U.S./World category, Page 1068

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Friday issued sweeping new sex abuse legislation for Vatican personnel and Holy See diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of abuse allegations to Vatican prosecutors, a policy shift aimed at being a model for the Catholic Church worldwide. The mandatory reporting provision of the...

BALTIMORE — Prosecutors in the murder case chronicled on the podcast “Serial” tested evidence from the 1999 crime last summer and found that none matched DNA from the convicted killer. Defense attorney C. Justin Brown tweeted Thursday that no forensic evidence links his client Adnan Syed to the killing of...

When the United Methodist Church voted to uphold its ban on same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy last month, Methodist pastors and churchgoers across America were devastated. A majority of American delegates had voted against the plan, though they were outvoted by more conservative delegates from Africa and other continents. In...

BANGKOK — Rangers at a national park in northeastern Thailand have rescued six baby elephants that were trapped in a mud pit. Park officials say the elephants were unable to climb up the pit’s slippery banks. Rescuers took five hours on Thursday to dig a path for them to clamber...

WASHINGTON — A federal judge is striking down the Trump administration’s highly touted small-business health insurance plan, calling it an “end run” around consumer protections. The ruling Thursday by U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington, D.C., is the second setback in a week for the administration’s health care initiatives....

CALLAHAN, Fla. — Authorities say a pet zebra escaped from a Florida home and was shot and killed by its owner, who wasn’t licensed to own the animal. News outlets report the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office says the zebra, named Shadow, injured itself somehow while escaping Wednesday in the town...

CHICAGO — The FBI was already investigating Jussie Smollett before President Donald Trump tweeted that the agency and the Department of Justice would review the case, which the president called “an embarrassment” to the nation. Trump’s tweet on Thursday came two days after a surprise decision by Cook County prosecutors...

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A member of the “Texas 7” gang of escaped prisoners won a reprieve Thursday night from execution for the fatal shooting of a suburban Dallas police officer after claiming his religious freedom would be violated if his Buddhist spiritual adviser wasn’t allowed to be in the death...

GRAND CANYON WEST, Ariz. — Two people have died at the Grand Canyon in separate incidents this week that included one man stumbling over the edge of the rim while trying to take pictures, officials said. A helicopter lifted the body of the Hong Kong man from 1,000 feet below...

LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May rolled the dice Thursday on another Brexit vote in Parliament, sending a tweaked and trimmed version of her EU divorce deal back to lawmakers who had rejected it twice before. But the agreement faced substantial opposition, even after May sacrificed her job for...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Attorneys for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft have filed a court motion seeking to throw out surveillance video that allegedly shows him paying for sex acts at a Jupiter day spa. The motion also asks the court to rule that a traffic stop of...

Federal legislation proposed Thursday would give state prison officials the ability they have long sought to jam the signals of cellphones smuggled to inmates within their walls. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and U.S. Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee introduced companion bills in both chambers, The Associated Press has...

MILWAUKEE — The superintendent of a Wisconsin high school district has outlawed cheerleading awards that objectify students’ bodies and ordered mandatory staff training on discrimination and harassment. Dr. Sue Savaglio-Jarvis said in a letter Monday to all principals and administrators in the Kenosha Unified School District that “mock awards of...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has released a pair of artsy shots of two little asteroids. Thursday’s picture shows an asteroid coming apart at its dusty seams, courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope. Two long comet-like tails are streaming from asteroid Gault, a 2.5-mile-wide world that’s spinning so fast it’s...

ELMIRA, N.Y. — It appears an upstate New York man was not hungry when police say he stole a Little Debbie delivery truck. Police say 38-year-old Joseph Tocco of Elmira swiped the truck Monday from a loading dock. Police stopped it a short time later. Police say Tocco told them...

PARIS — The dolphins’ bodies were horribly mutilated, the fins cut off. But what shocked French marine researchers wasn’t just the brutality of the deaths of these highly intelligent mammals, but also the numbers involved — a record 1,100 have washed up on France’s Atlantic coast since January. The mass...

SEATTLE — A Seattle bus driver hailed as a hero for steering the bus away from a gunman who opened fire on him and his passengers says he’s “glad to be alive.” Eric Stark was hit in the torso Wednesday afternoon by a bullet but authorities say he still managed...

LAKE RONKONKOMA, N.Y. — A New Yorker who urged leniency for the teenager who nearly killed her in 2004 by throwing a frozen turkey through her car windshield has died. Victoria Ruvolo was 59. Anthony Ruvolo says his aunt died Monday. The cause is not known, and it’s unclear whether...

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election spans more than 300 pages, a Justice Department official said Thursday. Attorney General William Barr confirmed the report’s length during a Wednesday phone call with Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. During...

PETOSKEY, Mich. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan says it has reached an agreement with Meijer on policy changes and training after a pharmacist at one of the retailer’s stores refused to fill a prescription to help a woman complete a miscarriage. The ACLU said in a news...

MANCHESTER, N.H. — At least one man was killed in a 15-hour standoff at a New Hampshire hotel that ended Thursday, police said. The standoff ended around 10:30 a.m. with authorities bringing out a stretcher with someone on it at the Quality Inn in Manchester, New Hampshire, near Interstate 293...

In the two months since Jussie Smollett reported a late-night attack by assailants shouting racial and anti-gay slurs, the “Empire” actor and activist went from victim to defendant. Police and many in the black community rallied to his defense before condemning his account as a hoax. On Tuesday, Smollett was...

WASHINGTON — Buoyed by word that the special counsel didn’t find collusion with Russia, President Donald Trump is voicing new interest in policymaking, including a fresh effort to repeal and replace “Obamacare.” But Trump has few detailed policy proposals to back up his words, suggesting he’s as focused on highlighting...

NEW YORK — The end of the special counsel’s investigation sparked fresh speculation that President Donald Trump might pardon some of those charged in the probe. It’s also spawned a don’t-go-there chorus from some of Trump’s closest advisers and GOP allies. They’re warning that pardons could ignite a political firestorm...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The 50 or so party faithful gathered at a western Michigan GOP headquarters prayed for President Donald Trump’s re-election and hummed with excitement about his upcoming visit — a meeting-turned-pep rally for the effort they’ll mount on his behalf in 2020. “Are we ready?” former Michigan...