U.S./World category, Page 1065
Europe postpones launch of planet mission, seeks Soyuz fix
European space officials on Tuesday postponed the launch of a three-year mission to study planets in other solar systems shortly before it was due to blast off. The European Space Agency announced that the launch from Kourou, French Guiana, of the Characterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS) mission would be delayed by...
Pope removes shroud of secrecy from clergy sex abuse cases
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis abolished the use of the Vatican’s highest level of secrecy in clergy sexual abuse cases Tuesday, responding to mounting criticism that the rule of “pontifical secrecy” has been used to protect pedophiles, silence victims and prevent police from investigating crimes. Victims and their advocates cheered...
3 dead in Montana casino shooting, suspect killed by police
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A pre-dawn shooting Tuesday at a Montana casino left three people dead and another person injured, and the suspect was later tracked down and killed by police, officials said. The shooting at the Emerald City Casino in the city of Great Falls happened about 2 a.m....
Judge sets Michael Flynn sentencing, rejects defense arguments
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday scheduled a sentencing hearing for next month for Michael Flynn after rejecting arguments from the former Trump administration national security adviser that prosecutors had withheld evidence favorable to his case. The order from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington pushes the case...
3 dead as suspected twisters, other storms batter the SouthVideo
Three people are confirmed dead and a dozen more injured as a powerful storm front packing suspected tornadoes smashed into buildings, downed trees and left a trail of destruction around the Deep South on Monday, authorities said. One person was reported killed in a suspected tornado strike on a Louisiana...
Sheriff fires North Carolina school resource officer who slammed studentVideo
HENDERSON, N.C. — A North Carolina sheriff said Monday that he has fired a school resource officer seen on surveillance video violently slamming a middle school student to the ground twice and then dragging the boy off camera. Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame issued a statement Monday that the deputy...
Tamara Ecclestone, daughter of former Formula 1 chief, robbed of $66M in jewelry from London home
LONDON — London police are investigating the theft of a large cache of “high value jewelry” reported stolen from the palatial home of heiress Tamara Ecclestone, the daughter of former Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone. The Sun newspaper said the stolen jewelry was worth about $66 million and included precious...
WWII allies, Germany mark 75 years since Battle of the BulgeVideo
BASTOGNE, Belgium — Side by side, the Allies and former enemy Germany together marked the 75th anniversary of one of the most important battles in World War II — the Battle of the Bulge, which stopped Adolf Hitler’s last-ditch offensive to turn the tide of the war. At dawn on...
In Afghanistan, Sen. Lindsey Graham says U.S. troop drawdown coming
KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday that President Donald Trump will announce an American troop drawdown this week, which could begin before the end of the year. Speaking from the Afghan capital of Kabul, Graham said the president could reduce troop numbers to 8,600, down from the...
Across India, opposition building against citizenship lawVideo
NEW DELHI — Thousands of university students flooded the streets of India’s capital, while a southern state government led a march and demonstrators held a silent protest in the northeast on Monday to protest a new law giving citizenship to non-Muslims who entered India illegally to flee religious persecution in...
Supreme Court won’t revive homeless camping ban in Idaho
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will not review an appellate decision that makes it harder for cities to keep homeless people from sleeping on the streets. The justices on Monday did not comment as they left in place a ruling that struck down a Boise, Idaho, ordinance. The ruling by...
75 years on, Battle of the Bulge memories bond people
THIMISTER-CLERMONT, Belgium — As a schoolboy three quarters of a century ago, Marcel Schmetz would regularly see open trucks rumble past to a makeshift American cemetery — filled with bodies, some headless, some limbless, blood seeping from the vehicles onto the roads that the U.S. soldiers had given their lives...
Feds seize almost 370 pounds of cocaine headed to Canada
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Federal agents seized almost 370 pounds of cocaine that was hidden in a truck preparing to enter Canada at Vermont’s Derby Line border crossing, a court documents say. The cocaine, packed in 142 brick-shaped packages, was found by agents of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the...
Naval Academy probes possible ‘white power’ gesture at gameVideo
The U.S. Naval Academy has appointed an officer to conduct an internal investigation into possible “white power” hand gestures flashed by students during a broadcast before the Army-Navy football game, an academy spokeswoman said Sunday. “Based on findings of the investigation, those involved will be held appropriately accountable,” Cmdr. Alana...
West Virginia sheriff’s deputy shot in face at rural home
ASHTON, W.Va. — A sheriff’s deputy in West Virginia was shot in the face Sunday while attempting to serve charges on a man at a home in a shooting incident from the previous day, authorities said. Deputies were trying to enter the home in rural Mason County on Sunday where...
Child fatally struck after Tennessee Christmas paradeVideo
MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. — A child was fatally struck at the end of a Christmas parade in Tennessee, authorities said. The child was hit Saturday by a pickup truck that was towing a trailer in a parking lot at Mount Juliet Middle School, police said in a news release. The...
Boy, 13, arrested in killing of Barnard College freshman Tessa MajorsVideo
NEW YORK — A 13-year-old boy was arrested Friday in the stabbing death of a Barnard College freshman who was approached in a park by as many as three youths as she ventured from her New York City campus on the eve of final exams. The arrest of such a...
Disappointment as marathon climate talks end with slim deal
MADRID — Marathon U.N. climate talks ended Sunday with a slim compromise that sparked widespread disappointment, after major polluters resisted calls for ramping up efforts to keep global warming at bay and negotiators postponed debate about rules for international carbon markets for another year. Organizers kept delegates from almost 200...
Greta Thunberg, German railway company in tweetstorm
Climate activist Greta Thunberg and Germany’s national railway company created a tweetstorm Sunday after she posted a photo of herself sitting on the floor of a train surrounded by lots of bags. The image has drawn plenty of comment online about the performance of German railways. Thunberg posted the tweet...
141-year-old fruitcake is a Michigan family’s heirloom
TECUMSEH, Mich. — Some families pass down jewelry, watches or even recipes. But a Michigan family has its own heirloom: a 141-year-old fruitcake. “It’s a great thing,” said Julie Ruttinger, the great great granddaughter of Fidelia Ford, who baked the cake in 1878. “It was tradition. It’s a legacy.” The...
Strong quake kills 1, collapses building in Philippines
DAVAO, Philippines — A strong earthquake jolted the southern Philippines on Sunday, killing at least one person and causing a three-story building to collapse, setting off a search for people feared to have been trapped inside, officials said. The magnitude 6.9 quake struck an area about 4 miles northwest of...
Houses of worship attacked with deadly frequency in 2019
On Dec. 1, a band of assailants opened fire on worshippers at a small-town Protestant church in Burkina Faso, an impoverished West African country where the Christian minority is increasingly a target of attacks. The victims included the pastor and several teenage boys; regional authorities attributed the attack to “unidentified...
Church services, vigils mark Sandy Hook shooting anniversary
NEWTOWN, Conn. — Vigils and church services were held Saturday in Connecticut to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and remember victims of other gun violence since the tragedy in Newtown. Twenty first graders and six educators were killed at the school on Dec. 14,...
FBI recovers van it says may be linked to Jersey City attack
ORANGE, N.J. — Federal authorities have recovered a van that may be connected to the Jersey City shootings that killed four people and are now being investigated as domestic terrorism, the FBI said Saturday. The white van recovered Saturday morning in Orange, New Jersey, about 11 miles (17 kilometers) northwest...
Georgia man arrested after calling police 3 times to confess
BOSTON, Ga. — A man apparently felt so bad about breaking the law that he called police three times to confess, according to police in Georgia. Lt. Tim Watkins of the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office told the Thomasville Times-Enterprise that a man called at 5 a.m. Friday to say he...
