U.S./World category, Page 364
European Union overcomes threat of Hungary veto to seal $54 billion aid package for Ukraine
BRUSSELS — Leaders of the 27 European Union countries sealed a deal Thursday to provide Ukraine with 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in support for its war-ravaged economy after Hungary dropped weeks of threats to veto the measure. European Council President Charles Michel said the agreement “locks in steadfast, long-term,...
Alec Baldwin pleads not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charge in fatal film set shooting
SANTA FE, N.M. — Actor Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during a rehearsal on a Western movie set in New Mexico. Court documents filed Wednesday show Baldwin entered the plea in state district court in Santa Fe,...
First of back-to-back atmospheric rivers pushes into California. Officials urge storm preparationsVideo
LOS ANGELES — The first of two back-to-back atmospheric rivers slowly pushed into California on Wednesday, triggering statewide storm preparations and calls for people to get ready for potential flooding, heavy snow and damaging wind. Known as a “Pineapple Express” because its long plume of moisture stretched back across the...
Federal judge dismisses Disney’s free speech lawsuit against Ron DeSantis
ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Disney’s free speech lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, leaving the company’s remaining hopes of regaining control of the district that governs Walt Disney World to a separate state court challenge. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee said in his...
Federal Reserve signals that interest rate cuts aren’t imminent and leaves them unchanged for now
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve indicated Wednesday that it’s nearing a long-awaited shift toward cutting interest rates, a sign that its officials have grown confident that they’re close to fully taming inflation. But the Fed also signaled that the first rate cut is likely months away. The central bank kept...
Russia, Ukraine swap scores of POWs despite tensions over plane crash last week
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine have exchanged about 200 prisoners of war each, the countries said Wednesday, despite tensions stemming from last week’s crash of a military transport plane that Moscow claimed was carrying Ukrainian POWs and was shot down by Kyiv’s forces. After the Jan. 24 crash of...
Laser strikes against aircraft including airline planes have surged to a new record, the FAA says
WASHINGTON — Laser strikes aimed at aircraft including airline planes surged 41% last year to a record high, according to federal officials. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it received 13,304 reports from pilots about laser strikes last year, erasing a record set in 2021. “Aiming a laser at...
Meta, TikTok and other social media CEOs testify in heated Senate hearing on child exploitation
Sexual predators. Addictive features. Suicide and eating disorders. Unrealistic beauty standards. Bullying. These are just some of the issues young people are dealing with on social media — and children’s advocates and lawmakers say companies are not doing enough to protect them. On Wednesday, the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X...
Elon Musk says the first human has received an implant from Neuralink, but other details are scant
NEW YORK — According to Elon Musk, the first human received an implant from his computer-brain interface company Neuralink over the weekend. In a Monday post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Musk said that the patient received the implant the day prior and was “recovering well.” He...
Imprisoned ex-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan convicted again, another blow days ahead of vote
ISLAMABAD — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was found guilty of corruption on Wednesday and sentenced to 14 years, yet another blow to the imprisoned populist leader days before his political movement attempts a return to power in parliamentary elections. It was his second conviction in as many days...
Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize end Wednesday. Not all of them are secret
STAVANGER, Norway — The doors close Wednesday on nominations for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, with peace activists connected to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine among the known entries. The Norwegian Nobel Committee keeps the nominations secret, but those with nomination rights sometimes make their picks public. Attempts to...
Islamic Resistance in Iraq group is to blame for Jordan drone strike that killed 3 troops, U.S. says
WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday attributed the drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, as President Joe Biden weighs his response options to the strike. The attribution comes as Iran threatened on Wednesday...
Rap lyrics can’t be used against artist charged with killing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay, judge rules
New York — The man accused of killing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay can’t have his rap lyrics used against him at trial, a Brooklyn judge decided Tuesday in a ruling that doubled as a history-filled paean to hip-hop as “a platform for expression to many who had largely been voiceless.”...
China and U.S. start working group to combat fentanyl
Chinese and American officials held the first meeting of a working group that aims to curb the flow of illegal drugs like fentanyl to the U.S. and the chemicals used to make them. “We reached common understanding,” China’s Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong said Tuesday, describing the talks in...
Are insects drawn to light? New research shows it’s confusion, not fatal attraction
WASHINGTON — Like a moth to flame, many scientists and poets have long assumed that flying insects were simply, inexorably drawn to bright lights. But that’s not exactly what’s going on, a new study suggests. Rather than being attracted to light, researchers believe artificial lights at night may actually scramble...
Nearly 400 Ethiopians have died of starvation recently. Millions more need food aid
KAMPALA, Uganda — Nearly 400 people have died of starvation in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions in recent months, the national ombudsman said Tuesday, a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal body. Local officials previously have reported starvation deaths in their districts, but Ethiopia’s federal government has insisted...
Protesting farmers have France’s government in a bind
PARIS — Farmers have captured France’s attention by showering government offices with manure and besieging Paris with traffic-snarling barricades of tractors and hay bales. The farmers say their protests aren’t a moment too soon. Grievances have long been brewing in the European Union’s leading agricultural power. The Russian invasion of...
London police fatally shoot a suspect reportedly armed with a crossbow as he broke into a home
LONDON — A man reportedly armed with a crossbow was fatally shot by an officer in London on Tuesday as he broke into a home where he had threatened the occupants, the Metropolitan Police said. The suspect, believed to be in his 30s, was reportedly armed and threatened people in...
France’s National Assembly approves bill meant to enshrine right to abortion in French Constitution
PARIS — France’s National Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill meant to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the French Constitution, the first key step in a legislative process that also requires a vote in the Senate. The measure has been promised by President Emmanuel Macron following...
Trump lawyer drops attack on E. Jean Carroll counsel’s ties to judge
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyer backtracked from her suggestion that a new trial may be warranted in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit against the former president because the presiding judge in the case worked at the same law firm as the New York writer’s attorney three decades ago....
Taylor Swift searches return to X after temporary block: ‘We will continue to be vigilant’
Taylor Swift is finally out of the woods, at least when it comes to being searched on social media platform X. X (formerly Twitter) lifted its temporary block on search results for the Grammy winner Monday evening. The platform’s block was part of its efforts to limit the further spread...
Colorado police chief on leave pending criminal case after reported rapes during party at his house
OURAY, Colo. — A southwestern Colorado police chief has been placed on paid administrative leave after charges were filed against three men in the case of a 17-year-old girl who reported being raped by more than one person during a party at the chief’s house. The city of Ouray announced...
NYPD officers will have to record race of people they question after council overrides mayor’s veto
New York City police officers will be required to record the apparent race, gender and ages of most people they stop for questioning under a law passed by the City Council, which overrode a veto by Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday. The issue was thrust into the national spotlight in...
Rock band critical of Putin is detained in Thailand, fearful of deportation to Russia
BANGKOK — Members of a rock band that has been critical of Moscow’s war in Ukraine remained locked up Tuesday in a Thai immigration jail, fearful they could be deported to Russia as a reported plan to let them fly to safety in Israel was apparently suspended. The progressive rock...
Florida to prohibit gender changes on driver licenses, will only allow birth sex
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued a memo last Friday telling county tax collectors to no longer allow people to update their gender identities on driver licenses and to prove that the gender on the license is the person’s biological sex using a “primary identification document,”...
