U.S./World category, Page 755
Taliban warn of ‘consequences’ if U.S. extends evacuation past AugustVideo
KABUL — In the eight days since tens of thousands converged on Kabul’s airport to flee an Afghanistan under Taliban rule, critics and allies alike have blasted President Joe Biden’s insistence on the Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. and NATO troop withdrawal, urging him to delay so as to complete...
Crews search for missing in Tennessee deluge that killed 22Video
WAVERLY, Tenn. — Search crews worked through shattered homes and tangled debris on Monday, looking for about a dozen people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through rural Tennessee, killing at least 22 people. Saturday’s flooding took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving people uncertain about...
Enrique Tarrio, Proud Boys leader who burned BLM flag, gets 5 months in jail
The leader of the Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced to more than five months in jail on Monday for burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was torn down from a historic Black church in downtown Washington and bringing two high-capacity firearm magazines into the nation’s capital days shortly...
Igor Vovkovinskiy, tallest man in U.S., dies in Minnesota
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Igor Vovkovinskiy, the tallest man in the United States, has died in Minnesota. He was 38. His family said the Ukrainian-born Vovkovinskiy died of heart disease on Friday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. His mother, Svetlana Vovkovinska, an ICU nurse at Mayo, initially posted about his...
Internal probe clears officer in Capitol riot shooting
WASHINGTON — An officer who shot and killed a woman during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as she began to climb through the broken part of a door leading into an area known as the Speaker’s Lobby acted lawfully and in line with police department policy, the...
Diner leaves $10,000 tip for workers at Florida restaurant
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A diner at a north Florida restaurant gathered the staff of 10 together to thank them for their hard work before leaving them a $10,000 tip to share. It happened last Tuesday night as the man, his wife and son finished their dinner at the Wahoo Seafood...
Pentagon to mandate covid-19 vaccine, as Pfizer is approved
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says it will require service members to receive the covid-19 vaccine now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is making good on his vow earlier this month to require the shots once the...
U.S. regulators give full approval to Pfizer covid-19 vaccine
WASHINGTON — The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the nation battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the...
Gunfire at Kabul airport kills 1 amid chaotic evacuations
KABUL, Afghanistan — A firefight just outside Kabul’s international airport killed at least one Afghan soldier early Monday, German officials said, the latest chaos to engulf Western efforts to evacuate those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country. The airport shooting came as the Taliban sent fighters north of the...
Henri’s lazy remnants hinder cleanup, threaten inland floods
The slow and sprawling storm system named Henri drenched much of the inland Northeast with rain Monday, hampering cleanup efforts and threatening further flooding in areas with ground already saturated from a wet summer. Rains from the storm, which spared coastal areas of New York and New England major damage...
As Cuomo exits, Hochul to take office minus ‘distractions’
ALBANY, N.Y. — Andrew Cuomo neared the end of his decade as New York’s governor Monday, as he prepared to relinquish his tight grip on government to Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul in a midnight power transfer that will break another glass ceiling for women in state politics. Cuomo, a Democrat,...
Poll: School mask, vaccine mandates supported in U.S.
As covid-19 cases surge around the country, a majority of Americans say they support mask mandates for students and teachers in K-12 schools, according to a new poll, but their views are sharply divided along political lines. About 6 in 10 Americans say students and teachers should be required to...
Thousands of household wells go dry amid California drought
MADERA COUNTY, Calif. — Fourteen years ago, Heriberto Sevilla came across a ranch on the outskirts of Madera set among fields of stalk grass and bright wildflowers. Pepper trees dotted the meadow, and children played in the natural lakes created by heavy rains. It was the perfect place to raise...
22 dead, many missing after 17 inches of rain in Tennessee
McEWEN, Tenn. — At least 22 people were killed and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee. Saturday’s flooding in rural areas took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving...
Biden says U.S.-led evacuation from Kabul is accelerating
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Sunday the U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others from the Kabul airport accelerated this weekend, although it remains vulnerable to threats posed by the Islamic State extremist group. One week after the Taliban completed its takeover of Afghanistan by capturing Kabul, Biden...
Moving inland, Tropical Storm Henri drenches Northeast
WESTERLY, R.I. — Tropical Storm Henri socked the Northeast with heavy wind and rain as it made landfall Sunday on the coast of Rhode Island, knocking out power to over 100,000 homes and causing deluges that closed bridges, swamped roads and left many people stranded in their vehicles. The storm...
China allows couples 3rd child amid demographic crisis
BEIJING — China will now allow couples to legally have a third child as it seeks to hold off a demographic crisis that could threaten its hopes of increased prosperity and global influence. The ceremonial legislature on Friday amended the Population and Family Planning Law as part of a decades-long...
Europe fears Afghan refugee crisis after Taliban takeover
HANGEDIGI, Turkey — From above, the new border wall separating Turkey from Iran looks like a white snake winding through the barren hills. So far it only covers a third of the 335-mile border, leaving plenty of gaps for migrants to slip across in the dead of night. Traffic on...
IS threat forces U.S. changes to evacuations at Kabul airport
KABUL, Afghanistan — Potential Islamic State threats against Americans in Afghanistan are forcing the U.S. military to develop new ways to get evacuees to the airport in Kabul, a senior U.S. official said Saturday, adding a new complication to the already chaotic efforts to get people out of the country...
Explainer: Why it takes months to subdue some wildfires
BOISE, Idaho — At nearly every community meeting on firefighting efforts in the U.S. West, residents want to know why crews don’t simply put out the flames to save their homes and the valuable forests surrounding them. It’s not that simple, wildfire managers say, and the reasons are many, some...
Coastal evacuations urged as Hurricane Henri heads north
Preparations for a storm grew more urgent Saturday as the newly upgraded Hurricane Henri closed in on the Northeast. The storm’s latest track put it on course to collide Sunday with a long stretch of coastline, with hurricane warnings extending from near the old whaling port of New Bedford, Mass.,...
Haitian quake victims rush aid sites, take food and supplies
LES CAYES, Haiti — Haitians left hungry and homeless by a devastating earthquake swarmed relief trucks and in some cases stole desperately needed goods Friday as leaders of the poor Caribbean nation struggled to coordinate aid and avoid a repeat of their chaotic response to a similar tragedy 11 years...
Infowars host Owen Shroyer charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot
The host of a program for the right-wing website Infowars, Owen Shroyer, has been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents filed Friday. Shroyer, who hosts “The War Room With Owen Shroyer” for the website operated by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones,...
Senators question DOJ funding for AI-powered policing tech
CHICAGO — A Democratic senator said the U.S. Justice Department needs to look into whether the algorithm-powered police technologies it funds contribute to racial bias in law enforcement and lead to wrongful arrests. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, was responding to an investigation by The Associated Press published Thursday...
U.S. imposes limited sanctions over Russian gas pipeline
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration imposed new sanctions Friday on three Russian ships and companies involved in constructing a controversial gas pipeline from Russia to Europe. The move comes as lawmakers from both parties criticize the administration for not doing enough to halt the Nord Stream 2 project. But it...
