U.S./World category, Page 769
California fire prompts evacuations; Oregon blaze balloons
A rapidly growing wildfire south of Lake Tahoe forced the evacuation of a mountain town and the cancellation of an extreme bike ride through the Sierra Nevada, leaving thousands of riders and spectators stranded Saturday and rushing to flee the area. The Tamarack Fire, which was sparked by lightning on...
Europe flood death toll tops 160, costly rebuilding ahead
Rescue workers labored to clear up damage laid bare by receding water Saturday as the death toll from disastrous flooding in Western Europe rose above 160 and thoughts turned to the lengthy job of rebuilding communities devastated in minutes. The death toll in western Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate state, home to the...
‘A blaring siren’ for Democrats after ruling halts DACA
Immigrants and advocates are urging Democrats and President Joe Biden to quickly act on legislation to protect young immigrants after a federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled illegal an Obama-era program that prevents the deportation of thousands of them brought into the U.S. as children. Plaintiffs have vowed to...
Air cargo company that ditched plane off Hawaii is grounded
A cargo airline whose plane ditched into the ocean off Hawaii has been grounded after investigators looked into the company’s safety practices before the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it will bar Rhoades Aviation of Honolulu from flying or doing maintenance inspections until it meets FAA regulations....
Indictment: White supremacists were rewarded for violence
TAMPA, Fla. — A white supremacist group rewarded members with tattoo “patches” for committing acts of violence, including assaulting peaceful demonstrators at a racial justice protest last summer, according to a federal racketeering indictment of 16 members in Florida. Members of the group, Unforgiven, also attempted to use corrupt law...
3 men charged over 2018 fatal Missouri duck boat accident
A local prosecutor on Friday filed a total of 63 felony criminal charges against three employees over a July 2018 tourist boat accident on a Missouri lake that killed 17 people. The charges were filed in Stone County against the captain, the general manager and the manager on duty the...
Recovery effort at collapsed Miami building could end soon
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Efforts to recover human remains from the debris of a South Florida condo building are nearing an end. Miami-Dade police identified six more victims of last month’s Surfside condo collapse on Thursday, meaning that 92 of the 97 confirmed dead have been identified. County officials have accounted...
Tennessee inmate found dead after execution date request
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee death row inmate Stephen Hugueley has died three days after the state filed a motion to set his execution date. Attorney Amy Harwell said she received a call just before 6 a.m. Friday from a Tennessee Department of Correction chaplain notifying her of Hugueley’s death. “He...
Pope reverses Benedict, reimposes restrictions on Latin Mass
ROME — Pope Francis cracked down Friday on the spread of the old Latin Mass, reversing one of Pope Benedict XVI’s signature decisions in a major challenge to traditionalist Catholics who immediately decried it as an attack on them and the ancient liturgy. Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the Latin...
Officials now say no ban on animal sacrifice in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India — Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday said there is no ban on the sacrifice of animals during the upcoming Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday, a day after the government asked law enforcers to stop the sacrifice of cows, calves, camels and other animals. G.L. Sharma, a senior government...
Trump showerhead rule to increase water flow being dropped
WASHINGTON — So much for Donald Trump’s quest for “perfect” hair. President Joe Biden’s administration is reversing a Trump-era rule approved after the former president complained he wasn’t getting wet enough because of limits on water flow from showerheads. Now, with a new president in office, the Energy Department is...
Russia: Afghan instability heightens with hasty U.S. retreat
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — America’s hasty retreat from Afghanistan has destabilized the region and worsened the terrorist threat, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a conference of world powers and Afghanistan’s neighbors Friday as they sought a common path toward resolving the country’s escalating violence. Participants gathering in the Uzbek capital...
Fully vaccinated Americans may enter Canada as of mid-August
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Canada could start allowing fully vaccinated Americans into Canada as of mid-August for non-essential travel and should be in a position to welcome fully vaccinated travelers from all countries by early September. Trudeau spoke with leaders of Canada’s provinces and...
Arizona election auditors seek more records, voter canvassVideo
PHOENIX — Contractors hired by Arizona Senate Republicans to oversee a partisan review of the 2020 election said Thursday that they don’t have enough information to complete their report, and urged legislators to subpoena more records and survey voters at home. Leaders of the GOP audit described a wide variety...
Rep. Joyce Beatty detained by Capitol police during voting rights demonstrationVideo
U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio was arrested by Capitol police Thursday after she marched to a Senate office building to push for voting rights legislation aimed at curbing restrictions in Republican-controlled states. The Columbus Democrat and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus joined a coalition of Black women and...
Ex-Florida deputy gets 12 years for planting drugs in people’s cars
MARIANNA, Fla. — A former Florida sheriff’s deputy received a 12-year prison sentence for planting drugs inside drivers’ cars during traffic stops and then arresting them. Former Jackson County deputy Zachary Wester, 28, did not speak at Tuesday’s hearing. He was convicted in May on 19 of 67 counts, including...
Movie producer charged with operating prostitution service
NEW YORK— A movie producer was arrested Thursday in California on a New York indictment accusing him of using a movie production company to operate an international prostitution business. Dillon Jordan, 49, of Arrowhead Lake, California, was arrested in San Bernardino County, California, and awaited an initial court appearance in...
Cleveland State to require coronavirus vaccinations despite law
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cleveland State University said Thursday it will continue to require that students living on campus be vaccinated against the coronavirus despite a new law prohibiting public schools and colleges in Ohio from mandating the vaccine. The school, the only public university in the state with such a...
More than 60 dead, dozens missing as severe floods strike EuropeVideo
BERLIN — More than 60 people have died and dozens were missing Thursday as severe flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse. Recent storms across parts of western Europe made rivers and reservoirs burst their banks,...
Gunman found criminally responsible for killing 5 at Annapolis paper
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A jury on Thursday found the gunman who killed five people at a Maryland newspaper criminally responsible, rejecting defense attorneys’ mental illness arguments. The jury of eight men and four women found that Jarrod Ramos could understand the criminality of his actions and conform his conduct to...
Pennsylvania man in ‘double suicide’ at Gianni Versace’s former mansion, police say
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— Two men apparently killed themselves, police said, in a suite at the Miami Beach hotel that Gianni Versace turned into his mansion, nearly 24 years to the day after the fashion designer died on the building’s front steps. Their bodies were found by housekeeping on Wednesday, the...
1st female sailor completes Navy special warfare training
WASHINGTON — For the first time, a female sailor has successfully completed the grueling 37-week training course to become a Naval Special Warfare combatant-craft crewman — the boat operators who transport Navy SEALs and conduct their own classified missions at sea. Navy officials said they would not identify the woman...
Miami security firm faces questions in Haiti assassination
MIAMI — For the owner of a small private security company with a history of avoiding paying debts and declaring bankruptcy, it looked like a good opportunity: Find people with military experience for a job in Haiti. Antonio “Tony” Intriago, owner of Miami-based CTU Security, seems to have jumped at...
Biden ends large-scale logging on huge Alaska rainforest
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Thursday it is ending large-scale, old-growth timber sales on the nation’s largest national forest — the Tongass National Forest in Alaska — and will instead focus on forest restoration, recreation and other non-commercial uses. The announcement by the U.S. Forest Service reverses a Trump...
EU likely to decide on Moderna covid shot for kids next week
AMSTERDAM — A top official at the European Medicines Agency said a decision on whether to recommend that Moderna’s covid-19 vaccine be authorized for children is expected late next week. If approved, it would be the first such license for the shot’s use in children globally. At a press briefing...
