U.S./World category, Page 550
U.K. royals in Boston for a 3-day visit
BOSTON — The first overseas trip by the Prince and Princess of Wales since the death of Queen Elizabeth II began Wednesday, an occasion to show the world as much about who they are not as who they are. With their three-day visit to Boston, focused on Prince William’s initiative...
Puerto Rico extends power contract amid outages, objections
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A heavily criticized private company that operates the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico secured a last-minute extension on its contract Wednesday despite widespread objections. Luma Energy obtained the extension following a 4-1 vote by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s board, with...
No longer the fringe: Small-town voters fear for America
HUDSON, Wis. — A word — “Hope” — is stitched onto a throw pillow in the little hilltop farmhouse. Photographs of children and grandchildren speckle the walls. In the kitchen, an envelope is decorated with a hand-drawn heart. “Happy Birthday, My Love,” it reads. Out front, past a pair of...
Higher food prices worsen hunger crisis this holiday season
WASHINGTON — Staffers at Bread for the City, a venerable charity in the nation’s capital, thought they were prepared for this year’s annual pre-Thanksgiving Holiday Helpers food giveaway. The pandemic had faded, but inflation was high, so they budgeted to give out 12,000 meals, 20% higher than normal pre-pandemic levels....
Jiang Zemin, former president of China, dies at 96
Jiang Zemin, the unlikely former leader who stewarded China through groundbreaking economic reforms and served as a bridge between the country’s strongman era and a more consensus-driven government, has died. He was 96. Chinese state television reported Jiang’s death Wednesday, saying the former leader had died in Shanghai, a city...
Election certification delays few, but a ‘test run’ for 2024
Before November, election officials prepared for the possibility that Republicans who embraced former President Donald Trump’s lies about voter fraud would challenge the verdict of voters by refusing to certify the results. Three weeks after the end of voting, such challenges are playing out in just two states, Arizona and...
Taliban: 10 killed in bombing of Afghan religious school
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A bomb blast hit a religious school in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least 10 students, a Taliban official said. The explosion went off at around the time of afternoon prayers at the Al Jihad Madrassa in Aybak, capital of Samangan province, a resident of the...
Hawaii volcano eruption has some on alert, draws onlookers
HILO, Hawaii — The first eruption in 38 years of the world’s largest active volcano is attracting onlookers to a national park for “spectacular” views of the event, and it’s also dredging up bad memories among some Hawaii residents who have been through harrowing volcanic experiences in the past. It...
China vows crackdown on ‘hostile forces’ as public tests Xi
BEIJING — China’s ruling Communist Party has vowed to “resolutely crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces,” following the largest street demonstrations in decades staged by citizens fed up with strict anti-virus restrictions. The statement from the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission released late Tuesday comes...
EU Commission proposes blocking billions in funds to Hungary
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s executive branch recommended Wednesday that billions of euros of EU funds allocated to Hungary remain frozen over its failure to implement solid rule-of-law reforms, a move highlighting the growing rift between the EU’s traditional Western democratic values and its partner’s democratic backsliding. The EU’s 27...
Defense: Ohio man had no reason to help family in killings of 8Video
WAVERLY, Ohio — An Ohio man accused of helping his family kill eight members of another family had no reason to take part and wasn’t even there, his attorney told trial jurors Tuesday during closing arguments. George Wagner IV, his brother and parents were charged in the 2016 shooting deaths...
Texas woman pleads guilty to role in Vanessa Guillen’s death
AUSTIN, Texas — The only suspect arrested in connection with the killing of Vanessa Guillén at a Texas military base in 2020 pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that included helping dispose of the soldier’s body near Fort Hood. Cecily Aguilar, 24, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Waco, Texas,...
Landmark same-sex marriage bill wins Senate passageVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed bipartisan legislation Tuesday to protect same-sex marriages, an extraordinary sign of shifting national politics on the issue and a measure of relief for the hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples who have married since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide. The...
Judge orders men who made fake robocalls to register voters
CLEVELAND — Two men convicted of fraud for targeting Black voters with phony robocalls before the 2020 election must spend 500 hours registering voters in low-income neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., an Ohio judge has ruled. Jacob Wohl, 24, of Irvine, California, and Jack Burkman, 56, of Arlington, Va., pleaded guilty...
Supreme Court counsel says no evidence of Alito ethical lapse in 2014 case
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Supreme Court official said he sees no indication Justice Samuel Alito violated ethics rules after a New York Times story said a 2014 dinner party at the justice’s home allegedly produced a leak about the outcome of a major case over religious rights and contraceptives. In...
Oath Keepers boss guilty of seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 caseVideo
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted Tuesday of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win, handing the Justice Department a major victory in its massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. A Washington, D.C., jury found Rhodes guilty of sedition...
Storms could spawn major tornadoes, floods in several statesVideo
JACKSON, Miss. — Residents in several towns in Louisiana and Mississippi took cover when tornado sirens blared on Tuesday, as forecasters warned of the potential for strong twisters that could stay on the ground for long distances in parts of the South. Heavy rain and hail the size of tennis...
Study: U.S. gun death rates hit highest levels in decades
NEW YORK — The U.S. gun death rate last year hit its highest mark in nearly three decades, and the rate among women has been growing faster than that of men, according to study published Tuesday. The increase among women — most dramatically, in Black women — is playing a...
Houston lifts boil-water order affecting more than 2 millionVideo
HOUSTON — Houston officials lifted an order Tuesday that had called for more than 2 million people in the nation’s fourth-largest city to boil their tap water before drinking or using it. The boil order had been in effect since Sunday, when a power outage at a purification plant caused...
Michigan’s high court pauses Ethan Crumbley parents’ case in Michigan school shooting
DETROIT — The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday sent the involuntary manslaughter case of the parents of accused Oxford High shooter Ethan Crumbley back to the Court of Appeals to consider whether there was sufficient evidence for James and Jennifer Crumbley to stand trial. The Michigan Court of Appeals in...
Survivor of Virginia Walmart mass shooting files $50M suit
NORFOLK, Va. — A Walmart employee who survived last week’s mass shooting at a store in Virginia has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for allegedly continuing to employ the shooter — a store supervisor — “who had known propensities for violence, threats and strange behavior.” The lawsuit,...
Qatar says worker deaths for World Cup ‘between 400 and 500’
DOHA, Qatar — A top Qatari official involved in the country’s World Cup organization has put the number of worker deaths for the tournament “between 400 and 500” for the first time, a drastically higher number than any other previously offered by Doha. The comment by Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary-general...
Uneasy calm grips Ukraine as West prepares winter aid
KYIV, Ukraine — An uneasy calm hung over Kyiv on Tuesday as residents of the Ukrainian capital did what they could to prepare for anticipated Russian missile attacks aiming to take out more energy infrastructure as winter sets in. To ease that burden, NATO allies made plans to boost provisions...
China launches 3 astronauts to complete space station
BEIJING — China launched a rocket Tuesday carrying three astronauts to complete construction of the country’s permanent orbiting space station, during which they will expand the facility to its maximum capacity of six crew aboard. The crew of the Shenzhou-15 will overlap for several days with the existing 3-member crew...
4 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in occupied West Bank
JERUSALEM — A Palestinian man on Tuesday rammed his car into an Israeli soldier, seriously injuring her, before he was shot dead by Israeli police in the occupied West Bank. He was the fourth Palestinian killed in a series of violent incidents throughout the day. It was the latest bloodshed...
