U.S./World category, Page 741
House votes to protect abortion rights amid state challenges
The House passed legislation Friday that would guarantee a woman’s right to an abortion, an effort by Democrats to circumvent a new Texas law that has placed that access under threat. The bill’s 218-211 approval is mostly symbolic, as Republican opposition will doom it in the Senate. Still, Democrats say...
Biden hosts Indo-Pacific leaders as China concerns grow
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday is meeting with leaders of an Indo-Pacific alliance known as “the Quad” as he wraps up a difficult week of diplomacy in which he faced criticism from both allies and adversaries. The White House meeting with leaders from India, Japan and Australia gives...
Officials: All migrants are gone from Texas border camp
DEL RIO, Texas — No migrants remained Friday at the Texas border encampment where almost 15,000 people — most of them Haitians — had converged just days earlier seeking asylum, local and federal officials said. It’s a dramatic change from last Saturday, when the number peaked as migrants driven by...
China says all crypto transactions illegal; Bitcoin tumbles
China’s central bank on Friday declared all transactions involving Bitcoin and other virtual currencies illegal, stepping up a campaign to block use of unofficial digital money. Friday’s notice complained Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital currencies disrupt the financial system and are used in money-laundering and other crimes. “Virtual currency derivative...
N.Y. hospitals fear staff shortage as vaccine deadline looms
NEW YORK — Hospitals and nursing homes in New York are bracing for the possibility that a statewide covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers could lead to staff shortages when it takes effect Monday. Doctors and nurses — and also support staff, like food service workers and cleaners —...
U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigns over migrant expulsions
The Biden administration’s special envoy to Haiti resigned in protest of “inhumane” large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants to their homeland as it is wracked by civil strife and natural disaster, U.S. officials said Thursday. Daniel Foote was appointed to the position only in July, following the assassination of Haiti’s President...
CDC director expands group eligible for covid-19 booster shot
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans, opening a major new phase in the U.S vaccination drive against covid-19. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from a panel of advisers late...
Vatican Museums, Uffizi team up to confirm a Raphael is real
VATICAN CITY — Two of the world’s most important art museums, the Vatican Museums and the Uffizi Galleries, joined forces for the first time on Friday to inaugurate a small exhibit of rarely seen works by two Renaissance masters that confirmed a painting long suspected of being by Raphael was...
Alaska reports a daily record 1,330 coronavirus infections
Alaska’s unprecedented covid-19 crisis escalated Thursday with the state reporting seven new deaths, a record 1,330 new cases and a near-record 209 hospitalizations. It’s the third time in two weeks that the daily record has been broken: The previous highs were recorded Wednesday, with 1,251 cases, and Sept. 15, with...
South Korea reports biggest daily virus jump
South Korea has reported its biggest daily jump in coronavirus since the start of the pandemic as people returned from the country’s biggest holiday of the year. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said more than 1,750 of the 2,434 new cases reported Friday were from the greater capital...
Port of Houston target of suspected nation-state hack
A major U.S. port was the target last month of suspected nation-state hackers, according to officials. The Port of Houston, a critical piece of infrastructure along the Gulf Coast, issued a statement Thursday saying it had successfully defended against an attempted hack in August and “no operational data or systems...
Oldest human footprints in North America found in New Mexico
Fossilized footprints discovered in New Mexico indicate that early humans were walking across North America around 23,000 years ago, researchers reported Thursday. The first footprints were found in a dry lake bed in White Sands National Park in 2009. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey recently analyzed seeds stuck in...
Boyfriend of slain Gabby Petito charged with bank card fraud
The boyfriend of Gabby Petito, whose body was found at a national park in Wyoming after a cross country trip with him, has been charged with unauthorized use of a debit card as searchers continue looking for him in Florida swampland, federal authorities announced Thursday. A federal grand jury indictment...
Leaders to UN: A warmer world is a more violent one, too
UNITED NATIONS — Using apocalyptic images, three presidents and seven foreign ministers warned Thursday that a warmer world is also a more violent one. At a ministerial meeting of the Security Council, the officials urged the U.N.’s most powerful body to do more to address the security implications of climate...
Boppy, ‘devastated’ by infant deaths, recalls 3 million popular lounge pillows
The Boppy Company and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of 3.3 million loungers that have been attributed in the deaths of eight infants who “reportedly suffocated.” Recalled are the Boppy Original Newborn Loungers, Boppy Preferred Newborn Loungers and Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Loungers. According to...
Tennessee grocery store attack: ‘He kept on shooting’
COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — A gunman attacked a grocery store in an upscale Tennessee suburb on Thursday afternoon, killing one person and wounding 12 others before he was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the store, authorities said. Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane said the shooting broke out...
Louisiana state trooper charged in pummeling of Black man
A former Louisiana State Police trooper has been charged with a civil rights violation for pummeling a Black motorist 18 times with a flashlight — the first criminal case to emerge from federal investigations into troopers’ beatings of at least three Black men. A grand jury on Thursday indicted Jacob...
U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigns over repatriation of Haitians from U.S.-Mexico border
Harshly criticizing what he called the United States’ “inhumane” treatment of Haitian migrants and its policy toward Haiti, Daniel Foote, the U.S. diplomat whose reputation for working in some of the world’s most challenging environments made him a top pick by the Biden administration to serve as special envoy to...
Tropical Storm Sam forms; will likely be a hurricane by Friday, experts say
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Tropical Storm Sam, the 18th named storm of the season, is expected to be at hurricane strength by Friday, and could be a major hurricane with top winds of 111 mph by late Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Sam formed Thursday from Tropical Depression...
CDC advisers try to work out the details on booster shots
With booster doses of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine now authorized in the U.S., government advisers reconvened on Thursday to tackle the most contentious question yet: Exactly who should roll up their sleeves right away? Late Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration signed off on extra shots of the Pfizer formula for...
Washington National Cathedral names artist to replace Confederate windows
Washington National Cathedral has chosen contemporary artist Kerry James Marshall, renowned for his wide-ranging works depicting African American life, to design new stained-glass windows with themes of racial justice that will replace a set with Confederate imagery that the landmark sanctuary removed in 2017. The cathedral on Thursday said he...
Polluters pick up tab for restoration of threatened cedar
WOODLAND TOWNSHIP, N.J. — New Jersey plans to restore vast tracts of a coastal tree species threatened by climate change, and will pay for it with money from polluters of groundwater. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday its plan to restore 10,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar...
Here’s how thousands of Haitian migrants ended up Texas
DEL RIO, Texas — For the final leg of his journey from Chile to the United States, Haitian migrant Fabricio Jean followed detailed instructions sent to him via WhatsApp from his brother in New Jersey who had recently taken the route to the Texas border. His brother wired him money...
Many migrants staying in U.S. even as expulsion flights rise
DEL RIO, Texas — Three hours after being freed from a giant migrant camp under an international bridge, Mackenson Veillard stood outside a gas station and took stock of his sudden good fortune as he and his pregnant wife waited for a Greyhound bus to take them to a cousin...
Top Democrats: We have framework to pay for $3.5T bill; no details
The White House and congressional Democrats have agreed to a “framework” of options to pay for their huge, emerging social and environment bill, top Democrats said Thursday, but they offered no details and the significance was unclear. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...
