U.S./World category, Page 1084
House OKs measure to prevent possible end-of-month shutdown
WASHINGTON — The House has passed a short-term ending bill to prevent a federal shutdown when the budget year ends Sept. 30. The bipartisan measure, approved by a 301-123 vote, would give lawmakers until the Thanksgiving break to negotiate and pass $1.4 trillion worth of annual agency spending bills. The...
Where have the wild birds gone? 3 billion fewer than 1970
WASHINGTON — North America’s skies are lonelier and quieter as nearly 3 billion fewer wild birds soar in the air than in 1970, a comprehensive study shows. The new study focuses on the drop in sheer numbers of birds, not extinctions. The bird population in the United States and Canada...
Possible ‘Storm Area 51’ crowds worry Nevada desert towns
LAS VEGAS — Visitors descending on the remote Nevada desert for “Storm Area 51” are from Earth, not outer space. No one knows what to expect, but the two tiny towns of Rachel and Hiko near the once-secret military research site are preparing for an influx of people over the...
U.S. takes back $100M from Afghan government over corruption
KABUL, Afghanistan — Washington is taking back $100 million intended for an Afghan energy infrastructure project, citing unacceptably high levels of corruption in the Afghan government, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday in a harshly worded statement. The U.S. will still finish the massive project, Pompeo said, which...
Canada’s Justin Trudeau faces furor over brownface photo from 2001
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign moved to contain a growing scandal Thursday after a yearbook photo surfaced of him in brownface at a 2001 “Arabian Nights” costume party and two other similar incidents came to light. With the election a month away, he apologized and begged Canadians to...
Indonesian police arrest hundreds linked to forest fires
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian police said Thursday they have arrested 230 people suspected of starting some of the fires that are spreading health-damaging haze across a large part of Southeast Asia. Among those arrested are three men who were caught Monday while trying to clear land to plant crops in...
Philippines declares new polio outbreak after 19 years
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine health officials declared a polio outbreak in the country on Thursday, nearly two decades after the World Health Organization declared it to be free of the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said at a news conference that authorities have confirmed...
1 dead, 7 injured in crash involving tour bus carrying country singer Josh Turner’s road crew
SHANDON, Calif. — Authorities in central California say a passenger bus has crashed while carrying the road crew for country and gospel singer Josh Turner, leaving one dead and seven injured. Turner and his band were not on the bus. Two of the passengers are said to have sustained major...
Iran diplomat warns of ‘all-out war’ if hit for Saudi attack
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s foreign minister warned Thursday that any attack on his country over a drone-and-missile strike on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry will result in “all-out war,” further pushing up tensions across the Persian Gulf. The comments by Mohammad Javad Zarif represent the starkest warning offered yet...
Belgian fighter jet crashes in France, pilot hits power line
PARIS — A Belgian F-16 fighter jet crashed Thursday in western France, damaging a house, setting a field ablaze and leaving a pilot suspended for two hours from a high-voltage electricity line after his parachute got caught, according to French authorities. Emergency workers extracted the pilot safely after cutting off...
‘A dumb thing to do’: Justin Trudeau apologizes for brownfaceVideo
TORONTO — Canadian leader Justin Trudeau’s campaign for national elections was hit Wednesday by the publication of a yearbook photo showing him in brownface makeup at a costume party in 2001. The prime minister apologized and said “it was a dumb thing to do.” Time magazine posted the photo, which...
Woman sues Jeffrey Epstein estate, saying she was abused at age 14
NEW YORK — A woman whose claims of sexual abuse against Jeffrey Epstein were outlined in a federal indictment sued his estate Wednesday, saying the wealthy financier took advantage of her family’s poor financial position to abuse her from age 14 to 17. The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court sought...
American Airlines mechanic accused of sabotaging jet may have terrorist ties, feds contendVideo
MIAMI — An American Airlines mechanic accused of sabotaging a navigation system on a flight with 150 people aboard at Miami International Airport was denied bond by a federal judge Wednesday after prosecutors suggested he may have links to a Middle East terrorist organization. Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, a 60-year-old...
Washington Monument reopens after 3-year closure for repairsVideo
WASHINGTON — After a three-year closure, the Washington Monument is reopening to the public. The 555-foot stone obelisk was closed in September 2016 in order to replace the aging elevator and upgrade security systems. The monument will reopen to the public at noon on Thursday, and first lady Melania Trump...
200 Bahamians arrive in Florida fleeing Dorian’s devastation
RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — More than 200 Bahamians whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Dorian have come to Florida on a cruise ship. It was the second mass arrival for the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. More than 850 Bahamian evacuees arrived Sept. 7 after the storm ravaged the islands of...
Patrol: Plane trying to land at airport crashes; pilot dies
LONDON, Ohio — State troopers say a single-engine plane attempting to land at a county airport in Ohio has crashed and the pilot has died. The State Highway Patrol says 79-year-old Donald Apple, of Piqua, was pronounced dead at the crash in a field just west of the Madison County...
Prosecutor: Man charged in killings of 4 women in Detroit
A prosecutor announced murder charges Wednesday against a 34-year-old man in the slayings of four women whose deaths Detroit police have characterized as the work of a serial killer. Deangelo Martin is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of felony murder in the killings of the...
Trump says California can’t set fuel standards
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says his administration is revoking California’s authority to set auto mileage standards stricter than those issued by federal regulators. In a tweet, Trump said his move would result in less expensive and safer cars. He insisted that new cars would be cleaner, even as they...
Baby saved after pregnant woman hit, killed crossing street in Chicago
Emergency doctors were able to deliver the baby of a pregnant woman who died from injuries suffered when she was hit crossing a Chicago intersection Tuesday, according to police. The 29-year-old was identified as Elizabeth Boshardy, of the 1600 block of West Cortez Street, according to the medical examiner’s office....
Suicide bomb targets government office in east Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — Militants in Afghanistan attempted to storm a government office in an eastern provincial capital on Monday, with a suicide bombing sparking a running gunbattle with security forces, Afghan officials said. The attack in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, comes a day after the Taliban launched two...
Cash-starved Air India putting crews on low-fat diet
Cash-starved Air India is putting its crew on a diet, changing their inflight menu to special low-fat meals. Dhananjay Kumar, the state-run airline’s spokesman, said Wednesday that the objective is to provide healthy and cost-effective meals to crews on domestic and international flights. Kumar declined comment on media reports that...
White House upgrade: First lady’s done a lot with the placeVideo
She’s done a lot with the place. Like anyone who has ever spruced up their home, Melania Trump will have a few new touches to showcase Friday when guests visit the White House for only the second state dinner of the Trump presidency. There’s refreshed wall fabric in the Red...
Paris tests new bubble-shaped water taxi
Paris is testing out a new form of travel: an eco-friendly bubble-shaped taxi that zips along the water up and down the Seine River. Organizers are holding test runs this week on the white, oval-shaped electric hydrofoil boats that resemble tiny space shuttles gliding past Paris monuments. They can fit...
74-year-old woman among 3 people who allegedly killed a man
TRENTON, N.J. — A 74-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy are among three people who allegedly took turns shooting a man to death inside a New Jersey laundromat. Mercer County prosecutors say 74-year-old Eudean McMillan, 37-year-old Darryl Parker and the 15-year-old have been charged in the slaying of 21-year-old Geovahnie...
Facebook still auto-generating Islamic State, al-Qaida pages
In the face of criticism that Facebook is not doing enough to combat extremist messaging, the company likes to say that its automated systems remove the vast majority of prohibited content glorifying the Islamic State group and al-Qaida before it’s reported. But a whistleblower’s complaint shows that Facebook itself has...
