U.S./World category, Page 783
Ohio House expels former Republican speaker in historic vote
COLUMBUS — Former Republican Speaker Larry Householder was expelled from the Ohio House in a vote Wednesday as a result of his indictment in an alleged $60 million federal bribery probe, only the second time the state Legislature has pushed out a member and the first time in 150 years....
Dead ‘murder hornet’ near Seattle is 1st found in U.S. in 2021
Scientists have found a dead Asian giant hornet north of Seattle, the first so-called murder hornet found in the country this year, federal and state investigators said Wednesday. Entomologists from the state and U.S. Agriculture departments said it’s the first confirmed report from Snohomish County, north of Seattle, and appears...
Millions fear eviction as housing crisis worsens
More than 4 million people say they fear being evicted or foreclosed upon in the coming months just as two studies released Wednesday found that the nation’s housing availability and affordability crisis is expected to worsen significantly following the pandemic. The housing crisis, the studies found, risk widening the housing...
Portland, scarred by unrest and violence, tries to come back
PORTLAND, Ore. — The smell of fresh empanadas wafted through the stands at Portland’s Saturday Market. People talked through their masks with artists as others sifted through fork windchimes, crystal necklaces, tie dye dresses and clay mugs. The weekly event was smaller than in years past, but longtime attendees say...
Hours after 4 killed in Chicago, 5 more hurt in shooting
Five people standing outside on Chicago’s West Side were shot in a violent end to a day that began with a mass shooting on the city’s South Side that left four people dead and four more injured, police said. Four men and one woman were shot about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday...
‘You stabbed me,’ boy tells father at double-murder trial
TAMPA, Fla. — Acting as his own lawyer, a double-murder defendant opened his death penalty trial by shouting at jurors that he did not attack his girlfriend and disabled daughter. Now he’s cross-examined his son, forcing the 11-year-old to describe exactly how he hurt him. Ronnie Oneal III claimed in...
U.S. Army has hidden or downplayed loss of firearms for years
The U.S. Army has hidden or downplayed the extent to which its firearms disappear, significantly understating losses and thefts even as some weapons are used in street crimes. The Army’s pattern of secrecy and suppression dates back nearly a decade, when The Associated Press began investigating weapons accountability within the...
Senators would stop ‘micropolitan’ label for 144 U.S. cities
Some lawmakers are trying to stop 144 U.S. cities from losing their designations as “metropolitan areas” as the federal government updates its standards, doubling the minimum number of residents required in a city’s urban core to 100,000 people. Sens. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, and Mark Kelly, a...
Computer trouble hits Hubble Space Telescope, science halted
The Hubble Space Telescope has been hit with computer trouble, with all astronomical viewing halted, NASA said Wednesday. The orbiting observatory has been idle since Sunday when a 1980s-era computer that controls the science instruments shut down, possibly because of a bad memory board. Flight controllers at NASA’s Goddard Space...
‘Pure business’ at Biden-Putin summit: No hugs, no brickbatsVideo
GENEVA — President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded their summit on Wednesday with an agreement to return their nations’ ambassadors to their posts in Washington and Moscow and a plan to begin work toward replacing the last remaining treaty between the two countries limiting nuclear weapons. But...
5 things to watch for in Biden’s meeting with Vladimir PutinVideo
WASHINGTON — When President Joe Biden has his first head-of-state sit-down with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, it will be a test of mettle and wills, each leader confident in his ability to hold the upper hand over the other. Both have been fixtures in global politics for years, but...
Israelis march in east Jerusalem in test for new governmentVideo
JERUSALEM — Hundreds of Israeli ultranationalists, some chanting “Death to Arabs,” paraded Tuesday in east Jerusalem in a show of force that threatened to spark renewed violence just weeks after a war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians in Gaza responded by launching incendiary balloons that caused at...
Judge OKs Weinstein’s extradition for California rape case
A New York judge on Tuesday approved disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s extradition to California, where he faces additional sexual assault charges, ending a legal fight prolonged by the covid-19 pandemic, the defense’s concerns about Weinstein’s failing health and a squabble over paperwork. Judge Kenneth Case said there was no...
Pittsburgh programs among MacKenzie Scott’s $2.7 billion charity donations
MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist known for her impromptu multi-billion dollar donations to charities and racial equity causes, announced Tuesday that she has given $2.7 billion to 286 organizations. It is the third round of no-strings-attached, major philanthropic gifts Scott has made, which together rival the charitable contributions made by...
U.S. Park service sued after gate kills Ugandan humanitarian
SALT LAKE CITY — The family of a women’s rights activist from Uganda sued the National Park Service this month after she was decapitated last year by a gate at Utah’s Arches National Park. The gate had been left unlatched against federal policy for two weeks before it struck Esther...
Philips issues voluntary recall for CPAP machines, ventilators
Medical equipment company Philips has issued a recall on some products to address possible health risks associated with a foam component meant to help reduce noise. The polyester-based polyurethane foam in its Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (Bi-Level PAP), Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), and mechanical ventilator devices could “degrade into...
Robotic ship sets off to retrace the Mayflower’s journey
SWANSEA, Wales — Four centuries and one year after the Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England, on a historic sea journey to America, another trailblazing vessel with the same name has set off to retrace the voyage. This Mayflower, though, is a sleek, modern robotic ship that is carrying no human...
May retail sales fell 1.3% as Americans spend less on goods
NEW YORK — Retail sales fell in May, dragged down by a decline in auto sales and a shift by Americans to spend more on vacations and other services instead of goods. Total sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 1.3% in May from the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department said...
Hong Kong watching Chinese nuclear plant after leak reported
HONG KONG — China’s government said Tuesday no abnormal radiation was detected outside a nuclear power plant near Hong Kong following a news report of a leak, while Hong Kong’s leader said her administration was closely watching the facility. The operators released few details, but nuclear experts said that based...
Former lawmaker Rohrabacher confirms he was at Capitol riot
PORTLAND, Maine — Former California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher confirmed he attended the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after anonymous investigators online identified him in footage. Rohrabacher told the Portland Press Herald on Monday that he did not go into the Capitol building. The Republican served 15 terms in...
Autopsy: Mother overdosed, infant starved to death
PORTLAND, Tenn. — Autopsies in Tennessee show that a 1-year-old child starved to death in his car seat in a house where his mother died of a drug overdose, while his 3-year-old sister, found alive, had tried for days to feed her brother. The bodies of Tiffany Spears, 32, and...
Charitable giving in the U.S. reaches all-time high in 2020
Galvanized by the racial justice protests and the coronavirus pandemic, charitable giving in the United States reached a record $471 billion in 2020, according to a report released Tuesday that offers a comprehensive look at American philanthropy. The Giving USA report says Americans gave more to charity last year than...
Thinner Mints: Girl Scouts have millions of unsold cookies
The Girl Scouts have an unusual problem this year: 15 million boxes of unsold cookies. The 109-year-old organization says the coronavirus — not thinner demand for Thin Mints — is the main culprit. As the pandemic wore into the spring selling season, many troops nixed their traditional cookie booths for...
Police: Alabama fire hydrant plant worker kills 2, wounds 2
ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — A worker who killed two people and wounded two more at an Alabama fire hydrant plant early Tuesday has been found dead, apparently after killing himself in a car, a police chief said. “The person was deceased from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Police...
Biden eases trade friction with EU ahead of Putin summit
BRUSSELS — President Joe Biden on Tuesday moved to end a long-running dispute with the European Union over subsidies for aircraft manufacturers, a major breakthrough in the U.S.-EU trade relationship that comes on the eve of his highly anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The announcement that the two...
