U.S./World category, Page 548
South Carolina celebrates deepening of Charleston’s port
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina has deepened the Charleston’s port to make sure it can take in any ship and remains one of the largest harbors on the East Coast. The channel leading to the Port of Charleston is now 52 feet deep, once again allowing the biggest ships in...
NASA capsule flies over Apollo landing sites, heads home
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Orion capsule and its test dummies swooped one last time around the moon Monday, flying over a couple Apollo landing sites before heading home. Orion will aim for a Pacific splashdown Sunday off San Diego, setting the stage for astronauts on the next flight in...
Trump Organization tax fraud trial in jury’s hands
NEW YORK — Jurors started deliberating Monday in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial, weighing charges that former President Donald Trump’s company helped executives dodge personal income taxes on perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars. The deliberations follow a monthlong trial that featured testimony from seven witnesses,...
Real ID deadline extended again, until 2025
You’ll have a little longer before you have to worry about having a Real ID to board a domestic flight or enter a federal building. The federal Department of Homeland Security has extended the deadline yet again, until May 7, 2025. The deadline had been set for this upcoming May....
Supreme Court takes up clash of religion and gay rights
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is hearing the case of a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for gay couples, a dispute that’s the latest clash of religion and gay rights to land at the highest court. The designer and her supporters say that ruling against her...
Unmarked graves, an ‘ugly history’: W.Va. weighs mine safety
HAVACO, W.Va. — Mayapple plants sprout in the sunken soil where the bodies lie, their leaves sheltering the unmarked graves like tiny umbrellas. The forgotten burial ground is overrun by four-wheel tire tracks near a path strewn with discarded bottles and other trash. More than a century of overgrowth on...
Ukraine reports new barrage of widespread Russian strikes
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials reported a new barrage of Russian missile strikes across the country Monday, an attack that was anticipated as Russia seeks to disable Ukraine’s energy supplies and infrastructure with the approach of winter. Media reports referred to explosions in several parts of the country, including the...
Arizona certifies 2022 election despite GOP complaints
PHOENIX — Arizona’s top officials certified the midterm election results Monday, formalizing victories for Democrats over Republicans who falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged. The certification opens a five-day window for formal election challenges. Republican Kari Lake, who lost the race for governor, is expected to file a lawsuit...
Iran morality police status unclear after ‘closure’ comment
CAIRO — An Iranian lawmaker said Sunday that Iran’s government is “paying attention to the people’s real demands,” state media reported, a day after a top official suggested that the country’s morality police whose conduct helped trigger months of protests has been shut down. The role of the morality police,...
Tampa police chief on leave after golf cart traffic stopVideo
TAMPA, Fla. — The police chief of Tampa has been placed on leave after a video emerged of her flashing her badge from the passenger seat of a golf cart to get out of a traffic ticket. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor placed Chief Mary O’Connor on administrative leave Friday pending...
Sheriff: Vandalism cuts power across North Carolina county
CARTHAGE, N.C. — Multiple power substations in a North Carolina county were damaged by gunfire in an apparent act of criminal vandalism, leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity, authorities said. The power outage across Moore County that began just after 7 p.m. Saturday is being investigated as a...
Trump rebuked for call to suspend Constitution over electionVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump faced rebuke Sunday from officials in both parties after calling for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution over his lie that the 2020 election was stolen. Trump, who announced last month that he is running again for president, made the claim over the...
Keep covid military vaccine mandate, defense chief says
ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he wants to keep the military’s covid-19 vaccine mandate in place to protect the health of the troops, as Republican governors and lawmakers press to rescind it. This past week more than 20 Republican governors sent a letter to...
Pentagon chief: U.S. faces pivotal years in countering China
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The U.S. is at a pivotal point with China and will need military strength to ensure that American values, not Beijing’s, set global norms in the 21st century, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday. Austin’s speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum capped a week in...
Both sides see high stakes in gay rights Supreme Court case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is being warned about the potentially dire consequences of a case next week involving a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for same-sex couples. Rule for the designer and the justices will expose not only same-sex couples but also Black people, immigrants,...
FDA change ushers in cheaper, easier-to-get hearing aids
It’s now a lot easier — and cheaper — for many hard-of-hearing Americans to get help. Hearing aids can now be sold without a prescription from a specialist. Over-the-counter, or OTC, hearing aids started hitting the market in October at prices that can be thousands of dollars lower than prescription...
Non-religious voters wield clout, tilt heavily Democratic
When members of the small Pennsylvania chapter of Secular Democrats of America log on for their monthly meetings, they’re not there for a virtual happy hour. “We don’t sit around at our meetings patting ourselves on the back for not believing in God together,” said David Brown, a founder from...
Jury begins deliberations in Harvey Weinstein rape trial
LOS ANGELES — Jurors began deliberating Friday in the Los Angeles rape and sexual assault trial of Harvey Weinstein, after a final push from the prosecution. “You have irrefutable, overwhelming evidence of the nature of this man, and what he did to these women,” Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson told...
Flu season worsens as 44 states report high activity
NEW YORK — The U.S. flu season keeps getting worse. Health officials said Friday that 7.5% of outpatient medical visits last week were due to flu-like illnesses. That’s as high as the peak of the 2017-18 flu season and higher than any season since. The annual winter flu season usually...
FBI director raises national security concerns about TikTok
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Chris Wray is raising national security concerns about TikTok, warning Friday that control of the popular video sharing app is in the hands of a Chinese government “that doesn’t share our values.” Wray said the FBI was concerned that the Chinese had the ability to control...
Explainer: Deaths of 4 Idaho students fuel online sleuths
BOISE, Idaho — The deaths of four University of Idaho students nearly three weeks ago has riled up thousands of would-be armchair sleuths, many of whom are posting speculation and unfounded rumors about the fatal stabbings online. Relatively few details have been released in the horrific case that has left...
Negotiations begin for a global treaty on plastic pollution
On Friday afternoon more than 2,000 experts will wrap up a week of negotiations on plastic pollution at one of the largest global gatherings ever to address what even industry leaders in plastics say is a crisis. It was the first meeting of a United Nations committee set up to...
Russia rejects pullout from Ukraine as condition for talks
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia said Friday that Western demands it should pull out completely from Ukraine as part of any future talks to end the war effectively rule out any such negotiations, as Russian strikes continued and a Ukrainian official set his country’s battle losses at up to 13,000 troops....
Prosecution resumes closing argument at Trump Org. trial
NEW YORK — Prosecutors resumed their closing argument Friday in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial, promising to share previously unrevealed details about Donald Trump’s knowledge of a tax dodge scheme hatched by one of his top executives. “Donald Trump knew exactly what was going on with his top...
Infowars host Alex Jones files for personal bankruptcy
Infowars host Alex Jones filed for personal bankruptcy protection in Texas on Friday as he faces nearly $1.5 billion in court judgments over conspiracy theories he spread about the Sandy Hook school massacre. Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in bankruptcy court in Houston. His filing lists $1 billion...
