U.S./World category, Page 686
California bill would allow citizens to enforce weapons ban
A new bill in California would allow private citizens go after gun makers in the same way Texas lets them target abortion providers. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday backed legislation that would let private citizens enforce the state’s ban on assault weapons. It’s modeled after a Texas law that lets...
Stranded truck drivers pulled from burning Greek ferry
Rescue specialists boarded a burning ferry in Greece to free two truck drivers who had been stranded inside the vessel for more than 15 hours Friday, but hope was fading for 11 others were reported missing. The rescuers descended from a helicopter onto the ship through thick clouds of smoke...
At least 4 more deaths as 2nd major storm hits north Europe
The second major storm in three days smashed through northern Europe on Friday, killing at least four people as high winds felled trees, cancelled train services and ripped sections off the roof of London’s O2 Arena. The U.K. weather service said a gust provisionally measured at 122 mph, thought to...
Kim Potter sentenced to 2 years in Daunte Wright’s death
Kim Potter, the former suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser when she fatally shot Daunte Wright, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison. Wright’s family denounced the sentence as too lenient and accused the judge of being taken in by a “white...
Republican lawmakers bar journalists from statehouse floors
Republican lawmakers in several states are scaling back access to government business, extending pandemic-era rules that restrict when journalists can report from the floors of state legislative chambers and, in effect, making it easier to dodge the press. As the public returns to the corridors of state capitols, new rules...
Ottawa crackdown: police arrest 100 after 3-week protest
OTTAWA, Ontario — Police arrested scores of demonstrators and towed away vehicles Friday in Canada’s besieged capital, and a stream of trucks started leaving under the pressure, raising authorities’ hopes for an end to the three-week protest against the country’s covid-19 restrictions. By evening, at least 100 people had been...
In GOP embrace of truckers, some see racist double standard
Former President Donald Trump, who repeatedly called Black Lives Matter protesters “thugs” and “anarchists,” said there’s “a lot of respect” for the overwhelmingly white truckers who blocked streets in the Canadian capital and shut down border crossings with the U.S. to oppose covid-19 restrictions. To Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, the...
Take the 5th? The choice could soon be Trump’s in N.Y. probe
NEW YORK — To plead the Fifth, or not to plead the Fifth? That is the question Donald Trump may face after a New York judge ordered the former president to testify in a long-running state civil investigation into his business practices. Trump’s lawyers are almost certain to appeal Judge...
Ukrainian rebels evacuate civilians to Russia amid crisis
Spiking tensions in eastern Ukraine on Friday aggravated Western fears of a Russian invasion and a new war in Europe, with a humanitarian convoy hit by shelling and pro-Russian rebels evacuating civilians from the conflict zone. A strong explosion hit the eastern city of Donetsk. The Kremlin declared massive nuclear...
Prince Harry lawyers say he feels unsafe bringing kids to UK
Lawyers for Prince Harry told a court hearing on Friday that the British royal is unwilling to bring his children to his homeland because it is not safe. Harry has launched a legal challenge to the U.K. government’s refusal to let him personally pay for police protection when he comes...
Ukraine-Russia crisis: What to know as tension grinds on
Amid its tensest standoff with the West since the Cold War, Russia plans to give its nuclear weapons apparatus a practice run this weekend. The multiple practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles set for Saturday follow a warning from U.S. President Joe Biden that Russia could invade...
Sotheby’s selling art treasures from divorced couple’s trove
Artworks by Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol and other modern masters are going up for auction in a sale ordered by a U.S. court as part of a billionaire couple’s acrimonious divorce. Sotheby’s auction house announced Friday that it will offer 30 works from the Macklowe Collection on May...
Senate sends Biden bill averting federal shutdown
The Senate gave final approval Thursday to legislation averting a weekend government shutdown, sending President Joe Biden a measure designed to give bipartisan bargainers more time to reach an overdue deal financing federal agencies until fall. Final passage was by a bipartisan 65-27 vote, five more than the 60 votes...
Nearly half of U.S. bald eagles suffer lead poisoning
America’s national bird is more beleaguered than previously believed, with nearly half of bald eagles tested across the U.S. showing signs of chronic lead exposure, according to a study published Thursday. While the bald eagle population has rebounded from the brink of extinction since the U.S. banned the pesticide DDT...
Israeli strawberry clocks in as world’s heaviest on record
KADIMA-ZORAN, Israel — After a year-long jam, a mammoth Israeli strawberry is entering the record books. Weighing a whopping 10.19 ounces, more than half a pound, the titanic berry this week was declared the world’s largest by Guinness World Records. The strawberry was picked on Chahi Ariel’s family farm near...
Miners, families testify against bill to ax injury benefits
Jonathan Barber was 29 years old with an infant son when injuries he received on the job in a West Virginia coal mine left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Barber was struck between his shoulder blades by an unstable brow at a mine in April 2017. He lay buried...
‘Candy Bomber’ who dropped sweets during Berlin airlift dies
U.S. military pilot Gail S. Halvorsen — known as the “Candy Bomber” for his candy airdrops during the Berlin airlift after World War II ended — has died at age 101. Halvorsen died Wednesday following a brief illness in his home state of Utah, surrounded by most of his children,...
Biden moves to reverse Trump-era limits on green cards
SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration on Thursday proposed reversing a rule that denies green cards to applicants who receive certain government benefits, one of former President Donald Trump’s signature moves to limit legal immigration. The administration stopped applying the more expansive Trump-era limits in March, making the announcement more...
Truckers in Canada hold their ground despite threats of crackdown
OTTAWA, Ontario — Hundreds of truckers clogging the streets of Canada’s capital stood their ground and defiantly blasted their horns Thursday as police poured in, threatening to break up the nearly three-week protest against the country’s covid-19 restrictions. Busloads of police arrived near Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, and workers put up...
No new settlement yet of opioid claims against Purdue Pharma
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and a group of states have not been able to agree on a multibillion-dollar settlement of lawsuits over the drug’s role in the opioid crisis after more than a month of mediation. A mediator could call for still more talks between the parties, Purdue lawyer Marshall...
Arbery not seen stealing, cop told hate crime defendants
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A police officer testified Thursday that he told a white father and son on trial for hate crimes in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery there was no evidence the 25-year-old Black man had stolen anything after security cameras recorded him wandering inside a home under construction several...
Trump must testify in New York investigation, judge rules
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump must answer questions under oath in New York state’s civil investigation into his business practices, a judge ruled Thursday. Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., to comply with subpoenas issued in December by New...
In Latin America’s new Cold War, will China lift up autocrats?
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — El Salvador’s president and the Chinese ambassador traded flatteries this month as they broke ground on a new national library, one of a slew of gifts China has promised this small mountainous nation as part of its vigorous quest to gain influence across Central America....
Brazil mudslide death toll is at 113, police say 116 missing
PETROPOLIS, Brazil — The death toll from floods and landslides that swept down on the mountain city of Petropolis rose to at least 113 on Thursday and local officials said it could still rise sharply, with 116 more still unaccounted for. The Rio de Janeiro state government confirmed the rising...
Experts see avocado price rise, damage to Mexican producers
MEXICO CITY — Experts say you may be paying more for your avocado toast in the short term, and the effects of the U.S. temporary ban on imports of the fruit is already being felt by avocado pickers in Mexico. Mexico is negotiating security guarantees for U.S. inspectors who certify...
