U.S./World category, Page 682
Biden moves to reverse Trump-era limits on green cards
SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration on Thursday proposed reversing a rule that denies green cards to applicants who receive certain government benefits, one of former President Donald Trump’s signature moves to limit legal immigration. The administration stopped applying the more expansive Trump-era limits in March, making the announcement more...
Truckers in Canada hold their ground despite threats of crackdown
OTTAWA, Ontario — Hundreds of truckers clogging the streets of Canada’s capital stood their ground and defiantly blasted their horns Thursday as police poured in, threatening to break up the nearly three-week protest against the country’s covid-19 restrictions. Busloads of police arrived near Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, and workers put up...
No new settlement yet of opioid claims against Purdue Pharma
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and a group of states have not been able to agree on a multibillion-dollar settlement of lawsuits over the drug’s role in the opioid crisis after more than a month of mediation. A mediator could call for still more talks between the parties, Purdue lawyer Marshall...
Arbery not seen stealing, cop told hate crime defendants
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A police officer testified Thursday that he told a white father and son on trial for hate crimes in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery there was no evidence the 25-year-old Black man had stolen anything after security cameras recorded him wandering inside a home under construction several...
Trump must testify in New York investigation, judge rules
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump must answer questions under oath in New York state’s civil investigation into his business practices, a judge ruled Thursday. Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., to comply with subpoenas issued in December by New...
In Latin America’s new Cold War, will China lift up autocrats?
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — El Salvador’s president and the Chinese ambassador traded flatteries this month as they broke ground on a new national library, one of a slew of gifts China has promised this small mountainous nation as part of its vigorous quest to gain influence across Central America....
Brazil mudslide death toll is at 113, police say 116 missing
PETROPOLIS, Brazil — The death toll from floods and landslides that swept down on the mountain city of Petropolis rose to at least 113 on Thursday and local officials said it could still rise sharply, with 116 more still unaccounted for. The Rio de Janeiro state government confirmed the rising...
Experts see avocado price rise, damage to Mexican producers
MEXICO CITY — Experts say you may be paying more for your avocado toast in the short term, and the effects of the U.S. temporary ban on imports of the fruit is already being felt by avocado pickers in Mexico. Mexico is negotiating security guarantees for U.S. inspectors who certify...
How American cash for Canada protests could sway U.S. politics
WASHINGTON — The Canadians who have disrupted travel and trade with the U.S. and occupied downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks have been cheered and funded by American right-wing activists and conservative politicians who also oppose vaccine mandates and the country’s liberal leader. Yet whatever impact the protests have on...
Biden: Russian threat to invade Ukraine is still ‘very high’
Fears of a new war in Europe resurged Thursday as U.S. President Joe Biden warned that Russia could invade Ukraine within days, and violence spiked in a long-running standoff in eastern Ukraine that some worried could provide the spark for wider conflict. World dignitaries raced for solutions, but suspicions between...
FAA head to resign; had tried to rebuild agency’s reputation
The leader of the Federal Aviation Administration, whose agency has been criticized for its oversight of Boeing and handling of questions surrounding 5G interference with aircraft, said Wednesday he will step down March 31. Stephen Dickson, a former pilot and executive with Delta Air Lines in Atlanta, had led the...
Crews end search for missing cruise traveler in Gulf of Mexico
The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a cruise ship passenger who jumped from her balcony into the sea and is missing in the Gulf of Mexico. An airplane had been conducting search patterns off the coast, but Coast Guard officials said Thursday night that the search had...
Plane crashes into tractor-trailer on North Carolina highway
LEXINGTON, N.C. — An airplane crashed into a tractor-trailer on Wednesday on a North Carolina highway, killing the pilot and sparking a small fire, the N.C. State Highway Patrol said. The Federal Aviation Administration said a twin-engine Beechcraft Barron crashed into the tractor-trailer on Interstate 85 South, near the Davidson...
GOP-led Arizona Senate OKs huge school voucher expansion
PHOENIX — Arizona’s Republican-controlled Senate approved a massive expansion of the state’s school voucher system on Wednesday, a contentious proposal the sponsor says is aimed at low-income students but that also adds wealthier parents who could use public money to pay for private schools. The measure would make as many...
Florida House OKs budget that punishes mask mandate schools
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — School districts that ignored Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order banning mask mandates will face a $200 million penalty under a budget bill passed Wednesday by the Florida House. The funding stripped from those districts would be spread among the state’s other districts. Republican Rep. Randy Fine angrily...
Kentucky Senate passes ban on older transgender athletes
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Senate passed a bill Wednesday to bar older transgender girls from participating in school sports that match their gender identity. The 27-8 vote followed an emotional plea from a lawmaker who shared her own family story and warned that the bill is hurtful because “you’re...
Prosecutors reduce requested sentence for ex-cop Kim Potter
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota prosecutors have apparently backed away from their pursuit of a longer-than-usual sentence for the suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser when she killed Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist. Kim Potter, 49, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday following her...
Online harassment, real harm: Fixing the web’s biggest bug
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — It should have been a time of celebration: Brittan Heller would soon graduate from college and head to one of the nation’s top law programs. But when a classmate with unrequited feelings for Heller wasn’t admitted to that same school, he turned his rage on her. He...
Prosecutors build case for hate crimes in Arbery killing
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Prosecution witnesses retook the stand Wednesday in the federal hate crimes trial of three white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. The first witness was FBI intelligence analyst Amy Vaughan, who went through evidence from the defendants’ text messages and social media posts. On the first day...
Latest Trump-Russia filing generates buzz
WASHINGTON — The latest filing from special counsel John Durham in his investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe has been seized on by the conservative media and Donald Trump himself as vindication of the former president’s oft-repeated claims that he was “spied” on. One headline said Durham had...
A stunning fall for ex-Honduran president wanted in U.S.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The arrest of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández and the images that followed — a leader shackled and paraded before the cameras like a common criminal — were a stunning reversal for a man who for years seemed impervious to growing allegations of corruption. While president...
Brazil mudslides from torrential rains kill at least 38
PETROPOLIS, Brazil — The death toll from devastating mudslides and floods that swept through a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state has reached 78, Gov. Claudio Castro said Wednesday afternoon. The city of Petropolis was slammed by a deluge Tuesday, and Castro said almost 400 people were left homeless....
Biden orders release of Trump White House logs to Congress
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is ordering the release of Trump White House visitor logs to the House committee investigating the riot of Jan. 6, 2021, once more rejecting former President Donald Trump’s claims of executive privilege. The committee has sought a trove of data from the National Archives, including...
New York girl missing since 2019 found hidden under staircase
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. — A young girl reported missing in 2019 was found hidden under a staircase by officers searching a home in New York’s Hudson Valley, police said Tuesday. The child was found in good health Monday night in a Saugerties home about 130 miles east of Cayuga Heights, where...
Massachusetts preschool closes, apologizes after blackface activityVideo
NEWTON, Mass. — A Massachusetts Montessori preschool has shut down and apologized after a classroom full of toddlers painted black faces on paper plates and held them up to their own faces as a celebration of Black History Month. ICKids in Newton in a statement posted on Facebook and on...
