CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A young Venezuelan man returning home late from work was fatally shot when he got caught in the middle of late-night street clashes that engulfed many working-class neighborhoods in Caracas. The death Thursday night of Melvin Guitan in a poor neighborhood in eastern Caracas brings to nine the number of people … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — “The timing has been uncanny,” says Margaret Atwood, marveling at how her 1985 novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” has not only been given renewed life as a TV series but has also gained disturbing urgency. “Last November 7, they thought they were making a fantasy fiction series,” Atwood says. “On November 9, … Continue reading
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Lawyers for Arkansas inmates condemned to die Thursday in a planned double execution insist they are innocent and one of them says advanced DNA techniques could show he didn’t kill a woman in 1993. Their strategy to win stays of execution is in marked contrast to the first two inmates … Continue reading
OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Late in the afternoon of Feb. 12, Sheriff Kory Honea was at the emergency operations center for the tallest dam in America when he overheard someone say something that stopped him in his tracks: “This is not good.” Over six straight days, the operators of the Oroville Dam had been saying … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers voted by a resounding 522 to 13 on Wednesday to back Prime Minister Theresa May’s call for a snap election on June 8. The result easily surpassed the two-thirds majority of the 650 lawmakers needed to trigger an early vote. There were also a number of abstentions. May says holding … Continue reading
BOSTON (AP) — Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez hanged himself Wednesday in the prison cell where he was serving a life sentence for murder, taking his life on the same day his ex-teammates on the New England Patriots were set to visit the White House to mark their Super Bowl victory. His death came less … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s decision to send an aircraft carrier to waters off the Korean Peninsula is meant as a show of force, but it also could expose American weakness. If North Korea goes ahead with a ballistic missile or nuclear test and the U.S. does nothing in response, America’s deterrence will appear … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is appearing to rule out deeper American military intervention in Syria beyond retaliatory strikes if Syrian President Bashar Assad continues his assault on civilians with chemical weapons. “Are we going to get involved with Syria? No,” Trump told Fox Business News in an interview that aired Wednesday. Trumps comments … Continue reading
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — With muskets polished, flags aloft and one very commanding tent in place, Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution is at the ready. After nearly two decades of planning, the museum that tells the dramatic story of the founding of the United States opens April 19, the anniversary of the shots fired at … Continue reading
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency on Monday took the rare step of urging European Union members to suspend returns of asylum-seekers to their partner, Hungary, faulting its new policy of systematically placing migrants in containers and expelling any migrants not holding the proper papers. UNHCR says that since a tough new law took … Continue reading
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — With wreath-laying ceremonies and prayers, Poland on Monday observed the seventh anniversary of a plane crash in Russia that killed President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 94 others. Poland’s ruling party, Law and Justice, is headed by Kaczynski’s twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who has led regular commemorations of the tragedy and … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Most Americans would hate living in a world untouched by Hugh Hefner. That’s a message from “American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story,” which premieres Friday on Amazon Prime. It will come as no surprise that this docuseries treats its subject, the founder of the Playboy-magazine-and-beyond empire, with tender, loving care. Co-produced … Continue reading
Elections Tuesday across the U.S. featured a mayoral race with presidential overtones, a 23-person congressional primary highlighting Democratic Party rifts, a school board challenged for accommodating a transgender student and referendums on leadership and police issues in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and Ferguson. Here are some of the key local races on the … Continue reading
CURITIBA, Brazil (AP) — A shy federal judge based in a provincial capital has become an unlikely celebrity in Brazil, where he is shaking up the nation’s power structure while overseeing what may be the largest corruption probe in Latin American history. Passers-by mostly cheer — but sometimes jeer — Sergio Moro when he goes … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The vote on the Republican health care bill is a defining moment for House Speaker Paul Ryan that could boost his aggressive agenda to overhaul the tax code and remake the federal government. Or send it off the rails. If he fails? “It will be very hard to manage this,” the Wisconsin … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 