U.S./World category, Page 627
Biden calls for 3-month suspension of gas, diesel taxes
President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months — an election-year move meant to ease financial pressures that was greeted with doubts by many lawmakers. The Democratic president also called on states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide...
Crowds flock to Yellowstone as park reopens after floods
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Throngs of tourists gleefully watched the legendary Old Faithful geyser shoot towering bursts of steaming water while others got stuck in “bison jams” on picturesque valley roads as visitors returned Wednesday for the partial reopening of Yellowstone National Park after destructive floods. Park managers raised the...
‘Heightened alert’: Abortion providers brace for ruling
In her first week on the job at a Philadelphia abortion clinic, Amanda Kifferly was taught how to search for bombs. About a year later, protesters blocked the entrances and exits of the The Women’s Centers, at one point pulling Kifferly into something resembling a mosh pit, where they surrounded...
U.K. plans to rewrite human rights law; critics cry foul
LONDON — The British government on Wednesday unveiled plans for a Bill of Rights it says will strengthen free speech and the power of Parliament — but that critics argue will rip up human rights protections for ordinary people. The government published the bill days after courts in the U.K....
Kuwait’s crown prince dissolves parliament, calls elections
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Kuwait’s crown prince on Wednesday dissolved Parliament and called for early elections, a move to ease government gridlock that has bred popular opposition and paralyzed the tiny country for months. In his televised national address, the 81-year-old Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber said that...
China says Ukraine crisis has sounded alarm for humanity
BEIJING — The conflict in Ukraine has “sounded an alarm for humanity,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Wednesday, as China continues to assume a position of neutrality while backing its ally Russia. China has refused to criticize Russia’s war in Ukraine or even to refer to it as an invasion...
Israel lawmakers take 1st step toward dissolving parliament
JERUSALEM — Israeli lawmakers voted in favor of dissolving parliament in a preliminary vote on Wednesday, setting the wheels in motion to send the country to its fifth national election in just over three years. The development was the first step in a series of votes before the formal dissolution...
Afghanistan quake kills 1,000 people, deadliest in decades
KABUL, Afghanistan — A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring 1,500 more in the country’s deadliest quake in two decades, the state-run news agency reported. Officials warned that the already grim toll may still rise. In the...
Election 2022: Britt beats Brooks in Alabama Senate runoff
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Katie Britt has won the Republican nomination for Senate in Alabama, defeating six-term Congressman Mo Brooks in a primary runoff after former President Donald Trump took the unusual step of rescinding his endorsement. The loss ends a turbulent campaign for Brooks, a conservative firebrand who had fully...
Civil jury finds Bill Cosby sexually abused teenager in 1975
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Jurors at a civil trial found Tuesday that Bill Cosby sexually abused a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975. The Los Angeles County jury delivered the verdict in favor of Judy Huth, who is now 64, and awarded her $500,000. Jurors found that Cosby...
Senators reach bipartisan compromise on gun violence bill
WASHINGTON — Senate bargainers reached agreement Tuesday on a bipartisan gun violence bill, potentially teeing up final passage by week’s end on an incremental but landmark package that would stand as Congress’ response to mass shootings in Texas and New York that shook the nation. Lawmakers released the 80-page bill...
Wall Street ends broadly higher after sharp losses last week
NEW YORK — Stocks finished broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday, clawing back some of the ground they lost in their worst weekly drop since the beginning of the pandemic. The rally to start the holiday-shortened week came as investors look ahead to what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will...
Home sales give way as prices enter unprecedented territory
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed for the fourth consecutive month as climbing mortgage rates and record high prices discouraged house hunters. Existing home sales fell 3.4% last month from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.41 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. That annual...
Texas top cop: Uvalde police could’ve ended rampage early on
AUSTIN, Texas — Police had enough officers and firepower on the scene of the Uvalde school massacre to have stopped the gunman three minutes after he entered the building, and they would have found the door to the classroom where he was holed up unlocked if they had bothered to...
‘Everything is on fire’: Ukraine region weathers bombardment
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian attacks laid down a curtain of fire Tuesday across areas of eastern Ukraine where pockets of resistance are denying Moscow full military control of the region, almost four months after the Kremlin unleashed an invasion. “Today everything that can burn is on fire,” Serhiy Haidai, the...
U.S., Iran in tense sea incident; Tehran preps new centrifuges
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A U.S. Navy warship fired a warning flare to wave off an Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat coming straight at it during a tense encounter in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, officials said Tuesday. The incident on Monday involving the Guard and the Navy comes as...
U.K. rail strike strands commuters, pits workers against government
LONDON — Tens of thousands of railway workers walked off the job in Britain on Tuesday, bringing the train network to a crawl in the country’s biggest transit strike for three decades. About 40,000 cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff held a 24-hour strike, with two more planned for...
1st Native American U.S. treasurer to be appointed, head Mint
WASHINGTON — A Native American is being appointed U.S. treasurer, a historic first. The White House on Tuesday announced President Joe Biden’s intent to appoint Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba as his administration establishes an Office of Tribal and Native Affairs at the Treasury Department, which will be overseen by the U.S....
1/6 panel: Local ‘heroes’ rebuffed Trump, then faced threats
WASHINGTON — The House 1/6 committee heard chilling, tearful testimony Tuesday that Donald Trump’s relentless pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election provoked widespread threats to the “backbone of our democracy”— election workers and local officials who fended off the defeated president’s demands despite personal risks. The panel investigating the...
Supreme Court: Religious schools must get Maine tuition aid
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Maine can’t exclude religious schools from a program that offers tuition aid for private education, a decision that could ease religious organizations’ access to taxpayer money. The 6-3 outcome could fuel a renewed push for school choice programs in some of the...
Report: Police at Texas school had rifles earlier than known
UVALDE, Texas — Multiple police officers stood in a hallway at Robb Elementary School armed with rifles and at least one ballistic shield within 19 minutes of a gunman arriving at the campus, according to documents reviewed by the Austin American-Statesman, a devastating new revelation deepening questions about why police...
Nobel sold for Ukrainian kids shatters record at $103.5M
NEW YORK — The Nobel Peace Prize that Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov was auctioning off to raise money for Ukrainian child refugees sold Monday night for $103.5 million, shattering the old record for a Nobel. A spokesperson for Heritage Auctions, which handled the sale, could not confirm the identity of...
NASA fuels moon rocket for 1st time in countdown rehearsal
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA fueled its huge moon rocket for the first time Monday and went ahead with a critical countdown test despite a fuel line leak. This was NASA’s fourth crack at the all-important dress rehearsal, the last major milestone before the moon rocket’s long-awaited launch debut. The...
Shots for tots: Covid vaccinations start for little kids
Little Fletcher Pack woke up Monday morning and asked: “Is today vaccine day?” For the 3-year-old from Lexington, South Carolina, the answer was yes. The nation’s infants, toddlers and preschoolers are finally getting their chance at covid-19 vaccination as the U.S. rolls out shots for tots this week. Shipments arrived...
Canada investing billions to modernize North America defense
TRENTON, Ontario — Canada is investing $3.8 billion over the next six years to modernize North America’s aging defensive systems. Defense Minister Anita Anand said Monday the funding is the first of an estimated $31 billion that will be spent over the next 20 years to upgrade the joint U.S.-Canadian...
