U.S./World category, Page 1242
Mayor’s killing in Poland sparks anger against hate speech
WARSAW, Poland — Poles on Wednesday heatedly condemned the power of hate speech to trigger real-life violence after the slaying of a popular liberal mayor, with many calling for stronger actions against those who threaten others. Not only did the killer, an ex-convict, take the life of the 53-year-old Gdansk...
Mexico to ship gas on trains, thieves siphon whole pipelines
MEXICO CITY — Fuel thieves in Mexico have grown so bold they are drilling illegal taps under warehouses in big cities and siphoning off the entire contents of pipelines, Mexico’s president said Wednesday. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that at one pipeline carrying gasoline to Mexico City, thieves didn’t...
TV journalist Chris Hansen accused of bouncing checks
STAMFORD, Conn. — A TV journalist known for confronting would-be child predators has been snared himself in a police investigation alleging he wrote bad checks for $13,000 worth of marketing materials. Former “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen was arrested Monday in his hometown of Stamford, Conn. He was...
Trump administration recalls 2,500 USDA workers to help farmers hurt by shutdown
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it is temporarily recalling about 2,500 federal employees tasked with helping America’s farmers and ranchers, part of its effort to insulate the nation’s agriculture industry from the impact of the partial government shutdown. The Agriculture Department will, for at least three days,...
Hotel dishwasher awarded $21M after boss made her work Sundays
MIAMI — A jury has awarded a Miami hotel dishwasher $21.5 million, concluding that her employer failed to honor her religious beliefs by repeatedly scheduling her on Sundays and ultimately firing her. Marie Jean Pierre, a dishwasher at the Conrad Miami, sued Virginia-based Park Hotels & Resorts, formerly known as...
Ex-W.Va. prison worker sentenced for sex abuse of inmates
BECKLEY, W.Va. — A former federal prison employee in West Virginia has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing female inmates. Federal prosecutors say 40-year-old Jarrod Grimes of Inverness, Fla., was sentenced last week in federal court in Beckley. Grimes was a captain in charge of correctional...
Suicide blast kills 4 Americans in Syria, a sign of remaining extremist danger
Four Americans were killed in a suicide attack in Syria on Wednesday, the largest loss of life in the Pentagon’s war against Islamic State militants there and a sign of the potent threat that remains as the Trump administration begins to withdraw. The attack occurred in the northern city of...
Trump’s vow to ‘devastate’ Turkey’s economy rattles negotiations over Syria
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criss-crossed the Middle East this week to explain the U.S. military withdrawal from Syria, he repeated that he was “confident” and “optimistic” that he was nearing a deal with Turkey on a mutually agreeable exit plan. But a pugnacious tweet...
Congress prepares to skip planned recess if shutdown goes on
WASHINGTON — Staring down the next deadline to pay federal workers, the White House shifted tactics, trying to bypass House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to negotiate with rank-and-file lawmakers even as President Donald Trump dug in for a prolonged shutdown. The House and Senate announced Tuesday they would stay in session,...
From travel to IPOs, how shutdown is upsetting U.S. economy
WASHINGTON — Delta Air Lines can’t get eight new aircraft in the air. Roughly a million government employees and contractors aren’t being paid. Some Americans who are trying to start small businesses face delays in obtaining the required tax identification number from the IRS. As the partial government shutdown moves...
Craft beer taps squeezed as shutdown delays new releasesVideo
MILWAUKEE — The nation’s craft beer taps are being squeezed by the government shutdown, which has put new releases on hold, prevented new breweries from opening and stopped shipments of some suds across state lines. The partial shutdown halted operations at the federal agency that regulates alcohol production and distribution....
John Bogle dies at 89; fought for lower fees for investors
VALLEY FORGE — John C. Bogle, who simplified investing for the masses by launching the first index mutual fund and founded Vanguard Group, died Wednesday. He was 89. Bogle did not invent the index fund, but he expanded access to no-frills, low-cost investing in 1976 when Vanguard introduced the first...
Earthquake reported off coast of Maryland
OCEAN CITY, Md. — A light earthquake has been recorded off the coast of Maryland. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck Tuesday evening in the Atlantic Ocean, about 136 miles southeast of Ocean City, Md. No tsunami warning has been issued. In a Facebook post, Ocean City...
California storms bring mudslide fears, blizzard warning
LOS ANGELES — Authorities told residents to evacuate hundreds of Southern California homes in areas burned by wildfires as storms brought steady rainfall Tuesday and forced a rare blizzard warning for much of the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe in the northern part of the state. Mandatory or voluntary evacuations...
Al-Shabab extremists claim deadly attack on Nairobi hotel
NAIROBI, Kenya — Extremists stormed a luxury hotel in Kenya’s capital on Tuesday, setting off thunderous explosions and gunning down people at cafe tables in an attack claimed by Africa’s deadliest Islamic militant group. A police officer said at least 15 people had died. “It is terrible. What I have...
Super Bowl planners: Shutdown brings ‘uncharted territory’
ATLANTA — A day after travelers waited nearly 90 minutes in snail-speed security lines at the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s mayor is concerned about the waits that could result when the city hosts the 2019 Super Bowl. The ongoing partial government shutdown is “uncharted territory” amid planning for one of...
Silicon Valley landlord rents $1,500 studio to 2 cats
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Two cats are living large at a $1,500-a-month studio apartment their owner rents for them in Silicon Valley, where a housing shortage has sent rents skyrocketing. The Mercury News reports the 20-pound (9-kilogram) cats named Tina and Louise moved to the studio in San Jose after...
British Parliament rejects Theresa May’s Brexit deal, putting EU withdrawal in doubt
LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May was defeated in a landslide vote Tuesday in Parliament, where lawmakers rejected her Brexit deal by a vote of 432 to 202 — a pure humiliation for a British leader who has spent the past two years negotiating her failed withdrawal agreement with Brussels....
New migrant caravan sets out from Honduras for U.S.
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — Hundreds of Hondurans trekked out of a violent northern city Tuesday, part of a new caravan of migrants hoping to reach the United States or Mexico, following in the path of another group last year that U.S. President Donald Trump turned into a hot political...
Judge voids Alabama law protecting Confederate monuments
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A judge has overturned an Alabama law meant to prevent the removal of Confederate monuments from public property, ruling the act infringed on the rights of citizens in a mostly black city who are “repulsed” by the memorial. The 10-page ruling issued late Monday by Jefferson County...
South Korea stops calling North Korea ‘enemy’ in defense report
South Korea dropped a reference to North Korea as its “enemy” in a Defense Ministry white paper for the first time since 2010, reflecting warming ties between the neighbors still technically at war. In a report released on Tuesday, the ministry said that North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction remained...
Judge bars citizenship question from 2020 census
NEW YORK — The Trump administration cannot put a question about citizenship status on the 2020 census, a federal judge in New York ruled Friday in a boost to proponents of counting immigrants. In a 277-page decision that won’t be the final word on the issue, U.S. District Judge Jesse...
Trump’s burger-fest brings roasting from late-night TV hostsVideo
WASHINGTON — Junk food for athletes? President Donald Trump’s offer of greasy burgers and fries to the college football champion Clemson Tigers brought a roasting from late-night TV hosts. Trump, a fast-food lover, said he paid for the meal himself because of the partial government shutdown, which has led to...
Chick-fil-A opens on a Sunday for autistic boy’s birthday
Chick-fil-A, the fast-food chain that is never open on Sundays, was serving up its menu on a recent Sunday at one Alabama location — for a very special reason. The chain made an exception a few weeks ago for Elijah Sprague, a young man with autism celebrating his 14th birthday,...
Number of no-show airport security screeners soars in shutdown
ATLANTA — The number of airport security screeners failing to show up for work around the country is soaring as the partial government shutdown goes into its fourth week. No-shows among screeners jumped Sunday and again Monday, when the Transportation Security Administration reported a national absence rate of 7.6 percent...
