U.S./World category, Page 301
FBI, Homeland Security warn of possible threats to LGBTQ events, including Pride Month activities
WASHINGTON — Foreign terrorist organizations or their supporters might target LGBTQ-related events and venues as part of June’s Pride Month, federal agencies warned in a recent public announcement. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued the announcement May 10 to raise awareness of “foreign terrorist organizations (FTOS) or...
Military hearing officer deciding whether to recommend court-martial for Pentagon leaker
BEDFORD, Massachusetts — A Massachusetts Air National Guard member who pleaded guilty in March to federal crimes for leaking highly classified military documents appeared Tuesday before a military hearing officer who will recommend whether the guardsman should face a court-martial. Jack Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, is facing three charges...
Tennessee governor OKs bill allowing death penalty for child rape convictions
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has approved legislation allowing the death penalty in child rape convictions, a change the Republican-controlled Statehouse championed amid concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court has banned capital punishment in such cases. Lee, a Republican, quietly signed off on the legislation last week without...
German court convicts prominent far-right politician for using a Nazi slogan, imposes a fine
HALLE, Germany — A court on Tuesday convicted one of the best-known figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party of using a Nazi slogan in a speech and ordered him to pay a fine. The verdict in Björn Höcke’s trial comes months before a regional election in the eastern...
Judge rejects Hunter Biden’s bid to delay his June trial on federal gun charges
WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden’s federal gun case will go to trial next month, a judge said Tuesday, denying a bid by lawyers for the president’s son to delay the prosecution. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected Hunter Biden’s request to push the trial until September, which the defense said...
Appeals court upholds gag order in Trump hush money trial
NEW YORK — A New York appeals court on Tuesday upheld the gag order in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, finding that the judge “properly determined” that Trump’s public statements “posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses in this case as well.”...
Appeals court upholds ruling requiring Georgia county to pay for a transgender deputy’s surgery
ATLANTA — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that a Georgia county illegally discriminated against a sheriff’s deputy by failing to pay for her gender-affirming surgery. In its ruling Monday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was tasked with determining whether a health...
Driver of truck that hit farmworker bus in Florida, killing 8, arrested on DUI charges
OCALA, Fla. — The Florida Highway Patrol has arrested the driver of a pickup truck that crashed into a farmworker bus early Tuesday, killing eight, on charges of driving under the influence-manslaughter. Bryan Maclean Howard faces eight counts of DUI-Manslaughter, the FHP said in a statement. No further details were...
Hot history: Tree rings show that last northern summer was the warmest since year 1
The broiling summer of 2023 was the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere in more than 2,000 years, a new study found. When the temperatures spiked last year, numerous weather agencies said it was the hottest month, summer and year on record. But those records only go back to 1850 at...
Lawmakers issue ultimatum to tech platforms over data privacy
WASHINGTON — For years Congress has held dozens of hearings aiming to enact laws on data privacy and kids’ online safety, and to curb the freewheeling collection and sale of Americans’ data without enacting any substantial legislation. The frustration is showing. Two House lawmakers, who direct blame squarely at tech...
Check stubs, fake receipts, blind loyalty: Michael Cohen offers inside knowledge in Trump’s hush money trial
NEW YORK — It wasn’t until after a decade in the fold, after his family pleaded with him, after the FBI raided his office, apartment and hotel room, Michael Cohen testified Tuesday, that he finally decided to turn on Donald Trump. That decision led to a 2018 guilty plea to...
Palestinians mark 76 years of dispossession as a potentially even larger catastrophe unfolds in Gaza
JERUSALEM — Palestinians on Wednesday will mark the 76th year of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza. Palestinians refer to it...
Cave-in leaves 2 miners dead, 1 missing and 12 injured at a coal mine in Poland
WARSAW, Poland — Two miners were killed and one remains missing after a cave-in at the Myslowice-Wesola coal mine in southern Poland early Tuesday in which 12 other miners were hurt, mining authorities said Tuesday. The cave-in happened around 3:30 a.m. about 2,800 feet underground in an area where 15...
Blinken in Kyiv says U.S. arms will make a difference in Ukraine as new Russian offensive pushes on
KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that American military aid on its way to Ukraine will make a “real difference” on the battlefield, as the top diplomat made an unannounced visit to reassure an ally facing a fierce new Russian offensive. In increasingly intense attacks...
U.S. investigating Waymo autonomous vehicles after reports of crashes or possible traffic violations
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s highway safety agency has opened another investigation of automated driving systems, this time into crashes involving Waymo’s self-driving vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted documents detailing the probe on its website early Tuesday after getting 22 reports of Waymo vehicles either crashing or...
Biden blocks Chinese-backed crypto mining firm from land ownership near Wyoming missile base
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday issued an order blocking a Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mining firm from owning land near a Wyoming nuclear missile base, calling its proximity to the base a “national security risk.” The order forces the divestment of property operated as a crypto mining facility near the...
Investigators continue search for the hit-and-run boater who killed a 15-year-old girl in Florida
MIAMI — Investigators continue to search for the boater who fatally struck a 15-year-old girl off a South Florida beach and fled without stopping, while friends and family members mourn her loss. A funeral service for Ella Adler was held Monday morning at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach. Adler...
U.S. energy panel approves rule to expand transmission of renewable power
WASHINGTON — Federal energy regulators on Monday approved a long-awaited rule to make it easier to transmit renewable energy such as wind and solar power to the electric grid — a key part of President Joe Biden’s goal to eliminate carbon emissions economy-wide by 2050. The rule, under development for...
Crews conduct controlled demolition on Baltimore bridge span as cleanup continues at collapse siteVideo
BALTIMORE — Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The explosives flashed orange and let off a cloud of black smoke upon detonation, and the span crumpled into the water in seconds. The longest trusses...
Truck driver accused of intentionally killing Utah officer had been holding woman against her will
A truck driver accused of intentionally killing a police officer during a traffic stop on a Utah highway had been holding a woman against her will inside the cab of his truck, new court documents reveal. Michael Aaron Jayne, 42, is accused of driving his rig into Santaquin Police Sgt....
Melinda French Gates resigns as Gates Foundation co-chair, 3 years after her divorce from Bill Gates
NEW YORK — Melinda French Gates will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit she and her ex-husband Bill Gates founded and built into one of the world’s largest philanthropic organizations over the past 20 years. “This is not a decision I came to...
Russian assault opens new front, diverting Ukraine forces as Western aid trickles in
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops were locked in intense battles with Ukrainian soldiers around the embattled town of Vovchansk in northeast Ukraine on Monday, pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front and put more pressure on overstretched Ukrainian forces. Moscow’s renewed northeast offensive, launched late last...
Misery deepens in Gaza’s Rafah as Israeli troops press operation
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Aid workers struggled Monday to distribute dwindling food and other supplies to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by what Israel says is a limited military operation in Rafah, as the two main crossings near the southern Gaza city remained closed. The United Nations’ agency for...
Vast coin collection of Danish magnate is going on sale a century after his death
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The vast coin collection of a Danish butter magnate is set to finally go on sale a century after his death, and could fetch up to $72 million. Lars Emil Bruun, also known as L.E. Bruun, stipulated in his will that his 20,000-piece collection be safeguarded for...
U.S. museum curator detained in Turkey on claims of spider smuggling; he says he has permits
ISTANBUL — A curator at the American Museum of Natural History was detained in Istanbul on Monday while allegedly attempting to smuggle spider and scorpion samples, Turkish media reported. The curator said he had permits from the government to conduct his research. Lorenzo Prendini, an expert on arachnids at the...
