U.S./World category, Page 945
Russia’s Navalny in coma, allegedly poisoned by toxic tea
MOSCOW — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was in a coma and on a ventilator Thursday in an intensive care unit in Siberia after falling ill from suspected poisoning that his allies believe is linked to his political activity. The 44-year-old critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin felt unwell on...
Trump wants Supreme Court’s OK to let him block critics on Twitter
President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The administration said in a high-court filing Thursday that Trump’s realdonaldtrump account with more than 85 million followers is his personal property and blocking people from it is akin to elected...
Trump reaffirms plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from IraqVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday reaffirmed his plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq as quickly as possible as he met with the prime minister of Iraq to discuss ways to rein in pro-Iran militias in the country and counter residual threats from Islamic State sleeper cells....
Judge OKs Manhattan DA getting Trump tax returns, president to appeal
NEW YORK — As President Donald Trump’s lawyers moved swiftly Thursday to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that granted Manhattan’s top prosecutor access to his tax returns, Trump blasted the long-running quest for his financial records as a “continuation of the most disgusting witch hunt in the history of our...
China, U.S. say talks on implementing trade pact coming soon
BEIJING — Chinese and U.S. trade envoys will hold a meeting by phone “in the near future” to discuss an agreement aimed at resolving a tariff war, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said Thursday. The spokesman, Gao Feng, gave no details of the timing at a ministry news briefing. White House...
Ex-Trump aide Bannon pleads not guilty in border wall scheme
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, was pulled from a luxury yacht and arrested Thursday on allegations that he and three associates ripped off donors trying to fund a southern border wall, making him the latest in a long list of Trump allies to be...
Thousands of chicks arrive dead to farmers amid USPS turmoil
PORTLAND, Maine — At least 4,800 chicks shipped to Maine farmers through the U.S. Postal Service have arrived dead in the recent weeks since rapid cuts hit the federal mail carrier’s operations, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said. Pingree, a Maine Democrat, is raising the issue of the dead chicks and...
Obama, in scathing Trump rebuke, warns democracy on the lineVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama warned Wednesday night that American democracy may not survive if President Donald Trump is reelected, a damning assessment of his successor intended to jolt Democrats into rallying around Joe Biden in the November election. “This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down...
Victims want Golden State Killer sent to toughest prison
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Victims of California serial killer and rapist Joseph DeAngelo want him locked away in a distant maximum security prison with other inmates since he isn’t going to spend the rest of his life on death row. But they may not hold much sway over where the 74-year-old...
Navy experiments with ‘cyborg locusts’ to find explosives
Call the swat team. Bomb-sniffing “cyborg locusts” could be the next wave in national security, according to military news agency Stars and Stripes. Washington University researchers, funded by the U.S. Navy, reportedly indicate that locusts can differentiate between TNT, ammonium nitrate and other bomb-making materials, and locate their origins almost...
Ex-Navy SEAL who claims he killed Osama bin Laden tweets, then deletes, maskless selfie aboard flight
**This story contains explicit language** He went to war to fight for his country … but won’t wear a mask during a pandemic? Former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, who claims to have fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden, tweeted a selfie Wednesday bragging about not wearing a mask...
Firefighters contain large blaze at Dallas-area factory
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — A massive daylong fire at a Dallas-area plastics factory Wednesday that sent a dense column of toxic black smoke over North Texas before fire crews could tame it has been contained, fire officials said. There were no reports of injuries from the midnight Tuesday blaze at...
California governor: Hundreds of wildfires blazing statewide
VACAVILLE, Calif. — Crews were battling wildfires in the San Francisco Bay Area and thousands of people were under orders to evacuate Wednesday as hundreds of wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week. Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed “this extraordinary weather we’re experiencing...
Pandemic fear: Church to apologize for funeral refusal
Noel Alexander had helped build Pine Hill Baptist Church in west-central Louisiana. He’d been its music minister, served on numerous committees and he and his wife kept the church’s books. After he died from covid-19 at age 79, his visitation and funeral were scheduled for the church he loved. But...
Senate, House races with all women a first in Equality State
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Women are all but guaranteed to claim a majority of Wyoming’s congressional delegation for the first time after voters picked four — two Republicans and two Democrats — to compete for U.S. Senate and House seats in November. It’s another milestone for women in the Equality State,...
U.N. crisis looms as U.S. readies demand for Iran sanctions
UNITED NATIONS — After a resounding defeat in the U.N. Security Council, the United States is poised to call for the United Nations to reimpose sanctions on Iran under a rarely used diplomatic maneuver — a move that is likely to further isolate the Trump administration and may set off...
Iowa governor’s push to reopen schools descends into chaos
IOWA CITY, Iowa — An aggressive push by Iowa’s pro-Trump governor to reopen schools amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak has descended into chaos, with some districts and teachers rebelling and experts calling the scientific benchmarks used by the state arbitrary and unsafe. The clash in the Midwest has illustrated in...
Mexican students take college entrance exam amid pandemic
MEXICO CITY — Tens of thousands of prospective students hoping to get into Mexico’s largest public university on Wednesday began taking the notoriously competitive entrance exam for the National Autonomous University of Mexico, better known as the UNAM. Held each year, it’s the exam of a lifetime and and an...
Trump lashes out at Goodyear about its policy on MAGA wear
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged people to boycott tires from Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., tweeting that the Ohio-based company had “announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS.” But the company didn’t announce such a specific ban, only said it had asked employees to refrain from workplace expressions...
Ex-FBI lawyer admits to false statement during Russia probe
WASHINGTON — A former FBI lawyer pleaded guilty Wednesday to altering a document related to the secret surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser during the Russia investigation. Kevin Clinesmith is the first current or former official to be charged in a special Justice Department review of the investigation into...
Pharmacists can give childhood shots, U.S. officials say
NEW YORK — Pharmacists in all 50 states are now allowed to give childhood vaccinations under a new directive aimed at preventing future outbreaks of measles and other preventable diseases. Alex Azar, the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, took the step using emergency powers he...
San Francisco blanketed in smoke as California fires rageVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Thousands of people were under orders to evacuate in regions surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area Wednesday as some 30 wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week. Smoke blanketed the city of San Francisco. “Throughout the state of California...
Mali’s president announces resignation as a result of armed mutinyVideo
BAMAKO, Mali — Mali’s president announced his resignation late Tuesday, just hours after armed soldiers seized him from his home in a dramatic power grab following months of anti-government protests demanding his ouster. The news of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s departure was met with jubilation by anti-government demonstrators and alarm...
Washington officials trap male Asian giant hornet
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Officials in Washington state have trapped a male Asian giant hornet, the first male detected in the United States. The Washington state Department of Agriculture said the hornet was found in a trap near the town of Custer in northwestern Washington’s Whatcom County. That’s the same area...
West Virginia AG sues Walmart, CVS over opioid pill flood
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s attorney general sued Walmart and drugstore chain CVS on Tuesday, saying they failed to monitor and report suspicious orders of prescription painkillers to their retail pharmacies in a state ravaged by the opioid epidemic. Patrick Morrisey’s lawsuits allege violations of the state’s Consumer Credit and...
