U.S./World category, Page 688
U.S. overdose deaths hit record 107,000 last year, CDC says
NEW YORK — More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, setting another tragic record in the nation’s escalating overdose epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Wednesday. The provisional 2021 total translates to roughly one U.S. overdose death every 5 minutes. It marked a 15%...
Al Jazeera reporter killed during Israeli raid in West Bank
JERUSALEM — Veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin early Wednesday. The broadcaster and a reporter who was wounded in the incident blamed Israeli forces. The Israel army initially raised the possibility...
Florida students win yearbook flap over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
SANFORD, Fla. — After an outcry from students and parents over yearbook censorship, a Florida school board overruled their superintendent’s plan to cover up a page showing students waving rainbow flags and a “love is love” sign during a walkout against the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. The superintendent...
Britain pledges to defend Sweden if it’s attacked
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Britain pledged to defend Sweden if the country came under attack, with Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Magdalena Andersson signing a security assurance deal outside Stockholm on Wednesday. Sweden and Finland are pondering whether to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Johnson is...
Ministers meet in Morocco to discuss ongoing threat from IS
RABAT, Morocco — Members of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group gathered in Morocco on Wednesday to discuss the campaign, a reminder of the persistent threat from the extremist group despite the overwhelming preoccupation with Russia’s war on Ukraine. U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland co-chaired...
Sri Lanka deploys troops in capital after violence, protests
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan authorities deployed armored vehicles and troops in the streets of the capital on Wednesday, two days after pro-government mobs attacked peaceful protesters, triggering a wave of violence across the country. Security forces have been ordered to shoot those deemed to be participating in the...
U.S. casinos had best month ever in March, winning $5.3B
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Inflation may be soaring, supply chains remain snarled and the coronavirus just won’t go away, but America’s casinos are humming right along, recording the best month in their history in March. The American Gaming Association, the gambling industry’s national trade group, said Wednesday that U.S. commercial...
John Eastman used college’s email account to send advice on challenging Pa.’s 2020 election results
John Eastman, a lawyer who represented Donald Trump following the president’s 2020 election loss, used his University of Colorado email account while serving as a visiting professor in Boulder to advise a Pennsylvania lawmaker on how to challenge that state’s electors, according to records submitted to Congress. The selection of...
CDC: 2020 saw most firearm deaths since 1994
The first year of the covid-19 pandemic saw the highest firearm homicide rates since 1994, with substantial increases among Black and American Indian/Alaska Native males and young adults, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2019 to 2020, homicides involving firearms...
New York woman charged in singing coach’s death pleads not guilty
NEW YORK — A woman charged in the death of an 87-year-old Broadway singing coach in Manhattan pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and assault charges Tuesday and was detained after a judge revoked her $500,000 bail. Lauren Pazienza, 26, appeared before a judge as a prosecutor disclosed new details of...
Man charged with killing mother at sea to inherit estateVideo
MONTPELIER, Vt. — A man found floating on a raft off the coast of New England in 2016 after his boat sank was charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday with killing his mother at sea to inherit the family’s estate. The eight-count indictment released in federal court in Burlington, Vt.,...
HBCU school ‘incensed’ after Georgia drug search intimidated Black athletes
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The president of a historically Black college accused sheriff’s deputies in Georgia of intimidating and humiliating the school women’s lacrosse team when deputies pulled over the athletes’ bus and searched it for drugs. Delaware State University President Tony Allen said he’s “incensed” by the April 20 traffic...
Reproductive rights message left outside Sen. Susan Collins’ home in Maine
BANGOR, Maine — A message left in chalk outside Sen. Susan Collins’ home urged her to support the Democratic effort to codify Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the United States. Bangor police responded to her home Saturday evening when a neighbor...
Mike Tyson avoids criminal charges for punching plane passenger
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson won’t face criminal charges after punching a man multiple times before a flight out of San Francisco last month. The announcement came Tuesday as a result of an investigation by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, which says the circumstances preceding the April 20...
Biden pushes ‘ultra-MAGA’ label on GOP as he defends record
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned voters unhappy with soaring inflation and his stalled domestic agenda against turning power over to “ultra-MAGA” Republicans in the midterm elections as he increasingly tries to cast former President Donald Trump and his adherents as a political foil. Speaking at the White...
Musk says he would reverse Twitter’s ban of Donald Trump
LONDON — Elon Musk said he will reverse Twitter’s permanent ban of former President Donald Trump if the Tesla CEO follows through with his plan to buy the social media company. Musk, speaking virtually at a Future of the Car summit hosted by the Financial Times, said Twitter’s Trump ban...
New York appeals court dismisses AG suit against Amazon
NEW YORK — An appeals court in New York dismissed New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against Amazon over its coronavirus safety protocols and a former employee who led the successful union organizing effort on Staten Island. Besides potentially exposing workers to the virus at two Amazon facilities in...
Another Outer Banks beach house falls along the coastVideo
RODANTHE, N.C. — Another beach house has fallen into the waves along North Carolina’s coast and more are in danger of collapsing, U.S. National Park Service officials said in a statement Tuesday. The unoccupied home that collapsed was located along Ocean Drive in the Outer Banks community of Rodanthe. The...
Ukrainians make gains in east, hold on at Mariupol mill
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s military has made small gains in the east, pushing Russian forces out of four villages near Kharkiv, as his country’s foreign minister suggested Ukraine could go beyond just forcing Russia back to areas it held before the invasion began 11 weeks...
Explainer: What caused Sri Lanka’s economic collapse?
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The South Asian nation of Sri Lanka is experiencing an unprecedented economic collapse that has pushed the government into a deep crisis. The island is struggling to import basic necessities for its 22 million people because of diminishing foreign reserves and crippling debt, spurring weeks of...
Florida school yearbook on hold over student protest photos
LONGWOOD, Fla. — Yearbooks at a central Florida high school won’t be distributed until images of students holding rainbow flags and a “love is love” sign while protesting the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law can be covered up. District officials said they don’t want anyone thinking that the school...
Judge to decide how much pharmacies owe over opioid crisis
CLEVELAND — How much money should CVS, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies pay two Ohio counties in damages to help them ease the effects of the opioid crisis? That’s the question in front of a federal judge in Cleveland, who will begin hearing testimony on Tuesday after a jury found the...
Wisconsin anti-abortion office fire investigation ongoing
MADISON, Wis. — Police asked for the public’s help in tracking down those who vandalized and threw two Molotov cocktails into the office of a prominent Wisconsin anti-abortion lobbying group’s office that was damaged by fire. No one has been arrested and there are no suspects in custody in the...
Shanghai retightens on covid, frustrating trapped residents
BEIJING — The city of Shanghai is doubling down on pandemic restrictions after a brief period of loosening up, frustrating residents who were hoping a more than monthlong lockdown was finally easing as the number of new cases falls in China’s financial center. Teams in white protective suits have begun...
Bodies found in Lake Mead renew interest in Vegas mob lore
LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas is being flooded with lore about organized crime after a second set of human remains emerged within a week from the depths of a drought-stricken Colorado River reservoir just a 30-minute drive from the notoriously mob-founded Strip. “There’s no telling what we’ll find in Lake...
