U.S./World category, Page 25
Top EU court rules Polish Constitutional Tribunal is not independent
WARSAW, Poland — The European Union’s top court ruled on Thursday that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal was not “independent and impartial” because of politicized appointments made under the previous conservative Polish government. In its ruling, the EU’s Court of Justice said the Polish Constitutional Tribunal had “infringed the principle of effective...
Lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria could spur refugee returns, says UN official
BEIRUT — The head of the U.N. refugee agency in Lebanon said Thursday that the move by the United States to lift sweeping sanctions on Syria could encourage more refugees to return to their country. The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to permanently remove the so-called Caesar Act sanctions after the...
Israel launches intense airstrikes in Lebanon as deadline looms to disarm Hezbollah
BEIRUT — Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on southern and northeastern Lebanon on Thursday as a deadline looms to disarm the militant Hezbollah group along the countries’ tense frontier. The strikes came a day before a meeting of the committee monitoring the enforcement of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that...
Trump demands Venezuela pay for seized U.S. oil assets after calling for ‘blockade’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump demanded Wednesday that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a “blockade” against oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country that face American sanctions. Trump cited the lost U.S. investments in Venezuela...
U.S. government admits negligence in helicopter-plane collision that killed 67 in Washington
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government admitted Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration and the Army played a role in causing the collision last January between an airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people. The official response to the first lawsuit filed by one of...
Imprisoned Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell seeks release, citing ‘new evidence’
NEW YORK — Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge on Wednesday to set aside her sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, saying “substantial new evidence” has emerged proving that constitutional violations spoiled her trial. Maxwell maintained in a...
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he plans to resign next month as bureau’s No. 2 official
WASHINGTON — FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Wednesday that he will resign from the bureau next month, ending a brief and tumultuous tenure in which he clashed with the Justice Department over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and was forced to reconcile the realities of his law...
Jack Smith tells lawmakers his team developed ‘proof beyond a reasonable doubt’ against Trump
WASHINGTON — Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers in a closed-door interview Wednesday that his team of investigators “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trump had criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to portions of his opening statement obtained...
Trump’s National Guard deployment in Washington can continue for now, an appeals court says
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the National Guard deployment in the nation’s capital can continue for now, staying a lower-court ruling that had ordered an end to the troops’ presence. The three-judge panel for U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled...
Rob and Michele Reiner’s son appears in court on murder charges while siblings speak of their loss
LOS ANGELES — Nick Reiner made his first court appearance Wednesday in Los Angeles on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, while the couple’s other two children made their first public statement on their crushing loss....
New York governor says she has reached a deal to legalize medically assisted suicide
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday that she has reached a deal with state legislative leaders to approve a bill to give terminally ill people the legal ability to end their own lives with prescribed medication. In an op-ed in the Albany Times Union, Hochul said...
South African authorities raid a U.S. refugee processing center; Washington protests
JOHANNESBURG — South African immigration authorities raided a United States refugee processing center in Johannesburg and seven Kenyans working there illegally were arrested and given deportation orders, South Africa’s Home Affairs Ministry said Wednesday, as the U.S. called the action “unacceptable.” Tuesday’s raid occurred at a center that processes applications...
Georgia Senate committee is set to question Fani Willis over Trump prosecution
ATLANTA — After more than a year of legal maneuvering, Fani Willis will face questions Wednesday from a Georgia state Senate committee over her prosecution of Donald Trump. The question is whether Fulton County’s Democratic district attorney will answer any of them. The Republican-dominated state Senate in January 2024 created...
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are awarding $5 million to a leader in neurodiversity education
NEW YORK — Mega billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, former news anchor Lauren Sánchez Bezos, are awarding $5 million to the founder of a neurodivergent student support network, a recognition that the lesser-known recipient credits to the students powering his fast-growing movement for more inclusive classrooms. “I...
Accused gunman in Bondi Beach shooting charged with 15 counts of murder
SYDNEY — An accused gunman in Sydney’s Bondi Beach massacre was charged with 59 offenses including 15 charges of murder on Wednesday, as hundreds of mourners gathered in Sydney to begin funerals for the victims. Two shooters slaughtered 15 people on Sunday in an antisemitic mass shooting targeting Jews celebrating...
What Americans think about giving cash as holiday gifts
NEW YORK — Welcome to exhausted America 2025: Most adults are more than a little fine with doling out cash as gifts, and many plan to be asleep before midnight on New Year’s Eve, according to a new AP-NORC poll. About 6 in 10 Americans say cash or gift cards...
Study finds humans were making fire 400,000 years ago, far earlier than once thought
LONDON — Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago. The findings, described in the journal Nature, push back the earliest known date...
Sen. Mark Kelly calls Pentagon investigation into his remarks a move to chill military dissentVideo
WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona said Tuesday that the Pentagon’s escalating investigation into his remarks urging troops to refuse unlawful orders is part of an effort to silence dissent within the military. “This is just about sending a message to retired service members, active duty service members,...
Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned oil tankers’ into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on Maduro
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy. Trump’s escalation comes after...
MIT professor fatally shot at his home and police launched a homicide investigation
BROOKLINE, Mass. — A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was fatally shot at his home near Boston, and authorities said Tuesday they had launched a homicide investigation. Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, was shot Monday night at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. He died...
Pete Hegseth says he won’t publicly release video of boat strike that killed survivors in the Caribbean
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the Pentagon will not publicly release unedited video of a U.S. military strike that killed two survivors of an initial attack on a boat allegedly carrying cocaine in the Caribbean, as questions mounted in Congress about the incident and the overall buildup...
A photographer finds thousands of dinosaur footprints near Italian Winter Olympic venue
MILAN — A wildlife photographer stumbled upon one of the oldest and largest known collections of dinosaur footprints, dating back about 210 million years to the Triassic Period, high in an Italian national park near the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic venue of Bormio, officials announced Tuesday. The discovery in...
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Brian Glenn are getting married
NEW YORK — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is engaged to Right Side Broadcasting Network personality Brian Glenn. The pair announced their impending nuptials on social media with a photo showing the two enjoying dinner at a restaurant where the right-wing lawmaker showed off her new ring. “She said ‘yes,’”...
Investigators release video timeline of the Brown campus shooting suspect’s movementsVideo
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Authorities on Tuesday released a new video timeline and a slightly clearer image of the man suspected in the Brown University shooting, though investigators provided no indication that they were any closer to zeroing in on his identity. Investigators have been canvassing Providence homes, yards and dumpsters...
Fans celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th birthday in Britain and beyond
LONDON — Fans of Jane Austen celebrated the acclaimed author’s 250th birthday on Tuesday with a church service in her home village, festive visits to her house and a virtual party for those paying tribute from afar. Thousands of enthusiasts around the world have already taken part in a yearlong...
