DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to impose heavier penalties on women who refuse to wear the mandatory Islamic headscarf in public and those who support them. The move came just days after the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had...
Biden Administration Announces $600M to Produce COVID Tests and Will Reopen Website to Order Them
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is providing $600 million in funding to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and is restarting a website allowing Americans to again order up to four free tests per household — aiming to prevent possible shortages during a rise in coronavirus cases that has typically come during colder...
Azerbaijan Claims Full Control Over the Nagorno-Karabakh Region as Armenian Forces Agree to Disarm
YEREVAN, Armenia — Azerbaijan claimed full control of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region Wednesday after local Armenian forces there agreed to lay down their weapons following the latest outbreak of fighting in the decades-long separatist conflict. Authorities in the ethnic Armenian region that has run its affairs without international recognition since fighting...
Homeowners Face Rising Insurance Rates as Climate Change Makes Wildfires, Storms More Common
NEW YORK — A growing number of Americans are finding it difficult to afford insurance on their homes, a problem only expected to worsen because insurers and lawmakers have underestimated the impact of climate change, a new report says. A report from First Street Foundation released Wednesday says states such as California,...
2 Teens in Las Vegas Face Murder Charges for Fatal Hit-and-Run They Captured on Video, Police Say
LAS VEGAS — Two teenagers face murder charges for targeting a bicyclist in Las Vegas and capturing on video the moment they drove into the man as he pedaled along the side of a road, authorities said Tuesday. The Incident Las Vegas police said they have tied the teens to...
House Republicans Clash With Attorney General Garland, Accusing Him of Favoring Hunter Biden
WASHINGTON — House Republicans clashed with Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, accusing him and the Justice Department of the “weaponization” of the department's work in favor of President Joe Biden 's son Hunter. Garland's Appearance Before the House Judiciary Committee Garland’s appearance before the House Judiciary Committee was his first in two years...
Biden Uses Executive Power to Create a New Deal-Style American Climate Corps
WASHINGTON — After being thwarted by Congress, President Joe Biden will use his executive authority to create a New Deal-style American Climate Corps that will serve as a major green jobs training program. In an announcement Wednesday, the White House said the program will employ more than 20,000 young adults who will...
Arrowhead Bottled Water Ordered to Stop Siphoning from California Mountain Spring
SACRAMENTO — California regulators on Tuesday ordered the company that owns Arrowhead bottled water to stop using some of the natural springs it has relied on for more than a century, a victory for community groups who have said for years that the practice has drained an important creek that...
Six Palestinians Are Killed in Latest Fighting With Israel as Army Deploys Suicide Drone
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank and unrest in the Gaza Strip have killed six Palestinians, Palestinian health officials said Wednesday, the latest spike in a wave of violence that has roiled the region for more than a year. At least three of those...
A Cease-Fire in the Separatist Region of Nagorno-Karabakh Still Leaves Thorny Issues Unresolved
TALLINN, Estonia — The announcement of a cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh, just a day after Azerbaijan launched heavy artillery fire against Armenian forces, toned down fears of a third full-scale war over the region in the southern Caucasus Mountains. But it still leaves significant unresolved questions about the conflict. Under the...