U.S./World category, Page 499
Pro-Moscow voices tried to steer Ohio train disaster debate
WASHINGTON — Soon after a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in Ohio last month, anonymous pro-Russian accounts started spreading misleading claims and anti-American propaganda about it on Twitter, using Elon Musk’s new verification system to expand their reach while creating the illusion of credibility. The accounts, which parroted Kremlin...
Supreme Court honors legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose death ahead of the 2020 election led to a conservative shift on the Supreme Court, was remembered Friday during ceremonies at the high court as a legendary champion for women’s rights. Speaking just two days after what would have been the justice’s 90th...
Scientists create mice with cells from 2 males for 1st time
For the first time, scientists have created baby mice from two males. This raises the distant possibility of using the same technique for people — although experts caution that very few mouse embryos developed into live mouse pups and no one knows whether it would work for humans. Still, “It’s...
ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin over Ukraine war crimes
THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court said Friday it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine. The court said in a statement that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of...
North Korea says ICBM test aimed to strike fear into enemies
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday it fired an intercontinental ballistic missile to “strike fear into the enemies” as South Korea and Japan agreed at a summit to work closely on regional security with the United States and staged military exercises around the region. The missile, launched Thursday...
Officer who killed George Floyd pleads guilty in tax case
MINNEAPOLIS — The former Minneapolis police officer serving time for the 2020 murder of George Floyd pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of tax evasion. Derek Chauvin entered the plea in a Minnesota court before Washington County Judge Sheridan Hawley. Chauvin appeared via Zoom from a federal prison in Tucson,...
New covid origins data suggests pandemic linked to raccoon dogs
International scientists who examined previously unavailable genetic data from samples collected at a market close to where the first human cases of covid-19 were detected in China said they found suggestions the pandemic originated from animals, not a lab. Other experts have not yet verified their analysis, which also has...
Protests erupt in France over Macron’s retirement age push
PARIS — Protests against French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to force a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote disrupted traffic, garbage collection and university campuses in Paris as opponents of the change maintained their resolve to get the government to back down....
Canine influenza: How to avoid spreading it, and symptoms to watch for
As the Speranza Animal Rescue in Mechanicsburg copes with an infection that rapidly spread among all 50 of their dogs, animal care professionals across the region are warning pet owners about recent canine influenza outbreaks. “We’ve been seeing an increase , and sometimes they’re not definitively diagnosed,” said Erin...
Russia to award pilots involved in U.S. drone incident
MOSCOW — Russian fighter pilots involved in an incident with a U.S. drone that resulted in its crash will be given state awards, the Defense Ministry announced Friday. The move appears to signal Moscow’s intention to adopt a more aggressive stance toward future U.S. surveillance flights. The U.S. military said...
Death toll rises, locals pick up pieces after Cyclone Freddy
BLANTYRE, Malawi — Authorities are still getting to grips with the scale of Cyclone Freddy’s destruction in Malawi and Mozambique since late Saturday, with over 370 people confirmed dead, several hundreds still missing and tens of thousands displaced. On Friday, Malawi authorities said Freddy killed at least 326 people, with...
Prince Harry sues tabloid for defamation over security story
LONDON — Lawyers for Prince Harry asked a judge Friday to rule that a tabloid newspaper libeled the British royal with an article about his quest for police protection when he and his family visit the U.K. Harry is suing Mail on Sunday publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd. over an article...
California to overhaul San Quentin prison, emphasizing rehab
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The infamous state prison on San Francisco Bay that has been home to the largest death row population in the United States will be transformed into a lockup where less-dangerous prisoners will receive education, training and rehabilitation, California officials announced Thursday. The inmates serving death sentences at...
BNSF trains derail in Washington, Arizona; no injuries
ANACORTES, Wash. — Two BNSF trains derailed in separate incidents in Arizona and Washington state on Thursday, with the latter spilling diesel fuel on tribal land along Puget Sound. No injuries were reported. It wasn’t clear what caused either derailment. The derailment in Washington occurred on a berm along Padilla...
Fed lent $300B in emergency funds to banks in the past week
WASHINGTON — Cash-short banks have borrowed about $300 billion from the Federal Reserve in the past week, the Fed announced Thursday. Nearly half the money — $143 billion — went to holding companies for two major banks that failed over the past week, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, triggering...
Covid-19 pill Paxlovid moves closer to full FDA approval
WASHINGTON — Pfizer’s covid-19 pill Paxlovid won another vote of confidence from U.S. health advisers Thursday, clearing the way for its full regulatory approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The medication has been used by millions of Americans since the FDA granted it emergency use authorization in late 2021....
Yellen tells Congress U.S. banking system ‘remains sound’
WASHINGTON — A week after the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday that the nation’s banking system “remains sound” and Americans “can feel confident” about their deposits. Her remarks, coming against the backdrop of deepening concerns about the health...
Poland to be 1st NATO member to give Ukraine fighter jets
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s president said Thursday that his country plans to give Ukraine around a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, which would make it the first NATO member to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for warplanes. President Andrzej Duda said Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made...
Military moves to cut suicides, but defers action on guns
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a number of improvements in access to mental health care on Thursday to reduce suicides in the military, but held off on endorsing more controversial recommendations to restrict gun and ammunition purchases by young troops, sending them to another panel for study. An...
Macron shuns parliament to raise French retirement age
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron imposed a highly unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 on Thursday by shunning parliament and invoking a special constitutional power. Lawmakers were shouting, their voices shaking with emotion as Macron made the risky move, which is expected to trigger quick...
TikTok dismisses calls for Chinese owners to sell stakes
WASHINGTON — TikTok was dismissive Wednesday of reports that the Biden administration was calling for its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the popular video-sharing app, saying such a move wouldn’t help protect national security. The company was responding to a report in The Wall Street Journal that said...
U.S. releases video of Russian jet dumping fuel on its droneVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — The Pentagon on Thursday released footage of what it said was a Russian aircraft pouring fuel on a U.S. Air Force surveillance drone and clipping the drone’s propeller in international airspace over the Black Sea. The 42-second video shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the back of the...
Freight train carrying hazardous material derails in Arizona
TOPOCK, Ariz. — A freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in western Arizona, near the state’s border with California and Nevada, an official said. The train derailed Wednesday evening near the town of Topock, Anita Mortensen, a spokeswoman for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said, adding that she was not...
Georgia grand jury heard another Trump call recording
ATLANTA — A special grand jury that investigated whether Donald Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election in Georgia heard a recording of the former president pushing a top state lawmaker to call a special session to overturn his loss in the state, according to a newspaper...
Utah bans abortion clinics in wave of post-Roe restrictions
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation Wednesday that will effectively ban clinics from providing abortions, setting off a rush of confusion among clinics, hospitals and prospective patients in the deeply Republican state. Administrators from hospitals and clinics have not publicly detailed their plans to adapt...
