U.S./World category, Page 1078
Trump denigrates U.S. diplomats, pushes conspiracy theories
Offering his own take on five long days of public hearings, President Donald Trump brushed off the impeachment inquiry as “total nonsense” on Friday and bad-mouthed a number of the U.S. diplomats who testified to Congress about his Ukraine pressure campaign. In one breath, Trump said House Democrats looked like...
Spacewalking astronauts slice into cosmic ray detector
Spacewalking astronauts ventured out Friday for the second week in a row to repair a cosmic ray detector, this time actually cutting into the $2 billion instrument. The International Space Station’s Luca Parmitano sliced through eight stainless steel tubes, using hardware store-type bolt cutters. That set the stage to install...
Former Boston College student charged in boyfriend’s suicide pleads not guilty
BOSTON — A former Boston College student made her first court appearance Friday to face charges that she encouraged her boyfriend to take his own life in what prosecutors describe as a toxic and abusive relationship. Inyoung You, 21, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Suffolk County Superior Court...
Police: Pregnant woman forced to drink toilet water, bleach
ST. PETERS, Mo. — An eastern Missouri man is accused of holding his pregnant girlfriend captive, punching her and forcing her to drink toilet water and bleach. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 40-year-old Ronnie William Howard of St. Peters is charged with kidnapping, domestic assault and unlawful use of...
Supreme Court will hear case over no-fly list
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will take up the Trump administration’s bid to end a lawsuit filed by Muslim men who say they were placed on the government’s no-fly list because they refused to serve as FBI informants. The three foreign-born men claim in the lawsuit that their religious convictions...
FBI lawyer suspected of altering Russia probe document
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday touted news reports that a former FBI lawyer is suspected of altering a document related to surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016. The Associated Press has confirmed reports by CNN and The Washington Post that the finding is part of...
Dog befriends baby giraffe abandoned in South Africa
MOKOPANE, South Africa — A dog in South Africa has befriended a baby giraffe that was abandoned at birth, rescued and taken to a local orphanage. Jazz the giraffe arrived at The Rhino Orphanage just days after birth. A farmer found him in the wild, weak and dehydrated, and called...
UN: Spike in violence may jeopardize ending Ebola in Congo
GENEVA — The World Health Organization on Friday noted “a very dangerous and alarming development” in efforts to end the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, warning that the eruption of violence may re-ignite the epidemic. Dr. Mike Ryan, who directs the U.N. health agency’s Ebola response, said there were only...
Campus ministry ex-director sentenced in child porn case
PHILADELPHIA — A former campus minister at Villanova University who admitted possessing child pornography has been sentenced to nearly seven years in prison. Timothy O’Connell must also serve 10 years of supervised release once he’s freed from prison. The 52-year-old Drexel Hill resident had pleaded guilty in June to obtaining...
Indiana University says it can’t fire professor for ‘bigoted’ remarks
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — An Indiana University professor who defended comments he posted on his social media accounts that denigrated women, people of color and gay men will keep his job because his views are protected under the Constitution, university officials announced after they were bombarded with demands to fire him....
Sheriff at troubled Ohio’s Gallia County jail responds to allegations
CLEVELAND — The sheriff who oversees a small Ohio county jail that has been plagued with deaths and injuries over the last year said Thursday he’ll share information about the facility once an internal investigation is complete. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that family members of those who have died...
Utah woman fights charges after stepkids see her topless at home
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah woman charged with a crime after her stepchildren saw her topless in her own home is fighting the case that could force her to register as a sex offender, pointing to a court ruling that overturned a topless ban in Colorado and helped fuel...
Man shot by police in struggle on Las Vegas airport tarmac
LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police shot a man who fought with officers, including one who was knocked unconscious, before dawn Thursday on the tarmac near a terminal at McCarran International Airport, authorities said. The wounded intruder and the injured officer were hospitalized after the incident about 4 a.m. in...
North Pole’s ‘Christmas in Ice’ canceled amid lack of ice
Seasonal ice park officials in Alaska are missing a crucial ingredient announcing a Christmas-themed park has closed amid lack of ice in North Pole. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Wednesday that Executive Director Keith Fye says the annual ice park called Christmas in Ice was canceled for the first time...
Judge temporarily stops 1st federal executions since 2003
WASHINGTON — A judge has temporarily halted the first federal executions in 16 years as a lawsuit on how the government intends to carry them out continues. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said in a Wednesday evening ruling that the public is not served by “short-circuiting” legitimate judicial process....
Massachusetts OKs ban on flavored vaping, tobacco products
BOSTON — Massachusetts lawmakers passed a groundbreaking ban Thursday on the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products, including menthol cigarettes. The bill would also place a 75% excise tax on vaping products and require health insurers, including the state’s Medicaid program, to cover tobacco cessation counseling. “This nation-leading step...
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu charged in corruption cases
JERUSALEM — Israel’s attorney general on Thursday formally charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption cases, throwing the country’s paralyzed political system into further disarray and threatening the long-time leader’s grip on power. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit charged Netanyahu with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes...
Jewish group condemns Nazi auction in GermanyVideo
BERLIN — A Jewish group condemned an auction of Nazi memorabilia in Germany on Wednesday that included items such as Adolf Hitler’s top hat, a silver-plated edition of his book “Mein Kampf” and a black cocktail dress owned by his long-time partner Eva Braun. “It’s wrong to make money off...
New Hampshire library bans patrons who return books with bed bugs
Some bookworms are including bed bugs in the volumes they return to a library in New England. Books were discarded and desks wiped down with alcohol after the staff found bed bugs in books returned to the Lane Memorial Library in Hampton, New Hampshire, reports Seacoast Online. The vermin were...
Penn State researchers develop toilet coating that stops stuff from stickingVideo
Researchers say they have created a coating that can make toilets self-cleaning and save water on each flush. The scientists from Penn State said they have developed a two-step spray that, among other things, can be applied to ceramic toilet bowls. “Our team has developed a robust bio-inspired, liquid, sludge-...
Prince Andrew to step back from public dutiesVideo
LONDON — Britain’s Prince Andrew said Wednesday he is stepping back from public duties with the queen’s permission. Andrew said it has become clear to him in recent days that his association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has become a “major distraction” to the royal family’s work....
Trump directed Ukraine quid pro quo, key witness Ambassador Sondland saysVideo
WASHINGTON — Ambassador Gordon Sondland declared to impeachment investigators Wednesday that President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani explicitly sought a “quid pro quo” with Ukraine, leveraging an Oval Office visit for political investigations of Democrats. But he also came to believe the trade involved much more. Besides the...
Police: Girl had knives in plot to attack black churchgoers
GAINESVILLE — A Georgia police chief says a white 16-year-old girl had collected several kitchen knives and scouted out a mostly black congregation as part of a methodically planned attack on worshippers there. Police say the plot came to light when Gainesville High School students told administrators the girl had...
Police: Mom removed daughter from nursing home, killed her
FENTON, Mo. — A 78-year-old woman removed her 51-year-old daughter from a nursing home, then fatally stabbed her in a suburban St. Louis hotel before attempting to kill herself, police say. Marjorie Theleman was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of her daughter, Sharon...
State Department approves $1 billion weapons sale to India
WASHINGTON — The State Department says it has approved the sale of naval guns and related equipment to India in a deal worth more than $1 billion. The department says it provided the legally required notification to Congress of the proposed sale of up to 13 of the naval guns...
