U.S./World category, Page 243
Cuba gets some electricity back after major power outage left millions in the dark
HAVANA — Some electricity was restored in Cuba, the government said Saturday, after the island nation’s worst blackout in at least two years left millions without electricity for two days. Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said the country had 500 megawatts in its electrical grid early Saturday, compared...
With brain injuries a growing problem, the U.S. military tests how to protect troops from blasts
WASHINGTON — The blast shook the ground, and its red flash of fire covered the doorway as U.S. special operations forces blew open a door during a recent training exercise. Moments later, in their next attempt, the boom was noticeably suppressed and the blaze a bit smaller, testament to just...
Mail carriers reach tentative contract with USPS that includes pay raises, air-conditioned trucks
Some 200,000 mail carriers have reached a tentative contract deal with the U.S. Postal Service that includes backdated pay raises and a promise to provide workers with air-conditioned trucks. The new agreement, which still needs to be ratified by union members, runs through November 2026. Letter carriers have been working...
3 killed, 8 injured by gunfire following a Mississippi school’s football game
LEXINGTON, Miss. — Three people were killed and eight were injured in central Mississippi early Saturday when at least two people opened fire into a group of several hundred people who were celebrating a school’s homecoming football win at an outdoor trail hours after the game had ended, authorities said....
Maine man made homemade bombs and dropped some from drones, officials say
WOODLAND, Maine — A man used homemade explosives, some of which he dropped from drones, to attack or intimidate in a dispute rooted in local politics in a community in northern Maine, law enforcement officials said. No one was hurt. Joshua Brydon, 37, of Woodland appeared in court this week...
Condemned South Carolina inmate chooses to die by lethal injection
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A condemned South Carolina inmate chose Friday to be executed by lethal injection, instead of by firing squad or electrocution, for killing a store clerk in 1999. State prison officials had told Richard Moore this month he could choose the method for his Nov. 1 execution. State...
South Africa asks Taiwan to move its unofficial embassy out of the capital
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa has asked Taiwan to move its unofficial embassy out of the administrative capital, Pretoria, in a move that’s seen as appeasing ally China. The South African foreign ministry said Friday that it had given Taiwan a “reasonable” timeframe of six months to relocate...
Prosecutors in Iran target a newspaper over its cartoon mocking internet restrictions
TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian newspaper implying that the public needed to have the patience of the Biblical figure Job in waiting for President Masoud Pezeshkian to lift restrictions on the internet now faces potential criminal charges. The reported case against the pro-reform newspaper Ham Mihan represents one of the...
Biden says Western allies must keep aiding Ukraine as he meets European partners before election
BERLIN — U.S. President Joe Biden said it’s important for Ukraine’s Western allies to “sustain our resolve” in supporting the country as he held meetings Friday with European partners, with the upcoming U.S. presidential election casting a long shadow over his visit to Germany. Biden met Chancellor Olaf Scholz of...
Italian autoworkers go on strike, as troubled Stellantis faces pressure over production plans
ROME — Workers in Italy’s troubled automotive sector are holding a national strike on Friday for the first time in 20 years, with a massive demonstration crossing the center of Rome. Tens of thousands automotive workers marched through the capital’s streets, waving the unions’ red flags and holding banners asking...
Sinwar’s killing opens up opportunity and much uncertainty for the war in Gaza
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s killing of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader and the mastermind of the group’s Oct. 7 attack, is a dramatic turning point in the brutal yearlong war that it touched off. Sinwar’s killing on Thursday decapitates the Palestinian militant group that has already been reeling from...
Hamas official confirms Sinwar’s death, as Hezbollah vows a new phase of war with Israel
JERUSALEM — Hamas confirmed Friday that its leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, and the militant group reiterated its stance that hostages taken from Israel a year ago will not be released until there is a cease-fire in Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli troops. “Those...
Right-wing influencers hyped anti-Ukraine videos made by a TV producer also funded by Russian media
WASHINGTON — The Kremlin could not have asked for better publicity at a better time when Ben Swann, a self-described independent journalist who promotes conspiracy theories, released a 12-part video series he promised would reveal dark truths about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Swann’s flashy documentary-style videos were filled with innuendo,...
U.S. to probe Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ system after pedestrian killed in low visibility conditions
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s road safety agency is again investigating Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system, this time after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The National Highway Safety Administration says in documents that it opened the probe on Thursday with the company reporting...
A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution sells for $9 million at auction
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution printed 237 years ago and sent to the states to be ratified was sold for $9 million at an auction Thursday evening in North Carolina. Brunk Auctions sold the document, the only copy of its type thought to be privately...
Texas appeals court reverses judge’s order to delay execution in shaken-baby case, last appeal filed
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Texas appeals court lifted a judge’s order that had delayed Thursday night’s planned execution of a man who would become the first person in the U.S. put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. The reversal left supporters of...
Panel looking into Trump assassination attempt says Secret Service needs ‘fundamental reform’
WASHINGTON — An independent panel investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally says the Secret Services needs fundamental reform” and that “another Butler can and will happen again” without major changes in how candidates are protected. The review faulted the Secret Service for poor communications...
Biden administration has now canceled loans for more than 1 million public workers
WASHINGTON — A student loan cancellation program for public workers has granted relief to more than 1 million Americans — up from just 7,000 who were approved before it was updated by the Biden administration two years ago. President Joe Biden announced the milestone on Thursday, saying his administration restored...
A man arrested with guns outside a Trump rally in California is suing the sheriff
LAS VEGAS — A Nevada man who was arrested over the weekend with guns at a security checkpoint outside a Donald Trump rally in the southern California desert has filed a lawsuit accusing the sheriff of falsely characterizing his arrest as a thwarted assassination attempt for his own personal gain....
Prosecutors say father of Georgia shooting suspect knew son was obsessed with school shooters
WINDER, Ga. — The father of a teenager accused of a deadly high school shooting in Georgia was aware his son was obsessed with school shooters and even had a shrine in his bedroom for the gunman in the 2018 massacre in Parkland, Fla., prosecutors said at a Wednesday court...
More than a dozen relatives of brother Erik and Lyle Menendez call for their release from prison
LOS ANGELES — More than a dozen family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez on Wednesday called for the release of the brothers from prison after the killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion 35 years ago. The news conference in downtown Los Angeles was the largest gathering...
Zelenskyy’s ‘victory plan’ includes a big hurdle for the West: An invitation to Ukraine to join NATOVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that Western partners are ramping up pressure to negotiate with Russia, hinting that such talks may not be favorable to Kyiv, as he unveiled to lawmakers the main points of his victory plan - his...
Israeli strikes kill 21 in Lebanon, including in a town with a dark history of civilian deaths
QANA, Lebanon — Israeli airstrikes pounded areas across Lebanon, killing at least 21 people, officials said Wednesday, including more than a dozen in a southern town where Israeli bombardments in previous conflicts are seared into local memory. Elsewhere in the south, a city’s mayor was among the dead in a...
Hundreds of troops kicked out under ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ get upgraded to honorable discharges
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced Tuesday that more than 800 military personnel have seen their service records upgraded to honorable discharges after previously being kicked out of the military under its former “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. It is the latest development over the decades to undo past discrimination against...
What’s behind the widening gender wage gap in the U.S.?
NEW YORK — Just how much of a setback was the covid-19 pandemic for U.S. working women? Although women who lost or left their jobs at the height of the crisis have largely returned to the workforce, a recent finding points to the price many paid for stepping back: In...
