U.S./World category, Page 1007
College student dies of flu before 911 rescuers can find him
TROY, N.Y. — A college student was found dead in his home of the flu after a garbled 911 call left rescuers with no means of locating him, authorities said. Police and firefighters in Troy, N.Y., spent 45 minutes on Feb. 10 searching the City Station apartment complex where Rensselaer...
Fired Chicago Police superintendent getting $190K pension
CHICAGO — Chicago’s former police chief has been receiving a pension of more than $15,800 a month since the mayor fired him for allegedly lying about a night he was found asleep in his city-issued SUV, according to a newspaper report. Eddie Johnson was awarded the pension by the Policemen’s...
Woman struck and killed by Mardi Gras float during paradeVideo
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans is mourning the death of a woman who was run over by a parade float as the city celebrates the season leading up to Mardi Gras. Police are still investigating the accident, spokesman Juan Barnes said Thursday. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office identified her Thursday...
Israel leader vows thousands of new homes in east Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday he was pushing ahead with the construction of 5,000 new Jewish homes in key areas of east Jerusalem, where critics say additional building could cut Palestinian residents off from the rest of the West Bank. On a visit to the Har...
Trump ally Roger Stone sentenced to 40 months in prisonVideo
WASHINGTON — Trump loyalist and ally Roger Stone was sentenced Thursday to 40 months in federal prison, following an extraordinary move by Attorney General William Barr to back off his Justice Department’s original sentencing recommendation. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Stone’s crimes demanded a significant time behind...
Trapped paraglider rescued from power lines in California
OLIVEHURST, Calif. — A paraglider spent three hours trapped in power lines before being rescued in northern California. The paraglider, who was not immediately identified, was facing the ground with the wires as his only support when first responders arrived Wednesday night, according to officials with the Olivehurst Fire Department....
South Sudan rival leaders agree to form coalition government
JUBA, South Sudan — South Sudan’s rival leaders on Thursday announced they have agreed to form a coalition government just two days before the deadline, a breakthrough after months of delays and a major step in the emergence from a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people in the...
Vatican sees intense interest in opening of Pius XII archive
VATICAN CITY — More than 150 historians and researchers have signed up to access the soon-to-open Vatican archives of Pope Pius XII, evidence of the intense scholarly interest into the World War II-era pope and his record during the Holocaust, officials said Thursday. Cardinal José Tolentino Calaça de Mendonça, the...
Hair Club for Men founder — and client — Sy Sperling diesVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Hair Club for Men founder Sy Sperling, famous for the TV commercials where he proclaimed “I’m not only the Hair Club president but I’m also a client,” died Thursday in Florida. He was 78. Sperling died in Boca Raton after a lengthy illness, spokeswoman Terri Lynn...
‘Leaning Tower of Dallas’ is online star after implosion
DALLAS — A social media sensation dubbed the “Leaning Tower of Dallas” was born when a portion of a building survived an implosion in Dallas. After the implosion Sunday failed to bring down the core of the 11-story former Affiliated Computer Services building, the online jokes and photos began. Many,...
Trump taps loyalist Richard Grenell as nation’s top intel official
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced that Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, will become acting director of national intelligence, a move that puts a staunch Trump ally in charge of the nation’s 17 spy agencies, which the president has only tepidly embraced. “Rick has represented our Country exceedingly...
South Korea reports 1st virus death; 2.5M urged to stay home
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea reported its first death from the new virus on Thursday while the mayor of a southeastern city urged its 2.5 million people to stay inside as infections linked to a church congregation spiked. The death was the ninth confirmed from the virus outside mainland...
9 killed in suspected far-right attack in Germany
HANAU, Germany — A 43-year-old German man shot and killed nine people at several locations in a Frankfurt suburb in attacks that appeared to have been motivated by far-right beliefs, officials said Thursday. The gunman first attacked a hookah bar and a neighboring cafe in central Hanau at about 10...
U.S. judge sides with migrants in case against Border Patrol
PHOENIX — Conditions at most Border Patrol facilities in Arizona are punitive and unconstitutional, a U.S. judge in Arizona said Wednesday while ruling in favor of migrants who have long-complained about inhumane and unsanitary conditions in holding cells. The ruling came weeks after the conclusion of a seven-day trial in...
George Zimmerman sues Buttigieg, Warren over Trayvon Martin birthday tweets
ORLANDO, Fla. — George Zimmerman, the former Sanford, Fla., resident acquitted of murder in the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, is suing Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg over tweets they posted to commemorate the teenager’s birthday. The lawsuit was reported Wednesday morning by Newsweek. The...
First lady Melania Trump honored by Christian college
PALM BEACH, Fla. — First lady Melania Trump touted her “Be Best” program and the Trump administration’s battle against the opioid crisis as she accept an award Wednesday from a Florida Christian college. The first lady told the 550 attendees at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s “Women of Distinction” luncheon that...
Father sues airline over boy’s sexual assault during layover
ORLANDO, Fla. — A man in Florida is suing one of Latin America’s largest airlines, claiming his 6-year-old son was sexually assaulted by an airline employee while traveling as an unaccompanied minor from Brazil to the United States. The father filed the negligence lawsuit Monday against LATAM Airlines in federal...
Agency ordered to pay fees in ‘IM GOD’ license plate case in Kentucky
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has to pay more than $150,000 in legal fees for a man who won a lawsuit allowing him to put “IM GOD” on his license plate. A judge ruled this week that the state agency must pay $150,715.50 in attorneys’ fees and an...
3 charged after 11-year-old gives birth in Missouri bathtub
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Three relatives of an 11-year-old girl who gave birth in the bathtub of her suburban St. Louis home are facing criminal charges. An adult female and adult male are charged with child endangerment. A 17-year-old male is charged with incest as well as statutory rape and...
AP source: Barr tells people he might quit over Trump tweets
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr has told people close to him he’s considering quitting his post after President Donald Trump wouldn’t heed his warning to stop tweeting about Justice Department cases, an administration official told The Associated Press. The revelation came days after Barr took a public swipe at...
Iowa man kidnaps woman, forces her to watch ‘Roots’ to ‘understand her racism’
Iowa police have charged a man with harassment and false imprisonment after they say he kidnapped a woman and forced her to watch a late 1970s miniseries about slavery. The Gazette, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, newspaper, reports 52-year-old Robert Lee Noye was arrested Monday. According to the criminal complaint, Noye...
Homeland Security waives contracting laws for border wall
SAN DIEGO — The Trump administration said Tuesday that it is waiving federal contracting laws to speed construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, moving the president closer to fulfilling a signature campaign promise in an election year but sparking criticism about potential for fraud, waste and abuse. The...
Massachusetts state representative who sits on ethics committee charged with misusing campaign fundsVideo
BOSTON — A longtime Massachusetts state representative was charged Tuesday with using tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash for golf club dues, casino trips and other personal expenses. David Nangle, a Democrat who sits on the House Committee on Ethics, faces federal charges including wire and bank fraud...
Death toll from toxic gas leak rises to 14 in Pakistan
KARACHI, Pakistan — A gas leak in the southern port city of Karachi has killed 14 people and sickened hundreds more, Pakistani health officials said Tuesday. The leak that started Sunday has set off a panic in Karachi and raised concerns because city officials could not immediately identify the source...
Trump commutes former Illinois Gov. Blagojevich’s sentenceVideo
CHICAGO — President Donald Trump has gone on a clemency blitz, commuting the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and pardoning former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik. Trump also says he has granted clemency to financier Michael Milken, who pleaded guilty for violating U.S. securities laws. Kerik served...
