U.S./World category, Page 658
Texas keeping most truck inspections despite border gridlock
AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday defied intensifying pressure over his new border policy that has gridlocked trucks entering the U.S. and shut down some of the world’s busiest trade bridges as the Mexican government, businesses and even some allies urge him to relent. The two-term Republican governor,...
Russian embassy in Bosnia warns of destabilization
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The Russian embassy in Bosnia on Wednesday criticized the suspension of a Bosnian Serb property law and warned of potential destabilization in the tense Balkan country unless the decision by the top international official is revoked. The embassy in a statement carried by local media reiterated that...
U.K.’s Johnson rejects calls to resign amid ‘partygate’ fine
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to resign after being fined for breaking his government’s pandemic lockdown rules, saying he would instead redouble efforts to strengthen the economy and combat Russian aggression in Ukraine. London police fined Johnson and other people Tuesday for attending a birthday party...
Japan, U.S. hold navy drills off Koreas amid nuke test worry
TOKYO — U.S. and Japanese warships, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, are conducting their joint naval exercise in waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula for the first time in five years, in a show of their close military alliance amid growing speculation of North Korea’s...
IS supporter given life sentence for murdering U.K. lawmaker
LONDON — An Islamic State supporter was given a whole-life sentence Wednesday for stabbing a British lawmaker to death in revenge for his voting in support for airstrikes on Syria. Ali Harbi Ali, 26, was convicted Monday of murdering Conservative lawmaker David Amess and preparing terrorist acts. A jury deliberated...
Biden: Russia war a ‘genocide,’ trying to ‘wipe out’ UkraineVideo
DES MOINES, Iowa — President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Russia’s war in Ukraine amounted to genocide,” accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to “wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian.” Speaking in Iowa shortly before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, Biden said he meant...
Ukrainian politician close to Putin detained
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials say fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is both a pro-Russian opposition leader and a close associate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been detained in a special operation carried out by the country’s SBU secret service. Ivan Bakanov, the head of Ukraine’s national security...
Georgia Gov. Kemp to sign bill allowing concealed carry of handguns without a license
ATLANTA — As of Tuesday, most Georgians will be allowed to carry concealed handguns without first getting a license from the state. Making good on a 2018 campaign promise, Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to sign Senate Bill 319, sometimes referred to as “constitutional carry.” SB 319 would allow a...
Oklahoma governor signs bill to make abortion illegal
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law on Tuesday that makes it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, as part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states across the country to scale back abortion rights. The bill,...
Putin vows to press invasion until Russia’s goals are met
KYIV, Ukraine — Vladimir Putin vowed Tuesday that Russia’s bloody offensive in Ukraine would continue until its goals are fulfilled and insisted the campaign was going as planned, despite a major withdrawal in the face of stiff Ukrainian opposition and significant losses. Russian troops, thwarted in their push toward Ukraine’s...
Japan, Italy to lift defense ties amid China, Russia worries
TOKYO — Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said he and his Italian counterpart agreed Tuesday to step up military cooperation as Japan expands security ties with Europe amid concern about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on Asia. Kishi told reporters that he and Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini...
N.Y. Lt. Gov. Benjamin arrested in campaign donation scheme
NEW YORK — New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, whose seven months in that role has been overshadowed by probes into a previous campaign, was arrested Tuesday in a federal corruption investigation. The Democrat was accused in an indictment of participating in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions from a...
Biden waiving ethanol rule in bid to lower gasoline prices
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is visiting corn-rich Iowa on Tuesday to announce he’ll suspend a federal rule preventing the sale of higher ethanol blend gasoline this summer, as his administration tries to tamp down prices at the pump that have spiked during Russia’s war with Ukraine. Most gasoline sold...
Police focus on van renter in Brooklyn subway shooting probeVideo
NEW YORK — A gunman in a gas mask and construction vest set off a smoke grenade and fired a barrage of at least 33 bullets in a rush-hour subway train, shooting at least 10 people Tuesday, authorities said. Police were scouring the city for the shooter and trying to...
Russian activist who said he had been poisoned is detainedVideo
Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., who was twice sickened in incidents he suspected were poisonings, has been detained in Moscow by police, another prominent opposition figure said Monday. Ilya Yashin said on Twitter that Kara-Murza was detained Monday near his Moscow residence. It was unclear whether he had been...
Former Virginia police officer convicted of storming Capitol to disrupt Congress
WASHINGTON — A federal jury on Monday convicted a former Virginia police officer of storming the U.S. Capitol with another off-duty officer to obstruct Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Jurors convicted former Rocky Mount police officer Thomas Robertson of all six counts he faced stemming from...
Trial opens in Florida opioid lawsuit case against Walgreens
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A trial opened Monday in Florida’s opioid epidemic lawsuit against the Walgreens pharmacy chain, which state officials accuse of prioritizing profits over health by improperly dispensing millions of powerful painkillers that caused tens of thousands of deaths. The trial, in Pasco County north of Tampa, comes...
California utility to pay $55 million for massive wildfires
Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to pay more than $55 million to avoid criminal prosecution for two major wildfires started by aging Northern California power lines belonging to the nation’s largest utility, prosecutors announced Monday. PG&E does not admit wrongdoing in the two settlements reached with prosecutors for last...
Discovery of radioactive liquid pauses work at U.S. nuke dump
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An area at the U.S. government’s nuclear waste repository in southeastern New Mexico was evacuated over the weekend after workers handling a shipping container discovered a small amount of radioactive liquid inside it. There was no indication of airborne contamination and testing of workers’ hands and feet...
Judge weighs cameras in next trial over George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota judge will hear arguments Monday on whether to allow live video coverage of the upcoming trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting the murder of George Floyd. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill took the rare step of allowing live audiovisual coverage...
Transgender treatment ban challenged by lawsuit in Alabama
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Two families with transgender teens and two physicians sued the state of Alabama on Monday to overturn a law that makes it a crime for doctors to treat trans youth under 19 with puberty blockers or hormones to help affirm their gender identity. The lawsuit was filed...
Warsaw takes over Russia-built compound to give to Ukraine
WARSAW — A disputed compound in the Polish capital of Warsaw administered by Russia’s diplomatic mission is being taken over by the city and will be made available to the Ukrainian community, the mayor said Monday. Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski was at the site early Monday and said a bailiff had...
Once a retail giant, Kmart nears extinction after closure
AVENEL, N.J. — The familiar sights and sounds are still there: the scuffed and faded floor tiles, the relentless beige-on-beige color scheme, the toddlers’ clothes and refrigerators and pretty much everything in between. There’s even a canned recording that begins, “Attention, Kmart shoppers” — except it’s to remind folks about...
2 people killed, 5 wounded in shooting near Los Angeles
WILLOWBROOK, Calif. — Two people were killed in a weekend shooting near Los Angeles and five people were wounded and hospitalized, authorities said. The gunfire erupted at about 4 p.m. Sunday on a residential block in the community of Willowbrook, about 10 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, the Los...
Tesla CEO Elon Musk won’t join Twitter’s board after all
SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter’s largest investor, billionaire Elon Musk, is reversing course and will no longer join the company’s board of directors less than a week after being awarded a seat. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced the news, which followed a weekend of Musk tweets suggesting changes to Twitter, including...
