U.S./World category, Page 767
Firefighters officially end search in Florida condo collapse
Firefighters officially ended their search for bodies in the debris of the collapsed Surfside condo building on Friday, even as police and forensic specialists continue working to identify human remains. Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told The Associated Press that the fire department’s role in recovering remains at the...
Confederate bust moved from Tennessee Capitol building
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The bust of a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader that had been displayed prominently inside of the Tennessee Capitol for decades was removed from its pedestal on Friday. The image of Nathan Bedford Forrest has sparked protests ever since its installation in 1978. Some...
Western wildfires: Crews make progress on huge Oregon blaze
BLY, Ore. — The nation’s largest wildfire raged through southern Oregon on Friday but crews were scaling back some night operations as hard work and weaker winds helped reduce the spread of flames even as wildfires continued to threaten homes in neighboring California. The Bootleg Fire, which has destroyed an...
Crafty cockatoos master dumpster diving and teach each other
WASHINGTON — A few years ago, a Sydney scientist noticed a sulfur-crested cockatoo opening his trash bin. Not every resident would be thrilled, but ornithologist Richard Major was impressed by the ingenuity. It’s quite a feat for a bird to grasp a bin lid with its beak, pry it open,...
Dems renew questions about FBI background check of Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are raising new concerns about the thoroughness of the FBI’s background investigation into Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after the FBI revealed that it had received thousands of tips and had provided “all relevant” ones to the White House counsel’s office. FBI Director Christopher Wray, responding...
Tennessee governor defends agency’s vaccine chief firing, outreach rollbackVideo
NASHVILLE — Republican Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday came out in full defense of his administration’s firing of the state’s vaccination chief and rollback of outreach for childhood vaccines, both of which have sparked national scrutiny over Tennessee’s inoculation efforts against covid-19. “Government needs to provide information and education, provide...
Pelosi says Jan. 6 panel to move ahead without GOP’s choices
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection “will do the job it set out to do” despite Republicans’ vow to boycott the probe. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Wednesday that Republicans won’t participate after Pelosi rejected two of the Republicans he chose...
Police: Man defrauded Chinese pop singer in sex scandal
BEIJING — A man has confessed to defrauding a Chinese-Canadian pop singer, Kris Wu, over a teenager’s accusation he had sex with her when she was drunk, Beijing police said Thursday. The announcement added a bizarre twist to a scandal that cost Wu endorsement contracts with brands including Porsche and...
Death rates soar in Southeast Asia as virus wave spreads
Indonesia has converted nearly its entire oxygen production to medical use just to meet the demand from covid-19 patients struggling to breathe. Overflowing hospitals in Malaysia had to resort to treating patients on the floor. And in Myanmar’s largest city, graveyard workers have been laboring day and night to keep...
Indictment: Ohio man who hates women planned shooting at sorority
CLEVELAND — A man who identifies with a group that despises women appeared in federal court Wednesday in Cincinnati on charges related to his plans to kill sorority members at an unidentified university in Ohio, authorities said. Tres Genco, 21, of Hillsboro, Ohio, is charged with an attempted hated crime...
Cocaine disguised as cake seized from vehicle in Maine
A New York man and a Maine woman are facing charges over cocaine disguised as a cake that was seized from their vehicle, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said Wednesday. Acting on a tip, police stopped the car on Interstate 295 in Gardiner on Tuesday, and a drug-sniffing dog found...
Judge: $150M initially for victims in Florida condo collapse
Victims and families who suffered losses in the collapse of a 12-story oceanfront Florida condominium will get a minimum of $150 million in compensation initially, a judge said Wednesday. That sum includes about $50 million in insurance on the Champlain Towers South building and at least $100 million in proceeds...
Federal judge blocks Arkansas trans youth treatment ban
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked enforcement of Arkansas’ ban on gender confirming treatments for transgender youth while a lawsuit challenging the prohibition proceeds. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in May asking U.S. District Judge Jay Moody in Little Rock to strike...
U.K. man arrested in Spain, charged in U.S. with Twitter hack
WASHINGTON — A British man has been charged in the United States in connection with a Twitter hack last summer that compromised the accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Joseph O’Connor, 22, was arrested in the coastal resort town of Estepona, Spain, on...
Explainer: What’s making mid-Atlantic songbirds sick?
WASHINGTON — A mysterious ailment has sickened and killed thousands of songbirds in several mid-Atlantic states, including Pennsylvania, since late spring. While scientists are still racing to confirm the cause, it seems juvenile birds may be most susceptible. The U.S. Geological Survey, which oversees responses to some natural hazards and...
Japan, U.S., South Korea reaffirm cooperation on North Korea
TOKYO — The United States, Japan and South Korea on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to work together on North Korea’s denuclearization and other regional threats but made no progress in bringing closer together the two U.S. allies. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who held talks in Tokyo with...
Report: U.K. border officers to stop routine covid checks
LONDON — U.K. border officers have been directed to stop routinely checking whether travelers from many countries have tested negative for covid-19, British media reported Wednesday, citing leaked government documents. While the change is designed to reduce waiting times for airport immigration checks, it has raised concerns about importing new...
Fauci, Sen. Paul trade barbs in fiery covid-19 hearing
No lost love between these two. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul accused each other of lying during a contentious Senate hearing on Capitol Hill. The world-famous pandemic doctor bristled on Tuesday when Paul insinuated that the U.S. helped fund research...
Jeff Bezos’ comments on workers after spaceflight draws rebukeVideo
NEW YORK — The world’s richest man wanted to say thanks to the people who made his brief trip into space Tuesday possible. But for some, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ expression of gratitude went over like a lead rocket. “I want to thank every Amazon employee, and every Amazon customer...
Lawsuit against Liberty University alleges mishandling of sex assaults
RICHMOND, Va. — Twelve women filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Liberty University, accusing the Christian institution of a pattern of mishandling cases of sexual assault and harassment, and fostering an unsafe campus environment. The federal lawsuit filed in New York made various claims under Title IX, the federal law that...
Pentagon watchdog examining security of nuclear ‘football’
If the president fumbles the nuclear football, is the military prepared to recover it? Pentagon Acting Inspector General Sean O’Donnell is investigating following a number of security lapses in recent years. The Presidential Emergency Satchel, also called the nuclear football, the button or just the football, is a briefcase that...
U.S. opioid lawsuits on verge of settlements with 4 companiesVideo
The yearslong effort by state and local governments in the United States to force the pharmaceutical industry to help pay to fix a nationwide opioid addiction and overdose crisis took a major step forward Tuesday when lawyers for local governments announced they were on the verge of a $26 billion...
California synagogue shooting suspect pleads guilty
SAN DIEGO — A 22-year-old former nursing student pleaded guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges in connection with a deadly shooting at a Southern California synagogue on the last day of Passover. John T. Earnest avoided the death penalty with his plea in San Diego Superior Court. The San...
Off-duty DEA agent arrested on Capitol riot charges
An off-duty Drug Enforcement Administration agent posed for photographs in which he flashed his DEA badge and firearm outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, according to a court filing Tuesday following the agent’s arrest. A video posted on the internet also showed Mark Sami Ibrahim carrying a...
Trump inaugural committee head Thomas Barrack accused of being UAE agentVideo
NEW YORK — The chair of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging he secretly conspired to influence U.S. policy to benefit the United Arab Emirates, even while he was seeking a position as an American diplomat. Tom Barrack, 74, of Santa Monica, California,...
