U.S./World category, Page 375
Lawsuit challenges Alabama restrictions on absentee ballot help
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Civil rights organizations and other groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging a new Alabama law that criminalizes certain types of assistance with absentee ballot applications. The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and other groups are plaintiffs in the lawsuit that says...
Free blue checks are back for some accounts on Elon Musk’s X — not everyone is happy about it
NEW YORK — Elon Musk’s social platform X has begun restoring complimentary blue checks for some of its users, the latest unexpected shift to cause a lot of confusion on the platform. For years, Twitter’s blue checks mirrored verification badges that are common on social media, largely reserved for celebrities,...
President Macron says France and its allies ‘could have stopped’ the 1994 Rwanda genocide
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron says France and its allies “could have stopped” the 1994 Rwanda genocide and “lacked the will to do so.” Macron’s office said in a statement that the French president will release a video on social media on Sunday as Rwanda commemorates the 30th anniversary...
Rights group says Israeli strike on Gaza building killed 106 in apparent war crime
JERUSALEM — Human Rights Watch says an Israeli attack on a Gaza apartment building in October killed at least 106 civilians, including 54 children. The New York-based rights group says its investigation, published Thursday, found no evidence that the attack targeted any militant activity inside the building, making it an...
EPA awards $20 billion in green bank grants for clean energy projects nationwide
DETROIT — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday awarded $20 billion in federal green bank grants to eight community development banks and nonprofit organizations to use on projects combating climate change in disadvantaged communities and helping Americans save money and reduce their carbon footprints. The money could fund tens of...
ALS drug will be pulled from U.S. market after study showed patients didn’t benefit
WASHINGTON — The maker of a drug for Lou Gehrig’s disease that recently failed in a large study said Thursday it will pull the medicine from the market, acknowledging it didn’t help patients with the deadly neurological condition. Amylyx Pharmaceuticals announced it will voluntarily halt sales and marketing of the...
Oklahoma prepares to execute man convicted of 2002 double slaying
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma is preparing to execute a man convicted of shooting and killing two people in Oklahoma City more than two decades ago. Michael Dewayne Smith, 41, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday after his conviction and death sentence for the slayings of Janet Moore, 41,...
Powerball jackpot jumps to $1.23 billion after another drawing without a big winner
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Powerball jackpot has increased to an estimated $1.23 billion after another drawing without a big winner Wednesday night. The numbers selected were: 11, 38, 41, 62, 65 and the Powerball 15. The jackpot, which now ranks as the eighth-largest in U.S. lottery history, has been...
Family, friends recall dedication of World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in Gaza
Israeli airstrikes that killed seven aid workers in Gaza reverberated around the world, as friends and relatives mourned the losses of those who were delivering food to besieged Palestinians with the charity World Central Kitchen. Killed were three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American Canadian dual citizen...
Key Bridge collapse could be largest-ever financial maritime loss
BALTIMORE — The deadly collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge could rival or beat the maritime industry’s largest-ever financial loss, with insurance claims expected to reach $1 billion or more. “It’s going to be a big claim, and the big number there is the potential cost to rebuild the...
Texas state attorney tells court state immigration law maybe went ‘too far’
WASHINGTON — A Texas state attorney told a federal appeals court that the state may have gone “too far” in passing a law that allows state officials to effectively deport immigrants, part of oral arguments Wednesday in the federal government’s push to block the law. The state has asked the...
FCC plans to restore net neutrality repealed by Trump administration
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday said it plans to vote later this month to restore the principle of net neutrality adopted during the Obama administration but repealed under Donald Trump. “After the prior administration abdicated authority over broadband services, the FCC has been handcuffed from acting to...
Judge rejects Donald Trump’s request to delay hush-money trial until Supreme Court rules on immunity
NEW YORK — A judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to delay his April 15 hush money criminal trial until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases — spurning another of the former president’s ploys to put off the historic...
New Jersey’s 3 nuclear power plants seek to extend licenses for another 20 years
The company that owns New Jersey’s three nuclear power plants said Wednesday it will seek federal approval to operate them for another 20 years. The move comes as New Jersey makes a strong push to become the East Coast leader in offshore wind. But the three power plants run by...
Ugandan court rejects bid to nullify anti-gay law that provides for the death penalty in some cases
KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld an anti-gay law that allows the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” despite widespread condemnation from rights groups and others abroad. President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law in May last year. The law is supported by many in the East...
Man is arrested in Easter brunch shooting in Nashville that left 1 dead, 5 injured
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Police arrested a Tennessee man who is suspected of opening fire during Easter brunch at a Nashville restaurant, killing one person and injuring five more. Anton Rucker was taken into custody Tuesday in Princeton, Kentucky, after Nashville police detectives located him at a residence there, according to...
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert hospitalized for blood clot, undergoes surgery
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert underwent surgery for a blood clot after being admitted to a Loveland, Colo., hospital with severe leg swelling Monday afternoon, campaign officials announced Tuesday night. Boebert, 37, was admitted to UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland with severe swelling in her upper left leg...
Prosecutors in Trump’s classified documents case sharply rebuke judge’s unusual and ‘flawed’ order
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors chided the judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida, warning her off potential jury instructions that they said rest on a “fundamentally flawed legal premise.” In an unusual order, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had asked prosecutors and defense lawyers to...
Man who used megaphone to lead attack on police during Capitol riot gets over 7 years in prison
WASHINGTON — A Washington state man who used a megaphone to orchestrate a mob’s attack on police officers guarding the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Wednesday to more than seven years in prison. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said videos captured Taylor James Johnatakis playing a leadership role during the...
Strongest earthquake in 25 years rocks Taiwan, killing 9 people and stranding 70 workers in quarries
HUALIEN, Taiwan — The strongest earthquake in a quarter-century rocked Taiwan during the morning rush hour Wednesday, killing nine people, stranding dozens of workers at quarries and sending some residents scrambling out the windows of damaged buildings. The quake, which also injured more than 1,000, was centered off the coast...
North Korea says it tested a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile that’s easier to hide
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Wednesday it had tested a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile powered with solid propellants, extending a run of weapons tests that’s deepening a nuclear standoff with neighbors and the United States. With the supposed success of the demonstration, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un...
Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs in its cloud computing unit AWS
Amazon said Wednesday it will cut hundreds of jobs in its cloud computing unit AWS as part of a strategic shift. The company will trim “a few hundred roles” in the team that overlooks technology for physical stores, a move that comes just a day after Amazon said it was...
Russia: U.S. shares blame in a concert hall attack claimed by Islamic militants
TALLINN, Estonia — The head of Russia’s national security council on Wednesday contended that the U.S. shares blame for the attack by gunmen on a Moscow concert hall that killed 145 people, even though a branch of the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility. Since the March 22 attack at...
Ukraine lowers its conscription age to 25 to plug a shortfall in troop numbers fighting Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Wednesday lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion. The new mobilization law came into force a day after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed it....
EPA didn’t declare a public health emergency after fiery Ohio train derailment
The aftermath of last year’s fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio doesn’t qualify as a public health emergency because widespread health problems and ongoing chemical exposures haven’t been documented, federal officials said. The Environmental Protection Agency never approved that designation after the February 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment even though the...
