U.S./World category, Page 599
Cause sought for Indiana house explosion that killed 3Video
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Authorities worked Thursday to determine the cause of a house explosion in a southern Indiana neighborhood that killed three people and left another person hospitalized. The explosion Wednesday afternoon in Evansville damaged 39 homes. Crews completed a secondary search of buildings that were left unstable by the...
Trump’s ‘planted evidence’ claim unlikely to stand up in court
Donald Trump and his supporters are ratcheting up their baseless claim that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents may have “planted” evidence when they searched his Mar-a-Lago home for missing White House records. But those claims are unlikely to stand up in court. In an effort to calm the outcry from...
Ex-police officer gets 7-plus years in prison in Jan. 6 case
WASHINGTON — An off-duty Virginia police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021, with a fellow officer was sentenced Thursday to more than seven years in prison, matching the longest prison sentence so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases. Former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson...
CDC drops quarantine, screening recommendations for covid-19
NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency relaxed its covid-19 guidelines Thursday, dropping the recommendation that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said people no longer need to stay at least 6 feet...
Explainer: How is inflation affecting commuting costs?
NEW YORK — Gas prices have fallen from the record highs they reached earlier this summer, but they’re still much higher than a year ago. And with inflation driving up the cost of pretty much everything else, finding the funds to cover your commute may be increasingly tricky. “Being able...
Death toll from weekend Israel-Gaza fighting rises to 48
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Palestinian death toll from last weekend’s fighting between Israel and Gaza militants rose to 48 Thursday after an 11-year-old girl and a man died from wounds they suffered during the worst cross-border violence in over a year. Meanwhile, two wounded Gaza children, ages 8...
Beto O’Rourke drops profanity on gun control heckler while discussing Uvalde shooting
DALLAS — Beto O’Rourke is defending the profanity he dropped Wednesday night while confronting a heckler who he said was laughing during his remarks about the Uvalde mass shooting that killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers. The incident occurred during a rally in Mineral Wells as O’Rourke began...
Armed man killed after trying to breach Ohio FBI office, standoffVideo
CINCINNATI — An armed man clad in body armor who tried to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati office on Thursday was shot and killed by police after he fled the scene and engaged in an hourslong standoff in a rural part of the state, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said. The...
Russian reporter put under house arrest over war criticism
A court in Russia on Thursday ordered a former state TV journalist placed under house arrest for nearly two months pending an investigation and potential trial on charges of spreading false information about Russia’s armed forces. Marina Ovsyannikova was charged over a street protest last month, when she held up...
Roller coaster crash at German Legoland amusement park injures 34
Two roller coaster trains crashed into each other Thursday at an amusement park in southern Germany, injuring at least 34 people, two of them severely, German media reported. One roller coaster train braked heavily and another train collided with it at the Legoland park in Guenzburg, the German news agency...
Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church
ROME — Pope Francis has met with a fourth group of transgender people who found shelter at a Rome church, the Vatican newspaper reported Thursday. L’Osservatore Romano said the encounter took place Wednesday on the sidelines of Francis’ weekly general audience. The newspaper quoted Sister Genevieve Jeanningros and the Rev....
Taliban say bombing kills prominent Afghan cleric in Kabul
ISLAMABAD — A bombing killed a prominent Taliban cleric on Thursday at his religious center in the Afghan capital of Kabul, authorities said, the latest attack to strike the country in the year since the former insurgents seized power. Officials identified the cleric as Rahimullah Haqqani, a name that signifies...
U.S. unemployment claims rise to highest level since November
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who signed up for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since November, though the U.S. job market continues to show signs of strength. Applications for jobless aid climbed by 14,000 to 262,000 and now have risen five out of the past...
Big Mac is coming back: McDonald’s to reopen in Ukraine
CHICAGO — McDonald’s will start reopening some of its restaurants in Ukraine in the coming months, a symbol of the war-torn country’s return to some sense of normalcy and a show of support after the American fast-food chain pulled out of Russia. The burger giant closed its Ukrainian restaurants after...
Russia struggles to replenish its troops in Ukraine
The prisoners at the penal colony in St. Petersburg were expecting a visit by officials, thinking it would be some sort of inspection. Instead, men in uniform arrived and offered them amnesty — if they agreed to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine. Over the following days, about a...
Travelers are starting to get a break from higher airfares
DALLAS — Travelers got some welcome news in Wednesday’s inflation report from the government: Airfares are coming down, and at a faster clip. The price of the average airline ticket dropped 7.8% in July, to $311, after a 1.8% dip in June, the government said Wednesday. Lower prices for gasoline...
Trump’s bond with GOP deepens after primary wins, FBI search
NEW YORK — Donald Trump ‘s pick for governor in the swing state of Wisconsin easily defeated a favorite of the Republican establishment. In Connecticut, the state that launched the Bush family and its brand of compassionate conservatism, a fiery Senate contender who promoted Trump’s election lies upset the state...
Gas prices dip just below $4 for 1st time in 5 months
Gasoline prices have dipped under $4 for the first time in more than five months — good news for consumers who are struggling with high prices for many other essentials. AAA said the national average for a gallon of regular was $3.99 on Thursday, down from the mid-June record of...
FBI’s Christopher Wray denounces threats following search of Trump home
OMAHA, Neb. — The director of the FBI had strong words Wednesday for supporters of former President Donald Trump who have been using violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Christopher Wray, who was appointed as the agency’s director in 2017 by Trump, called...
Deputy coroner: House explosion in southern Indiana kills 3
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Three people were killed Wednesday when a house exploded in the southern Indiana city of Evansville, authorities said. Dave Anson, chief deputy coroner for Vanderburgh County, told The Associated Press that the identities of the people who died would not be released until the next of kin...
‘Self-professed’ white supremacist gets jail for Jan. 6 riot
A Maryland man described by the FBI as a “self-professed” white supremacist was sentenced on Wednesday to four months of incarceration for storming the U.S. Capitol while wearing a court-mandated device that tracked his movements, court records show. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly also sentenced Bryan Betancur to one year...
In Mississippi, a trespasser, a killing and DEA meddling
CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. — U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Harold Duane Poole was waiting with his semiautomatic service rifle — and an explanation — when deputies arrived at his sprawling wooded property on a warm spring night last year and found a bullet-riddled body near the driveway. A veteran of...
Suspect in Albuquerque Muslim killings denies involvement
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When pulled over by New Mexico police, the suspect in the killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque denied any connection to the crimes that shook the city and its small Muslim community — and told authorities he was so unnerved by the violence that he was...
What’s next for Alex Jones after $49M Sandy Hook verdict?
DALLAS — The nearly $50 million defamation verdict against Alex Jones for his years of lies about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre is far from a final reckoning. Jones’ attorneys plan to appeal and try to lower the price tag a Texas jury put on his false claim that...
Biden signs ‘burn pits’ help for vets; a personal win tooVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, whose elder son Beau died of cancer years after deploying to Iraq, signed legislation on Wednesday expanding federal health care services for millions of veterans who served at military bases where toxic smoke billowed from huge “burn pits.” “We owe you,” Biden said. “You’re the...
