U.S./World category, Page 1077
330 coins found in stomach of dead alligator at zoo in Japan
Hundreds of coins may have given this alligator a sinking feeling but probably did not cause the reptile’s death. More than 330 coins were discovered in the stomach of a dead alligator at a zoo in Nagoya, Japan, in May, reports The Japan Times. The metal discs were apparently swallowed...
North Korea says underwater-launched missile test succeeded
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Thursday it has carried out its first underwater-launched ballistic missile test in three years, in an apparent bid to dial up pressure on the United States ahead of a weekend resumption of their nuclear diplomacy. North Korea said Wednesday’s test was a Pukguksong-3...
Atlantic City mayor admits theft from youth basketball team
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City’s mayor admitted stealing $87,000 from a youth basketball team he founded, becoming the latest in a line of corrupt city officials so long that it spawned a hit HBO TV series. Frank Gilliam Jr. appeared Thursday in federal court in Camden, where it emerged...
More benefits planned for some Oklahoma death row inmates
OKLAHOMA CITY — Some of the 44 death row inmates housed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester will soon be moved from the prison’s maximum-security H-Unit to another unit to give them more benefits and access to the outdoors, the state’s new prisons boss said. In a letter released...
Airman on flight credited with helping those on B-17 escapeVideo
HARTFORD, Conn. — An airman with the Connecticut National Guard who was aboard a B-17 bomber that crashed at an airport helped other passengers escape the flames by using his fire-resistant gloves to open a hatch, officials said Thursday. Seven people died when the plane with 13 people on board...
Climate activists fail: ‘Fake blood hose’ backfires spectacularlyVideo
It was going to be pretty dramatic: Fake blood covering a British government building. The climate activists — called Extinction Rebellion — were ready atop a fire truck, armed with a large fire hose that was hooked up to hundreds of gallons of fake blood. Their mission was to coat...
Twin births in U.S. now going down, at lowest level in decade
Fewer U.S. families are seeing double, according to a government report that finds a drop in new twins. Twin births steadily increased for more than three decades, driven largely by older white moms undergoing fertility treatments. But the rate of twin births apparently peaked in 2014 and has fallen 4%...
KISS to rock for sharks, fans under the seaVideo
Having played nearly every corner of the Earth in a nearly 50-year career, the rock band KISS is taking its show to a new place — under the sea, where they will perform for great white sharks and eight fans separated from them by a small submarine. As part of...
22 hurt in parachute training at Mississippi military base
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — At least 22 soldiers have been injured as hundreds parachuted onto a Mississippi military base during a night training exercise. U.S. Army spokesman John Pennell told WDAM-TV that the paratroopers were among 650 soldiers jumping from C-130 planes Wednesday night. Some were blown off course from their...
Knife attack by employee at Paris police HQ kills 4 officers
PARIS — An employee armed with a knife attacked officers inside Paris police headquarters Thursday, killing at least four before he was fatally shot, a French police union official said. Police union official Loic Travers told reporters the attack appears to have begun in an office and continued elsewhere in...
Greta Thunberg is favorite to win Nobel Peace prizeVideo
If oddsmakers are any predictor, Greta Thunberg will be the next winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Bookies in Europe have the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist as the favorite to nab the honor, which will be announced Oct. 11. Thunberg has been inspiring other students by her school strike, “Fridays...
Ex-leader of North Carolina GOP admits to lying to FBI in corruption case
CHARLOTTE — The former chairman of North Carolina’s Republican Party admitted Wednesday that he broke the law by lying to federal agents about his role in an alleged effort to bribe the state’s top insurance regulator to help a major GOP donor. Robin Hayes, 74, pleaded guilty to making a...
Woman who climbed in exhibit with lions at Bronx Zoo identifies herself on social mediaVideo
The woman who climbed into the lion’s den at the Bronx Zoo during the weekend has identified herself — kinda — by way of social media. The unbelievably audacious daredevil calls herself Myáh Lareé Israelite, according to her instagram profile where she also posted a video of her climbing into...
Dallas cop Amber Guyger gets 10 years in prison for killing her neighborVideo
DALLAS — The brother of a black man who was shot dead by a white Dallas police officer who said she mistook the victim’s apartment for her own forgave the officer and embraced her Wednesday as she sobbed after being sentenced to a decade in prison. As people outside of...
Judge denies bail, public defender to man accused of spying
SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. judge said Wednesday that a California tour operator is a flight risk and denied him bail while he awaits trial on charges of carrying national security documents to officials in China. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Corley also ordered Xuehua Edward Peng to hire his own...
Protests escalate in Iraq: 9 dead, hundreds wounded
BAGHDAD — At least seven people were killed and dozens were wounded in clashes that spread across several Iraqi provinces on Wednesday as security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas for the second day to disperse anti-government protesters demanding jobs, improved services and an end to corruption. The deaths...
Ex-South Carolina official gets prison time in prostitution sting
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A former member of the board that oversees South Carolina highways will spend seven months in prison for trying to hire a prostitute just hours after he received probation for admitting he tried to derail an FBI investigation by destroying evidence. John Hardee, 72, was sentenced Wednesday...
Cops: Florida man caught on video cutting brake lines on electric scooters
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Police in Fort Lauderdale have arrested a man who appears on surveillance video to be cutting the brake line on a pair of electric scooters that people rent to ride around the city, police say. Randall Thomas Williams, 59, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, is seen...
Billionaire, friend get no-jail plea deal in Las Vegas drug case
LAS VEGAS — A billionaire California technology firm founder and his friend took no-jail plea deals Wednesday that had them donate $1 million to charities while not admitting guilt in a Las Vegas Strip hotel room drug investigation. Henry Thompson Nicholas III and co-defendant Ashley Christine Fargo stood with their...
Placido Domingo resigns as general director of LA Opera
SAN FRANCISCO — Opera star Placido Domingo resigned Wednesday as general director of the Los Angeles Opera and withdrew from future performances at the company following multiple allegations of sexual harassment reported by The Associated Press. “I hold Los Angeles Opera very dearly to my heart and count my work...
Netanyahu’s legal saga reaches critical stage in Israel
JERUSALEM — Prosecutors began a pre-indictment hearing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, opening a critical stage in a lengthy legal saga that threatens to end the career of the long-serving Israeli leader and has paralyzed the country’s political system. Netanyahu’s lawyers sat down with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit...
Report: Renewables will provide nearly half of world’s electricity by 2050
Renewable sources of energy will provide nearly half of the world’s electricity by 2050, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Currently, 28% of global electricity is generated from renewable energy sources such as hydropower, wind and solar technologies. In its International Energy Outlook 2019, EIA projects that renewables will...
World War II-era bomber crashes; at least 7 reported deadVideo
WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — A World War II-era B-17 bomber with 13 people aboard crashed and burned at the Hartford airport after encountering mechanical trouble on takeoff Wednesday, and a state official said at least seven were killed. The same plane also crashed in 1987 at an air show near...
Fed-up San Francisco neighbors use rocks to block homeless
SAN FRANCISCO — A group of San Francisco neighbors say they bought boulders and had them delivered to their sidewalk to stop people from camping and dealing drugs on their street. In Los Angeles this summer, the owner of a cultural center erected massive planters around his building to block...
Sheriff: Armed girl threatened to kill boy over crush
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Authorities in South Carolina say a girl brought two kitchen knives to her elementary school and threatened to kill a boy who had a crush on another girl. Citing a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report, The Island Packet reports the knives were found in the...
