U.S./World category, Page 312
Supreme Court seems skeptical of Trump’s claim of absolute immunity but decision’s timing is unclear
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared likely to reject former President Donald Trump’s claim of absolute immunity from prosecution over election interference, but it seemed possible Trump could still benefit from a lengthy trial delay, possibly beyond November’s election. Chief Justice John Roberts was among at least five...
Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump
NEW YORK — As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye. But when it came to the seamy...
Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction overturned by New York’s top courtVideo
NEW YORK — New York’s highest court on Thursday threw out Harvey Weinstein ’s 2020 rape conviction with a ruling that shocked and disappointed women who celebrated historic gains during the #MeToo era and left those who testified in the case bracing for a retrial against the ex-movie mogul. The...
U.S. births fell last year, marking an end to the late pandemic rebound, experts say
NEW YORK — U.S. births fell last year, resuming a long national slide. A little under 3.6 million babies were born in 2023, according to provisional statistics released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s about 76,000 fewer than the year before and the lowest one-year tally...
Navy sailor formerly stationed in Norfolk found guilty of attempted espionage
NORFOLK, Va. — A Navy chief was convicted of attempted espionage last week in a San Diego military court after he was accused of providing classified documents to a foreign contact while stationed in Norfolk and Japan. Chief Fire Controlman Bryce S. Pedicini was found guilty of attempted espionage, failure...
Sharks ‘adapting their movements and routines,’ great white researchers discover
Do great white sharks change their behaviors in different environments, or do the apex predators follow the same routines regardless of location? Researchers recently set out to solve this shark puzzle, as they reportedly discovered great white behaviors by attaching smart tags and cameras to their fins. Great whites adapt...
Arizona indicts 18 in case over 2020 election, including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows
PHOENIX — An Arizona grand jury has indicted former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyer Rudy Giuliani along with 16 others in an election interference case. The indictment released Wednesday names 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden...
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war growsVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests. At the University of Texas at Austin, hundreds of local and state police — including...
Arizona House advances a repeal of the state’s near-total abortion ban to the Senate
PHOENIX — A proposed repeal of Arizona’s near-total ban on abortions won approval from the state House on Wednesday after two weeks of mounting pressure on Republicans over an issue that has bedeviled former President Donald Trump’s campaign to return to the White House. Three Republicans joined in with all...
Canadian family receives wrong body after father died on Cuban vacation
LAVAL, Quebec — A family in Quebec is searching for answers after discovering that their father’s remains didn’t make it to Canada from Cuba, where he died while on vacation, and instead received the remains of another man. Funerals for Faraj Allah Jarjour were scheduled for Sunday and Monday. Instead,...
USDA to limit added sugars in school meals nationwide for first time ever
U.S. students will soon see reduced added sugars in school meals nationwide as part of an overhaul of the nation’s nutrition standards announced Wednesday by the Department of Agriculture. As part of the agency’s nutrition makeover, added sugars — sugars and syrups added to foods or beverages when processed or...
100-year-old British D-Day veteran dies before he can honor fallen comrades one more timeVideo
LONDON — British army veteran Bill Gladden, who survived a glider landing on D-Day and a bullet that tore through his ankle a few days later, wanted to return to France for the 80th anniversary of the invasion so he could honor the men who didn’t come home. It was...
About 1 in 4 U.S. adults over 50 say they expect to never retire, an AARP study finds
WASHINGTON — About one-quarter of U.S. adults over age 50 say they expect to never retire and 70% are concerned about prices rising faster than their income, an AARP survey finds. About 1 in 4 have no retirement savings, according to research released Wednesday by the organization that shows how...
Supreme Court appears skeptical that state abortion bans conflict with federal health care law
WASHINGTON — Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday that state abortion bans after their sweeping ruling overturning Roe v. Wade violate federal healthcare law, though some also questioned the effects on emergency care for pregnant patients. The case marks the first time the Supreme Court has considered the implications...
Airlines will now be required to give automatic cash refunds for canceled and delayed flightsVideo
The Biden administration issued final rules Wednesday to require airlines to automatically issue cash refunds for things like delayed flights and to better disclose fees for baggage or canceling a reservation. The Transportation Department said airlines will be required to provide automatic cash refunds within a few days for canceled...
What a TikTok ban in the U.S. could mean for you
No, TikTok will not suddenly disappear from your phone. Nor will you go to jail if you continue using it after it is banned. After years of attempts to ban the Chinese-owned app, including by former President Donald Trump, a measure to outlaw the popular video-sharing app has won congressional...
She was too sick for a traditional transplant. So she received a pig kidney and a heart pump
NEW YORK — Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart. Lisa Pisano’s combination of heart and kidney failure left her too sick to qualify for a traditional transplant, and...
Biden signs a $95B war-aid measure with assistance for Ukraine, Israel and TaiwanVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed into law into law Thursday a $95 billion war-aid measure that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that also includes a provision that would force social media site TikTok to be sold or be banned in U.S. The announcement marks an end to...
Columbia University cites progress with Gaza war protesters following encampment arrests
NEW YORK — Columbia University said early Wednesday that it was making “important progress” with pro-Palestinian student protesters who set up a tent encampment and that it was extending a deadline to clear out, yet standoffs remained tense on the Ivy League campus in upper Manhattan. Student protesters “have committed...
Surging auto insurance rates squeeze drivers, fuel inflation
NEW YORK — Relentlessly rising auto insurance rates are squeezing car owners and stoking inflation. Auto insurance rates rose 2.6% in March and are up 22% from a year ago. Premium costs have been marching steadily higher since 2022, even as inflation at the consumer level steadily cooled from its...
Australian police arrest 7 alleged teen extremists linked to stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church
SYDNEY — Australian police arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in raids across Sydney on Wednesday, as a judge extended a ban on social media platform X sharing video of a knife attack on a bishop that started the criminal investigation. The seven, aged 15 to...
Minnesota senator wanted late father’s ashes when she broke into stepmother’s home, charges say
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota state senator and former broadcast meteorologist told police that she broke into her stepmother’s home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to burglary charges filed Tuesday. Democratic state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, 49, of...
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth stopped sending back understandable data last November. Flight controllers traced the blank communication to a bad computer chip and rearranged the spacecraft’s coding to work...
The first glow-in-the-dark animals may have been ancient corals deep in the ocean
WASHINGTON — Many animals can glow in the dark. Fireflies famously blink on summer evenings. But most animals that light up are found in the depths of the ocean. In a new study, scientists report that deep-sea corals that lived 540 million years ago may have been the first animals...
Senate passes bill forcing TikTok’s parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signatureVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that’s expected to face legal challenges and disrupt the lives of content creators who rely on the short-form...
