U.S./World category, Page 1233
Texas inmate set to be executed for Houston officer’s death
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A 61-year-old Texas inmate was set to be executed Wednesday for killing a Houston police officer more than three decades ago during a robbery. Robert Jennings was condemned for the July 1988 slaying of Officer Elston Howard during a robbery at an adult bookstore. Jennings would be...
Waste unleashed from Brazil dam on its way to larger river
RIO DE JANEIRO — A torrent of muddy mining waste unleashed by a dam breach that killed at least 84 people in southeastern Brazil is now heading down a small river with high concentrations of iron oxide, threatening to contaminate a much larger river that provides drinking water to communities...
Indonesia’s Merapi volcano unleashes river of lava
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s volatile Mount Merapi volcano has unleashed a river of lava that flowed 4,590 feet down its slopes. Kasbani, head of the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center, says Merapi on the island of Java has entered an “effusive eruption phase.” Kasbani, who goes by a single...
GOP leaders signal distaste for renewing shutdown over border wall
WASHINGTON — Wary of reigniting a clash that proved damaging to Republicans, congressional GOP leaders signaled Tuesday that they want to de-escalate the battle over President Trump’s border wall and suggested they could be flexible as bargainers seek a bipartisan agreement. In what seemed a message aimed at the White...
Most Americans see nation on the wrong track, new poll reveals
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — The state of the union is dark. A large majority of Americans say they are pessimistic about the state of the country and few expect things will get better in the year ahead, according to a poll released Tuesday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs...
Woman with baby dies from falling down NYC subway stairs
NEW YORK — A young mother has died after falling down stairs at a Manhattan subway station while holding her 1-year-old daughter in a stroller. Malaysia Goodson, of Stamford, Conn., fell down the stairs at a midtown Manhattan station at around 8 p.m. Monday, police said. Goodson was unconscious when...
British Parliament says Britain shouldn’t leave EU without Brexit deal
LONDON — The British Parliament on Tuesday sought to assert control over Brexit, declaring its opposition to leaving the European Union without a deal and voting to send Prime Minister Theresa May back to Brussels to reopen talks with European leaders. But the measures are nonbinding and aspirational. They do...
Justice Department watchdog wants to investigate Alex Acosta’s plea deal with serial sex abuser
MIAMI — The U.S. Department of Justice’s inspector general urged Congress on Tuesday to allow him to investigate Alex Acosta — the former U.S. attorney in Miami whose controversial 2008 plea deal with a politically connected serial sex abuser has led to calls for Acosta to resign as secretary of...
Chicago police investigating report of assault on ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett
Chicago police said Tuesday they received a report of a “possible racially-charged assault and battery” involving an actor on the television show “Empire.” Police say two people approached a 36-year-old man at about 2 a.m. Tuesday as he was walking and got his attention by yelling racial and homophobic slurs....
Medical helicopter crashes in Ohio remote woods, killing 3
CINCINNATI — A medical helicopter crashed Tuesday in a remote wooded area on its way to pick up a patient, killing all three crew members, authorities said. Survival Flight medical transportation reported around 7:20 a.m. Tuesday losing communication with a helicopter flying from the Mount Carmel Hospital in Grove City...
U.N.: More than 130 migrants appear to be missing off Djibouti
JOHANNESBURG — More than 130 migrants were thought to be missing after two boats capsized Tuesday off the tiny East African nation of Djibouti, the U.N. migration agency said. Local police had found five bodies and search efforts were underway, the U.N. statement said. Witnesses said the boats were overloaded...
Illinois State Police say driver caught going 115 mph in the snow ‘ridiculous’
The Illinois State Police posted a photo of a speeding ticket along with some words of warning to Facebook on Monday. The post starts with the alleged offense: 115 mph in a 35 mph zone. Then goes on to warn other speeders and concerned citizens: “If you think we don’t...
Sheriff: Louisiana suspect confesses to killing 5; used dad’s gun
BATON ROUGE, La. — The 21-year-old man accused of killing five people including his parents in a multi-parish shooting over the weekend before fleeing to his grandmother’s house has confessed, authorities said Tuesday. Dakota Theriot told authorities he used a gun he stole from his father, Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason...
Chief: Injured Houston officer shot 3 times in line of duty
HOUSTON — Houston’s police chief says one of four narcotics officers shot while serving a search warrant at a suspected drug house has been struck by gunfire two other times during his career. Police Chief Art Acevedo said Tuesday that the 54-year-old police supervisor, whose name hasn’t been released, was...
FBI finds no specific motive in Las Vegas shooting
LAS VEGAS — A high-stakes gambler who rained a hail of gunfire down on a crowd of country music fans, killing 58, took any specific motive for the 2017 attack to his grave, the FBI said Tuesday as it concluded the investigation into the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S....
Some journalists wonder if their profession is tweet-crazy
NEW YORK — If Twitter is the town square for journalists, some are ready to step away. That’s happening this week at the online news site Insider — by order of the boss. Reporters have been told to take a week off from tweeting at work and to keep TweetDeck...
73-year-old Frenchman wins solo round-the-world sailing race
LES SABLES D’OLONNE, France — A 73-year-old French sailor has won an unusual, around-the-world yacht race after 212 days alone at sea without modern instruments — his first sailing victory. Jean-Luc Van Den Heede arrived Tuesday in the harbor of Les Sables d’Olonne in western France in his Rustler 36,...
Baltimore will longer prosecute marijuana possession cases
BALTIMORE — The state’s attorney in Baltimore says her office will no longer prosecute any marijuana possession cases, regardless of the quantity of the drug or an individual’s prior criminal record. Marilyn Mosby says pot possession cases have no public safety value, waste money, and disproportionately impact communities of color....
Spy agencies doubt North Korea will give up nuclear weapons
WASHINGTON — In an assessment casting doubt on President Donald Trump’s goal of a nuclear-disarmed North Korea, U.S. intelligence agencies told Congress on Tuesday that the North is unlikely to entirely dismantle its nuclear arsenal. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, noted that...
Poll: Most Americans see nation on the wrong track
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — The state of the union is dark. A large majority of Americans say they are pessimistic about the state of the country and few expect things will get better in the year ahead, according to a poll released Tuesday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs...
National Zoo, Smithsonian museums reopening after shutdown
WASHINGTON — There was no line of people waiting to rush the gates Tuesday at the National Zoo, the institution’s first day back after a partial government shutdown left the gates locked for more than three weeks. But the regulars were back, and the animals were happy to have them....
911 dispatcher helps boy with his fractions homework
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Police dispatchers are trained to deal with a number of situations, and a dispatcher in Indiana had to know her numbers when a boy called 911 seeking help with his homework. Lafayette Police dispatcher Antonia Bundy answered the call from the boy, who said he had “a...
L.A. doctor in trouble after prescribing marijuana to 4-year-old
LOS ANGELES — A Hollywood physician has lost his medical license after recommending that a father give his 4-year-old son marijuana cookies to control temper tantrums, according to California’s medical board. Dr. William Eidelman, a natural medicine physician, improperly diagnosed the boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder...
Officials urge vaccinations amid Northwest measles outbreak
VANCOUVER, Wash. — Public health officials scrambling to contain a measles outbreak in the U.S. Northwest warned people to vaccinate their children Monday and worried that it could take months to contain the highly contagious viral illness due to a lower-than-normal vaccination rate at the epicenter of the crisis. The...
Houston police: 5 officers hurt in shooting, 2 suspects dead
HOUSTON — Two suspects are dead after a shooting on Monday that injured five Houston police officers, including four who were hit by gunfire as they attempted to serve a search warrant at a home where drug selling was suspected, the police chief said. A group of about a dozen...
