U.S./World category, Page 609

MEDYKA, Poland — The number of people who have fled Ukraine since Russian troops invaded has surpassed 4 million, the United Nations reported Wednesday as shelling continued in places where Moscow had vowed to ease its military operations. “I do not know if we can still believe the Russians,” refugee...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday blocked parole for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, reversing a panel’s recommendation that she be freed after spending a half-century in prison. Van Houten, 72, “currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time,” Newsom...

WASHINGTON — Revelations of a roughly eight-hour gap in official records of then-President Donald Trump’s phone calls on the day of last year’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol are raising fresh questions about the diligence — or lack thereof — of his record keeping. The committee investigating the Jan. 6,...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Rick Scott likes to think of himself as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. Barely halfway through his first Senate term, the Florida Republican is already leaning into a fight against his own party’s leadership as he navigates a delicate alliance with former President Donald...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Three Buffalo police officers were hit by gunfire Tuesday after a motorist fled a traffic stop and led them on a chase through the city’s streets, firing at officers from the vehicle, authorities said. Officers shot and wounded the driver at an intersection in front of a...

HARTFORD, Conn. — Infowars host Alex Jones offered to pay $120,000 per plaintiff to resolve a lawsuit by relatives of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims who said he defamed them by asserting the massacre never happened, according to court filings Tuesday. The offer was quickly rejected by the families....

The Federal Trade Commission is suing TurboTax maker Intuit, saying its ads for “free” tax filing misled consumers. Intuit says it will fight the suit. The consumer protection agency said Tuesday that millions of consumers cannot actually use the free tax-prep software option — two-thirds of tax filers in 2020....

WICHITA, Kan. — One of two flamingos that escaped from a Kansas zoo during a storm 17 years ago has been spotted on the coast of Texas, wildlife officials said. The Coastal Fisheries division of Texas Parks and Wildlife confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press that the African flamingo —...

TOPEKA, Kan. — Republican legislators in Kansas are trying to prevent cities and counties from banning, limiting or even taxing plastic bags, straws and food containers. A bill prohibiting such local bans cleared the GOP-controlled Legislature on Monday and is headed toward Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk. Kelly hasn’t publicly...

ABUJA, Nigeria — Gunmen attacked a train near Nigeria’s capital on Monday night with explosives and gunfire, killing an unspecified number of the nearly 1,000 passengers on board, authorities and survivors told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The attackers used explosives to first blow up the rail track before opening...

WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has identified a roughly eight-hour gap in official records of then-President Donald Trump’s phone calls as the violence unfolded and his supporters stormed the building, according to a person familiar with the probe. The gap extends from...

SILVER SPRING, Md. — U.S. consumer confidence bounced back in March and remains high, though consumers’ short-term outlook is not quite as rosy. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index — which takes into account consumers’ assessment of current conditions and their outlook...

NEW YORK — When a Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic panned Donald Trump’s plans for a new Manhattan skyscraper, Trump responded by suing. When the tenants of a building he was trying to clear sued to halt their evictions, Trump slapped back by filing suit against the law firm representing the...

RABAT, Morocco — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Morocco Tuesday to discuss recent shifts in the diplomatic dynamic in the Middle East and North Africa that could upend some of the region’s long-standing disputes. A day after an unprecedented gathering in Israel’s Negev Desert with the Israeli...

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia announced Tuesday it will significantly scale back military operations near Ukraine’s capital and a northern city, as the outlines of a possible deal to end the grinding war came into view at the latest round of talks. Ukraine’s delegation at the conference, held in Istanbul, laid...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced a budget blueprint Monday that calls for higher taxes on the wealthy, lower federal deficits, more money for police and greater funding for education, public health and housing. In essence, it tries to tell voters what a diverse and at times fractured Democratic Party...

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday asserted it is “more likely than not” that former President Donald Trump committed crimes in his attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election, ruling to order the release of more than 100 emails from Trump adviser John Eastman to the committee...

KYIV, Ukraine — With its aspirations for a quick victory dashed by a stiff Ukrainian resistance, Russia has increasingly focused on grinding down Ukraine’s military in the east in the hope of forcing Kyiv into surrendering part of the country’s territory to possibly end the war. The bulk of the...

BERLIN — Germany’s energy minister says the Group of Seven major economies have agreed to reject Russia’s demand to pay for Russian energy imports in rubles. Robert Habeck told reporters Monday that “all G-7 ministers agreed completely that this (would be) a one-sided and clear breach of the existing contracts.”...

LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces claimed to have retaken a Kyiv suburb and an eastern town from the Russians in what is becoming a back-and-forth stalemate on the ground, while negotiators began assembling for another round of talks Tuesday aimed at stopping the fighting. Ahead of the talks, to be...

SDE BOKER, Israel — Israel on Monday hosted the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the United States in a bid to strengthen its position in a rapidly shifting Middle East. The gathering brought together the top diplomats from all but one of the Arab countries that have normalized...

Two ex-advisers to former President Donald Trump should be held in contempt of Congress because they are withholding information that a House committee considers “central” to its investigation of events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the committee asserts. Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for...