U.S./World category, Page 525
After U.S. offer, Germany unleashes Leopard tanks for Ukraine
BERLIN — After weeks of hesitation that created impatience among Germany’s allies, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Wednesday that his government would provide Ukraine with Leopard 2 battle tanks and approve requests by other countries to do the same. The German government said it would initially provide Ukraine with one company...
Pope warns German church reform process elitist, ideological
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has warned there’s a risk that a reform process in the German Catholic Church over calls for married priests and other possible liberalizing reforms might become harmfully “ideological.” In an interview with The Associated Press at the Vatican on Tuesday, Francis was asked about the...
Ukraine forces pull back from Donbas town after onslaught
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces have conducted an organized retreat from a town in the eastern region of the Donbas, an official said Wednesday, in what amounted to a rare but modest battlefield triumph for Russia after a series of setbacks in its invasion that began almost 11 months ago....
Prosecutors urge Congress to let state prisons jam cellphones
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Top state prosecutors from across the country are again urging Congress to pass legislation allowing state prisons to jam the signals of cellphones smuggled to inmates, devices the attorneys argue allow prisoners to plot violence and carry out crimes. “Simply, we need Congress to pass legislation giving...
Proud Boys expected ‘civil war’ ahead of Capitol riot, witness says
WASHINGTON — The month before the riot at the U.S. Capitol, members of the Proud Boys were growing increasingly angry about the outcome of the 2020 election and were expecting a “civil war,” a former member told jurors on Tuesday as he took the stand in the seditious conspiracy case...
Elon Musk defiantly defends himself in Tesla tweet trial
SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk returned to federal court to defend himself against a class-action lawsuit that alleges he misled Tesla shareholders with a tweet about an aborted buyout that the billionaire defiantly insisted Tuesday he could have pulled off, had he wanted. Musk spent roughly three more hours on...
Trump drops appeal, ending legal fight over New York probe
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump has abandoned efforts to revive his federal lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James — the second time he’s halted legal action against her after a judge last week fined him and his lawyers nearly $1 million for filing frivolous cases. Trump’s...
West Virginia Senate passes guns-on-campus bill at colleges
CHARLESTON — Senators in West Virginia overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill Tuesday allowing people with concealed carry permits to bring firearms onto college and university campuses, despite ardent opposition from higher education leaders. “Thank God for West Virginia and freedom,” the bill’s lead sponsor Republican Sen. Rupie Phillips said,...
In reversal, U.S. poised to approve Abrams tanks for UkraineVideo
WASHINGTON — In what would be a reversal, the Biden administration is poised to approve sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday, as international reluctance to send tanks to the battlefront against the Russians begins to erode. The decision could be announced as soon as Wednesday, though...
New year brings a grim wave of mass killings across America
Eleven people killed as they welcomed the Lunar New Year at a dance hall popular with older Asian Americans. Seven Chinese and Latino farmworkers killed amid the serene beauty of California’s Half Moon Bay. A 17-year-old mother and her baby shot dead in an attack that killed six people across...
Don’t release Georgia grand jury report now, prosecutor says
ATLANTA — A Georgia prosecutor argued Tuesday in court that a judge should not immediately release a report by a special grand jury investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law by seeking to overturn his 2020 election loss. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said disclosure...
Treasury takes another extraordinary step on debt limit
WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter Tuesday to congressional leaders saying she’s suspending the reinvestment of federal bonds in a government workers’ savings plan — an additional “extraordinary” measure to buy time for President Joe Biden and Congress to raise the nation’s debt limit. The government...
Suspect sought after 3 killed in Washington state convenience store shootingVideo
SEATTLE — At least three people were killed in a random shooting early Tuesday in Yakima, Washington, and police are still searching for the suspect. Yakima police Chief Matt Murray said the shooting was reported at a Circle K convenience store about 3:30 a.m., and responding officers found three people...
Classified documents at Mike Pence’s home, too, his lawyer saysVideo
NEW YORK — Documents with classified markings were discovered in former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home last week, his lawyers says, the latest in a string of recoveries of confidential information from the homes of current and former top U.S. officials. The records “appear to be a small number...
Before Alex Murdaugh testimony starts, judge has key rulings
WALTERBORO, S.C. — Before testimony begins in South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial, defense lawyers will ask the judge to make a pair of key rulings this week that could strike a massive amount of evidence from the case. Prosecutors want to present voluminous evidence of Murdaugh’s bad behavior...
Paris rushing to finish 2024 Olympics construction work
PARIS — Paris is rushing to finish construction work in time for the 2024 Olympics with just 18 months to go. Delays are being experienced in part because of the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on the steel industry. A venue, which was due to be finished this summer,...
Finland’s top diplomat hints at joining NATO without Sweden
HELSINKI — Finland’s foreign minister suggested Tuesday that the country may consider joining NATO without neighboring Sweden if Turkey continues to block their joint bid to enter the military alliance. Pekka Haavisto later backpedaled, but his comments were the first time a leading government official in either Nordic country appeared...
Shooting that killed 2 at Iowa youth program was targeted
DES MOINES, Iowa — An 18-year-old who police say was involved in an ongoing gang dispute walked into the common area of an alternative education program for at-risk students and fatally shot two teenagers in a premeditated attack — chasing one of them down and shooting him several more times...
No more nuggets? School lunch goes farm-to-table — for some
CONCORD, Calif. — As the fine-dining chef at her high school served samples of his newest recipes, Anahi Nava Flores gave her critique of a baguette sandwich with Toscano salami, organic Monterey Jack, arugula and a scratch-made basil spread: “This pesto aioli is good!” Classmate Kentaro Turner devoured a deli-style...
Debt ceiling: 2011 showdown leaves lessons for Biden, GOP
WASHINGTON — The debate around raising the debt ceiling sounds eerily similar: Newly elected House Republicans, eager to confront the Democratic president in the White House, refused to raise the debt limit without cuts to federal spending. Negotiations over the debt ceiling consumed Washington in 2011, a high-stakes showdown between...
Shootout at California gas station kills 1, wounds 8 people
OAKLAND, Calif. — A shootout at an Oakland gas station killed one person and wounded seven others in the second shooting involving several people on Monday night in the San Francisco Bay Area, police said. Officers were sent to the scene on Macarthur Boulevard just after 6 p.m. and learned...
Youth pastor, teacher among 46 arrested in North Texas prostitution sting
A youth pastor. A high school teacher and football coach. And an operations director of a large hospital network. These were among the 46 men arrested in a massive undercover prostitution sting this month in Southlake and Frisco, local and federal authorities announced. Roughly a dozen law enforcement agencies participated...
7 dead as California mourns 3rd mass killing in 8 daysVideo
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — The suspect in two shootings at Northern California farms that left seven dead was an employee at one of the locations, authorities said. San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said Tuesday that 67-year-old Chunli Zhao was an employee at Mountain Mushroom Farm. She says the...
Suspect killed, 3 deputies wounded in Kansas firefightVideo
DODGE CITY, Kan. — A wanted man was killed and three deputies were wounded Monday morning in an exchange of gunfire in western Kansas, authorities say. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release that it started around 9 a.m. when the sheriff’s office in Clark County attempted...
Police: 2 students dead, teacher hurt in Des Moines shooting
DES MOINES, Iowa — Police say two students were killed Monday and a teacher was injured in a shooting at a Des Moines school on the edge of the city’s downtown. The shooting was at an educational program called Starts Right Here that is affiliated with the Des Moines school...
