U.S./World category, Page 979
Tropical Storm Bertha forms, hits South Carolina coastVideo
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall on South Carolina’s coast Wednesday morning shortly after it formed, becoming the second named storm before the official start of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. A tropical storm warning was issued for South Carolina’s coast and the storm was expected to bring heavy...
Trump threatens social media after Twitter fact-checks him
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened social media companies with new regulation or even shuttering after Twitter moved a day earlier to add fact checks to two of his tweets. Claiming tech giants “silence conservative voices,” Trump said, “We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we...
Officials: Prison reform advocate rehearsed jail break plans
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A longtime prison reform advocate accused of preparing to stage an escape at a Tennessee jail that’s under construction had a builder create a concrete room in his condominium’s basement so he could learn how to break into the walls, authorities say. The room built in a...
U.S. priest who founded Knights of Columbus gets closer to sainthood
VATICAN CITY — The founder of the Knights of Colombus, the influential U.S.-based lay Catholic organization, is moving a step closer to possible sainthood. Pope Francis has approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Rev. Michael McGivney, a Connecticut priest who died at age 38 of pneumonia in...
EU proposes $825 billion coronavirus recovery fundVideo
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s executive arm is proposing a $825 billion recovery fund to help the bloc’s economy through the painful recession triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said Wednesday. Gentiloni, who is in charge of economic affairs at the commission, wrote in a tweet that the...
Poll: 1 in 5 teachers unlikely to return to school if classrooms reopen this fallVideo
One in five teachers in the United States say they are unlikely to return to in-person instruction if schools reopen in the fall, a USA Today–Ipsos poll revealed Tuesday. The survey found 25% of teachers 55 and older say they are unlikely to return for in-person classes, hinting at the...
Boys let black widow spider bite them to gain Spider-Man-like powers
Three Bolivian boys landed themselves in the hospital after enticing a black widow spider to bite them in hopes of gaining super powers — a la Spider-Man, Telemundo reports. The boys, ages 12, 10 and 8, had gone into the fields to help goats graze in Chayanta, about 215 miles...
Woman fired as a result of backlash from racist Central Park confrontationVideo
NEW YORK — The verbal dispute between a white woman walking her dog and a black man bird watching in Central Park might normally have gone unnoticed in a city preoccupied by the coronavirus pandemic. That changed when birdwatcher Christian Cooper pulled out his phone and captured Amy Cooper calling...
Transgender bathroom ban heard by federal appeals court
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia school board defended its transgender bathroom ban before a federal appeals court Tuesday, as a transgender man who was barred as a student from using the boys’ bathrooms at his high school argued that the policy discriminated against him and violated his constitutional rights. A...
Costa Rica latest country to legalize same-sex marriage
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Costa Rica became the latest country to legalize same-sex marriage early Tuesday when a ruling from its supreme court went into effect ending the country’s ban. Couples held ceremonies — mostly private due to the covid-19 pandemic, but some that were broadcast — to celebrate...
Twitter gives Trump a pass on unfounded ‘murder’ allegationsVideo
President Donald Trump is again pushing the limits of Twitter’s attempts to deal with national leaders who spread misinformation and engage in personal abuse, this time with a barrage of baseless tweets suggesting that a television host he has feuded with committed murder. Twitter, which has tried to devise penalties...
4 Minneapolis police officers fired after death of black manVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Four Minneapolis officers involved in the arrest of a black man who died in police custody were fired Tuesday, hours after a bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and stopped moving. Mayor Jacob Frey...
Minister quits U.K. government over aide’s lockdown breachVideo
LONDON — A junior British government minister quit on Tuesday over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s failure to fire his top aide for allegedly breaching coronavirus lockdown rules. Johnson has stood by Dominic Cummings over his decision to drive 250 miles to his parents’ house at the end of March, despite...
Worker shortage concerns loom in immigrant-heavy meatpackingVideo
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — When Martha Kebede’s adult sons immigrated from Ethiopia and reunited with her in South Dakota this year, they had few work opportunities. Lacking English skills, the brothers took jobs at Smithfield Foods’ Sioux Falls pork plant, grueling and increasingly risky work as the coronavirus sickened thousands...
NASA astronauts go back to the future with capsule launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — It’s back to the future as NASA astronauts launch again from the U.S. — aboard a retro-style “Right Stuff” capsule. Make no mistake: This is not your father’s — or grandfather’s — capsule. SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule outshines NASA’s old Apollo spacecraft in virtually every way....
Venezuela celebrates docking of Iranian tanker carrying gasoline
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan authorities celebrated Monday as the first of five Iranian tankers loaded with gasoline docked in the South American country, delivering badly needed fuel to the crisis-stricken nation that sits atop the world’s largest oil reserves. The gasoline shipments are arriving in defiance of stiff sanctions by...
Efforts underway to get food from U.S. farms to needy
OMAHA, Neb. — As food banks have struggled to meet soaring demand from people suddenly out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, it has been especially troubling to see farmers have to bury produce, dump milk and euthanize hogs. Now some states are providing more money to help pay...
Ravenous rats await restaurant-goers after 2 months of food deprivation, CDC warns
NEW YORK — Beware rogue ravenous rats. That’s the latest coronavirus-tinged health warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as the rodents that have been starved of restaurant leftovers these past two months make themselves known. In a species evolutionarily adapted to resort to cannibalism during hard times,...
Rally: Effigy of Kentucky governor displayed near CapitolVideo
FRANKFORT — An effigy of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was hung in a tree near the State Capitol on Sunday during what was billed as a protest rally in defense of constitutional rights, drawing sharp political rebukes, according to local news reports. Video recordings and photographs show the effigy suspended...
California woman arrested for posting racist notes at homesVideo
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — A woman in the San Francisco Bay Area has been arrested on suspicion of posting handwritten messages at several homes, targeting Asian Americans and suggesting that those not native to the United States should leave the country immediately. Police in San Leandro, a suburb of 89,000...
Flynn judge Emmet Sullivan hires D.C. litigator to respond in dismissal fight
The judge overseeing Michael Flynn’s prosecution hired a law firm to represent him after he was ordered by an appeals court to respond to the former national security adviser’s emergency petition to have the case thrown out, said a person familiar with the matter. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan hired...
Former U.S. Rep. Allen West recovering after Texas crash
WACO, Texas — Former U.S. Rep. Allen West of Florida was recovering Sunday as a result of suffering a concussion, several fractured bones and cuts in a motorcycle crash in Texas, according to a post on his Facebook page. The post said West was driving back from a rally in...
Ohio governor: Wearing masks shouldn’t be political issue
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says wearing masks while in public during the coronavirus pandemic should not be a political issue but is about people acting to protect others. DeWine was reacting on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday to North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s call for residents to...
Huge crowds gather for Memorial Day weekend as coronavirus deaths near 100,000Video
Social distancing, crowd limitations and wearing face masks are all techniques of lessening the risk of coronavirus exposure. But during the Memorial Day weekend, many in the United States are doing away with such practices. As the national death toll of covid-19 neared 100,000, states across the country relaxed restrictions...
Pandemic a boon for the bicycle as thousands snap them up
SAN FRANCISCO — Joel Johnson hadn’t owned a bicycle since he was 15, but the pandemic changed all that. Johnson first bought a multipurpose bike to avoid the germs on crowded buses and trains but then discovered a passion for pedaling around San Francisco, where some streets are now closed...
