U.S./World category, Page 563
Feds expect to collect $4.7B in insurance fraud penalties
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration estimated Monday that it could collect as much as $4.7 billion from insurance companies with newer and tougher penalties for submitting improper charges on the taxpayers’ tab for Medicare Advantage care. Federal watchdogs have been sounding the alarm for years about questionable charges on the...
Reports: New grand jury in New York examining Trump hush money
NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors investigating Donald Trump have convened a new grand jury to hear evidence in a years-old probe into payments made to keep the porn star Stormy Daniels quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with the former president, according to multiple news reports. The news outlets, citing...
Police: 10 wounded in drive-by shooting in FloridaVideo
LAKELAND, Fla. — Ten people were injured Monday afternoon during a drive-by shooting in a central Florida neighborhood, police said. Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said during a news conference that two of the victims were critically injured, while the wounds of the other eight victims weren’t considered life-threatening. Lakeland...
Brazil’s Bolsonaro applies for 6-month U.S. visitor visa
RIO DE JANEIRO — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has filed a request for a six-month visitor visa to stay in the United States, indicating he may have no immediate intention of returning home, where legal issues await. The application was first reported by The Financial Times, citing Bolsonaro’s immigration...
Explainer: What’s behind the Pakistani Taliban’s insurgency?
ISLAMABAD — When a suicide bomber struck a mosque inside a police compound in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday, suspicion immediately fell on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. In a post on Twitter, a commander for the group, Sarbakaf Mohmand, claimed responsibility for...
Ex-Twitter execs to testify on block of Hunter Biden story
WASHINGTON — Former Twitter employees are expected to testify next week before the House Oversight Committee about the social media platform’s handling of reporting on President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. The scheduled testimony, confirmed by the committee Monday, will be the first time the three former executives will appear...
Florida sheriff sued for ‘Wheel of Fugitive’ defamation
TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A man has filed a defamation lawsuit against a Florida sheriff who posts weekly “Wheel of Fugitive” videos on social media, saying that he wasn’t a fugitive when his name and image appeared several times in 2021 in the sheriff’s posts inspired by the long-running TV game...
7th Memphis officer disciplined, EMTs fired in Tyre Nichols death
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two more Memphis police officers have been disciplined and three emergency responders fired in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols, officials said Monday, widening the circle of punishment for the shocking display of police brutality after video showed many more people failed to help him beyond...
Croatia’s president criticizes tank deliveries to Ukraine
ZAGREB, Croatia — NATO-member Croatia’s president on Monday criticized Western nations for supplying Ukraine with heavy tanks and other weapons in its campaign against invading Russian forces, saying those arms deliveries will only prolong the war. Zoran Milanovic told reporters in the Croatian capital that it’s “mad” to believe that...
Virginia school where boy shot teacher reopens with added security
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Virginia elementary school where a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher reopened Monday with stepped-up security and a new administrator, as nervous parents and students expressed optimism about a return to the classroom. Richneck Elementary School in Newport News opened its doors more than three weeks...
Tropical storm leaves 30 dead, 20 missing in Madagascar
ANTANARIVO, Madagascar — Flooding and landslides caused by the passage of tropical storm Cheneso across Madagascar caused 30 deaths, left 20 people missing and affected tens of thousands across the Indian Ocean island nation, according to a provisional assessment Monday. The storm made landfall in the northeast of the island...
Russian shelling kills 5 in tough eastern Ukraine combat
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian shelling killed at least five people and wounded 13 others during the previous 24 hours, Ukrainian authorities said Monday, as the Kremlin’s and Kyiv’s forces remained locked in combat in eastern Ukraine ahead of renewed military pushes that are expected when the weather improves. The casualties...
Death toll from Pakistan mosque suicide bombing rises to 74
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The death toll from previous day’s suicide bombing at a mosque in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday jumped to 74 after rescuers retrieved 15 more bodies from the rubble, police and rescue official said. Bilal Faizi, the chief rescue official, said they were still removing the rubble after...
Austrian police find family illegally living in wine cellar
BERLIN — Austrian police said Monday they arrested a 54-year-old man after he attacked two social workers with pepper spray when they found him living illegally in a private wine cellar in northeastern Austria with a woman and six young children. Police in the Austrian province of Lower Austria were...
China accuses Washington of abusing export controls
BEIJING — China’s government on Monday criticized U.S. controls on technology exports as a trade violation, after Japan and the Netherlands agreed to join Washington in limiting Beijing’s access to materials to make advanced processor chips they say can be used in weapons. The Foreign Ministry didn’t mention the latest...
Victims identified as mystery surrounds Los Angeles shooting that left 3 dead
LOS ANGELES — When Rachel David arrived at her Benedict Canyon home early Saturday morning after a night out, she thought the rows of flashing police cars were part of a film shoot, which is fairly common in the area. She soon found out it wasn’t a movie set. Police...
Suspect in attack on Paul Pelosi calls California TV station from jail
Hours after a San Francisco court released body-camera video of a man attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, QAnon extremist David DePape, the suspect in the attack, made a surprise call from jail to a Bay Area news station expressing regret that he didn’t go further. “I’m so sorry I...
Man who tossed Molotov cocktail at New Jersey synagogue door sought
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. — Authorities say they are looking for a man who threw a Molotov cocktail at the front door of a synagogue in New Jersey. Police in Bloomfield in Essex County said officers responded at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday to a report of property damage at Temple Ner Tamid....
‘Don’t be numb to this’: Battling despair over gun deaths
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Increasingly it feels like America is at war with itself. In New Orleans, just days into the new year, a 14-year-old girl was shot to death, along with her father and uncle. A few days after, in a Virginia classroom, a six-year-old boy pulled out a gun...
Tyre Nichols case revives calls for change in police culture
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An unarmed Black man dies after a videotaped beating by police. The officers involved are fired. After a thorough review of the evidence, criminal charges are swiftly filed against the offending officers. Investigation, accountability and charges. This is often the most Black citizens can hope for as...
Should federal grants favor highway repair over expansion?
Arizona officials refer to a notoriously congested stretch of desert highway through tribal land as the Wild Horse Pass Corridor, a label that’s less about horses than the bustling casino by the same name located just north of where the interstate constricts to four lanes. With the Gila River Indian...
Concerns over prayer breakfast lead Congress to take it over
WASHINGTON — The National Prayer Breakfast, one of the most visible and long-standing events that brings religion and politics together in Washington, is splitting from the private religious group that had overseen it for decades, due to concerns the gathering had become too divisive. The organizer and host for this...
Emhoff says somber Auschwitz visit key to antisemitism work
KRAKOW, Poland — Doug Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, said he was deeply moved by a “solemn and sad” visit to the former site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, describing it Saturday as an important part of his work combating antisemitism for the Biden administration. Emhoff...
Ukraine: ‘Fast-track’ talks underway for missiles, planes
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine and its Western allies are engaged in “fast-track” talks on the possibility of equipping the invaded country with long-range missiles and military aircraft, a top Ukrainian presidential aide said Saturday. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Ukraine’s supporters in the West “understand...
Taliban warn women can’t take entry exams at universities
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban on Saturday doubled down on their ban on women’s education, reinforcing in a message to private universities that Afghan women are barred from taking university entry exams, according to a spokesman. The note comes despite weeks of condemnation and lobbying by the international community for a...
