U.S./World category, Page 298
Microsoft’s AI chatbot will ‘recall’ everything you do on a PC
REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you’re doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next. The software giant on Monday revealed an upgraded version of Copilot, its AI assistant,...
Judge rules Ohio law that keeps cities from banning flavored tobacco is unconstitutional
An Ohio law prohibiting cities from banning the sale of flavored tobacco products is unconstitutional, a judge has ruled. The state is expected to appeal the ruling issued by Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Serrott, who had issued a temporary restraining order in April that stopped the law...
EPA warns of increasing cyberattacks on water systems, urges utilities to take immediate steps
WASHINGTON — Cyberattacks against water utilities across the country are becoming more frequent and more severe, the Environmental Protection Agency warned Monday as it issued an enforcement alert urging water systems to take immediate actions to protect the nation’s drinking water. About 70% of utilities inspected by federal officials over...
Donald Trump’s lawyers urge the judge to throw out his hush money case after prosecution rests
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyers on Monday pressed the judge overseeing his hush money trial to stop the case from going to the jury and throw out the charges after prosecutors concluded their presentation of evidence. Judge Juan M. Merchan did not immediately rule on the defense request, which...
After the only hospital in town closed, a North Carolina city directs its ire at politicians
WILLIAMSTON, N.C. — Weeds have punctured through the vacant parking lot of Martin General Hospital’s emergency room. A makeshift blue tarp covering the hospital’s sign is worn down from flapping in the wind. The hospital doors are locked, many in this county of 22,000 fear permanently. Some residents worry the...
War crimes prosecutor seeks arrest of Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Netanyahu
JERUSALEM — The chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court said Monday he is seeking arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over actions taken during their seven-month war. While Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, do not face imminent...
U.S. pediatricians reverse decades-old advice against HIV-positive mothers breastfeeding
People with HIV can breastfeed their babies, as long as they are taking medications that effectively suppress the virus that causes AIDS, a top U.S. pediatricians’ group said Monday in a sharp policy change. The new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics reverses recommendations it had in place since...
Investigators return to Long Island home of Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. — Investigators returned Monday to the home of a New York architect charged in a string of slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings. State and county police vehicles were seen outside Rex Heuermann’s single-family home in Massapequa Park on Long Island before 9 a.m. Spokespersons for...
Pentagon vows to keep weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces a renewed assault by Russia
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin committed Monday to keeping U.S. weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces one of its toughest moments against a renewed assault by Russia. Austin and as many as 50 defense leaders from Europe and around the world were meeting Monday to coordinate more military...
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange wins right to appeal against an extradition order to the U.S.
LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal an extradition order to the United States on espionage charges, a London court ruled Monday — a decision likely to further drag out an already long legal saga. High Court judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson ruled for Assange after his lawyers...
Crashed ship in Baltimore set to be moved to nearby docks MondayVideo
Eighteen hours of preparations start Sunday to refloat the ship that destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and move it to a nearby dock, as officials continue clearing the channel of wreckage that’s blocked the city’s port for almost two months. The plan calls for the Dali to move under...
Power expected to be restored to most affected by deadly Houston stormVideo
HOUSTON — Houston area residents affected by deadly storms last week that left at least seven dead were finally getting some good news as officials said they expected power to be restored by Sunday evening to a majority of the hundreds of thousands still in the dark and without air...
Iran’s president, foreign minister found dead at helicopter crash site
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and others were found dead Monday hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported. Raisi was 63. The crash comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the...
6 people killed, 10 others injured in Idaho when pickup crashes into passenger van
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Six people were killed Saturday in Idaho in a two-car accident that included a large passenger van, authorities said. Ten others were injured in the crash on U.S. Highway 20 in Idaho Falls and taken to local hospitals, Idaho State Police said in a statement. An...
11 hurt in mass shooting that marked a weekend of gun violence in Savannah, Georgia
SAVANNAH, Ga. — An argument between two women led to a gunfight that left 11 people hurt in a busy tourist area of Savannah, Georgia, late Saturday, one of five weekend shootings in the city, two of which were fatal, authorities said. Two people were injured in separate shootings Friday....
Giuliani becomes final defendant served indictment among 18 accused in Arizona fake electors case
Arizona’s attorney general says former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state’s fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes...
What we’ve learned so far in the Trump hush money trial and what to watch for as it wraps up
NEW YORK — Testimony in the hush money trial of Donald Trump is set to conclude in the coming days, putting the landmark case on track for jury deliberations that will determine whether it ends in a mistrial, an acquittal — or the first-ever felony conviction of a former American...
Biden tells Morehouse graduates that he hears their voices of protest over the war in Gaza
ATLANTA — President Joe Biden on Sunday told Morehouse College graduates during his commencement speech that he heard their voices of protest over the Israel-Hamas war, and that scenes from the conflict in Gaza have been heartbreaking. “I support peaceful nonviolent protest,” he told students at the all-male, historically Black...
Botanists scouring U.S.-Mexico border to document forgotten ecosystem split by giant wall
JACUMÉ, México — Near the towering border wall flanked by a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle, botanist Sula Vanderplank heard a quail in the scrub yelp “chi-ca-go,” a sound the birds use to signal they are separated from a mate or group. Then silence. A quail on the Mexican side called...
Chapel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s son closed because of landslide
RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. — A decades-old landslide that’s rapidly accelerating has forced the dismantling of Wayfarers Chapel, an iconic Southern California church that was designed by one of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s sons and built among soaring redwoods and sweeping Pacific Ocean views. The earth beneath the chapel...
Heat poses risk as thousands without power after deadly Houston storm
HOUSTON — As the Houston area works to clean up and restore power to hundreds of thousands after deadly storms left at least seven people dead, it will do so amid a smog warning and scorching temperatures that could pose health risks. National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Chenard said Saturday...
Member of Israel’s War Cabinet says he’ll quit government unless there’s a new war plan
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Benny Gantz, a popular centrist member of Israel’s three-member War Cabinet, threatened Saturday to resign from the government if it doesn’t adopt a new plan in three weeks’ time for the war in Gaza, a decision that would leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more reliant...
Man convicted of attacking ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
SAN FRANCISCO — The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley handed down the sentence for David DePape, 44, whom jurors found guilty in November of attempted kidnapping...
Israeli army finds bodies of 3 hostages in Gaza killed at Oct. 7 music festival
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Friday its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three Israeli hostages killed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack, including German-Israeli Shani Louk. A photo of 22-year-old Shani’s twisted body in the back of a pickup truck ricocheted around the world and brought...
Trucks are rolling across a new U.S. pier into Gaza. But challenges remain to getting enough aid in
WASHINGTON — Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built U.S. pier and into the besieged enclave for the first time Friday as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hindered the delivery of food and other supplies. The shipment is the first...
