U.S./World category, Page 397

KYIV, Ukraine — The head of NATO expressed worry that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a war between Russia and NATO, according to an interview released Friday. “If things go wrong, they can go horribly wrong,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in remarks to...

BEIJING — A rash of Covid-19 cases in schools and businesses were reported Friday in areas across China after the ruling Communist Party loosened anti-virus rules as it tries to reverse a deepening economic slump. While official data showed a fall in new cases, they no longer cover large parts...

BERLIN — German authorities said Friday that judges have confirmed the arrest of 23 people detained earlier this week on suspicion of planning to topple the government, while the extradition of two others detained abroad is being sought. Prosecutors said 22 German citizens and a Russian woman detained in a...

MINNEAPOLIS — The former Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s back while another officer kneeled on the Black man’s neck was sentenced Friday to 3 1/2 years in prison. J. Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty in October to a state count of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. In exchange,...

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Nine miners died in a coal mine explosion in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province on Friday and rescue workers were still searching for one missing miner after rescuing two others. The blast, caused by noxious gases including methane, occurred in a mine in Sawahlunto district owned by a...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooter had charges dropped in a 2021 bomb threat case after family members who were terrorized in the incident refused to cooperate, according to the district attorney and court documents unsealed Thursday. The charges were dropped despite authorities finding a “tub”...

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s surprise announcement last July lacked any detail, but its meaning was crystal clear. In a rare comment on secret talks, he said the Biden administration had made a “substantial proposal” to Russia to end the imprisonment of two Americans: WNBA star Brittney Griner...

The brother of an American detained in Russia since 2018 said Thursday that his family fears he will not be released for years, even as they supported the U.S. government’s agreement to a prisoner exchange that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner but left Paul Whelan behind. Whelan, a Michigan corporate...

The FedEx driver accused of abducting and killing a 7-year-old girl last week in Texas told authorities that he strangled her after accidentally hitting her with his van while making a delivery at her home, according to an arrest warrant obtained Thursday. Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, told investigators that Athena...

As WNBA star Brittney Griner traveled home to the United States after being released from a Russian prison Thursday as part of a prisoner swap between the countries, Oakmont native Marc Fogel remained in a penal colony north of Moscow unsure of when — or if — he would receive...

U.S. regulators on Thursday cleared doses of the updated covid-19 vaccines for children younger than age 5. The Food and Drug Administration’s decision aims to better protect the littlest kids from severe covid-19 at a time when children’s hospitals already are packed with tots suffering from a variety of respiratory...

Two women who lost their jobs at Twitter when billionaire Elon Musk took over are suing the company in federal court, claiming that last month’s abrupt mass layoffs disproportionately affected female employees. The discrimination lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal challenges over Musk’s decimation of Twitter’s workforce...

WASHINGTON — The House gave final approval Thursday to legislation protecting same-sex marriages, a monumental step in a decadeslong battle for nationwide recognition that reflects a stark turnaround in societal attitudes. President Joe Biden has said he will promptly sign the measure, which requires all states to recognize same-sex marriages....

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran said Thursday it executed a prisoner convicted for a crime allegedly committed during the country’s ongoing nationwide protests, the first such death penalty carried out by Tehran. The execution of Mohsen Shekari comes as other detainees also face the possibility of the death penalty...

WASHINGTON — Fresh off his party’s better-than-anticipated performance in the midterm elections, President Joe Biden is facing consistent but critical assessments of his leadership and the national economy. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 43% of U.S. adults say they approve of the...

Some booming suburbs, many of them in the Sun Belt, are becoming as racially diverse as major coastal cities — and often with less racial conflict. Sixty-nine counties, mostly in the South and West, had clear racial majorities in 2010 but lost them by last year, according to a Stateline...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A judge unsealed a dropped bomb threat case Thursday against the Colorado gay bar shooting suspect who threatened to become the “next mass killer” over a year before allegedly killing five people and wounding 17 others at the LGBTQ enclave Club Q. Judge Robin Chittum said...

KYIV, Ukraine — The Kremlin said Thursday it’s up to Ukraine’s president to end the military conflict in the country, suggesting terms that Kyiv has repeatedly rejected, while Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to press on with the fighting despite Western criticism. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “(Ukrainian President...

BENI, Congo — Arbitrarily shooting, stabbing, raping and abducting people, rebels in eastern Congo have killed at least 131 people and inflicted “unspeakable violence” against civilians, says a new U.N. report. The M23 rebel group killed men, women and children in two villages in Congo’s Rutshuru territory in North Kivu...

ISLAMABAD — Twenty-seven people were lashed in public on Thursday in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan as punishment for alleged adultery, theft, drug offenses and other crimes, according to a court official. Afghanistan’s new authorities have implemented hard-line policies since they took over the country in August 2021 that have underlined their interpretation...

WASHINGTON — American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange following nearly 10 months in detention in Russia. The deal, which saw her swapped for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, secured the release of the most prominent American...

SAN ANTONIO — A former Border Patrol agent who confessed to killing four sex workers in 2018 was convicted Wednesday of capital murder, after jurors heard recordings of him telling investigators he was trying to “clean up the streets” of his South Texas hometown. Juan David Ortiz, 39, receives an...

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida lawmaker who sponsored the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” has been indicted on charges of defrauding a federal coronavirus loan program for small businesses, officials said Wednesday. Federal prosecutors said Rep. Joe Harding, 35, illegally obtained or tried to obtain more than $150,000 from...