U.S./World category, Page 880
Despite Trump’s venting and threats, Biden’s win is sealed
WASHINGTON — There’s plenty of noise but no cause for confusion as President Donald Trump vents about how the election turned out and vows to subvert it even still. This truth is self-evident: Joe Biden is on track to become president Jan. 20. The machinery of government and democracy is...
California man charged with decapitating son, daughterVideo
LANCASTER, Calif. — A Southern California father of four has been charged with decapitating his teenage son and 12-year-old daughter and abusing his two other boys, prosecutors said. Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr., 34, faces two felony counts each of murder and child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause...
5 dead, including 3 children, as a result of house fire in West VirginiaVideo
WILLIAMSBURG, W.Va. — Five people, including three children, died and emergency crews were looking for a possible sixth victim following a house fire in West Virginia, officials said. Fire crews, the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office and the West Virginia State Police responded to the blaze Tuesday afternoon at a home...
Hunter Biden tax probe examining Chinese business dealingsVideo
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Justice Department is investigating the finances of President-elect Joe Biden’s son, including scrutinizing some of his Chinese business dealings and other transactions, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The revelations put a renewed spotlight on questions about Hunter Biden’s financial...
West Virginia chemical plant blast kills 1, injures 3Video
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An explosion and fire at a West Virginia chemical plant that shook surrounding homes killed one person while injuring three others, authorities said Wednesday. It occurred after 10 p.m. Tuesday on the Chemours property site in the Kanawha County community of Belle, the county commission said in...
U.S. govt, states bring antitrust action against FacebookVideo
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators on Wednesday sued Facebook, seeking forced divestment of its Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services. In a separate case, 48 states and districts accused the company of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors. The antitrust lawsuits were announced by the Federal Trade...
GM’s Cruise to deploy fully driverless cars in San Francisco
SAN RAMON, Calif. — General Motors’ self-driving car company is sending vehicles without anybody behind the wheel in San Francisco as it navigates its way toward launching a robotic taxi service that would compete against Uber and Lyft in the hometown of the leading ride-hailing services. The move announced Wednesday...
Neo-Nazi group member who threatened journalist gets prison
An Arizona man who joined other members of a neo-Nazi group in a coordinated campaign to threaten and harass journalists, activists and other targets on both U.S. coasts was sentenced Wednesday to 16 months in federal prison. Johnny Roman Garza, 21, expressed remorse before a federal judge in Seattle handed...
Migrants from 6 countries in U.S. on temporary status get extension
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Wednesday that it will allow migrants from six countries to extend their legal U.S. residency under a temporary status for nine months while courts consider its effort to end the program. President Donald Trump has long sought to terminate the program, which allows migrants...
UK, EU head for supper showdown over Brexit trade deal
BRUSSELS — The leaders of Britain and the European Union were meeting Wednesday for a dinner that could pave the way to a post-Brexit trade deal — or tip the two sides toward a chaotic economic rupture at the end of the month. Early-morning comments from both sides insisting that...
New White House offer adds $600 checks to covid-19 relief
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration dived back into Capitol Hill’s confusing covid-19 negotiations, offering a $916 billion package to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would send a $600 direct payment to most Americans but eliminate a $300-per-week employment benefit favored by a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators. Treasury Secretary...
West Virginia chemical plant explosion spurs stay-inside orderVideo
BELLE, W.Va. — An explosion at a West Virginia chemical plant on Wednesday night prompted authorities to order residents within 2 miles of the plant to remain indoors. Details about the incident and whether anyone was injured weren’t immediately released. Explosion at the Belle Plant. There’s a shelter in place....
2 killed, 2 critically injured in Omaha house explosionVideo
OMAHA, Neb. — An explosion that leveled a home in Omaha killed two people and left two others critically injured Tuesday morning, fire officials said. Omaha Fire Department Battalion Chief Scott Fitzpatrick said firefighters responded to the explosion shortly after 8 a.m. The house was destroyed, he said. The explosion...
Family: Black man shot by Ohio deputy held a sandwich, not a gun
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Civil rights and FBI investigators will help look into the fatal shooting by an Ohio sheriff’s deputy of a Black man whose family says that he was holding not a gun, but a sandwich, and that he was shot in front of two toddlers and his grandmother...
14 Fort Hood soldiers fired, suspended over violence at baseVideo
WASHINGTON — The Army on Tuesday said it has fired or suspended 14 officers and enlisted soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, and ordered policy changes to address chronic failures of leadership that contributed to a widespread pattern of violence, including murder, sexual assault and harassment. In a sweeping condemnation of...
Judge dismisses Michael Flynn case as a result of pardon from Trump
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the criminal case against former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn but pointedly noted that a pardon Flynn received from the president last month does not mean that he is innocent. The order from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan was expected...
Man linked to white supremacist group gets 5 years in prison
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A Maryland man was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from an FBI undercover investigation of a white supremacist group that espoused using violence to accelerate overthrowing the U.S. government. William Garfield Bilbrough IV was an “unabashed” member of...
Vast wildfires in Siberia linked to warming Arctic
WASHINGTON — This year’s vast wildfires in far northeastern Russia were linked to broader changes in a warming Arctic, according to a report Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Wildfires are a natural part of many boreal ecosystems. But the extent of flames during the 2020 fire season...
Trump thought courts were key to winning. Judges disagreed.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his allies say their lawsuits aimed at subverting the 2020 election and reversing his loss to Joe Biden would be substantiated, if only judges were allowed to hear the cases. There is a central flaw in the argument. Judges have heard the cases and...
Avalanche kills 1 skier in Switzerland, snow pummels Austria
BERLIN — An avalanche killed one skier in Switzerland and Austrian authorities issued avalanche warnings Tuesday for the country’s mountainous east after days of heavy snow pummeled the region. In hard-hit East Tyrol and other parts in the Austrian Alps, several roads were still closed in Tyrol and some valleys...
Pope makes surprise early morning prayer visit in rainy Rome
ROME — Pope Francis on Tuesday made a surprise early morning visit to the Spanish Steps in Rome to pray for people worldwide struggling in the pandemic. The Vatican last week said that, because of social distancing concerns, Francis was canceling the traditional Dec. 8 afternoon visit to the square...
UK-EU talks near collapse ahead of Johnson trip to Brussels
LONDON — Britain and the European Union warned Tuesday that talks on a post-Brexit free-trade deal are teetering on the brink of collapse, with just over three weeks until an economic rupture that will cause upheaval for businesses on both sides of the English Channel. Officials downplayed the chances of...
Florida agents raid home of ousted covid-19 data curator Rebekah JonesVideo
TALLAHASSEE — Florida authorities investigating an alleged hack into the state’s emergency response system raided the home Monday of a woman fired earlier this year from her job as covid-19 data curator. Florida Department of Law Enforcement said that Rebekah Jones, who was fired for unauthorized public comments about the...
Pearl Harbor dead remembered in ceremony shrunk by pandemicVideo
HONOLULU — U.S. servicemen and women and National Park Service officials gathered at Pearl Harbor on Monday to remember those killed in the attack — but elderly survivors stayed home to pay their respects from afar to avoid health risks from the coronavirus pandemic. The USS Arizona battleship bell rang...
EPA overrides scientists’ calls for tougher pollutant limit
The Trump administration on Monday made final its decision to leave limits for a deadly kind of air pollutant unchanged, overriding scientific findings that tougher standards could save tens of thousands of lives yearly. Environmental groups and many scientists have condemned the decision, slated to be among the final actions...
