U.S./World category, Page 593
Secret Service recovers $286M in stolen pandemic loans
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service said Friday that it has recovered $286 million in fraudulently obtained pandemic loans and is returning the money to the Small Business Administration. The Secret Service said an investigation initiated by its Orlando office found that alleged conspirators submitted Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications...
FBI: Trump mixed top secret docs with magazines, other items
WASHINGTON — Fourteen of the 15 boxes recovered from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate early this year contained classified documents, many of them top secret, mixed in with miscellaneous newspapers, magazines and personal correspondence, according to an FBI affidavit released Friday. No space at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was authorized...
Inflation eases as consumer prices rise 6.3% in July
WASHINGTON — Inflation eased last month as energy prices tumbled, raising hopes that the surging costs of everything from gasoline to food may have peaked. According to a Commerce Department report Friday that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, consumer prices rose 6.3% in July from a year earlier...
No UN access yet to Russian-occupied nuke plant in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — A team from the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to visit the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine soon but more shelling was reported in the area overnight. The visit comes after the plant was temporarily knocked offline, fueling fears of a catastrophe in a...
Turkish pop star jailed over joke about religious schools
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish pop star Gulsen has been arrested on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke she made about Turkey’s religious schools, the country’s state-run news agency reported. The 46-year-old singer and songwriter, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken away from her home in...
Police: West Virginia officers kill fugitive who they say pulled gun at father’s funeral
NUTTER FORT, W.Va. — A man being sought by U.S. Marshals and other law enforcement agencies was fatally shot at a northern West Virginia funeral service for his father Wednesday after he pulled a gun on officers attempting to apprehend him, authorities said. The shooting occurred in the Harrison community...
Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell testimony sought in Georgia election probe
ATLANTA — The prosecutor investigating whether Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in Georgia is seeking to compel testimony from more allies of the former president, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyer Sidney Powell. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis filed petitions...
Dangerous heat predicted to hit 3 times more often in future
What’s considered officially “dangerous heat” in coming decades will likely hit much of the world at least three times more often as climate change worsens, according to a new study. In much of Earth’s wealthy mid-latitudes, spiking temperatures and humidity that feel like 103 degrees or higher — now an...
California looks to phase out gas-fueled vehicles
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s expected 2035 requirement that all new cars, trucks and SUVs be electric- or hydrogen-powered will set a minimum standard for how far the vehicles can travel and incentivize automakers to give discounts to make purchases more affordable. California Air Resources Board staff detailed the proposal Thursday...
2 plead guilty in scheme to sell Biden’s daughter’s diary
NEW YORK — Two Florida residents have pleaded guilty in a scheme to peddle a diary and other items belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter to the conservative group Project Veritas for $40,000, prosecutors said Thursday. Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of...
Judge orders unsealing of redacted affidavit in Trump search
WASHINGTON — A judge on Thursday ordered the Justice Department to make public a redacted version of the affidavit it relied on when federal agents searched the Florida estate of former President Donald Trump to look for classified documents. The directive from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart came hours after...
Congress wants to hear what Twitter whistleblower has to say
WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers are anxious to hear from Twitter’s former security chief, who has alarmed Washington with allegations that the influential social network misled regulators about its cyber defenses and efforts to control fake accounts. Leaders of several congressional panels are poring over the disclosures by respected cybersecurity expert...
Soviet-era monument’s iconic obelisk comes down in Latvia
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A concrete obelisk with Soviet stars at the top that was the centerpiece of a monument commemorating the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany was taken down Thursday in Latvia’s capital. Heavy machinery was spotted behind a green privacy screen fence at the foot of the nearly...
Ukrainian nuke plant near fighting cut off from power grid
NIKOPOL, Ukraine — Ukrainians are once again anxious about the fate of a nuclear power plant in a land that was home to the world’s worst atomic accident in 1986 at Chernobyl — and alarm only increased Thursday when the plant operator said the facility has been cut off from...
WHO says monkeypox cases down 21%, reversing month-long increase
GENEVA — The number of monkeypox cases reported globally dropped 21% in the last week, reversing a month-long trend of rising infections and signaling that Europe’s outbreak may be starting to decline, the World Health Organization said Thursday. The U.N. health agency reported 5,907 new weekly cases and said two...
FBI: 5 militia members charged with storming Capitol
Five Florida men affiliated with a militia group called “B Squad” have been arrested on charges that they joined a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, disrupting Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory, federal authorities said Wednesday. “B Squad” members stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,...
Uvalde school board fires police chief after mass shooting
UVALDE, Texas — The Uvalde school district’s embattled police chief was fired Wednesday following allegations that he made several critical mistakes during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 students and two teachers dead. In a unanimous vote, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s board of trustees...
Kobe Bryant widow awarded $16M in trial over crash photos
LOS ANGELES — A federal jury found Wednesday that Los Angeles County must pay Kobe Bryant’s widow $16 million for emotional distress caused by deputies and firefighters sharing photos of the bodies of the NBA star and his daughter taken at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed...
Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers sue for over $878K in fees
DENVER — A law firm that helped defend Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite convicted of helping the financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls, is suing her, her brother and husband, saying it was never paid for more than $878,000 for its work. Denver-based Haddon, Morgan and Foreman alleged in a...
Ex-Alabama legislator accused of groping restaurant hostess
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A former Alabama legislator who campaigned in the state for former President Donald Trump is accused of grabbing a restaurant hostess from behind and groping her before she was able to break free. Perry Hooper Jr., 67, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the Aug. 16 incident...
2 dead, 3 hurt in shooting in front of D.C. senior residenceVideo
WASHINGTON — Police said two people were killed and three others injured Wednesday in a shooting in front of a senior citizens center and near several schools in the nation’s capital. The Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday’s shooting happened in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Washington in front of a...
22 reported killed in Independence Day attack in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces Wednesday launched a rocket attack on a Ukrainian train station on the embattled country’s Independence Day, killing 22 people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after warning for days that Moscow might attempt “something particularly cruel” this week. The lethal attack took place in Chaplyne, a town...
Jill Biden has ‘rebound’ covid case, president negative
WASHINGTON — First lady Jill Biden has tested positive for covid-19 again in an apparent “rebound” case, after she initially tested negative for the virus over the weekend. President Joe Biden, three days with his wife at their Rehoboth Beach, Del. vacation home, continues to test negative, the White House...
Biden’s student loan plan: What we know — and don’t
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that many Americans can have up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt forgiven. That amount increases to $20,000 if they qualified for Pell grants. Here’s what we know so far and what it means for people with outstanding student loans: Who...
17-year-old pilot sets record for solo flight around world
A 17-year-old pilot became the youngest person to fly solo around the world in a small aircraft after he landed on Wednesday in Bulgaria, where his journey kicked off five months ago. Mack Rutherford, a Belgian-British dual national, landed on an airstrip west of Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, to complete his...
