U.S./World category, Page 1175
Autopsy, court hearing set in case of missing Illinois boy
WOODSTOCK, Ill. — An Illinois couple is due in court on charges accusing them in the death of their 5-year-old son whose body was found wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave. McHenry County sheriff’s records show that 36-year-old JoAnn Cunningham and 60-year-old Andrew Freund Sr. of Crystal...
A parrot tipped off drug dealers to a raid, authorities say. Now it’s in custody.
A parrot was taken into custody Monday after nearly spoiling a raid while playing lookout for two crack-dealing suspects by repeatedly yelling, “Mamãe, polícia!” according to Brazilian police in the state of Piauí. The phrase means, “Mama, police!” Police encountered the unnamed parrot at the home of the two alleged...
Expert: No force needed in ex-Minneapolis officer’s fatal encounter
MINNEAPOLIS — Even if he was startled by a loud noise, the Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond two summers ago would not have been justified in using a Taser or pepper spray — much less his gun — a use-of-force expert testified Wednesday. “The use of...
Trump threatens more troops to border after incident
WASHINGTON — President Trump renewed his threat Wednesday to send more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border following an incident in which Mexican soldiers confronted U.S. personnel. Mexico blamed the incident on confusion and said it was not looking for confrontation with the U.S. In morning tweets, Trump said, “Mexico’s Soldiers...
Texas executes avowed racist John William King in black man’s dragging death
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — An avowed racist who orchestrated one of the most gruesome hate crimes in U.S. history was executed Wednesday in Texas for the dragging death of a black man. John William King, who was white, received lethal injection for the slaying nearly 21 years ago of James Byrd...
Police: California motorist said he drove into people, did not say why
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — A California motorist told investigators Wednesday that he deliberately drove into a crosswalk in a quiet Silicon Valley suburb, hitting seven people and injuring eight, but did not say why. Isaiah Joel Peoples, 34, was being held on eight counts of attempted murder as four of the...
Federal Clean Slate law unveiled with bipartisan support
A proposed federal law designed to seal nonviolent criminal records is drawing from the kind of bipartisan support that ushered a similar measure to law in Pennsylvania last summer. The federal Clean Slate Act, H.R. 2348, includes sponsorship from U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, a Peters Township Republican, and Delaware Democrat...
People stop traffic to help gigantic snake cross the road
Why did the humongous snake cross the road? Well, really … for any reason it wants. But, in this case, it crossed because a few folks in Brazil were kind enough to halt traffic and let the anaconda get across a divided highway. The Dodo reported on the incident, talking...
In Mexico, migrants turn to ‘The Beast’ after highway raids
IXTEPEC, Mexico — The train known as “The Beast” is once again rumbling through the night loaded with people headed toward the U.S. border after a raid on a migrant caravan threatened to end the practice of massive highway marches through Mexico. A long freight train loaded with about 300...
U.S. WWII bomb detonated in Germany, causing widespread damage
The controlled detonation of an American World War II bomb in the southern German city of Regensburg has still caused widespread damage to nearby houses. Some 4,500 residents had to be evacuated from the area before experts performed the detonation. A spokeswoman for the Bavarian city, Dagmar Obermeier-Kundel, said the...
Cop, teacher, others accused of trying to lure teens for sex
HACKENSACK, N.J. — A New Jersey police officer and a New York City high school teacher are among 16 men who allegedly tried to set up sexual encounters with people they thought were teenage boys and girls. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced the arrests Wednesday. They were made...
Texas high school posts dress code for parents
A Texas high school is telling parents that they need to dress appropriately for school. James Madison High School in Houston shared a letter on April 9 with parents stating they must set an example of what to wear in certain settings, including the school. The letters listed several items...
FBI joins investigation after car plows into 8 California pedestrians
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — The FBI is assisting California officials in the investigation of a motorist who appeared to deliberately plow into a group of people, injuring eight, authorities said Wednesday. Prentice Danner, a spokesman for the FBI’s field office in San Francisco, said the Sunnyvale Police Department is the lead...
Japan apologizes for forcibly sterilizing people, vows compensation
TOKYO — Japan’s government apologized Wednesday to tens of thousands of people who were forcibly sterilized under a now-defunct Eugenics Protection Law which was designed to “prevent the birth of poor-quality descendants,” and promised to pay them compensation. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga offered “sincere remorse and a heartfelt apology”...
An upbeat Kim arrives in Russia, ready for Putin summit
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stepped off his khaki-green armored train in far-eastern Russia on Wednesday, smiling and upbeat ahead of a much-anticipated summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin that comes amid deadlocked global diplomacy over Kim’s nuclear program. Dressed in a black coat and a...
Cars underwater at Dallas airport after heavy rains in Texas
DALLAS — Dozens of vehicles parked at a Dallas airport are underwater after heavy rains moved across much of Texas and brought flash-flood warnings and high-water rescues. Water pooled Wednesday outside the terminal at Dallas Love Field Airport. Some vehicles parked in an underground parking garage were almost completely covered,...
Landslide win for lesbian former police chief as Tampa mayor
TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa’s openly gay former police chief has been elected its mayor in a landslide victory. Voters elected 59-year-old Jane Castor in a runoff against 76-year-old retired banker and philanthropist David Stratz. Castor said her victory with more than 73% of the 53,144 votes cast on Tuesday sends...
Egypt court sentences 2 monks to death for abbot’s killing
CAIRO — An Egyptian court has sentenced two monks to death for killing an abbot in a desert monastery north of Cairo last year. The Damanhur Criminal Court, north of Cairo, announced the verdict Wednesday for two defrocked monks identified as Isaiah and Faltaous. They can appeal. The two were...
Citing Trump, Iowa’s longest-serving GOP lawmaker turns Democrat
Iowa’s longest-serving Republican legislator, State Rep. Andy McKean, ditched the GOP on Tuesday as he offered a searing renunciation of President Donald Trump, saying he could no longer support Trump as the party’s standard-bearer because of his “unacceptable behavior” and “reckless spending.” McKean revealed he would join the Democratic Party,...
Boy Scouts could be hit with more sex abuse claims
NEW YORK — The lawyers’ ads on the internet aggressively seeking clients to file sexual abuse lawsuits give a taste of what lies ahead this year for the Boy Scouts of America: potentially the most fateful chapter in its 109-year history. Sexual abuse settlements have already strained the Boy Scouts’...
Arkansas woman convicted of killing husband in porn dispute
PINE BLUFF, Ark. — A 69-year-old Arkansas woman has been convicted of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of her husband after he ordered a pornography channel for their satellite television services. The jury found Patricia Hill guilty Tuesday in Pine Bluff after she testified that she wasn’t thinking when...
Social Security could go broke by 2035, but lawmakers have new ideas to fix it
WASHINGTON — There’s nothing like waiting until the last minute — as long as waiting doesn’t make the problem worse. Therein lies the conundrum facing lawmakers and 2020 presidential candidates when it comes to Social Security, which last year paid out retirement and disability benefits to some 63 million Americans....
Pennsylvania Congressman John Joyce takes back claims of tuberculosis-infected migrants crossing border
U.S. Rep. John Joyce, a Blair County Republican, is walking back his assertion that 12 cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis were being treated last week among migrants who had crossed the Mexican border and sought asylum in Yuma, Ariz. The freshman Congressman’s about-face came after a spokesman for the Yuma County...
Prison term OK’d for man acquitted in ‘Goodfellas’ heist
NEW YORK — A judge properly considered a legendary airport robbery recounted in the movie “Goodfellas” when she sentenced a reputed mobster to eight years in prison for an unrelated road rage arson, an appeals court said Tuesday. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan made the determination...
United Nations adopts weak resolution on sexual violence in conflictVideo
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council has approved a watered-down resolution on combatting sexual violence in conflicts after eliminating language on providing “sexual and reproductive health care” to survivors of rape and abuse to get U.S. support. The vote Tuesday on the German-drafted resolution was 13-0, with Russia and...
