U.S./World category, Page 371
Judge dismisses lawsuits filed against rapper Drake over deadly Astroworld concert
HOUSTON — Hip-hop artist Drake has been dismissed from a lawsuit over the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival in Houston in which 10 people were killed, a judge has ruled. Drake was a special guest of rap superstar Travis Scott, who had headlined the festival. He performed with Scott at the...
Instagram begins blurring nudity in messages to protect teens and fight sexual extortion
LONDON — Instagram says it’s deploying new tools to protect young people and combat sexual extortion, including a feature that will automatically blur nudity in direct messages. The social media platform said in a blog post Thursday that it’s testing out the features as part of its campaign to fight...
Trump tests limits of gag order with post insulting 2 likely witnesses in criminal trial
NEW YORK — Days after a New York judge expanded a gag order on Donald Trump to curtail “inflammatory” speech, the former president tested its limits by disparaging two key witnesses in his upcoming criminal hush money trial as liars. In a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday, Trump...
Reaction to the death of O.J. Simpson
Reaction to the death of O.J. Simpson after prostate cancer. He was 76. Simpson’s family announced the news on his X account. Relatives said he died Wednesday. ——— “I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere. I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do...
‘HELP’ spelled out in palm leaves leads to island rescue in Pacific
It sounds like a tale straight out of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” or a plotline in the “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Three men were stranded on a remote Pacific islet for more than a week after the outboard motor on their 20-foot open skiff stopped working, as reported by...
A look back at O.J. Simpson’s slow-speed chase
EDITOR’S NOTE: The first week of the O.J. Simpson case in mid-June 1994 moved quickly, with reporters racing to reach the news. The only thing that was slow was The Chase. The football great had been accused of killing his ex-wife and her friend, and there he was on live...
10 things to remember about O.J. Simpson
LOS ANGELES — Ten things to remember about O.J. Simpson, the NFL running back-turned actor who was acquitted of murdering his wife and her friend. The family announced on Simpson’s official X account that Simpson died Wednesday after battling prostate cancer. Simpson’s attorney confirmed to TMZ he died in Las...
O.J. Simpson, legendary football player and actor brought down by his murder trial, dies at 76
LAS VEGAS — O.J. Simpson, the football star and Hollywood actor acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend in a trial that mesmerized the public and exposed divisions on race and policing in America, has died. He was 76. The family announced on Simpson’s official X...
New rule will require more gun dealers to run background checks on buyers
WASHINGTON — Thousands more firearms dealers across the United States will have to run background checks on buyers when selling at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores, according to a Biden administration rule that will soon go into effect. The rule aims to close a loophole that has...
As his trans daughter struggles, a father pushes past his prejudice. ‘It was like a wake-up’
SMITHVILLE, Mo. — Before his transgender daughter was suspended after using the girls’ bathroom at her Missouri high school. Before the bullying and the suicide attempts. Before she dropped out. Before all that, Dusty Farr was — in his own words — “a full-on bigot.” By which he meant that...
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills 3 sons and 4 grandchildren of Hamas’ top leader
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli aircraft killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate cease-fire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh ‘s...
A mission of mercy, then a fatal strike: How an aid convoy in Gaza became Israel’s target
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — It was hours after sundown when the eight aid trucks drove from the makeshift jetty, cobbled together from tons of wreckage left across Gaza by months of war. The trucks were escorted by three vehicles carrying aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, the...
Ukraine’s parliament passes controversial law to boost much-needed conscripts as war drags on
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s parliament passed a controversial law Thursday that will govern how the country recruits new soldiers to replenish depleted forces who are increasingly struggling to fend off Russian troops. Two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion captured nearly a quarter of the country, the stakes could not be...
Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its largest-ever fraud case
HANOI, Vietnam — Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced Thursday to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam in the country’s largest financial fraud case ever, state media Vietnam Net said. The 67-year-old chair of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat was...
NYPD to crack down on ‘sloppy’ cops with ban on shorts, white turtlenecks, cargo pants
NEW YORK — They’re real fashion police: Fed up with sloppy cops, the NYPD has moved to update its dress code, banning shorts on transit beats and white turtlenecks while on patrol. The department’s updated style guide, set to take effect next month, also instructs patrol officers not to wear...
Former high-ranking Democratic legislator in New Mexico pleads not guilty in federal fraud case
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A former high-ranking Democratic legislator in New Mexico has pleaded not guilty to numerous federal charges stemming from a corruption investigation into allegations that millions of dollars meant for educational programs in the state’s largest school district were diverted to businesses and charities in which she had...
Mom who threw 2 kids onto LA freeway, killing her infant, appeared agitated by impending eclipse
LOS ANGELES — A woman who authorities say fatally stabbed her partner at their Los Angeles apartment Monday then threw her two children from a moving SUV onto the freeway, killing her infant daughter, was an astrologer who called the impending solar eclipse “the epitome of spiritual warfare” in an...
U.S. sees missile strike on Israel by Iran, proxies as imminent
The United States and its allies believe major missile or drone strikes by Iran or its proxies against military and government targets in Israel are imminent, in what would mark a significant widening of the six-month-old conflict, according to people familiar with the intelligence. The potential assault, possibly using high-precision...
New York appeals court rejects Donald Trump’s 3rd request to delay hush money trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump is now 0 for 3 in last-minute attempts to get a New York appeals court to delay his looming hush money criminal trial. An appeals court judge Wednesday swiftly rejected the latest salvo from the former president’s lawyers, who argued he should be on the...
OK, the eclipse was cool, but those glasses aren’t. Now what?
OK, you hopped on the eclipse bandwagon, did your research and viewed the celestial miracle responsibly. But now what are you going to do with those odd-looking glasses? Fact is, you won’t need them again in most of the U.S. for a couple of decades, and some glasses are good...
Storms bring floods, damaging wind to states across the South; 1 dead in MississippiVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Strong storms flooded New Orleans streets and demolished buildings in one of the city’s suburbs Wednesday, part of a severe weather system that pounded communities across much of the South, killing one in Mississippi. In Slidell, Louisiana, northeast of New Orleans, multiple people were injured and first...
3 shot and 5 in custody after gunfire disrupts Philadelphia Eid event, police sayVideo
PHILADELPHIA — A joyful celebration of the end of Ramadan devolved into panic Wednesday in Philadelphia after rival groups exchanged gunfire, leaving at least three people injured and hundreds of parents and children to flee in search of safety. The annual Eid al-Fitr event, held outside a large mosque in...
Environmental advocates praise new EPA limits on PFAS chemicals in drinking water
Environmental groups praised the Biden administration Wednesday for finalizing strict drinking water limits on toxic substances commonly referred to as “forever chemicals.” The new rules will require utilities to reduce the per- and polyfluorinated chemicals, also known as PFAS, to the lowest level that can be reliably measured. The rule...
Higher gas and rents keep U.S. inflation elevated, likely delaying Fed rate cuts
WASHINGTON — Consumer inflation remained persistently high last month, boosted by gas, rents, auto insurance and other items, the government said Wednesday in a report that will likely give pause to the Federal Reserve as it considers how often — or even whether — to cut interest rates this year....
Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al-Fitr, but the festivities are marred by the war in Gaza
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Muslims around the world celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday Wednesday, marking the end of the Islamic holy month with family reunions, new clothes and sweet treats. But the celebrations were overshadowed by the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s expected offensive in the city...
