U.S./World category, Page 645
No more murder charge for women in Louisiana abortion bill
NEW ORLEANS — The sponsor of a bill that would have subjected Louisiana women to murder charges for having abortions abruptly pulled the proposal from debate Thursday night after House members voted 65-26 to totally revamp the legislation, eliminating the criminal penalties. The controversial bill would have ventured farther against...
Finland moves toward joining NATO amid Russia threats
HELSINKI — Finland’s leaders Thursday came out in favor of applying to join NATO, and Sweden could do the same within days, in a historic realignment on the continent 2½ months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through Moscow’s neighbors. The Kremlin reacted...
Soldier killed in bear attack during training in Alaska, U.S. Army says
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson soldier was killed by a bear Tuesday while training in Anchorage, the U.S. Army Alaska said. The soldier was part of a small group training in an area west of the Anchorage Regional Landfill when the bear attacked, the Army said in a...
House panel sets hearing on baby formula shortage exacerbated by recall from Michigan plant
WASHINGTON — A U.S. House committee on Wednesday announced plans for a May 25 hearing on a national baby formula shortage fueled in part by a February recall by the manufacturer Abbot for products made at its Michigan plant. Those recalled products included powder formula sold under the labels Similac,...
Trump sells Washington hotel to Miami-based investor group
NEW YORK — The lease to the Washington, D.C., hotel run by Donald Trump’s family company while he was president, a symbol of his power to GOP politicians who gathered there and of corruption to his critics, has been sold by his family company to a Miami-based investor fund. The...
Pilot down, passenger takes over with ‘no idea how to fly’
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A passenger with no flying experience radioed an urgent plea for help when the pilot of a small plane suddenly fell ill off Florida’s Atlantic coast, and was able to land the plane safely with the help of air traffic controllers. “I’ve got a serious...
Lawyers in suit over Surfside collapse reveal staggering legal settlement: $997 million
MIAMI — In a surprise development, the class-action litigation over the collapse of Champlain Towers South has been settled, a federal judge was told Wednesday, with plaintiffs expected to receive just under $1 billion. The comprehensive settlement announced in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman’s courtroom effectively closes the litigation...
Egg-sized diamond fetches over $21M with fees at Geneva sale
GENEVA — Christie’s says “The Rock,” an egg-sized white diamond billed as the largest of its kind to go up for auction, sold Wednesday for more than 21.6 million Swiss francs ($21.75 million), including fees — though at the low end of the expected range. The 228-carat pear-shaped G-Color stone,...
The tiniest babies: Shifting the boundary of life earlier
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Michelle Butler was just over halfway through her pregnancy when her water broke and contractions wracked her body. She couldn’t escape a terrifying truth: Her twins were coming much too soon. Dr. Brian Sims entered the delivery room and gently explained that babies born so early likely...
Ukraine shuts off Russian pipeline amid talk of annexation
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Ukraine shut down a pipeline Wednesday that carries Russian natural gas to homes and industries in Western Europe, while a Kremlin-installed official in a southern region seized by Russian troops said the area will ask Moscow to annex it. The immediate effect of the energy cutoff is...
It wasn’t murder: Judge frees innocent man after 30 years
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After serving 30 years of a life sentence in Tennessee for the fire that killed his girlfriend, a 65-year-old man has been declared innocent and released from prison. Claude Garrett was released Tuesday from Riverbend prison in Nashville after a judge vacated his murder conviction and a...
U.S. identifies Native American boarding schools, burial sites
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A first-of-its-kind federal study of Native American boarding schools that for over a century sought to assimilate Indigenous children into white society has identified more than 400 such schools that were supported by the U.S. government and more than 50 associated burial sites, a figure that could...
German airline apologizes for excluding Jewish passengers
BERLIN — German airline Lufthansa has apologized for refusing to let any members of a large group of Orthodox Jewish passengers onto a flight after some of them had refused to wear masks. In a statement late Tuesday, Lufthansa said that it “regrets the circumstances surrounding the decision to exclude...
Judge: Trump must pay $110K, meet conditions to end contempt
NEW YORK — A New York judge said Wednesday he will lift Donald Trump’s contempt of court order if the former president meets conditions including paying $110,000 in fines he’s racked up for being slow to respond to a civil subpoena issued by the state’s attorney general. Judge Arthur Engoron...
Prisoner put to death in Arizona’s 1st execution since 2014
FLORENCE, Ariz. — An Arizona man convicted of killing a college student in 1978 was put to death Wednesday after a nearly eight-year hiatus in the state’s use of the death penalty brought on by an execution that critics say was botched — and the difficulty state officials faced in...
UN says $144 million needed to avert Yemen tanker disaster
The United Nations was seeking $144 million on Wednesday needed to fund the salvage operation of a decaying tanker full of oil moored off the coast of Yemen, a ship whose demise could cause an environmental disaster. The amount includes $80 million to transfer the more than 1 million barrels...
Elon Musk, an erratic visionary, revels in contradiction
As the uproar over Elon Musk’s $44 billion buyout of Twitter reaches a crescendo, another Musk drama, still chaotic four years after it began, has been back in court. Ironically, that spectacle started with a Musk tweet about doing an audacious deal. Then, with Wall Street awaiting his next move,...
U.S. overdose deaths hit record 107,000 last year, CDC says
NEW YORK — More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, setting another tragic record in the nation’s escalating overdose epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Wednesday. The provisional 2021 total translates to roughly one U.S. overdose death every 5 minutes. It marked a 15%...
Al Jazeera reporter killed during Israeli raid in West Bank
JERUSALEM — Veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin early Wednesday. The broadcaster and a reporter who was wounded in the incident blamed Israeli forces. The Israel army initially raised the possibility...
Florida students win yearbook flap over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
SANFORD, Fla. — After an outcry from students and parents over yearbook censorship, a Florida school board overruled their superintendent’s plan to cover up a page showing students waving rainbow flags and a “love is love” sign during a walkout against the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. The superintendent...
Britain pledges to defend Sweden if it’s attacked
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Britain pledged to defend Sweden if the country came under attack, with Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Magdalena Andersson signing a security assurance deal outside Stockholm on Wednesday. Sweden and Finland are pondering whether to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Johnson is...
Ministers meet in Morocco to discuss ongoing threat from IS
RABAT, Morocco — Members of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group gathered in Morocco on Wednesday to discuss the campaign, a reminder of the persistent threat from the extremist group despite the overwhelming preoccupation with Russia’s war on Ukraine. U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland co-chaired...
Sri Lanka deploys troops in capital after violence, protests
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan authorities deployed armored vehicles and troops in the streets of the capital on Wednesday, two days after pro-government mobs attacked peaceful protesters, triggering a wave of violence across the country. Security forces have been ordered to shoot those deemed to be participating in the...
U.S. casinos had best month ever in March, winning $5.3B
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Inflation may be soaring, supply chains remain snarled and the coronavirus just won’t go away, but America’s casinos are humming right along, recording the best month in their history in March. The American Gaming Association, the gambling industry’s national trade group, said Wednesday that U.S. commercial...
John Eastman used college’s email account to send advice on challenging Pa.’s 2020 election results
John Eastman, a lawyer who represented Donald Trump following the president’s 2020 election loss, used his University of Colorado email account while serving as a visiting professor in Boulder to advise a Pennsylvania lawmaker on how to challenge that state’s electors, according to records submitted to Congress. The selection of...
