U.S./World category, Page 671
GOP lawmakers in Kentucky advance 15-week abortion ban
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Republican lawmakers advanced a proposal Thursday to ban abortions after 15 weeks in Kentucky, part of a new push by abortion opponents to place restrictions on the procedure. The measure is modeled after a Mississippi law under review by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that...
Scathing reports find U.S. military failures in 2020 Kenya attack
Military investigations have found poor leadership, inadequate training and a “culture of complacency” among U.S. forces undermined efforts to fend off a 2020 attack by militants in Kenya that killed three Americans, U.S. officials familiar with the probes told The Associated Press ahead of the release of the findings, expected...
‘Scum of the earth’: Drug victims face Purdue Pharma owners
NEW YORK — Angry, defiant and sometimes tearful, more than two dozen Americans whose lives were upended by the opioid crisis finally had their long-awaited chance Thursday to confront in court some members of the family they blame for fueling it. They were unsparing as they unleashed decades of frustration...
At 91, siege of Leningrad survivor is besieged by war again
KHARKIV, Ukraine — Alevtina Shernina was a young girl when she survived the brutal siege of Leningrad during World War II. Eight decades later, so frail she can barely talk, or move unassisted, she is besieged again. The 91-year-old lives in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city and one of the...
Border authorities find 52 reptiles hidden in man’s clothing
A man who tried to slither past U.S. border agents in California had 52 lizards and snakes hidden in his clothing, authorities said Tuesday. The man was driving a truck when he arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing with Mexico on Feb. 25 and was pulled out for additional...
VP Harris embraces call for war crimes probe of Russia
WARSAW, Poland — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday embraced calls for an international war crimes investigation of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and the bombing of civilians, including a maternity hospital. Speaking in Warsaw, where she is demonstrating U.S. support for NATO’s eastern flank allies, Harris expressed...
Gas price hikes fueling electric vehicle conspiracy theories
WASHINGTON — Some social media users suggest that soaring fuel prices in the U.S. aren’t the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, increased consumption or supply chain issues as daily life resumes after two years of stagnation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the flurry of Facebook and Twitter...
Russia built an economy like a fortress but the pain is real
Western sanctions are dealing a severe blow to Russia’s economy. The ruble is plunging, foreign businesses are fleeing and sharply higher prices are in the offing. Familiar products may disappear from stores, and middle-class achievements like foreign vacations are in doubt. Beyond the short-term pain, Russia’s economy will likely see...
Ukrainian embassy draws U.S. citizens seeking to fight in war
WASHINGTON — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given the smaller nation’s embassy in Washington an unexpected role: recruitment center for Americans who want to join the fight. Diplomats working out of the embassy, in a townhouse in the Georgetown section of the city, are fielding thousands of offers from volunteers...
Russians keep pressure on Mariupol; massive convoy breaks up
MARIUPOL, Ukraine — Civilians trapped inside Mariupol desperately scrounged for food and fuel as Russian forces kept up their bombardment of the port city Thursday, while satellite photos showed that a massive Kremlin convoy that had been mired outside the Ukrainian capital split up and fanned out into towns and...
Iran offers mixed signals as nuclear talks deadline looms
Iran offered mixed signals Thursday as a deadline loomed in talks over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers. The Iranian president defended the negotiations while the country’s top diplomat and a security official blamed America for the deadlock. The monthslong, indirect talks in Vienna have sought to both get...
United House OKs $13.6B for Ukraine in huge spending bill
WASHINGTON — The House approved a massive spending bill Wednesday night that would rush $13.6 billion in U.S. aid to battered Ukraine and its European allies, after top Democrats were forced to abruptly drop their plan to include fresh funds to battle covid-19. Passage of the Ukraine aid and the...
Firm Pentagon ‘no’ to Polish plan to send jets to Ukraine
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Wednesday slammed the door on a Polish proposal for providing Ukraine with MiG fighter jets, saying allied efforts against the Russian invasion should be focused on more useful weaponry and the MiG transfer with a U.S. and NATO connection would run a “high risk” of...
Texas flagged 27,000 mail ballots for rejection in primary
AUSTIN, Texas — More than 27,000 mail ballots in Texas were flagged for rejection in the first test of new voting restrictions enacted across the U.S., jeopardizing votes cast by Democrats and Republicans alike and in counties big and small, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. It puts...
Endurance: Explorer Shackleton’s ship found after a century
Researchers have discovered the remarkably well-preserved wreck of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, in 10,000 feet of icy water, a century after it was swallowed up by Antarctic ice during what proved to be one of the most heroic expeditions in history. A team of marine archaeologists, engineers and...
Trump plane makes emergency landing after engine failure
A plane carrying former President Donald Trump was forced to make an emergency landing in New Orleans last weekend after suffering engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico. The details of the emergency landing, first reported by Politico, were confirmed Wednesday by a person familiar with the incident who was...
1 million children leave behind lives, friends in Ukraine
ZAHONY, Hungary — After bombs started falling in her hometown of Kharkiv, Annamaria Maslovska left her friends, her toys and her life in Ukraine and set off on a days-long journey with her mother toward safety in the West. After finally crossing the Hungarian border by train along with hundreds...
Trump a pariah? New $100 million bank loan suggests not
NEW YORK — A bank’s decision to loan Donald Trump’s company $100 million is the latest evidence the former president might survive fraud investigations and a business-world backlash over his efforts to stay in office after losing the 2020 election. San Diego-based Axos Bank finalized the loan with the Trump...
55 tons of lettuce fed to Florida’s starving manatees
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — More than 55 tons of lettuce have been fed to starving Florida manatees as part of an experimental program to help the slow-moving marine mammals since their natural food is being destroyed by water pollution, wildlife officials said Wednesday. The lettuce, funded by more than 1,000...
Stocks jump, oil drops in latest dizzying swing for markets
NEW YORK — Stocks rallied and oil prices fell sharply Wednesday as the big swings shaking global markets go in both directions amid uncertainty about the war in Ukraine. The S&P 500 was 2.9% higher in afternoon trading, following a four-day losing streak that had pulled it 13% below its...
SPLC report: Hate groups in decline as views hit mainstream
The number of white nationalist, neo-Nazi and anti-government extremist groups across the U.S. fell for a third straight year in 2021, even as some groups were reinvigorated by the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol last year and by the ongoing culture wars over the pandemic and school curriculums....
Texas loses appeal over investigation of trans teen’s family
A Texas court on Wednesday tossed out the state’s appeal of an order preventing child welfare officials from investigating the parents of a transgender teenager over gender-confirming care the youth received. The Texas Court of Appeals dismissed Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s appeal of the temporary order a judge issued...
Colorado elections clerk indicted in voting system breach
DENVER — A grand jury in Colorado has indicted a county election clerk who sowed doubt about the 2020 presidential election, alleging she was part of a “deceptive scheme” to breach voting system technology that is used across the country. Tina Peters, a Republican elected in 2018 to oversee elections...
U.S. man who got 1st pig heart transplant dies after 2 months
The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months after the groundbreaking experiment, the Maryland hospital that performed the surgery announced Wednesday. David Bennett, 57, died Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Doctors didn’t give an exact cause of death, saying only...
Prosecutor: Men planned to ‘hog-tie’ Michigan Gov. Whitmer
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A prosecutor told jurors Wednesday that the four men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 recruited a militia and planned to break into the Democrat’s home, tie her up and take her away. The men also planned to blow up a...
