U.S./World category, Page 663
Bicyclist falls to her death from rising Florida drawbridge
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A bicyclist fell to her death when a drawbridge connecting Palm Beach to the Florida mainland began rising before she could reach the other side. A bystander tried to pull her to safety but lost his grip, officials said. The woman was walking her bicycle...
Cyclone kills 20 in Madagascar but quickly weakens on land
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Cyclone Batsirai is blamed for the deaths of 20 people in Madagascar and for making more than 55,000 people homeless victims after slamming into the island’s eastern coast, officials said Monday. The tropical storm weakened quickly as it moved southwest across the island, missing the capital Antananarivo...
Iraqi lawmakers fail to elect new president amid boycott
BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers failed to elect a new head of state Monday, as key factions foiled the attempt by boycotting the parliament session. A two-thirds quorum of the legislature’s 329 members is required for an electoral session. Monday’s vote could not be held as lawmakers, many of them allied...
White House: Top scientist resigns over treatment of staff
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s top science adviser Dr. Eric Lander resigned Monday, hours after the White House confirmed that an internal investigation found credible evidence that he mistreated his staff. An internal review last year, prompted by a workplace complaint, found evidence that Lander, the director of the Office...
Biden task force releasing report to strengthen labor unions
A Biden administration task force on organized labor is issuing a set of recommendations that could make it easier for federal workers and contractors to unionize. The report submitted to President Joe Biden included 70 distinct policy proposals, according to a release by the White House. Biden created the task...
Navy identifies SEAL trainee who died after ‘Hell Week’
SAN DIEGO — A Navy SEAL candidate who died just hours after completing the grueling Hell Week test was identified Sunday as a 24-year-old sailor who joined the military last year. Seaman Kyle Mullen died at a San Diego area hospital on Friday after he and another SEAL trainee reported...
18 rescued after being stranded on ice floe in Lake Erie
PORT CLINTON, Ohio — Coast Guard authorities say 18 people were rescued from an ice floe that broke away in Lake Erie over the weekend. Officials said a helicopter from Air Station Detroit noticed a group of people on the floe near Ohio’s Catawba Island at about 1 p.m. Sunday...
Top Biden aide says Ukraine invasion could come ‘any day’
WILMINGTON, Del. — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day,” launching a conflict that would come at an “enormous human cost.” The senior adviser to President Joe Biden offered another stark warning the day after U.S. officials confirmed that Russia has...
Ottawa declares state of emergency over covid-19 protestsVideo
TORONTO — The mayor of Canada’s capital declared a state of emergency Sunday and a former U.S. ambassador to Canada said groups in the United States must stop interfering in the domestic affairs of America’s neighbor as protesters opposed to covid-19 restrictions continued to paralyze Ottawa’s downtown. Mayor Jim Watson...
AP investigation: Women’s prison fostered culture of abuse
WASHINGTON — Inside one of the only federal women’s prisons in the United States, inmates say they have been subjected to rampant sexual abuse by correctional officers and even the warden, and were often threatened or punished when they tried to speak up. Prisoners and workers at the federal correctional...
Black worker at Confederate site raises race complaint
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama welcomes visitors at the “First White House of the Confederacy,” a historic home next to the state Capitol where Confederate President Jefferson Davis lived with his family in the early months of the Civil War. The museum managed by the state’s Department of Finance says it...
Off-duty NYPD officer shot in Manhattan; 7th shot this year
NEW YORK — An off-duty New York City police officer was shot in the left foot Saturday as he was leaving a vigil at a Manhattan community center, police said. It was the seventh time an NYPD officer has been shot this year. The shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. near...
Officials: Russia at 70% of Ukraine military buildup
WASHINGTON — Russia has assembled at least 70 percent of the military firepower it likely intends to have in place by mid-month to give President Vladimir Putin the option of launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials say. The officials, who discussed internal assessments of the Russian buildup on...
Morocco’s king says boy, 5, trapped in deep well has died
IGHRAN, Morocco — A 5-year-old boy who was trapped for four days in a deep well in Morocco has died, the royal palace said Saturday. Moroccan King Mohammed VI expressed his condolences to the boy’s parents in a statement released by the palace. The boy, Rayan, was pulled out Saturday...
Waffle House shooter receives life in prison without parole
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A man who shot and killed four people at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018 received a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on Saturday. Jurors handed down the penalty for 33-year-old Travis Reinking after hearing about two hours of testimony from family members...
Amir Locke, killed by Minneapolis cop, wanted music career
Before he was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer, Amir Locke had been making plans. The 22-year-old Black man had filed paperwork to start a music business, his mother said, and had already designed a logo. Next week, he planned to move to Dallas, where he would be closer...
Police: 2 killed, 2 hurt in shooting in Milwaukee suburb
BROWN DEER, Wis. — Two people were killed and two more were injured in a shooting at an apartment complex in the Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer on Saturday morning, police said. Brown Deer Police Chief Peter Nimmer said during a news conference early Saturday afternoon that one of the...
Police: 1 dead, 4 injured in shooting at Virginia hookah bar
BLACKSBURG, Va. — One person was killed and another four people were injured during a shooting at a hookah lounge in Virginia, authorities said. The Blacksburg Police Department said officers responded to reports of shots fired at Melody Hookah Lounge in downtown Blacksburg on Friday just before midnight. Police did...
School lunch rules updated to help ease pandemic disruptions
Low-fat chocolate milk instead of only non-fat. Fewer whole-grain offerings. Less severe salt limits. The Biden administration issued transitional standards for school lunches Friday that are meant to ease the path for cafeterias to get back on a more healthful course as they recover from pandemic and supply chain disruptions....
Pentagon: Deadly Afghan airport attack was not preventable
The military investigation into the deadly attack during the Afghanistan evacuation has concluded that a suicide bomber, carrying 20 pounds of explosives packed with ball bearings, acted alone, and that the deaths of more than 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were not preventable. The blast at Abbey Gate...
Yacht reportedly built for Jeff Bezos is too big for Dutch bridge
A giant, $500 million yacht reportedly being built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos faces a delivery problem: It may require dismantling a beloved, historic bridge in Rotterdam that is blocking its passage to the sea. Reports this week that the Dutch city had already agreed to take apart the recently...
Michael Avenatti convicted of stealing from Stormy Daniels
NEW YORK — Michael Avenatti was convicted Friday of cheating porn actor Stormy Daniels out of nearly $300,000 she was supposed to get for writing a book about an alleged tryst with former President Donald Trump. Avenatti, who acted as his own lawyer, stared straight ahead as the guilty verdicts...
Lethal U.S. raid on IS encounters a doll, crib, bomb, bullets
When helicopters carrying some 50 U.S. commandos thumped onto the ground in Syria an hour after midnight, the raiders confronted a houseful of extremists and children. Baby comforts were inside — a stuffed bunny, a blue plastic swing, a crib. So was the paraphernalia of violence — such as the...
Congress questions independence of NFL’s Washington probe
An investigation into sexual harassment of women employed by Washington’s NFL franchise was not as independent as the team and the league claimed, members of Congress said Friday. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform released documents that showed the league and the team, now known as the Commanders, agreed...
Ahmaud Arbery killer’s father retracts plea before hate crime trial
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — One of the three men convicted of murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery has taken back his guilty plea ahead of their federal hate crime trial. Greg McMichael reversed course late Thursday after the trial judge rejected the terms of an agreement federal prosecutors had reached...
