U.S./World category, Page 384
Rewritten indictment against Sen. Bob Menendez alleges new obstruction of justice crimes
NEW YORK — New obstruction of justice crimes were added Tuesday to charges against Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife that allege they accepted gold bars, cash and a luxury car in return for favors the senator carried out to assist three businessmen. The new charges were in a rewritten...
Arctic Ocean could be ‘ice-free’ within the decade, researchers warn
The loss of Arctic sea ice has long been a graphic measure of human-caused climate change, with wrenching images of suffering polar bears illustrating a worsening planetary crisis. Now, new research has found that Arctic Ocean sea ice is shrinking even faster than previously thought — and that the Arctic...
Liberty University will pay $14 million, the largest fine ever levied under the federal Clery Act
Liberty University has agreed to pay an unprecedented $14 million fine for the Christian school’s failure to disclose information about crimes on its campus and for its treatment of sexual assault survivors, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday. The fine is by far the largest ever levied under the...
West Virginia bus driver charged with DUI after crash sends multiple children to the hospital
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia bus driver was arrested Monday for driving under the influence after a crash that sent multiple injured students to the hospital, state police said. Jeffrey Brannon, 54, was charged with multiple counts of driving while intoxicated and child neglect resulting in injury, State Police...
Court rules Florida’s ‘stop woke’ law restricting business diversity training is unconstitutional
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Florida law pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that limits diversity and race-based discussions in private workplaces is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a Florida federal judge’s August 2022...
1st baby right whale of season dies from injuries caused by ship collision
The first confirmed baby right whale of the year has been found dead from a collision with a ship, a devastating blow for the vanishing species. North Atlantic right whales number less than 360 and they are vulnerable to ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Federal authorities were notified...
Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads logins restored after widespread outage
A technical issue caused widespread login issues for a few hours across Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms Tuesday. Andy Stone, Meta’s head communications, acknowledged the issues on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said the company “resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted,...
EU plans to boost defense industry and move away from U.S. dependency in the face of Russian threats
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Tuesday outlined ambitious plans to boost its defense industry as it responds to the threat posed by Russia’s war on Ukraine and seeks to wean member nations off an over-dependence on the U.S. defense industry. The plans by the EU Commission center on streamlining...
Princess of Wales to appear in June for royal ceremony, first confirmed official duty since surgery
LONDON — British officials said Tuesday that Kate, the Princess of Wales, will attend a Trooping the Color ceremony in June. It is her first confirmed major official duty since the royal underwent abdominal surgery. Kate, Prince William’s wife, has been out of the public eye since January, when palace...
Small plane crashes near Nashville interstate, 5 people aboard were killed, police say
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A single-engine plane crashed near a highway in Nashville, Tenn., just a few miles short of the airport it had tried to reach for an emergency landing, killing five people aboard, authorities said. The pilot made an emergency call to John C. Tune Airport around 7:40 p.m....
Regulator proposes capping credit card late fees at $8, latest in Biden’s campaign against junk fees
NEW YORK — The Biden administration announced a rule Tuesday to cap all credit card late fees, the latest effort in the White House push to end what it has called junk fees and a move that regulators say will save Americans up to $10 billion a year. The Consumer...
Alabama lawmakers advance legislation to protect IVF providers, with final approval still ahead
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers facing public pressure to get in vitro fertilization services restarted in the state advanced legislation Tuesday to shield providers from the fallout of a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. Committees in the state Senate and House approved nearly identical bills that would...
Ukraine claims it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea using high-tech sea drones
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine claimed Tuesday it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea using high-tech sea drones as Kyiv’s forces continue to take aim at targets deep behind the war’s front line. Russian authorities did not confirm the claim. The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said a special...
Trillions of gallons leak from aging drinking water systems, further stressing shrinking U.S. citiesVideo
Trillions of gallons are lost from aging drinking water systems across the U.S., underscoring an economic and public health reckoning after decades of deferred maintenance and disinvestment that leave some communities struggling to provide reliable service. The problem is especially acute in older industrial and rural areas in the eastern...
Air Force employee charged with sharing classified info on Russia’s war with Ukraine on dating site
WASHINGTON — A civilian U.S. Air Force employee has been charged in federal court in Nebraska with transmitting classified information about Russia’s war with Ukraine on a foreign online dating platform, the Justice Department said Monday. David Franklin Slater, 63, who authorities say retired as an Army lieutenant colonel and...
Supreme Court temporarily blocks Texas law that allows police to arrest migrants
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ plan to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally is headed to the Supreme Court in a legal showdown over the federal government’s authority over immigration. The high court on Monday blocked Texas’ immigration law from going into effect until March 13 and asked the state...
Woman dead, dozen injured in Mississippi club mass shootingVideo
A 20-year-old woman was killed and up to a dozen others injured in a mass shooting Sunday at a Mississippi club, prompting a dire warning. “I think you’re taking a chance on your life right now if you go to these large events,” Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott told WTVA-TV...
U.N. envoy says ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe Hamas committed sexual violence on Oct. 7
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict said in a new report Monday that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape, “sexualized torture,” and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during its surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7. There are...
Masked shooters kill 4 people and wound 7 at an outdoor party in California, police say
KING CITY, Calif. — A group of men in masks opened fire at an outdoor party in central California, killing four people and wounding seven others, police said. Police responded to a reported shooting around 6 p.m. Sunday in King City and found three men with gunshot wounds who were...
Rescue of truck driver dangling from bridge was a team effort, firefighter says
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky firefighter who rappelled off a bridge to rescue the driver of a tractor-trailer as it dangled precariously over the Ohio River says he played just a small part of the successful rescue. Louisville firefighter Bryce Carden credited teamwork as he talked about the rescue on...
Settlement in Wisconsin fake elector case offers new details on the strategy by Trump lawyers
MADISON, Wis. — Two attorneys for then-President Donald Trump orchestrated a plan for fake electors to file paperwork falsely saying the Republican won Wisconsin in a strategy to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory there and in other swing states, according to a lawsuit settlement reached Monday that makes public months...
Supreme Court restores Trump to ballot, rejecting state attempts to ban him over Capitol attackVideo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday restored Donald Trump to 2024 presidential primary ballots, rejecting state attempts to hold the Republican former president accountable for the Capitol riot. The justices ruled a day before the Super Tuesday primaries that states, without action from Congress first, cannot invoke a post-Civil...
Former Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg pleads guilty to perjury in deal that doesn’t require cooperationVideo
NEW YORK — Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of Donald Trump’s company, pleaded guilty Monday to lying under oath during his testimony in the ex-president’s New York civil fraud case. His plea deal will send him back to jail but does not require that he testify at Trump’s...
Germany and Russia spar over a leaked audio on missiles for Ukraine; Berlin promises to investigate
BERLIN — The German government on Monday vehemently rejected allegations that Russia’s leak of a conversation by high-ranking German military officers was an indication that Berlin was preparing for war against Russia. At the same time, the government sought to contain the domestic fallout from the leak and promised a...
France becomes the only country to explicitly guarantee abortion as a constitutional right
PARIS — French lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly approved a bill to enshrine abortion rights in France’s constitution, making it the only country to explicitly guarantee a woman’s right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy. The historic move was proposed by President Emmanuel Macron as a way to prevent the kind of...
