U.S./World category, Page 1013
New virus has infected more than 34,800 people globally
A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 34,800 people globally. The latest figures reported by global health authorities as of Saturday in Beijing: — China: 722 deaths and 34,546 confirmed cases on the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong has had 25 cases, including one death. Macao...
Actor-comedian Orson Bean, 91, hit and killed by car in LA
LOS ANGELES — Orson Bean, the witty actor and comedian, was hit and killed by a car in Los Angeles, authorities said. He was 91. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office confirmed Bean’s Friday night death, saying it was being investigated as a “traffic-related” fatality. The coroner’s office provided the...
Judge strikes blow to US immigration enforcement tactics
SAN DIEGO — A federal judge has prohibited U.S. immigration authorities from relying on databases deemed faulty to ask law enforcement agencies to hold people in custody, a setback for the Trump administration that threatens to hamper how it carries out arrests. The ruling applies only to the Central District...
Kansas GOP lawmakers fail in anti-abortion amendment effort
TOPEKA, Kan. — Republican lawmakers in Kansas on Friday failed to get a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution on the ballot, stalling efforts to ensure that its Bill of Rights does not secure a right to an abortion. Neither side expected Friday’s vote in the Kansas House to...
Michael Avenatti considering testifying at extortion trial
NEW YORK — California lawyer Michael Avenatti may decide to testify at his New York trial on charges that he tried to extort Nike for millions of dollars, his lawyer said Friday. Attorney Scott Srebnick said he’ll file arguments Saturday asking a judge to exclude any questions about allegations that...
New Mississippi AG reviewing 6-trial murder case
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s new attorney general must decide whether to take a quadruple murder case to a seventh trial. Curtis Flowers has had two mistrials and four reversed convictions in connection with the 1996 slayings of four people at a furniture store. Flowers was sentenced to death in the...
Defective software could have doomed Boeing’s crew capsule
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Defective software could have doomed Boeing’s crew capsule during its first test flight, a botched trip that was cut short and never made it to the International Space Station, NASA and company officials said Friday. The Starliner capsule launched without astronauts in December, but its automatic...
NTSB releases photo of Kobe Bryant helicopter flying into cloud before crash
LOS ANGELES — As part of its preliminary investigation into the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash, the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday released an image of the chopper flying under cloudy conditions shortly before it hit a hill in Calabasas. The report also included photos showing the poor visibility in...
More planes with quarantined China passengers arrive in US
SAN DIEGO — Hundreds more people evacuated from the virus zone in China began arriving Friday at military bases across the U.S. to begin a two-week quarantine. There were no signs of illness among those who flew into Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, said Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy...
Shrinking country: Serbia struggles with population decline
BLAGOJEV KAMEN, Serbia — Uros Trainovic remembers when his small mining village in eastern Serbia was a vibrant home to 200 families, had a school of its own, a doctor and a shop. How times have changed. Now, 60-odd years later, it’s a ghost village with just eight residents. The...
Mexico won’t really raffle off huge presidential jet
MEXICO CITY — Mexicans will no longer have to worry about where to park a Boeing Dreamliner when the government raffles off the luxurious presidential jet: the air force will keep it. In fact, nobody will win the actual $130 million Boeing 787 plane in the lottery-style raffle to be...
Secret Service may leave Homeland Security, rejoin TreasuryVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House is throwing its support behind a plan to transfer the U.S. Secret Service back to the Treasury Department to better focus on the growing threat of online financial crimes. Shifting the agency from within the Department of Homeland Security to the Treasury would require action...
Aide who testified against Trump likely out at White House
WASHINGTON — The decorated soldier and White House aide who played a central role in the Democrats’ impeachment case against President Donald Trump is expected to be pushed out of his job at the National Security Council, two people familiar with the expected personnel move said Friday. “I’m not happy...
Benetton fires famed photographer over insensitive remarks
MILAN — Photographer Olivier Toscani made a career out of provocative advertising campaigns for Benetton, the Italian clothing brand famed for its colorful knitwear. But that decades-long relationship has been severed after Toscani outraged relatives of victims in the deadly 2018 Genoa bridge collapse. Toscani told RAI television this week,...
Russia says Israel nearly shot down passenger plane in Syria
MOSCOW — Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that Israeli air forces nearly shot down a passenger jetliner in Syria during a missile strike on the suburbs of Damascus a day earlier. The allegation comes as tensions run high in Syria, where fighting has escalated in the northern province of Idlib....
Russian parliament member dies in helicopter crash
MOSCOW — A member of the lower house of the Russian parliament was killed in a helicopter crash in his home region Friday, officials said. Airat Khairullin was killed in the crash in Tatarstan, about 500 miles east of Moscow, Russian news agencies reported, citing parliamentary and local officials. Reports...
Trump to promote opportunity zones on North Carolina visit
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday will promote economic revitalization in low-income areas on his first trip outside of Washington since he was acquitted in the Senate impeachment trial. Before leaving for North Carolina, Trump continued to air grievances about his impeachment ordeal, saying of Democrats: “I think there’s...
Spain and Italy ready joint migration policy proposal for EU
MADRID — Spain and Italy want to forge a new strategic alliance that can shape the European Union’s future policies on migration, the two countries’ foreign ministers said Friday. Spain’s Arancha González Laya and Italy’s Luigi di Maio also said after talks in Madrid that an informal document on proposed...
Ohio police say woman lost $2,400 in ‘grandparent scam’
MANSFIELD, Ohio — A woman lost $2,400 in a so-called “grandparent scam” after receiving a call that her grandson was in jail, police in Ohio said. The 76-year-old woman in Mansfield in north-central Ohio received the call Wednesday from a man claiming to be her grandson’s lawyer, according to Mansfield...
Palestinians deny U.S. charges of incitement, blame Trump planVideo
JERUSALEM — The Palestinians on Friday rejected U.S. allegations of incitement after a day of clashes and attacks left three Palestinians dead, including a member of the security forces, and wounded more than a dozen Israeli soldiers. They instead linked the violence to President Donald Trump’s Mideast initiative, which heavily...
Weinstein trial: Here are the prosecution’s 6 women’s accounts
NEW YORK — Some were aspiring actresses. One was a star on the rise. Another was looking to get more involved in behind-the-scenes aspects of the film and TV business. Six women out of the many who have accused Harvey Weinstein of vile sexual behavior have testified over the last...
Woman who left U.K. to join Islamic State group loses challenge to restore citizenship
LONDON — A U.K. woman who as a teenager ran away to join the Islamic State group lost a legal challenge Friday aimed at restoring her citizenship, which was revoked on national security grounds. Shamima Begum, one of three east London schoolgirls who traveled to Syria in 2015, resurfaced at...
Egypt frees pro-democracy activist imprisoned for four years
CAIRO — Egypt on Friday freed a pro-democracy activist who spent over four years in prison and rose to local prominence as one of the faces of the country’s 2011 uprising, his lawyer said. Ramy Sayed, 31, had coordinated protests for the April 6 youth movement, a group that helped...
Putin hosts Belarus leader for tough economic talks
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the leader of Belarus Friday for another round of difficult talks on closer integration amid mounting Russian economic pressure on its ex-Soviet ally. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has accused the Kremlin of flouting its obligations on energy supplies while trying to strong-arm him...
India to continue rebel peace accord push in troubled areasVideo
GAUHATI, India — India’s prime minister said on Friday that his government will continue its peace push in the insurgency-wracked northeastern region bordering China and Myanmar where accords with key rebel groups have led to the surrender of thousands of fighters in recent weeks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said decades...
