U.S./World category, Page 744
California wildfires burn into groves of giant sequoia trees
THREE RIVERS, Calif. — California wildfires have burned into at least four groves of gigantic ancient sequoias in national parks and forests, though cooler weather on Friday helped crews trying to keep the flames away from a famous cluster containing the world’s largest tree. The fires lapped into the groves...
Colorado school shooter to be sentenced to life in prison
DENVER — A former high school student convicted of first degree murder and other charges for a 2019 shooting attack inside a suburban Denver high school that killed one student and injured eight others is set to be sentenced to mandatory life in prison without parole on Friday. Devon Erickson...
Sotheby’s puts rare U.S. Constitution copy for auction
NEW YORK — A very special document will be auctioned off later this year — a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution. Sotheby’s announced Friday — appropriately on Constitution Day — that in November it will put up for auction one of just 11 surviving copies of the Constitution from...
SpaceX’s 1st private crew motivates cancer kids from orbit
SpaceX’s first space tourists are taking in sweeping views of Earth that few have witnessed and motivating children with cancer. The capsule’s four passengers are flying exceedingly high, even by NASA standards. SpaceX got them into a 363-mile orbit following Wednesday night’s launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. That’s 100...
Organizer of Capitol rally this weekend looks to rewrite Jan. 6 history
WASHINGTON — The architect of a Washington protest planned for Saturday that aims to rewrite history about the violent January assault on the U.S. Capitol is hardly a household name. Matt Braynard worked as an analyst for the Republican Party, crunched data for a small election firm and later started...
Navalny app removed from online stores as Russian polls open
An app created by allies of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny disappeared from Apple and Google stores on Friday as polls opened across Russia for three days of voting in a parliamentary election. Russian authorities are seeking to suppress the use of Smart Voting, a project designed by Navalny...
Taliban orders male students, teachers to school
ISTANBUL - The Taliban’s education ministry says all male students grades six to 12 and male teachers should resume classes starting Saturday. The statement Friday published on Facebook did not include girls of that age, and the lack of guidance highlighted ongoing concerns that the Taliban might impose restrictions on...
Idled Thai taxis go green with mini-gardens on car roofs
Taxi fleets in Thailand are giving new meaning to the term “rooftop garden,” as they utilize the roofs of cabs idled by the coronavirus crisis to serve as small vegetable plots. Workers from two taxi cooperatives assembled the miniature gardens this week using black plastic garbage bags stretched across bamboo...
Fox News’ vaccine criticism focuses attention on its own policy
NEW YORK — A steady criticism of covid vaccine mandates by figures on Fox News has drawn attention to its own company’s stringent rules on the topic — even from President Joe Biden. The president was denounced as an “authoritarian” and “divider-in-chief” on Fox last week after announcing new efforts...
Clarence Thomas criticizes judges for veering into politics
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Thursday criticized some in the judiciary for veering into the role of legislators and politicians, saying it is not the role of judges to make policy or to base decisions on their personal feelings or religious beliefs. Speaking at the...
Texas teen posts images of slain family, then kills self
ARANSAS PASS, Texas — A South Texas teen who said he killed his family and posted graphic images of their bodies on social media killed himself after officers found him at his home, authorities said Thursday. The Aransas Pass police and San Patricio County sheriff’s office say they started investigating...
Study: Childhood obesity in U.S. accelerated during pandemic
NEW YORK — A new study ties the covid-19 pandemic to an “alarming” increase in obesity in U.S. children and teenagers. Childhood obesity has been increasing for decades, but the new work suggests an acceleration last year — especially in those who already were obese when the pandemic started. The...
California wildfires threaten famous giant sequoia trees
THREE RIVERS, Calif. — Firefighters wrapped the base of the world’s largest tree in a fire-resistant blanket as they tried to save a famous grove of gigantic old-growth sequoias from wildfires burning Thursday in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada. The colossal General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest, some...
Chauvin pleads not guilty to violating teen’s civil rights
MINNEAPOLIS — The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd pleaded not guilty Thursday to violating the civil rights of a teenager in a separate case that involved a restraint similar to the one used on Floyd. Derek Chauvin was convicted earlier this year...
As covid-19 vaccine mandates rise, religious exemptions grow
An estimated 2,600 Los Angeles Police Department employees are citing religious objections to try to get out of the required covid-19 vaccination. In Washington state, thousands of state workers are seeking similar exemptions. And in Arkansas, a hospital has been swamped with so many such requests from employees that it...
Search on for Florida woman missing from cross-country trip
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Florida woman who vanished while on a nomadic cross-country trip in a converted camper van with her boyfriend is the subject of a nationwide search while authorities labeled him Wednesday as a person of interest in her disappearance. Investigators say Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, 22, was...
Police: Lawyer Murdaugh arranged own death but shot grazed
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A prominent South Carolina lawyer who found the bodies of his wife and son three months ago tried to arrange his own death earlier this month so his son would get a $10 million life insurance payment, but the planned fatal shot only grazed his head, state...
SpaceX launches 4 amateurs on private Earth-circling trip
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s first private flight blasted off Wednesday night with two contest winners, a health care worker and their rich sponsor, the most ambitious leap yet in space tourism. It was the first time a rocket streaked toward orbit with an all-amateur crew — no professional astronauts....
Search at Grand Canyon turns up remains of another person
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Crews searching for a missing man at Grand Canyon National Park made an unexpected discovery this summer. They found the remains of another person, believed to be Scott Walsh, who was last seen stepping off a shuttle bus at the park’s South Rim in 2015. The clothing...
Texas abortion law strains clinics: ‘Exactly what we feared’
AUSTIN, Texas — One Texas woman traveled nearly 1,000 miles to Colorado for an abortion. Others are driving four hours to New Mexico. And in Houston, clinics that typically perform more than 100 abortions in a week are are down to a few a day. Two weeks after the nation’s...
Baby girl born to widow of Marine killed in Kabul bombing
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The widow of a U.S. Marine killed in a bombing in Afghanistan in August has given birth to a baby girl. Levi Rylee Rose McCollum was born early Monday at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif., according to a Facebook post by the baby’s grandmother, Jill...
Biles: FBI turned ‘blind eye’ to reports of gymnasts’ abuse
WASHINGTON — Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles told Congress in forceful testimony Wednesday that federal law enforcement and gymnastics officials turned a “blind eye” to USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse of her and hundreds of other women. Biles told the Senate Judiciary Committee that “enough is enough”...
Woman tethered to dog is dragged to death by train at San Francisco station
SAN FRANCISCO — A woman who boarded a BART train while tethered to her dog was dragged to her death after she briefly stepped off the train at a platform and the train pulled away with the dog still inside, authorities said. The fatal accident occurred at 3:16 p.m. Monday,...
Pope questions vaccine skeptics, including cardinals
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Francis said Wednesday he didn’t understand why people refuse to take covid-19 vaccines, saying “humanity has a history of friendship with vaccines,” and that serene discussion about the shots was necessary to help them. “Even in the College of Cardinals, there are some negationists,”...
Surfside land swap for Florida condo collapse site rejected
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Commissioners in Surfside, Fla., have rejected a proposal to trade public beachfront to the eventual buyer of the condominium collapse site so that a memorial to the 98 victims could be built there. The decision followed an emotional meeting Tuesday as family members of those who died...
