U.S./World category, Page 402
Biden is dangling border security money to try to get billions more for Israel and Ukraine
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is trying to sweeten his pitch for more money for Ukraine by mixing in billions of dollars for securing the U.S.-Mexico border in the hope that it will bring more Republicans on board. The idea came up late last month, after Ukraine assistance was stripped...
Egypt’s border crossing opens to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into besieged Gaza
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on Saturday to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into the besieged Palestinian territory for the first time since Israel sealed it off in the wake of Hamas’ bloody rampage two weeks ago. Just 20 trucks were...
Long lines at pump unlikely, but Middle East crisis could disrupt oil supplies, raise prices
WASHINGTON — Fifty years after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the current crisis in the Middle East has the potential to disrupt global oil supplies and push prices higher. But don’t expect a repeat of the catastrophic price hikes and long lines at the gasoline pump, experts say. The Israel-Hamas...
French intelligence: Palestinian rocket, not Israeli airstrike, likely caused Gaza hospital blast
PARIS — An assessment by French military intelligence indicates the most likely cause of the deadly explosion at Gaza City’s al-Ahli hospital was a Palestinian rocket that carried an explosive charge of about 11 pounds and possibly misfired, a senior French military official said Friday. Several rockets in the arsenal...
Israel: 2 Americans held hostage by Hamas, a mother and daughter, have been released
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hamas on Friday freed an American woman and her teenage daughter who had been held hostage in Gaza, Israel said, the first such release from among the roughly 200 people the group abducted from Israel during its Oct. 7 rampage. Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old...
Violent threats from Virginia to Texas disrupt Muslim groups raising support for Palestinians
ARLINGTON, Va. — For more than 20 years, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has held its annual banquet at the Marriott Crystal Gateway hotel in Crystal City, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, according to CAIR’s executive director, Nihad Awad. Sporadic protests and angry phone calls targeting the Muslim civil...
Former Florida lawmaker who sponsored ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law gets prison for covid-19 relief fraud
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The former Florida lawmaker who sponsored the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” was sentenced to six months in federal prison Thursday for defrauding a federal coronavirus relief loan program for small businesses. Former state Rep. Joe Harding, a 36-year-old Republican, resigned in December after being...
Owner of California biolab that fueled bio-weapons rumors charged with mislabeling, lacking permits
FRESNO, Calif. — The Chinese owner of an unauthorized central California lab that fueled conspiracy theories about China and biological weapons has been arrested on charges of not obtaining the proper permits to manufacture tests for covid-19, pregnancy and HIV and mislabeling some of the kits. Jia Bei Zhu, 62,...
Maryland police officer suspended after arrest on Capitol riot charges
SILVER SPRING, Md. — A Maryland police officer who fatally shot a stabbing suspect this year was arrested Thursday on charges he assaulted police during a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Montgomery County Police Department said in a news release it has suspended Officer Justin...
300-year-old painting stolen by American soldier during World War II returned to German museum
CHICAGO — After a stopover in the U.S. that lasted the better part of a century, a baroque landscape painting that went missing during World War II was returned to Germany on Thursday. The FBI handed over the artwork by 18th century Austrian artist Johann Franz Nepomuk Lauterer to a...
Judge fines Trump over social media post, threatens jail for further violations
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump was fined $5,000 on Friday after a disparaging social media post about a key court staffer in his New York civil fraud case lingered on his campaign website for weeks after the judge ordered it deleted. Judge Arthur Engoron avoided holding Trump in...
Judge rules Alex Jones can’t use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying Sandy Hook families
HOUSTON — A Texas judge has ruled that Infowars host Alex Jones cannot use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying more than $1.1 billion to families who sued over his conspiracy theories that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax. The decision is another significant defeat for Jones in the...
Pig heart transplant recipient reaches 1-month mark, pushing through physical therapy
WASHINGTON — It’s been a month since a Maryland man became the second person to receive a transplanted heart from a pig — and hospital video released Friday shows he’s working hard to recover. Lawrence Faucette was dying from heart failure and ineligible for a traditional heart transplant when doctors...
CVS Health pulls some cough-and-cold treatments with ingredient deemed ineffective by doctors
CVS Health is pulling from its shelves some cough-and-cold treatments that contain an ingredient that has been deemed ineffective by doctors and researchers. The drug store chain said it will remove a small number of products that contain phenylephrine as the only active ingredient. CVS also said it will still...
Leaders of Ukraine and Russia assess their resources as their war heads into winter
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke by phone with U.S. President Joe Biden about Washington’s future support for Kyiv, and Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a military base near the Ukrainian border, as the warring countries laid plans for the winter and next year’s combat operations....
Gale-force winds and floods strike Northern Europe; at least 1 killed in Scotland
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Gale-force winds and floods struck several countries in Northern Europe as the region braced for more heavy rain on Friday. In Scotland, one person was reported dead after being swept into a river and authorities searched for a man thought to be trapped in his vehicle. The...
Maryland circuit court judge was fatally shot in the driveway of his home, police say
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — A Maryland circuit court judge was fatally shot in the driveway of his home, police said. Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52, was found with apparent gunshot wounds around 8 p.m. Thursday, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Wilkinson was taken from the home...
Israel doesn’t plan to control ‘life in Gaza’ after destroying Hamas, defense minister says
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel’s defense minister said Friday that after the country destroys the Hamas militant group, the military does not plan to control “life in the Gaza Strip.” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s comments to lawmakers were the first time an Israeli leader discussed its long-term plans for...
Stampede in Kenya leaves 4 dead, about 100 injured at holiday event
NAIROBI, Kenya — A stampede in Kenya during celebrations to mark an annual public holiday killed at least four people on Friday and injured 100 others, authorities said. The stampede happened when thousands of people struggled to get inside Kericho stadium in western Kenya at dawn, police said. The stadium...
Army private who fled to North Korea charged with desertion, held by U.S. military, officials tell AP
WASHINGTON — An Army private who fled to North Korea before being returned home to the United States earlier this month has been detained by the U.S. military, two officials said Thursday night, and is facing charges including desertion and possessing sexual images of a child. The eight counts against...
Biden says support for Israel and Ukraine is ‘vital’ for U.S. security, will ask Congress for billionsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden declared it is “vital for America’s national security” for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars, making the case Thursday night for deepening U.S. involvement in two unpredictable foreign conflicts as he prepared to ask for billions of dollars in military assistance for both...
Biden will deliver a rare Oval Office address as he seeks billions of dollars for Israel and Ukraine
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will deliver a rare Oval Office address Thursday night as he prepares to ask for additional billions of dollars in military assistance for Israel and Ukraine, deepening American involvement in two very different, unpredictable and bloody foreign conflicts. The speech will be an opportunity for...
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rate surges to 7.63% — highest level since 2000
LOS ANGELES — The cost of financing a home surged again this week with the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate at its highest level since December 2000. The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.63% from 7.57% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A...
China is building up its nuclear weapons arsenal faster than previous projections, a U.S. report says
WASHINGTON — A Pentagon report on China’s military power says Beijing is exceeding previous projections of how quickly it is building up its nuclear weapons arsenal and is “almost certainly” learning lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine about what a conflict over Taiwan might look like. The report released Thursday...
Sidney Powell vowed to ‘release the Kraken’ to help Donald Trump. She may now testify against him
NEW YORK — The Kraken has cracked. Lawyer Sidney Powell, who famously vowed to unleash a mythical sea monster of litigation to prove that Donald Trump didn’t lose the 2020 election, has now struck a deal with Georgia prosecutors admitting she conspired to wrongly interfere with the state’s election results....
