1gridNATION
2 organizers of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigils convicted in national security case
HONG KONG | Two former organizers of Hong Kong’s annual vigils in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown were convicted Friday for what the government-approved judges ruled was inciting others to overthrow China’s communist leadership. Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of […]
What’s in a name? Why naming storms, military operations and medical maladies matters
U.S. hurricane season is gearing up. And from Amanda and Boris onward, tropical cyclones’ names in the Pacific region are unfolding quickly. But why the monikers each year? Or at all? Humans have given names to the world around them for almost as long as language itself has existed, but formal naming practices for storms […]
Trump keeps embracing data centers even as they become toxic in midterm races
WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump, speaking alongside cryptocurrency leaders at the White House this week, made a statement that Republican and Democratic candidates alike wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole. “If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, […]
Trump announces plan to lower beef prices, but ranchers and some Republicans are already balking
WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration will allow more beef to be temporarily imported into the U.S. without triggering higher tariffs, as he remains under pressure to cut costs and address affordability issues ahead of November’s midterms. Beef prices have climbed to record highs amid a sharp drop in the number […]
Court cuts $50M judgment against Infowars’ Alex Jones over falsely labeling Newtown killings a hoax
AUSTIN, Texas | A Texas court on Friday slashed a $50 million judgment to about $6 million against Infowars founder Alex Jones after he falsely claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting was a hoax. The ruling does not affect a $1.25 billion judgment against Jones in Connecticut, but is a legal victory […]
Supreme Court’s chief justice allows work on Trump’s $400M White House ballroom to continue for now
WASHINGTON | Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday allowed the White House to continue construction on President Donald Trump’s $400 million ballroom project for now, as the Supreme Court considers the Trump administration’s emergency request to intervene in lawsuits over the project. The temporary order comes hours before lower-court rulings would have forced a halt […]
Russian drones kill 15 people at a shopping mall in a central Ukrainian city, officials say
KYIV, Ukraine | Russian drones struck a shopping center in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine on Friday, killing at least 15 people and wounding scores more, authorities said. The shopping mall strikes, plus two other separate Russian attacks in the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions, left a total of 21 people dead across […]
An 18-year-old with a sword attacks a school in Sweden, leaving 1 dead
GENEVA | An 18-year-old with a sword attacked a school Friday in central Sweden, killing one person and seriously injuring two others, a police chief said. Police Chief Tommy Alriksson told a news conference that the 18-year-old perpetrator at the school in the central town of Fagersta had been arrested. Police confirmed that shots were […]
Investigators examining foes of Trump seek interviews related to Mar-a-Lago search, AP sources say
WASHINGTON | Justice Department investigators have sought to interview law enforcement officials related to the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of a Florida-based inquiry aiming to establish a conspiracy against the Republican president, multiple people familiar with the matter said Thursday. The requests for interviews, made in recent weeks, suggest that […]
One lesbian couple’s winding path to marriage leads to a historic first in Bolivia
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia | Like many newlyweds, Fabiana Justiniano and Scarlett Rocha grow misty-eyed when they reminisce about their wedding day: racing from the civil registry to get their hair and makeup done, dancing in their white dresses late into the night with more than a hundred friends and relatives. “We didn’t expect it to […]