U.S./World category, Page 1034
Pope: Sorry I lost patience with hand-shaker who yanked meVideo
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has apologized for hitting the hand of a well-wisher who grabbed him and yanked him toward her. In his new year’s wishes to the public in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Francis confessed to losing his patience with the woman while he was strolling in...
As more women run for office, child care remains a hurdle
SALT LAKE CITY — When Kimberly Dudik ran for her fourth term in the Montana House, state officials told her she could not use campaign money to pay for child care for her four young children. She is now running for attorney general and is trying to visit a big...
Israel PM Netanyahu seeks immunity from corruption charges
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he will seek immunity from corruption charges, likely delaying any trial until after March elections, when he hopes to have a majority coalition that will shield him from prosecution. Netanyahu was indicted in November on charges of accepting bribes, fraud and...
Officials: Taliban target Afghan security forces, killing 26Video
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban unleashed a new wave of attacks in northern Afghanistan, targeting members of the country’s security forces and killing at least 26, local officials said Wednesday. The insurgents quickly claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban today hold sway over practically half of Afghanistan, staging near-daily...
Floats, marching bands hit the streets for 131st Rose Parade
PASADENA, Calif. — After a flyover by a B-2 stealth bomber, marching bands and floral floats took to the streets under mostly sunny California skies as the 131st Rose Parade drew hundreds of thousands of spectators on New Year’s Day. Among the fanciful floats was an award-winning entry from the...
Cars get trapped in tumbleweeds on Washington state highwayVideo
WEST RICHLAND, Wash. — A Washington state highway was closed closed in both directions Tuesday night after several cars became trapped in tumbleweeds. YakTriNews reported that the Washington State Patrol announced via Twitter at about 6:30 p.m. that drivers on State Route 240 near West Richland should be aware of...
4 homicides in first 3 hours of 2020 in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS — Four people in St. Louis were shot to death in the early hours of the first day of 2020, including three killed at one location. Police were called shortly after midnight to an intersection in the Benton Park neighborhood, where three people were found dead. A fourth...
Family: Man stabbed in Hanukkah attack may have brain damage
NEW YORK — A man wounded in the Hanukkah stabbings north of New York City may have permanent brain damage and be partially paralyzed for the rest of his life, his family said. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council released a statement from the family of Josef Neumann, 71, and...
7 shot at bar in West Virginia on New Year’s DayVideo
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. — Seven people were injured in a shooting at a bar in West Virginia early New Year’s Day, police said. The shooting happened early Wednesday at the Kulture Hookah Bar in Huntington, interim Huntington Police Chief Ray Cornwell said in a news release. The statement said several...
About 5,000 golden eagles winter in eastern U.S.
Golden eagles are back from Canada, spending the winter in the eastern U.S. Researcher Trish Miller said there are probably around 5,000 east of the Mississippi River, compared to estimates of 1,000 to 2,500 when she and her husband, Michael Lanzone, began studying them in 2005. Other scientists have come...
Man caught on video snatching woman from NYC subway train
NEW YORK — New York police arrested a man after a video surfaced showing him apparently trying to abduct a woman on the subway. Sonny Alloway, 48, was charged with unlawful imprisonment on suspicion of grabbing a young woman and carrying her off a No. 6 train Sunday in the...
Trump suggests some flavored vapes may be pulled from market
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump says the federal government will soon announce a new strategy to tackle underage vaping, promising, “We’re going to protect our families, we’re going to protect our children, and we’re going to protect the industry.” Trump was vague about what the plan would entail...
Year-end violence highlights danger of worshipping
NEW YORK — When a machete-wielding attacker walked into a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York, during Hanukkah and a gunman fired on worshippers at a Texas church 14 hours later, the two congregations in different regions of the country joined a growing list of faith communities that have come...
Kisses, cheers, fireworks welcome 2020 in Times Square
NEW YORK — Couples kissed. Others cheered and waved balloons as fireworks burst into the night sky and confetti fell to welcome the start of 2020 in New York City’s Times Square. In one of the globe’s most-watched New Year’s Eve spectacles, the crowd counted down the last seconds of...
Minister: Texas gunman grew angry in past over cash requests
DALLAS — The congregation at a Texas church where two people were fatally shot had repeatedly given food to the gunman, according to the pastor, but had declined to give money to him, angering a man who court records show was deemed mentally incompetent for trial in 2012. It’s unclear...
Cheers, tears, prayers for 2020: A new decade is ushered in
Revelers around the globe are bidding farewell to a decade that will be remembered for the rise of social media, the Arab Spring, the #MeToo movement and, of course, President Donald Trump. A look at how the world is ushering in 2020: ——— PARIS A joyful crowd of Parisians and...
Headless torso found in Idaho cave identified as bootlegger
BOISE, Idaho — The headless torso that was found in a remote Idaho cave 40 years ago has finally been identified as belonging to an outlaw who killed his wife with an ax and was last seen after escaping from jail in 1916. Clark County Sheriff Bart May said Tuesday...
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un promises look at new weapon soon
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accused the Trump administration of dragging its feet in nuclear negotiations and warned that his country will soon show a new strategic weapon to the world as its bolsters its nuclear deterrent in face of “gangster-like” U.S. sanctions and...
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker clears thousands of marijuana convictionsVideo
CHICAGO — Illinois’ governor granted more than 11,000 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions on Tuesday, describing the step as a first wave of thousands of such expungements anticipated under the state’s new marijuana legalization law. The expungement process is a key part of the law, which takes effect Wednesday and...
Judge orders Alex Jones to pay $100,000 in Sandy Hook case
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas judge ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $100,000 in another court setback over the Infowars host using his show to promote falsehoods that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax. Jones is being sued for defamation in Austin, Texas, by the parents...
Happy 2020: Server at Michigan restaurant gets $2,020 tip
ALPENA, Mich. — The restaurant bill was $23. But the tip at a small-town restaurant in Michigan was much larger: $2,020. “Things like this don’t happen to people like me,” server Danielle Franzoni told The Alpena News. Franzoni, 31, got the tip while working Sunday at Thunder Bay River Restaurant...
Cheers, tears, prayers for 2020: A new decade is ushered in around the world
Revelers around the globe are bidding farewell to a decade that will be remembered for the rise of social media, the Arab Spring, the #MeToo movement and, of course, President Donald Trump. A look at how the world is ushering in 2020: ——— AUSTRALIA More than a million people descended...
Raging wildfires trap 4,000 at Australian town’s waterfront
PERTH, Australia — Wildfires burning across Australia’s two most populous states Tuesday trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions and killed at least two people while more property along the country’s east coast fell victim to a devastating fire season. About 4,000 residents in the southeastern town of...
West Virginia governor fires 34 prison guard trainees who gave Nazi salute
CHARLESTON, W. Va. — West Virginia’s governor has fired 34 correction officer trainees who were photographed giving a Nazi salute, and he fired their instructor. He also says four instructors are being suspended without pay. Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced his decision Monday after receiving a report from state investigators...
Protesters attack U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after airstrikesVideo
BAGHDAD — Angered by deadly airstrikes targeting an Iran-backed militia, dozens of Iraqi Shiite militiamen and their supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday, smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area in one of the worst attacks on the embassy in recent...
