U.S./World category, Page 730
Christian radio host gets 3 life prison terms for bilking listeners out of millions
FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas radio host was sentenced to three life prison sentences this week for a Ponzi scheme in which he bilked elderly listeners out of millions of dollars. William Neil “Doc” Gallagher also got a 30-year prison sentence from state District Judge Elizabeth Beach for his...
Watchdog finds no misconduct in mistaken Afghan airstrike
WASHINGTON — An independent Pentagon review has concluded that the U.S. drone strike that killed innocent Kabul civilians and children in the final days of the Afghanistan war was not caused by misconduct or negligence, and it doesn’t recommend any disciplinary action, The Associated Press has learned. The review, done...
Pentagon: Chinese nuke force growing faster than predicted
WASHINGTON — China is expanding its nuclear force much faster than U.S. officials predicted just a year ago, highlighting a broad and accelerating buildup of military muscle designed to enable Beijing to match or surpass U.S. global power by mid-century, according to a Pentagon report released Wednesday. The number of...
Alabama seeks to purge racist language from Constitution
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Constitution, written in 1901, still has language stating that schools should be segregated by race and people are to pay poll taxes to vote. The Committee on the Recompilation of the Constitution on Wednesday approved a plan to strip racist language from the state’s governing...
Ukraine now says 90,000 Russian troops not far from border
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine complained Wednesday that Russia has kept tens of thousands of troops not far from the countries’ border after war games, as part of its attempts to exert pressure on its ex-Soviet neighbor. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s statement marked an about-turn from its denial of any Russian...
Supreme Court hears arguments in major gun rights case
WASHINGTON — Several Supreme Court justices appear concerned that a broad ruling in favor of gun rights could threaten restrictions on firearms in subways, bars, stadiums and other places where people gather. The court is hearing arguments Wednesday in its biggest guns case in more than a decade, a dispute...
Voters say ‘yes’ to early closing time for South Beach bars
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Last call could come three hours earlier in Miami Beach, where a majority of voters fed up with nighttime violence chose “Yes” to rolling back the 5 a.m. closing time for alcohol sales. The voter referendum was held Tuesday in response to increasingly raucous crowds and...
Federal judge: No release for GOP donor accused of sex trafficking
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a prominent Minnesota GOP donor charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking to stay in jail as he prepares his defense, following accusations he threatened law enforcement and prosecutors. Anton Lazzaro allegedly told Minneapolis police officer Brandon Brugger after his arrest that...
As Biden exits U.N. climate summit, pleas for bold action by world leaders go unheededVideo
GLASGOW, Scotland — With no global consensus reached on how to quickly curb rising temperatures, President Joe Biden sought other avenues of progress on his last day at the United Nations climate summit, forging narrower agreements to cut methane emissions and save the world’s forests. The patchwork of announcements generated...
China accuses U.S. of ‘lack of transparency’ over USS Connecticut accident
BEIJING — China on Tuesday accused the United States of a “lack of transparency and responsibility” regarding an accident in the South China Sea involving a Navy submarine last month. At a daily briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the U.S. should provide full details of the incident that...
White House rolls out new plan to combat gun suicides in U.S.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is rolling out a new initiative aimed at reducing suicides by gun and combating the significant increases in suicides by members of the military and veterans. The White House is announcing the new plan on Tuesday, which officials say is an unprecedented focus by the...
Judge releases names of jurors in Derek Chauvin’s trial
MINNEAPOLIS — The judge who presided over the trial of Derek Chauvin has made public the names of jurors who convicted the former Minneapolis police officer of murder in the death of George Floyd. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, in response to a request to release the names by...
Opening statements begin in Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial
KENOSHA, Wis. — Opening statements began Tuesday at the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, with a prosecutor detailing the young man’s shooting of three people who were out on the streets of Kenosha during a protest against racial injustice last year. Prosecutor Thomas Binger described what he said were “two...
Minneapolis voters weigh fate of police after George Floyd
MINNEAPOLIS — Voters in Minneapolis were deciding Tuesday whether to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety, more than a year after George Floyd’s death under the knee of a white police officer launched a movement to defund or abolish police across the country. Democratic...
Biden climate plan aims to reduce methane emissions
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday launched a wide-ranging plan to reduce methane emissions, targeting a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming and packs a stronger short-term punch than even carbon dioxide. The plan was announced as President Joe Biden wraps up a two-day appearance at...
Blast near Kabul hospital kills 3, wounds 16, medics say
KABUL, Afghanistan — An explosion went off Tuesday at the entrance of a military hospital in Kabul, killing three people and wounding at least 16, health officials said. The blast went off at the entrance to the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan military hospital, the spokesman of the Taliban-run Interior Ministry,...
Coal miner dies in southern W.Va.; 6th fatality of 2021
SHARPLES, W.Va. — A coal miner died in an accident Monday in southern West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice said. The accident occurred Monday afternoon at Mingo Logan Coal Co.’s Mountaineer II Mine in Sharples, the governor’s office said in a statement. The statement, which didn’t include details surrounding the death,...
FBI probing fire, slur at Black Indiana councilman’s home
CONNERSVILLE, Ind. — A fire that badly damaged a Black city council member’s home in eastern Indiana is being investigated by the FBI after a racial slur was found spray painted at the house. The fire broke out about 3:30 a.m. Friday at the home of Connersville City Councilman Tommy...
Jury selection underway at Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial
KENOSHA, Wis. — The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse opened Monday with the challenging task of seating jurors who hadn’t already made up their minds about the young aspiring police officer who shot two people to death and wounded a third during a night of anti-racism protests in Kenosha last year....
Supreme Court takes up Texas law banning most abortions
WASHINGTON — A majority of the Supreme Court signaled Monday they would allow abortion providers to pursue a court challenge to a Texas law that has virtually ended abortion in the nation’s second-largest state after six weeks of pregnancy. But it was unclear how quickly the court would rule and...
Southwest investigates pilot who used ‘Brandon’ phrase
WASHINGTON — Southwest Airlines said it’s conducting an internal investigation after one of its pilots used a phrase that’s become a stand-in for insulting President Joe Biden during the pilot’s greeting to passengers over the plane’s public address system. The airline announced its investigation Sunday after The Associated Press reported...
Supreme Court rejects appeal over secretive court’s work
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal over whether the public should have access to opinions of the secretive court that reviews bulk email collection, warrantless internet searches and other government surveillance programs. The justices turned away the appeal filed by civil liberties and media...
Egypt says 47 tourists got food poisoning at Red Sea resort
CAIRO — Egypt’s chief prosecutor has ordered the detention of three hotel workers pending an investigation into the food poisoning suffered by about 50 foreign tourists at a hotel in a popular Red Sea resort. Public Prosecutor Hamada el-Sawy said in a statement late Sunday that the workers, including the...
U.K.’s Johnson warns of ‘doomsday’ as climate summit begins
GLASGOW, Scotland — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened a global climate summit Monday, saying the world is strapped to a “doomsday device.” Johnson likened an ever-warming Earth’s position to that of fictional secret agent James Bond — strapped to a bomb that will destroy the planet and trying to...
Mexico celebrates Day of the Dead after pandemic closures
MEXICO CITY — Mexico returned Sunday to mass commemorations of the Day of the Dead, after traditional visits to graveyards were prohibited last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the one-year hiatus showed how the tradition itself refuses to die: Most families still celebrated with home altars to deceased...
