U.S./World category, Page 793
White House: Biden to meet Putin for Geneva summit
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will hold a summit with Vladimir Putin next month in Geneva, a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders that comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Russia in the first months of the Biden administration. The White House confirmed details of the summit on...
Colorado supermarket shooting suspect heads back to court
DENVER — A 22-year-old man accused of fatally shooting 10 people at a Colorado supermarket was set to appear in court Tuesday for a hearing to discuss what will happen next in the case. The status hearing will be only the second court appearance for Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa since...
Rights group urges Japan to update law on changing gender
TOKYO — An international rights group on Tuesday urged Japan to change a law that it says puts “abusive and outdated” burdens on transgender people seeking to have their gender change legally recognized, including sterilization surgery and a psychiatric diagnosis. The report by New York-based Human Rights Watch said such...
Vatican issues a street art stamp, ends up getting sued
ROME — One night in early 2019, Rome street artist Alessia Babrow glued a stylized image of Christ she had made onto a bridge near the Vatican. A year later, she was shocked to learn that the Vatican had apparently used a reproduction of her image, which featured her hallmark...
Suspect arrested in South Florida synagogue harassment
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Police have arrested a man who they say yelled antisemitic remarks at a rabbi and dumped a bag of human feces in front of a South Florida synagogue. Hallandale Beach police arrested Jeffrey Carl Fleming on Monday on charges of felony stalking with a hate crime...
Justice Department appeals judge’s order on Russia probe memo
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Monday that it would appeal a judge’s order directing it to release a legal memo on whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice during the Russia investigation. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson earlier this month had ordered the Justice Department to release the...
Grand jury indicts ex-UCLA doctor on 21 sexual abuse counts
LOS ANGELES — A grand jury indicted a former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles on 21 counts of sexual abuse offenses Monday in a case where he is accused of sexually assaulting seven women, court documents say. Dr. James Heaps faces multiple counts each of sexual battery...
Nashville DA won’t enforce new bathroom sign law
NASHVILLE — Nashville’s top prosecutor said Monday that he will not enforce a newly enacted law that requires businesses and government facilities open to the public to post a sign if they let transgender people use multiperson bathrooms and other facilities associated with their gender identity. “I believe every person...
Texas poised to allow unlicensed carrying of handgunsVideo
AUSTIN — Texas is poised to remove one of its last major gun restrictions after lawmakers approved allowing people to carry handguns without a license, and the background check and training that go with it. The Republican-dominated Legislature approved the measure Monday, sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has...
Key impeachment witness sues Mike Pompeo over $1.8M in legal fees
WASHINGTON — Gordon Sondland, the Trump administration’s ambassador to the European Union and a pivotal witness in 2019 impeachment proceedings, sued former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday in an effort to recoup $1.8 million he racked up in legal expenses. Sondland alleges in the lawsuit, filed in federal...
Suspect arrested after deadly shooting at New Jersey birthday partyVideo
BRIDGETON, N.J. — A shooting at a birthday party in New Jersey that left two people dead and 12 injured was not a random act and was a reflection of gun violence that has swept the nation, Gov. Phil Murphy said. “A birthday party is supposed to be a joyous...
Grim western fire season starts much drier than record 2020
As bad as last year’s record-shattering fire season was, the western U.S. starts this year’s in even worse shape. The soil in the West is record dry for this time of year. In much of the region, plants that fuel fires are also the driest scientists have seen. The vegetation...
Las Vegas officials hold pop-up vaccine clinic at strip club
Wearing a French maid-inspired lingerie costume and high heels, dancer JoJo Hamner waited patiently to get her covid-19 vaccine in a line that snaked past a glittery hostess stand under a red-light chandelier. When it was her turn, Hamner sat in a chair and held onto a small feather duster...
Former banker Guillermo Lasso becomes president in Ecuador
QUITO, Ecuador — Former banker Guillermo Lasso was sworn in as president of Ecuador on Monday, saying he will escalate efforts to vaccinate people to protect them from COVID-19 and work to revive an economy hit hard by the pandemic. So far, Ecuador has vaccinated just 3% of the total...
Poland defies EU court ruling to close major lignite mine
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s government on Monday defied an injunction by the top European Union court that ordered the immediate closure of a major brown coal mine, with officials saying it would shake the nation’s energy system and lead to the layoff of thousands of employees. Development Minister Jaroslaw Gowin...
Prosecutor: Late former priest killed altar boy in 1972
BOSTON — Investigators were preparing to seek an arrest warrant for a defrocked Roman Catholic priest long considered a suspect in the 1972 killing of a western Massachusetts altar boy shortly before his death last week, a prosecutor said Monday. Incriminating admissions Richard Lavigne made in a series of recent...
Biden doubling spending to prepare for hurricanes, storms
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Monday’s he’s doubling U.S. emergency spending to help communities prepare for hurricanes and other extreme weather events, while launching a new effort at NASA to better understand and track the impacts of climate change. The $1 billion in spending being is a small fraction...
Cosmic 2-for-1: Total lunar eclipse combines with supermoon
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The first total lunar eclipse in more than two years coincides with a supermoon this week for quite a cosmic show. This super “blood” moon will be visible Wednesday across the Pacific — offering the best viewing — as well as the western half of North...
Italy investigators probe why cable car brake ‘didn’t work’
STRESA, Italy — The investigation into Italy’s cable car disaster that killed 14 people will focus on why the lead cable snapped and why the emergency brake didn’t engage and prevent the cabin from careening back down the mountain until it pulled off the support line and crashed to the...
Justices reject case of retired cop put in police chokehold
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a retired federal law enforcement officer who was put in a chokehold and wrestled to the ground at a VA hospital security checkpoint. The justices did not comment in refusing to revive a lawsuit filed by Jose Oliva, 76,...
George Floyd’s family holds rally, march in brother’s memory
MINNEAPOLIS — Members of George Floyd’s family, and others who lost loved ones to police encounters, joined activists and citizens in Minneapolis for a march that was one of several events planned nationwide to mark the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death. Hundreds of people gathered for the rally Sunday in...
Iran agrees to extend deal on cameras at its nuclear sites
VIENNA — Iran and the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agreed on Monday to a one-month extension to a deal on surveillance cameras at Tehran’s atomic sites, buying more time for ongoing negotiations seeking to save the country’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers. The last-minute discussions further underscored the narrowing window...
Blinken off to Mideast to push peace talks after Gaza truce
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the Middle East to press the Israelis, Palestinians and regional players to build on last week’s Gaza cease-fire by laying the groundwork for an eventual resumption in long-stalled peace talks. President Joe Biden announced Blinken would depart on Monday for...
As Congress returns to funding earmarks, who will benefit?
HUFFMAN, Texas — Don’t tell Laura Fields that providing $1.7 million to her flood-prone neighborhood would be wasteful spending. Her home in a Houston-area subdivision was filled with 10 inches of water during Hurricane Harvey. “The stress of that was just horrific,” Fields said. “You know, to see fish swimming...
Whimsical new NYC waterfront park floats over Hudson River
NEW YOR — A whimsical new park that appears to float on pilings above the Hudson River opened to the public just off the Manhattan shoreline Friday, four years after a fight between media mogul Barry Diller and a billionaire real estate developer threatened to derail it. The new park,...
