home
LOS ANGELES — The FBI served search warrants Wednesday at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s headquarters and the home of its leader, a former Superintendent of the Year who was knighted by Spain for his work. Federal officials would not give details of the nature of the investigation involving...
Lawyers say Pennsylvania student protesters did not know a man who joined scrum was the police chief
PHILADELPHIA — Lawyers for student protesters detained in Pennsylvania for four days after a scuffle with police say their clients had no idea the stocky older man in street clothes who joined the fray and put his arm around a 15-year-old girl’s neck was the local police chief. The attorneys...
U.S. and Iran are holding another round of nuclear talks as more American forces deploy to the Mideast
GENEVA — Iran and the United States began indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations viewed as a last chance for diplomacy as America has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into a deal. U.S. President Donald Trump wants a...
3rd victim dies from wounds suffered in Rhode Island ice rink attack, police say
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A deadly shooting during a youth hockey game in Rhode Island last week has claimed a third victim, a grandfather whose daughter and grandson were also killed in the attack, authorities said. Gerald Dorgan, who had been in critical condition, has died from his injuries, Pawtucket police...
Crews in Florida battle a 25,000-acre wildfire near ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Crews in South Florida were trying to contain a wildfire in Big Cypress National Preserve that had burned more than 25,000 acres near the immigration detention facility known as ” Alligator Alcatraz ” as of Wednesday. The fire caused periodic lane closures due to smoke and poor visibility on the...
Supreme Court litigator convicted of tax evasion over income from high-stakes poker
WASHINGTON — A prominent Supreme Court litigator who also published a popular blog about the nation’s highest court was convicted Wednesday of tax evasion and related charges stemming from his secretive lifestyle as an ultra-high-stakes poker player. A federal jury found SCOTUSblog co-founder Thomas Goldstein guilty of 12 of 16...
FBI fires agents who worked on Trump classified document investigation, AP sources say
WASHINGTON — The FBI has fired additional agents who worked on an investigation into President Donald Trump, this time terminating employees who participated in the probe into the Republican’s hoarding of classified documents, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The firings are part of a broader personnel purge under...
DHS official promises that federal immigration agents won’t be at polling places during midterms
DENVER — A Department of Homeland Security official on Wednesday told state election administrators that immigration agents will not be stationed at the polls during November’s midterm elections, trying to swat down one of Democrats’ greatest fears about possible election interference from the Trump administration. Heather Honey, who serves as...
JD Vance says administration pausing some Medicaid funding to Minnesota because of fraud concernsVideo
WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration would “temporarily halt” some Medicaid funding to the state of Minnesota over fraud concerns, as part of what he described as an aggressive crackdown on misuse of public funds. Vance, who made the announcement with Dr. Mehmet Oz,...
Justice Department says it’s reviewing whether any Epstein-related records were mistakenly withheld
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it was looking into whether it had improperly withheld documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files after several news organizations reported that some records involving uncorroborated accusations made by a woman against President Donald Trump were not among those released to the public....
Cuba says boat from Florida opened fire at its soldiers, starting fight that killed 4
HAVANA — Cuba’s government said late Wednesday that the 10 passengers on a boat that opened fire on its soldiers were armed Cubans living in the U.S. who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism. The announcement came hours after Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and...
Pam Bondi denounced by graduates of Stetson Law amid Epstein file revelations
As revelations emerged this week that the U.S. Department of Justice withheld key materials relating to allegations against President Donald Trump in its release of Jeffrey Epstein files, Stetson University College of Law graduates demanded action from the U.S. attorney general’s alma mater. Pam Bondi earned her law degree from...
West Virginia mother sentenced in death of emaciated daughter
A West Virginia woman was sentenced to up to life in prison Wednesday in the death of her teenage daughter whose emaciated body was found at their home in a case that prompted scrutiny of the state’s overwhelmed child welfare system. Julie Miller will be eligible for parole after serving...
Kristi Noem brings back threat to suspend TSA PreCheck amid shutdown
The federal government may stop TSA PreCheck during the ongoing partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday. Noem previously said the department would suspend PreCheck operations last weekend but quickly reversed course and kept the faster, prescreened security lanes open. However, she put the...
Surgeon general nominee faces sharp questions about vaccines, birth control and qualificationsVideo
NEW YORK — Wellness influencer, author and entrepreneur Dr. Casey Means on Wednesday shared a vision for addressing the root causes of chronic disease instead of feeding into “reactive sick care” during her confirmation hearing to become the nation’s next surgeon general. “Our nation is angry, exhausted and hurting,” the...
Trump administration’s ‘third country’ deportation policy is unlawful, judge rules
The Trump administration’s latest policy of deporting immigrants to “third countries” to which they have no ties is unlawful and must be set aside, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in a case that already reached the nation’s highest court. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts agreed to suspend...
