U.S./World category, Page 143
Court upholds racketeering convictions of ex-Ohio House speaker and lobbyist in $60M bribery scheme
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal appeals court upheld the racketeering convictions of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and an ex-lobbyist on Tuesday in a $60 million bribery scheme that a prosecutor had described as likely the largest corruption scheme in state history. The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel...
Trump says the U.S. will stop bombing Yemen’s Houthis after rebels say they’ll stop targeting ships
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s ordering a halt to nearly two months of U.S. airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthis, saying that the Iran-backed rebels have indicated that “they don’t want to fight anymore” and have pledged to stop attacking ships along a vital maritime corridor. “We’re going...
Senate confirms Frank Bisignano to lead Social Security Administration as agency faces DOGE overhaul
WASHINGTON — Wall Street veteran Frank Bisignano was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday to lead the Social Security Administration, taking over at a turbulent time for the agency that provides benefits to more than 70 million Americans. The Senate confirmed Bisignano in a 53-47 vote. Bisignano’s confirmation comes after...
Supreme Court allows Trump ban on transgender members of the military to take effect, for now
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges proceed. The court acted in the dispute over a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service and could lead to the expulsion of...
U.S. trade deficit hits record high as businesses, consumers try to get ahead of Trump tariffs
NEW YORK — The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record $140.5 billion in March as consumers and businesses alike tried to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s latest and most sweeping tariffs — with federal data showing an enormous stockpiling of pharmaceutical products. The deficit — which measures the...
What customers can expect as Rite Aid closes or sells all its drugstores
Rite Aid customers can expect their local store to close or change ownership in the next few months, as the struggling drugstore chain goes through another bankruptcy filing. The company plans to sell customer prescription files, inventory and other assets as it closes distribution centers and unloads store locations. Stores...
Trump, Carney faceoff in Oval Office leaves gaping differences on tariffs, 51st state
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney faced off in the Oval Office on Tuesday and showed no signs of retreating from their gaping differences in an ongoing trade war that has shattered decades of trust between the two countries. The two kept it civil, but...
How Utah dentists are preparing patients for 1st statewide fluoride ban
SALT LAKE CITY — With Utah’s first-in-the-nation ban on fluoride in public drinking water set to take effect Wednesday, dentists who treat children and low-income patients say they’re bracing for an increase in tooth decay among the state’s most vulnerable people. Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed the law against the...
Federal investigators say a utility wasn’t marked before a deadly natural gas explosion in Missouri
LEXINGTON, Mo. — A deadly explosion that leveled one Missouri home and damaged two others happened after a subcontractor drilled into an unmarked underground gas main while installing fiber optic cable, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Monday. One person was killed and two others were injured in the April...
Homeland Security chief says travelers with no Real ID can fly for now, but with likely extra steps
WASHINGTON — Travelers who haven’t obtained a Real ID by this week’s deadline received assurances from the head of Homeland Security they will be able to fly after additional identity checks. Her comments came Tuesday as people were waiting in long lines outside of government buildings from California to Chicago...
80 years after World War II, Germany is still painstakingly searching for its fallen soldiers
HALBE, Germany — In a forest near Berlin, the remains of 107 fallen Wehrmacht soldiers were ceremoniously interred last week. High school students placed white gerbera daisies on small black coffins, and German soldiers lowered them respectfully into a large, freshly dug grave as a military band played a solemn...
Israel says it will seize Gaza. Here’s a look at the Palestinian territory’s troubled recent history
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Cabinet voted Monday to seize the Gaza Strip for an unspecified amount of time in a move that could see Israel reestablish control over a territory it vacated two decades ago. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 after a decades-long occupation and then imposed a blockade on...
Israel’s military says it has fully disabled Yemen’s main airport with airstrikes
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said Tuesday it launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, fully disabling the country’s international airport in the capital, Sanaa. It also said several power plants were struck in the area. Footage aired on Israeli television showed thick black plumes of smoke rising above the...
U.S. expands attempt to blow up Google with proposed teardown of its ad technology
The U.S. Justice Department is doubling down on its attempt to break up Google by asking it to give up the underlying technology powering the company’s digital ad network. The proposed remedy joins a separate federal effort to separate the Chrome browser from its dominant search engine. The government’s latest...
Friedrich Merz wins on 2nd ballot to become Germany’s chancellor
BERLIN — Friedrich Merz succeeded Tuesday in his bid to become the next German chancellor during a second vote in parliament, hours after he suffered a historic defeat in the first round. The conservative leader had been expected to smoothly win the vote to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since World...
Beyond a possible Asian or African pope, what are the priorities of the cardinals in the conclave?
VATICAN CITY — Cardinals electing a new pope have some fundamental questions to weigh, beyond whether to give the Catholic Church its first Asian or African pontiff, or a conservative or progressive. Although they come from 70 different countries, the 133 cardinals seem fundamentally united in finding a pope who...
What name the new pope chooses can signal what’s ahead
ROME — The first clue of the next pope’s direction will be the name the winner chooses. The announcement “Habemus Papam” — “We have a pope” — from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica is followed first by the revelation of the new pontiff’s baptismal name, in Latin, followed by...
The federal Bureau of Prisons has lots of problems. Reopening Alcatraz is now one of them
Eleven inmate deaths in less than two months. More than 4,000 staff vacancies. A $3 billion repair backlog. And now, a stunning directive from President Donald Trump for the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons to “REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” — the notorious penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay...
Trump administration asks judge to toss lawsuit restricting access to abortion medication
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit from three GOP-led states seeking to cut off telehealth access to abortion medication mifepristone. Justice Department attorneys stayed the legal course charted by Biden administration, though they didn’t directly weigh in on the underlying issue...
Trump administration says Harvard will receive no new grants until it meets White House demands
WASHINGTON — Harvard University will receive no new federal grants until it meets a series of demands from President Donald Trump’s administration, the Education Department announced Monday. The action was laid out in a letter to Harvard’s president and amounts to a major escalation of Trump’s battle with the Ivy...
Federal authorities cleaning up oil spill in southeast Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS — Federal authorities are seeking to contain and clean up the damage from a decades-old oil well in southeast Louisiana that spewed crude and natural gas for more than a week. Upwards of 79,000 gallons of “oily water mixture” have been recovered near Garden Island Bay in Plaquemines...
Pete Hegseth directs 20% cut to top military leadership positions
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday directed the active duty military to shed 20% of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration keeps pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions. Hegseth also told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions. In a...
Boat believed to be carrying migrants capsizes off California coast, leaving 3 dead, 9 missing
SAN DIEGO — A small boat believed to be carrying migrants capsized early Monday off San Diego’s coast and left three people dead and four injured, while U.S. Coast Guard crews were searching for nine others, officials said. Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris Sappey said it was unclear where the...
Luigi Mangione musical set to debut in San Francisco
Most are familiar with the name Luigi Mangione by now — the 26-year-old charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York in December. Well, his case is now being made into a musical. Titled “Luigi: The Musical,” the show will debut June 13 in San Francisco at the...
Trump administration says it will pay immigrants in the U.S. illegally $1,000 to leave the country
WASHINGTON — Pushing forward with its mass deportation agenda, President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday that it would pay $1,000 to immigrants who are in the United States illegally and return to their home country voluntarily. The Department of Homeland Security said in a news release that it would also...
