U.S./World category, Page 733
In the middle of a crisis, Facebook Inc. renames itself MetaVideo
OAKLAND, Calif. — Like many companies in trouble before it, Facebook is changing its name and logo. Facebook Inc. is now called Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short, to reflect what CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday is its commitment to developing the new surround-yourself technology known as the “...
Biden announces ‘historic’ deal — but still must win votes
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he and Democrats in Congress have reached a “historic” framework for his sweeping domestic policy package. But he still needs to lock down votes from key colleagues for what’s now a dramatically scaled-back bill. Eager to have a deal in hand before...
‘No one knows what to expect’: Kenosha wary as Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial looms
KENOSHA, Wis. — If you want to know how this city feels about the impending Kyle Rittenhouse trial, a conversation with Scott and Dee Seip is a good place to start. One mile northwest of their house is the still-vacant commercial strip that burned during protests over the police shooting...
$88 million settlement reached with families of victims in Charleston church mass shootingVideo
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Families of nine victims killed in a racist attack at a Black South Carolina church have reached a settlement with the Justice Department over a faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase the gun he used in the 2015 massacre. The Justice Department will pay...
German on trial for castrating men on his kitchen table
BERLIN — A German electrician went on trial Thursday accused of murder in the death of one man, and mutilating several others by performing illegal operations on their genitals. The 66-year-old told a regional court in Munich that he performed the procedures at the men’s request. The defendant, whose name...
Jury selected for civil trial over Charlottesville rally
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A jury has been seated in a civil trial to determine whether white nationalists who planned the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., will be held responsible for the violence that erupted. The process of choosing a jury was completed Wednesday, the third day of...
Judge won’t block vaccine mandate for New York City cops, other workers
NEW YORK — A New York judge on Wednesday refused to pause a covid-19 vaccine mandate set to begin Friday for the city’s municipal workforce, denying a police union’s request for a temporary restraining order. Judge Lizette Colon said the mandate can take effect as scheduled while also ordering city...
New York trooper charged with murder in pursuit that killed girl, 11
NEW YORK — A New York state trooper was charged with murder Wednesday in the death of an 11-year-old girl by ramming his patrol vehicle into her family’s vehicle in December, the state’s attorney general announced. Trooper Christopher Baldner was indicted on charges of murder, manslaughter and reckless endangerment in...
Sheriff: Texas children lived in dire conditions as body decomposedVideo
HOUSTON — The three abandoned brothers were thin, malnourished and hungry, living alone for months with no blankets to keep them warm inside an unfurnished Houston area apartment with soiled carpet, flies and roaches. The trio were barely surviving, abandoned and set adrift alongside the decomposing body of their 8-year-old...
Sheriff: Lead bullet fatally struck ‘Rust’ cinematographer; 500 rounds of ammo recovered on setVideo
SANTA FE, N.M. — Authorities have determined that the projectile that fatally wounded cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was a lead bullet, one of roughly 500 rounds of ammunition recovered from the set of the film “Rust,” Santa Fe County authorities announced Wednesday. During a news conference, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan...
Cleveland jury acquits man, 83, imprisoned 45 years for wife’s death
CLEVELAND — A jury acquitted an 83-year-old man Wednesday who was convicted at his first trial of killing his wife and spent 45 years in prison. The Cleveland jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes before delivering its verdict in Isiah Andrews’ second aggravated murder trial, Cleveland.com reported. Andrews said...
U.S. says Assange won’t face supermax prison if extradited
Julian Assange won’t face solitary confinement or supermax prison in Colorado if he’s jailed in the U.S., as lawyers for the country argued his extradition shouldn’t have been blocked by a London judge on mental health grounds. The U.S. laid out several assurances over his potential confinement and access to...
U.S. issues its 1st passport with ‘X’ gender marker
DENVER — The U.S. has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation — a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who don’t identify as male or female — and expects to be able to offer the option to nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people early next...
McDonald’s workers strike to protest workplace harassment
McDonald’s workers in 12 U.S. cities walked off the job Tuesday to protest what they say is an ongoing problem of sexual harassment and violence in the company’s stores. Several hundred workers were expected to participate in Chicago, Houston, Miami, Detroit and other cities, according to Fight for $15 and...
Biden urges bill over ‘finish line’ as Democrats eye new surtax
WASHINGTON — With his signature domestic initiative at stake, President Joe Biden is urging Democrats to wrap up talks and bring the social services and climate change bill “over the finish line” before he departs Thursday for global summits overseas. Top Democratic leaders are signaling a deal is within reach...
Not a trick: No White House treats for Halloween this year
WASHINGTON — Ghosts and goblins can scratch the White House from their trick or treating routes this year. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be in Europe on Halloween and won’t be at the White House to help hand out candy and other treats. Instead, the Pennsylvania...
Feds: Ohio stock trader fleeced Twitter users in pump-&-dump
NEW YORK — An Ohio trader in penny stocks was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging he earned over $1 million illegally by lying repeatedly to his over 70,000 Twitter followers to get them to buy stocks in what authorities are calling a new social media-infused twist on an old stock...
Nor’easter has New England bracing for floods, power outagesVideo
BOSTON — A nor’easter barreled up the U.S. coast Tuesday, and forecasters warned it could bring flooding, hurricane-force wind gusts and widespread power outages to New England. The worst of the storm was expected to lash the region late Tuesday through Wednesday morning. Wind gusts as high as 75 mph...
Illinois police officer dies after shooting near St. Louis
PONTOON BEACH, Ill. — A police officer was shot to death Tuesday by a man at a gas station in an Illinois suburb of St. Louis, authorities said. Trooper Jayme Bufford with Illinois State Police said Pontoon Beach Officer Tyler Timmins succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. The officer...
Brooklyn Diocese fires music teacher after same-sex wedding
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Diocese fired a Catholic music school teacher in Queens after he married a man, saying he violated a contractual stipulation to the Catholic Church. Matthew LaBanca, a teacher at St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy in Astoria and a music director at Corpus Christi Church, was fired...
Florida’s surgeon general: Masks hamper clear communication
MIAMI — Florida’s surgeon general said conversations while wearing masks aren’t productive and argued that he offered to meet elsewhere when a state senator didn’t let him in her office without a mask, citing a serious health condition. Dr. Joseph Ladapo said in a statement released Tuesday that he offered...
Billionaire tax runs into criticism; big Biden plan in flux
WASHINGTON — The Democrats’ idea for a new billionaires’ tax to help pay for President Joe Biden’s social services and climate change plan has quickly run into criticism as too cumbersome, with some lawmakers preferring the original plan of simply raising the top tax rates on corporations and the wealthy....
Florida manatee deaths soar as polluted water kills seagrass
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida fishing guide and environmental activist Paul Fafeita says a highlight for his charter customers is spotting the manatees that forage for seagrass in shallow waters. It’s not so thrilling when they come across the emaciated carcass of a manatee that starved to death. “It’s not...
Virus cut access to courts but opened door to virtual future
Just two reporters were allowed inside a Georgia courtroom to serve as the eyes and ears of the public when jury selection began for the men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Pandemic restrictions also kept reporters and the public out of the courtroom during the sex-trafficking trial of music star...
150 people arrested in U.S.-Europe darknet drug probe
WASHINGTON — Law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europe have arrested 150 people and seized more than $31 million in an international drug trafficking investigation stemming from sales on the darknet, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The arrests are connected to a 10-month investigation between federal law enforcement officials...
