U.S./World category, Page 1253
U.S. consumer spending edges up weak 0.1 percent in January
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending edged up a tiny 0.1 percent in January, while incomes advanced a modest 0.2 percent in February, further evidence that economic activity may have decelerated after strong growth for most of last year. The Commerce Department said Friday that the weak gain in consumer spending...
Reputed ‘Ripper Crew’ member, killer released from prison
CANTON, Ill. — Authorities say a man convicted of murder as a suspected member of the notorious “Ripper Crew” that killed as many as 20 Chicago-area women in the 1980s has been released from prison. An alert from Illinois’ victim notification system was issued Friday saying 58-year-old Thomas Kokoraleis had...
Fashion brand’s ‘Denim panties’ are causing a stir
Don’t get your denim in a bunch. Although if you are like a lot of folks on social media, you might just. A new style concept has been causing a stir. Fashion label Ssense has released high-cut denim shorts they are calling Y/Project Navy Denim Panties. View this post on...
City leaders: Jussie Smollett owes Chicago $130K for investigation
CHICAGO — City officials have ordered Jussie Smollett to pay $130,000 to cover the cost of the investigation into his report of a street attack that Chicago police say was staged to promote his career. A letter from the city’s legal department sent Thursday to Smollett and his attorneys said...
Pope mandates reporting of sex abuse claims in Vatican City
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...
Report: ‘Serial’ slaying DNA evidence doesn’t match Adnan Syed
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...
U.S. Methodist leaders lay plans to resist vote against same-sex marriage
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...
Rangers free 6 trapped baby elephants in Thailand
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...
Trump’s small-business health insurance plan struck down
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....
Pet zebra escapes Florida home, is fatally shot by its owner
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...
FBI could review the many suspicions around Smollett case
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...
‘Texas 7’ prison-break gang member gets execution reprieve
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...
Tourist taking photos dies in fall at Grand Canyon
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...
U.K. leader Theresa May rolling the dice again on Brexit deal
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...
Patriots owner Robert Kraft wants court to throw out day spa surveillance video
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 bills would let state prisons jam cellphone signals
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...
Wisconsin superintendent bans sexist cheerleading awards
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...
Rock On: NASA releases artsy shots of 2 asteroids
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...
Man allegedly steals Little Debbie snack truck, eats nothing
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...
Record 1,100 mutilated dolphins wash up on French shores this year
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 bus driver shot in torso drives passengers to safety
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...
Motorist hit in face by frozen turkey dies years later at 59
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...
Mueller report is more than 300 pages, AG tells top Democrat
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...
ACLU: Meijer to change policies on filling prescriptions
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...
Police: Standoff ‘resolved’ at hotel hours after man killed
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...
