U.S./World category, Page 893
Hawaii island group aims to reduce feral rabbit population
HILO, Hawaii — A Hawaii island group has launched an effort to reduce the number of feral rabbits, which the campaigners say are wreaking havoc on yards and burrowing under homes. The Big Island Invasive Species Committee has asked for reports from residents who have seen the wild bunnies, The...
Female banded mongooses lead battle for chance to find mates
When families of banded mongooses prepare to fight, they form battle lines. Each clan of about 20 animals stands nose to nose, their ears flattened back, as they stare down the enemy. A patch of scrubby savannah separates them, until the first animals run forward. “Then they bunch up into...
Cat at Northeast’s highest peak dies after 12 years on duty
NORTH CONWAY, N.H. — A cat who patrolled the highest peak in the northeast U.S. for a dozen years as its weather observatory’s mascot has died. Marty, a black Maine coon cat, succumbed to “an unforeseen illness,” Mount Washington Summit Operations Manager Rebecca Scholand said in a news release Monday....
EU files antitrust charges against Amazon over use of data
LONDON — European Union regulators filed antitrust charges Tuesday against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of using its access to data to gain an unfair advantage over merchants using its platform. The EU’s executive Commission, the bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, issued the charges after it started looking into the company...
Vatican faults many for McCarrick’s rise but spares pope
ROME — A Vatican investigation into ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has found that a series of bishops, cardinals and popes downplayed or dismissed reports that he slept with seminarians, and determined that Pope Francis merely continued his predecessors’ naive handling of the predator until a former altar boy alleged abuse. The...
U.K., EU make one more push for elusive Brexit trade deal
LONDON — Negotiators from Britain and the European Union met Monday to seek a breakthrough in gridlocked trade talks, with just days until a deadline to strike a post-Brexit deal. As EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier met his British counterpart, David Frost, in London, members of Britain’s House of Lords...
In abrupt move, Trump fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, an unprecedented move by a president struggling to accept election defeat and angry at a Pentagon leader he believes wasn’t loyal enough. The decision, which could unsettle international allies and Pentagon leadership, injects another element of uncertainty to...
Trump’s election night party adds to virus scrutiny as HUD Secretary Ben Carson tests positive for covid
WASHINGTON — It was supposed to be a scene of celebration. Instead, the Trump campaign’s election night watch party in the White House East Room — with few masks and no social distancing — is being eyed as a potential coronavirus super-spreading event and yet another symbol of President Donald...
Kremlin: Putin won’t congratulate Biden until challenges end
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t congratulate President-elect Joe Biden until legal challenges to the U.S. election are resolved and the result is official, the Kremlin announced Monday. Putin is one of a handful of world leaders who have not commented on Biden’s victory, which was called by major...
Russian military helicopter shot down in Armenia, 2 killed
YEREVAN, Armenia — Russia said Monday that one of its military helicopters was shot down in Armenia, near the border with Azerbaijan, killing two servicemen. The incident occurred near the border with the Azerbaijan exclave of Nakhchivan. Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been fighting for six weeks over the region...
Vice President Mike Pence heading to Florida vacation island
WASHINGTON — One week after Election Day, Vice President Mike Pence appears ready to take some time off. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Pence is scheduled to travel to Sanibel, Fla., from Tuesday through Saturday. Pence has vacationed on the island along Florida’s Gulf Coast several times previously. Pence’s...
Tropical Storm Eta floods already drenched Florida citiesVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A deluge of rain from Tropical Storm Eta caused flooding Monday across South Florida’s most densely populated urban areas, stranding cars, flooding businesses, and swamping entire neighborhoods with fast-rising water that had no place to drain. The system made landfall in the Florida Keys and posed...
Biden cheers vaccine progress but says masks remain a must, names advisory coronavirus board
WILMINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden on Monday cheered news about the promising development of a coronavirus vaccine but cautioned Americans need to be aggressive about mask wearing and social distancing as infections continue to surge around the country. The Democrat’s transition team also unveiled members of Biden’s coronavirus working group...
Russia’s Putin says time for Syrian refugees to return home
DAMASCUS, Syria — Millions of Syrian refugees who fled their country’s civil war should start returning home to help rebuild Syria now that large parts of the Arab nation enjoy relative peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday. Putin’s comments came in a video call with Syrian President Bashar Assad...
Turkish finance minister, Erdogan’s son-in-law, resigns post
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s finance minister and son-in-law to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his resignation on social media Sunday. Berat Albayrak said on Instagram that he was stepping down from his post for health reasons and would spend more time with his family. Albayrak, 42, was appointed minister of...
Astronauts arrive at launch site for 2nd SpaceX crew flight
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Four astronauts arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Sunday for SpaceX’s second crew launch, coming up next weekend. For NASA, it marks the long-awaited start of regular crew rotations at the International Space Station, with private companies providing the lifts. There will be double the number...
Eta expected to be hurricane and strike Florida KeysVideo
HAVANA — A strengthening Tropical Storm Eta sliced across Cuba on Sunday and was aimed at the southern tip of Florida, where officials braced for a storm that could hit at hurricane force after leaving scores of dead and over 100 missing in Mexico and Central America. The U.S. National...
Convention centers, museums become classrooms amid pandemic
MISSION, Kan. — In ordinary times, the airy convention center on a 61-acre site in Hesston, Kansas, hosts weddings, corporate retreats and church events. During the pandemic, it has become a schoolhouse for the district’s seventh- and eighth-graders. Megan Kohlman teaches literature and writing inside one of the rooms, separated...
Iran’s president calls on Biden to return to nuclear deal
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s president called on President-elect Joe Biden to “compensate for past mistakes” and return the U.S. to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, a state-run news agency reported Sunday. Hassan Rouhani’s comments mark the highest-level response from Iran to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris clinching...
Gun-waving St. Louis couple sues news photographer
ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis couple facing felony charges for waving guns at racial injustice protesters who marched near their home allege in a lawsuit that a news photographer trespassed to capture an image of the confrontation. Mark and Patricia McCloskey, lawyers in their 60s, filed the lawsuit Friday...
Census takers say they were told to enter false information
Two census takers told The Associated Press that their supervisors pressured them to enter false information into a computer system about homes they had not visited so they could close cases during the waning days of the once-a-decade national headcount. Maria Arce said her supervisor in Massachusetts offered step-by-step instructions...
Doctors fear more death as Dakotas experience virus ‘sorrow’
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — With coronavirus cases running rampant in the Dakotas and elected leaders refusing to forcefully intervene, the burden of pushing people to take the virus seriously has increasingly been put on the families of those killed. The ranks of those who know what it means to lose...
Mourners say farewell to Walter Wallace Jr., killed in encounter with police
PHILADELPHIA — Mourners began lining up at a North Philadelphia church Saturday morning to pay respect to Walter Wallace Jr., who was shot and killed last month by police during a domestic call. A steady line of mourners began forming shortly before 9 a.m. outside National Baptist Temple Church. A...
World leaders congratulate Biden and Harris on election win
Although U.S. President Donald Trump wasn’t conceding defeat, world leaders swiftly congratulated Joe Biden for his election victory Saturday and expressed hope that the new White House will prioritize the fight against climate change. The news elicited cheers in an Italian coffee bar, encouraged protesters outside the house of Israel’s...
Biden win sparks smattering of protests; most stay peaceful
A smattering of protests broke out around the country Saturday after former Vice President Joe Biden won the presidency, with President Donald Trump and his supporters refusing to accept defeat and pushing unfounded suspicions that rampant voter fraud was denying him a second term. Outside the state capitol building in...
