U.S./World category, Page 252
Tropical Storm Debby strengthens into a Category 1 hurricane as it heads toward FloridaVideo
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Debby has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches Florida. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said on Sunday evening that the storm has maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The storm was located about 100 miles west southwest of Tampa and...
Trump says he’ll skip an ABC debate with Harris in September and wants them to face off on Fox News
CHAPIN, S.C. — Donald Trump says he is pulling out of a scheduled September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC and wants them to face off on Fox News, making it increasingly unlikely that the candidates will confront each other on stage before the November election. In a...
Schumer predicts Democrats will keep control of the Senate now that Harris is atop the party ticket
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is predicting that Democrats will keep control of the Senate in the November election and he feels “exhilarated and gratified” by the surge of enthusiasm with Vice President Kamala Harris atop the party’s ticket. Schumer, who played a pivotal role in talking privately...
Simone Biles captures 7th Olympic gold medal by winning women’s vault for 2nd time
PARIS — Simone Biles is getting kind of old for this. Just maybe not too old to keep going. Maybe. Minutes after the American gymnastics star won the seventh Olympic gold of her career Saturday in a vault final that left little doubt that, even at 27, she remains in...
Favre challenges a judge’s order that blocked his lead attorney in Mississippi welfare lawsuit
JACKSON, Miss. — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre says a Mississippi judge improperly blocked his lead attorney from representing him in a state civil lawsuit that seeks to recover misspent welfare money. Using another of his attorneys, Favre filed an appeal Thursday asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to overturn the...
U.S. Homeland Security halts immigration permits from 4 countries
SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration has temporarily suspended permits for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to enter the United States and stay up to two years amid concerns about fraud by their financial sponsors, officials said Friday. Nearly 500,000 people from the four countries arrived through June under presidential...
What Americans still remain in Russian prisons?
The U.S. and Russia on Thursday completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries who released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange. But not all Americans came home. Some still are being...
An assassin, a Putin foe’s death, secret talks: How a sweeping U.S.-Russia prisoner swap came together
WASHINGTON — It was December 2022 and the U.S. government’s chief hostage negotiator had just delivered Brittney Griner back to America after her 10-month imprisonment in Russia. Roger Carstens went to his hotel room anticipating a quick snooze after several sleepless days and had just put his head on the...
SpaceX knocks out company’s 50th Space Coast launch of the year
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — SpaceX shot up three Falcon 9 rockets from three launch pads last weekend once the Federal Aviation Administration gave its grounded rocket the OK to return to flight. Now it’s set to go another round. First up was a Falcon 9 launch of 23 more...
Masked assailants ransack Venezuela opposition leader’s headquarters as post-election tensions mount
CARACAS, Venezuela — A half dozen masked assailants ransacked the headquarters of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in the latest escalation of violence against opponents of Nicolás Maduro following the country’s disputed presidential election. The raid occurred at around 3 a.m., Machado’s party said, adding that the assailants broke...
Police dog dies in hot car in Missouri after air conditioner malfunctioned
ARNOLD, Mo. — A Missouri police dog died when the air conditioner failed in the patrol vehicle he had been left in, police said. Vader, a 4-year-old K-9 for the Arnold Police Department in suburban St. Louis, died Wednesday. Temperatures this week have been in the 90s, with high humidity....
U.S. added just 114,000 jobs in July, unemployment rate hits 4.3% as interest rates take economic toll
WASHINGTON — U.S. hiring decelerated sharply last month in the face of high interest rates as employers added a weak 114,000 jobs. Friday’s Labor Department report showed a drop from the 179,000 jobs created in June. Forecasters had expected to see 175,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate rose to...
Heat deaths of people without air conditioning, often in mobile homes, underscore energy inequity
PHOENIX — Mexican farm worker Avelino Vazquez Navarro didn’t have air conditioning in the motor home where he died last month in Washington state as temperatures surged into the triple digits. For the last dozen years, the 61-year-old spent much of the year working near Pasco, Washington, sending money to...
Things to know about the largest U.S.-Russia prisoner swap in post-Soviet history
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Russia on Thursday completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries who released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange. Here are some things to know: Who...
Turkey blocks access to Instagram. It’s in response to removal of posts on Hamas chief, reports say
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s communications authority blocked access to the social media platform Instagram on Friday, the latest instance of a clampdown on websites in the country. The Information and Communication Technologies Authority, which regulates the internet, announced the decision early Friday but did not provide a reason. Yeni Safak...
3 newly freed Americans are back on U.S. soil after a landmark prisoner exchange with Russia
WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free. Gershkovich, Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, a...
Florida governor declares state of emergency as coming heavy rain might cause ‘major disaster’
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for much of the state, excluding South Florida, ahead of a disturbance that might strengthen into a tropical depression. Forecasters are warning to expect heavy rain and floods even if the storm fails to form into a depression. DeSantis signed an executive...
Who’s in the prisoner swap between Russia and the West?
TALLINN, Estonia — One spent over 5½ years behind bars in Russia while other, higher-profile detainees were released ahead of him. Another was jailed for only a few months. They include journalists, veteran political activists and those simply opposed to the war in Ukraine. The youngest is 19, the oldest...
Inmate sentenced to over 4 years in prison killing of Boston gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — An inmate was sentenced to more than four years Thursday for his role in the 2018 fatal bludgeoning of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in a troubled West Virginia federal prison. Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to an...
Federal protections of transgender students are in effect where courts haven’t blocked them
New federal protections for transgender students at U.S. schools and colleges took effect Thursday with muted impact because judges have temporarily blocked enforcement in 25 states and hundreds of individual colleges and schools across the country. The regulation also adds protections for pregnant students and students who are parents, and...
Appeals court upholds Trump’s gag order as he again presses judge to bow out of hush money case
NEW YORK — Two months after his felony conviction, Donald Trump still isn’t allowed to say everything he wants about his historic hush money criminal case. After a New York appeals court upheld his gag order on Thursday, he won’t be for a while. The state’s mid-level appellate court denied...
Hezbollah leader says war with Israel has entered ‘new phase’ after killings of top militant figures
BEIRUT — Hezbollah’s leader warned Thursday that the conflict with Israel has entered a “new phase,” as he addressed mourners at the funeral of a commander from the group who was killed by an Israeli airstrike this week in Beirut. Meanwhile in Tehran, Iran’s supreme leader prayed over the body...
Mpox cases have surged by 160% in Africa so far this year, but few treatments and vaccines available
BANGUI, Central African Republic — African health officials said mpox cases have spiked by 160% so far this year, warning the risk of further spread is high given the lack of effective treatments or vaccines on the continent. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report...
Proposed U.S. rule would ban airlines from charging parents additional fees to sit with their children
The U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing a new rule that would ban airlines from charging parents more to sit with their young children. Under the proposal, released Thursday, U.S. and foreign carriers would be required to seat children 13 or younger next to their parent or accompanying adult for...
Gershkovich, Whelan released in Russian prisoner swap; Fogel remains in custodyVideo
WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free, the White House said. The Wall Street Journal reported that...
