U.S./World category, Page 453
Supreme Court rules in favor of Black Alabama voters in unexpected defense of Voting Rights ActVideo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a surprising 5-4 ruling in favor of Black voters in a congressional redistricting case from Alabama, with two conservative justices joining liberals in rejecting a Republican-led effort to weaken a landmark voting rights law. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh...
‘Zombie Hunter’ who beheaded Cumberland County woman sentenced to death
It took three decades, but the heinous, murderous acts of Bryan Patrick Miller — aka the Arizona “Zombie Hunter” — have finally caught up with him. And they will cost him his life. An Arizona superior court judge on Wednesday sentenced Miller, 50, to death for the brutal, bloody first-degree...
Florida woman who fatally shot neighbor appears in court, sheriff releases details of racist threats
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A white Florida woman accused of shooting and killing her Black neighbor told investigators she had been threatened by the victim for months leading up to the slaying, according an arrest report released Thursday that detailed allegations of racist epithets and physical threats to the victim’s...
Smoke from wildfires, a fact of life in the West, catches outdoor workers off guard in the East
NEW YORK — The hazardous haze from Canada’s wildfires is taking its toll on people whose jobs have forced them outdoors along the U.S. East Coast even as a dystopian orange hue led to the cancelation of sports events, school field trips and Broadway plays. Delivery workers, construction workers, farm...
Smoky haze blanketing U.S. and Canada could last into the weekend
NEW YORK — On air quality maps, purple signifies the worst of it. In reality, it’s a thick, hazardous haze that’s disrupting daily life for millions of people across the U.S. and Canada, blotting out skylines and turning skies orange. And with weather systems expected to hardly budge, the smoky...
Newer heart transplant method could allow more patients a chance at lifesaving surgery
WASHINGTON — Most transplanted hearts are from donors who are brain-dead, but new research shows a different approach can be just as successful and boost the number of available organs. It’s called donation after circulatory death, a method long used to recover kidneys and other organs but not more fragile...
Pat Robertson, broadcaster who helped make religion central to GOP politics, dies at 93
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried a run for president and helped make religion central to Republican Party politics in America through his Christian Coalition, has died. He was 93. Robertson’s death Thursday was...
Actor Jay Johnston, known for ‘Bob’s Burgers’ character, arrested on Capitol riot charges
An actor known for his roles on the comedy television shows “Bob’s Burgers” and “Mr. Show with Bob and David” was arrested Wednesday on charges that he joined a mob of Donald Trump supporters in confronting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot, court records show. Jay Johnston, 54, of...
Justice Department moves closer toward possible indictment of Trump in classified documents investigationVideo
WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump in Florida heard from at least one additional witness Wednesday amid signs that the Justice Department was moving toward a possible indictment over the former president’s mishandling of classified documents. In the last week, his lawyers have met with Justice Department...
Owner of funeral homes accused of spraying insecticide at cops, assaulting media at Jan. 6 riot
An owner of several funeral homes on Long Island was arrested Wednesday on charges that he sprayed wasp killer at police officers and attacked journalists — including an Associated Press photographer — during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, authorities said. Peter G. Moloney, 58, of Bayport,...
Ukraine rushes drinking water to flooded areas as environmental damage mounts from dam break
KHERSON, Ukraine — Authorities rushed drinking water to areas flooded by a collapsed dam in southern Ukraine on Wednesday as they managed a growing humanitarian and ecological disaster along a river that forms part of the front line in the 15-month war. The collapse of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam and...
Photos: Northeastern cities experiencing smoky skies because of Canadian wildfiresVideo
Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. The effects of hundreds of wildfires burning across the western provinces to Quebec could be felt as far away as New York City...
Police arrest white Florida woman accused of fatally shooting Black neighbor
OCALA, Fla. — A Florida woman accused of fatally shooting her neighbor last week in the violent culmination of what the sheriff described as a 2½-year feud was arrested Tuesday, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said. Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, who is white, was arrested on charges of manslaughter with...
Ex-Trump aide appears at Miami court to testify before federal grand jury
WASHINGTON — A former top aide to Donald Trump appeared Wednesday in federal court in Miami for testimony to a grand jury investigating potential classified-document mishandling and obstruction at the ex-president’s Palm Beach property, according to a person familiar with the matter. Taylor Budowich, who had served as a spokesman...
CNN head Chris Licht is out at the global news network after a brief, tumultuous tenureVideo
NEW YORK — The chief executive CNN pushed out of a job on Wednesday faced mounting problems in his first year leading the struggling network: viewership and profits were declining, programming blunders were growing and the network’s journalists were losing confidence by the day. Chris Licht’s very bad year culminated...
Japan supports Sweden’s NATO membership as defense ministers strengthen ties
TOKYO — Japan’s defense minister expressed his country’s support for Sweden’s NATO membership during talks Wednesday with his Swedish counterpart, as the two sides called for stronger military ties amid shared concern over threats from Russia and China. Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said that Sweden sees the need for...
Pope Francis undergoes abdominal surgery, will stay in hospital for several days
ROME — Pope Francis underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a hernia in his abdominal wall, the latest malady to befall the 86-year-old pontiff who had part of his colon removed two years ago. The Vatican said there were no complications after the three-hour surgery, during which Francis was under general...
Florida grand jury involved in Trump documents probe by Justice Department
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are using a grand jury in Florida as part of their investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach property, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday night. The grand jury is in addition to a separate panel...
Why is it so smoky outside? Canada wildfires lead to air-quality alerts in northeastern U.S.Video
Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. The effects of hundreds of wildfires burning across the western provinces to Quebec could be felt as far away as New...
2 dead in shooting after high school graduation ceremony in Virginia capitalVideo
RICHMOND, Va. — Seven people were shot, two fatally, when gunfire rang out Tuesday outside a downtown theater where a high school graduation ceremony had recently concluded, causing attendees to flee in panic, weep and clutch their children, authorities and witnesses reported. A 19-year-old suspect tried to flee but was...
Sheriff probes self-defense claim of white woman who fatally shot Black neighbor in front of kids
OCALA, Fla. — Authorities came under intense pressure Tuesday to arrest and charge a white woman who killed a Black neighbor on her front doorstep in a case that has put Florida’s divisive stand your ground law back into the spotlight. About three dozen mostly Black protesters gathered outside the...
Chesapeake Bay report cites environmental justice disparities
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A report on the Chesapeake Bay released Tuesday found strong disparities between communities in different parts of the bay’s watershed in terms of health, economics and social justice concerns. The findings show a larger context for the challenges of improving the health of the nation’s largest estuary,...
Peruvian judge affirms extradition to U.S. of chief suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance
LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian judge on Tuesday affirmed this week’s planned extradition to the U.S. of the main suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway. The judge’s ruling came less than 24 hours after the attorney for Dutchman Joran van der Sloot filed a writ...
Plane that crashed in Virginia lost contact with air traffic controllers during ascent, feds say
Only minutes into a doomed journey that ended on a remote Virginia mountain, the pilot of a business jet was not responding to air traffic control instructions and the situation was soon reported to a network that includes military, security and law enforcement agencies, according to federal aviation officials. Despite...
Abortion providers sue Kansas over new medication rule, longstanding waiting period
TOPEKA, Kan. — Abortion providers sued Kansas on Tuesday, challenging a new law requiring them to tell patients that an abortion medication can be stopped but also existing restrictions that include a decades-old requirement that patients wait 24 hours to terminate their pregnancies. The lawsuit filed in state district court...
