U.S./World category, Page 688
Police: HBCU bomb threat caller described elaborate plotVideo
WOODSTOCK, Ga. — A caller who threatened to blow up a historically Black university in Florida — one of numerous threats made against schools across the nation — described an elaborate plot involving seven bombs hidden in duffel bags and backpacks around the school’s perimeter, a Florida police chief said....
FBI confirms it bought spyware from Israel’s NSO Group
WASHINGTON — The FBI has confirmed purchasing NSO Group’s powerful spyware tool Pegasus, whose chronic abuse to surveil journalists, dissidents and human rights activists has long been established. It suggested its motivation was to “stay abreast of emerging technologies and tradecraft.” The agency added in a statement Wednesday that it...
Media barred from Justice Gorsuch talk to Federalist Society
WASHINGTON — Justice Neil Gorsuch is speaking this weekend to the conservative legal group that boosted his Supreme Court candidacy, in a session at a Florida resort that is closed to news coverage. Gorsuch is billed as the banquet speaker Friday at the Florida chapter of the Federalist Society’s annual...
Winter storm packing snow, freezing rain moves across U.S.
CHICAGO — A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the middle section of the United States on Wednesday as airlines canceled hundreds of flights, governors urged residents to stay off roads and schools closed campuses. The...
Slow down: States get infrastructure cash for speed cameras
WASHINGTON — Drivers, beware: Speed cameras could be on their way to a location near you thanks to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law. Under new federal guidance issued Wednesday, states can now tap billions of federal highway dollars for roadway safety programs such as automated traffic enforcement. They are being...
Trump son, allies sued by witness from 1st impeachment case
WASHINGTON — A retired Army lieutenant colonel who was a pivotal witness in the first impeachment case against Donald Trump has sued the oldest son of the former president and other Trump allies, accusing them of participating in an “intentional, concerted campaign of unlawful intimidation and retaliation” over his decision...
Taliban reopen universities for Afghan women in 6 provinces
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban on Wednesday said they have reopened public universities for women students in six of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, a move marking a major concession to international demands by the country’s new rulers. Since they swept into power in mid-August, the international community has watched to see whether...
Jeff Zucker resigns from CNN because of relationship with colleagueVideo
In a stunning move, Jeff Zucker resigned as CNN president Wednesday, citing his failure to disclose a relationship with a longtime colleague. The prominent media executive’s sudden departure was announced in a memo sent to CNN employees, sending shock waves through the WarnerMedia unit. “As part of the investigation into...
Longest lightning bolt record: 477 miles over 3 states
A bolt of lightning that stretched nearly 500 miles across three U.S. states is the new world record holder for longest flash. The single flash extended 477.2 miles across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi in April 2020, the World Meteorological Organization said Monday. That beat the old record set in 2018...
Biden sending more troops to Europe amid Ukraine tension
BRUSSELS — President Joe Biden is sending about 2,000 U.S.-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifting roughly 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania as demonstrations of American commitments to NATO allies amid fears of a possible Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon said Wednesday. In announcing the moves,...
Biden aims to reduce cancer deaths by 50% over next 25 years
President Joe Biden is committing to reduce the cancer death rate by 50% — a new goal for the “moonshot” initiative against the disease that was announced in 2016 when he was vice president. Biden has set a 25-year timeline for achieving that goal, part of his broader effort to...
Miami agrees to do something about its peacock problem
MIAMI — Peacocks could be on the outs in some South Florida neighborhoods after the Miami-Dade commission agreed to loosen a law protecting the birds. While the 20-year-old law still protects peacocks from harm, commissioners agreed Tuesday to allow cities to opt out if they present appropriate plans to humanely...
Turkey: 12 migrants freeze to death after Greece pushback
ANKARA, Turkey — The bodies of 12 migrants who froze to death were found near Turkey’s border with Greece, the Turkish interior minister said Wednesday, accusing Greek border guards of pushing them back over the frontier. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said tweeted that the 12 were among 22 migrants who...
Virus enters Tonga along with disaster aid; lockdown planned
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Tonga will enter a lockdown Wednesday evening after finding coronavirus infections in two port workers helping distribute aid arriving in the Pacific nation after a volcanic eruption and tsunami. The urgent announcement by Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni appeared to confirm fears that accepting the aid following...
Former UCLA lecturer threatened to ‘hunt’ female professor, police say
LOS ANGELES — A former lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was arrested Tuesday after police say he emailed an 800-page document and posted videos threatening violence against the school had previously sent messages saying he would “hunt” and kill a professor, court documents show. Matthew Harris,...
Is New York safe? Violence, perception and a complicated reality
NEW YORK — A teenage fast-food cashier shot to death in Manhattan. A woman pushed to her death in front of a subway train in Times Square. An 11-month-old girl wounded by a stray bullet in the Bronx. Two police officers killed in Harlem. A string of headline-making violence in...
Pfizer asks FDA to allow covid-19 vaccine for kids under 5
WASHINGTON — Pfizer on Tuesday asked the U.S. to authorize extra-low doses of its covid-19 vaccine for children under 5, potentially opening the way for the very youngest Americans to start receiving shots as early as March. In an extraordinary move, the Food and Drug Administration had urged Pfizer and...
2 Virginia college officers killed; suspect in custody
BRIDGEWATER, Va. — A gunman shot and killed two campus officers at a private college Tuesday, prompting a protracted campus lockdown and search before the suspect was apprehended, state police and school officials said. The lockdown began in the early afternoon when Bridgewater College officials sent out a tweet in...
Joe Manchin: Build Back Better bill is ‘dead’
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin declared Tuesday that President Biden’s vast social and environment bill is “dead,” using his strongest language to date to underscore that any revival of Democrats’ top domestic priorities would have to arise from negotiations that are now moribund. The remarks by the West Virginia Democrat...
Police: 2 students shot, 1 fatally, outside Minnesota schoolVideo
RICHFIELD, Minn. — One student was killed and another critically injured in a shooting Tuesday near the front entrance to a suburban Minneapolis school, police said. Richfield Police Chief Jay Henthorne said the students were shot about 12:07 p.m. outside South Education Center. The surviving student was in critical condition...
Native American tribes reach $590M settlement over opioids
Native American tribes in the U.S. have reached settlements over the toll of opioids totaling $590 million with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and the country’s three largest drug distribution companies, according to a court filing made Tuesday. The filing in U.S. District Court in Cleveland lays out the details of...
U.S. road deaths rise at record pace as risky driving persists
WASHINGTON — The number of U.S. traffic deaths surged in the first nine months of 2021 to 31,720, the government reported Tuesday, keeping up a record pace of increased dangerous driving during the coronavirus pandemic. The estimated figure of people dying in motor vehicle crashes from January to September 2021...
Michigan plans 1st U.S. electric vehicle charging road by 2023
Electric vehicles driving in Detroit could increase their charge by using an in-road charging system by 2023, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office announced Tuesday. In 2021, Whitmer announced the state’s plan to build the first electric vehicle charging road in the U.S. The contract to build it was awarded to...
Minority women most affected if abortion is banned, limited
If you are Black or Hispanic in a conservative state that already limits access to abortions, you are far more likely than a white woman to have one. And if the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to further restrict or even ban abortions, minority women will bear the brunt of...
Execution set for man whose sentence was overturned 3 times
A Missouri man whose death sentence was overturned three times before being reinstated is now scheduled to die in May for killing a small-town couple nearly 26 years ago. The Missouri Supreme Court on Monday set a May 3 execution date for Carman Deck. Executions in Missouri are carried out...
