U.S./World category, Page 284
South Africa asks Taiwan to move its unofficial embassy out of the capital
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa has asked Taiwan to move its unofficial embassy out of the administrative capital, Pretoria, in a move that’s seen as appeasing ally China. The South African foreign ministry said Friday that it had given Taiwan a “reasonable” timeframe of six months to relocate...
Prosecutors in Iran target a newspaper over its cartoon mocking internet restrictions
TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian newspaper implying that the public needed to have the patience of the Biblical figure Job in waiting for President Masoud Pezeshkian to lift restrictions on the internet now faces potential criminal charges. The reported case against the pro-reform newspaper Ham Mihan represents one of the...
Biden says Western allies must keep aiding Ukraine as he meets European partners before election
BERLIN — U.S. President Joe Biden said it’s important for Ukraine’s Western allies to “sustain our resolve” in supporting the country as he held meetings Friday with European partners, with the upcoming U.S. presidential election casting a long shadow over his visit to Germany. Biden met Chancellor Olaf Scholz of...
Italian autoworkers go on strike, as troubled Stellantis faces pressure over production plans
ROME — Workers in Italy’s troubled automotive sector are holding a national strike on Friday for the first time in 20 years, with a massive demonstration crossing the center of Rome. Tens of thousands automotive workers marched through the capital’s streets, waving the unions’ red flags and holding banners asking...
Sinwar’s killing opens up opportunity and much uncertainty for the war in Gaza
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s killing of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader and the mastermind of the group’s Oct. 7 attack, is a dramatic turning point in the brutal yearlong war that it touched off. Sinwar’s killing on Thursday decapitates the Palestinian militant group that has already been reeling from...
Hamas official confirms Sinwar’s death, as Hezbollah vows a new phase of war with Israel
JERUSALEM — Hamas confirmed Friday that its leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, and the militant group reiterated its stance that hostages taken from Israel a year ago will not be released until there is a cease-fire in Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli troops. “Those...
Right-wing influencers hyped anti-Ukraine videos made by a TV producer also funded by Russian media
WASHINGTON — The Kremlin could not have asked for better publicity at a better time when Ben Swann, a self-described independent journalist who promotes conspiracy theories, released a 12-part video series he promised would reveal dark truths about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Swann’s flashy documentary-style videos were filled with innuendo,...
U.S. to probe Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ system after pedestrian killed in low visibility conditions
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s road safety agency is again investigating Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system, this time after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The National Highway Safety Administration says in documents that it opened the probe on Thursday with the company reporting...
A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution sells for $9 million at auction
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution printed 237 years ago and sent to the states to be ratified was sold for $9 million at an auction Thursday evening in North Carolina. Brunk Auctions sold the document, the only copy of its type thought to be privately...
Texas appeals court reverses judge’s order to delay execution in shaken-baby case, last appeal filed
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Texas appeals court lifted a judge’s order that had delayed Thursday night’s planned execution of a man who would become the first person in the U.S. put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. The reversal left supporters of...
Panel looking into Trump assassination attempt says Secret Service needs ‘fundamental reform’
WASHINGTON — An independent panel investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally says the Secret Services needs fundamental reform” and that “another Butler can and will happen again” without major changes in how candidates are protected. The review faulted the Secret Service for poor communications...
Biden administration has now canceled loans for more than 1 million public workers
WASHINGTON — A student loan cancellation program for public workers has granted relief to more than 1 million Americans — up from just 7,000 who were approved before it was updated by the Biden administration two years ago. President Joe Biden announced the milestone on Thursday, saying his administration restored...
A man arrested with guns outside a Trump rally in California is suing the sheriff
LAS VEGAS — A Nevada man who was arrested over the weekend with guns at a security checkpoint outside a Donald Trump rally in the southern California desert has filed a lawsuit accusing the sheriff of falsely characterizing his arrest as a thwarted assassination attempt for his own personal gain....
Prosecutors say father of Georgia shooting suspect knew son was obsessed with school shooters
WINDER, Ga. — The father of a teenager accused of a deadly high school shooting in Georgia was aware his son was obsessed with school shooters and even had a shrine in his bedroom for the gunman in the 2018 massacre in Parkland, Fla., prosecutors said at a Wednesday court...
More than a dozen relatives of brother Erik and Lyle Menendez call for their release from prison
LOS ANGELES — More than a dozen family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez on Wednesday called for the release of the brothers from prison after the killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion 35 years ago. The news conference in downtown Los Angeles was the largest gathering...
Zelenskyy’s ‘victory plan’ includes a big hurdle for the West: An invitation to Ukraine to join NATOVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that Western partners are ramping up pressure to negotiate with Russia, hinting that such talks may not be favorable to Kyiv, as he unveiled to lawmakers the main points of his victory plan - his...
Israeli strikes kill 21 in Lebanon, including in a town with a dark history of civilian deaths
QANA, Lebanon — Israeli airstrikes pounded areas across Lebanon, killing at least 21 people, officials said Wednesday, including more than a dozen in a southern town where Israeli bombardments in previous conflicts are seared into local memory. Elsewhere in the south, a city’s mayor was among the dead in a...
Hundreds of troops kicked out under ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ get upgraded to honorable discharges
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced Tuesday that more than 800 military personnel have seen their service records upgraded to honorable discharges after previously being kicked out of the military under its former “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. It is the latest development over the decades to undo past discrimination against...
What’s behind the widening gender wage gap in the U.S.?
NEW YORK — Just how much of a setback was the covid-19 pandemic for U.S. working women? Although women who lost or left their jobs at the height of the crisis have largely returned to the workforce, a recent finding points to the price many paid for stepping back: In...
October’s supermoon pairs with a comet for a special nighttime spectacle
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — October’s supermoon is the closest of the year and it’s teaming up with a comet for a rare stargazing two-for-one. The third of four supermoons this year, it will be 222,055 miles (357,364 kilometers) away Wednesday night, making it seem even bigger and brighter than in...
U.S. demands Israel allow humanitarian aid into Gaza or risk losing military support
WASHINGTON — In a rare, direct threat, the Biden administration has told Israel it must allow humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip or risk losing U.S. military armament, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The demand comes as Israel launches another major offensive in northern Gaza, where airstrikes in recent days...
N.C. governor candidate Mark Robinson sues CNN over report about posts on porn site
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, sued CNN on Tuesday over its recent report that he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board, calling the reporting reckless and defamatory. The lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court, comes less than...
50 well-preserved Viking Age skeletons unearthed in Denmark
AASUM, Denmark — In a village in central Denmark, archeologists made a landmark discovery that could hold important clues to the Viking era: a burial ground, containing some 50 “exceptionally well-preserved” skeletons. “This is such an exciting find because we found these skeletons that are so very, very well preserved,”...
How did a killing at a Sikh temple lead to Canada and India expelling each other’s diplomats?
NEW DELHI — Relations between India and Canada are at a low point as the countries expelled each other’s top diplomats over an ongoing dispute about the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada. Canada said it had identified India’s top diplomat in the country as a person of interest...
After 67 days adrift, a Russian man was rescued but his brother and nephew are dead
MOSCOW — A Russian man was rescued in the stormy Sea of Okhotsk after surviving for more than two months in a tiny inflatable boat that lost its engine, but his brother and nephew have died, officials said Tuesday. The prosecutor’s office in the far east of Russia said that...
