U.S./World category, Page 681
2 Kansas officers shot by suspect, expected to recover
WICHITA, Kan. — Two police officers responding to a domestic violence call in Wichita, Kansas, were shot and wounded in the early hours of Christmas Day, authorities said. Police were called around 1:30 a.m. Saturday for a report of domestic violence at an apartment. Police said that as the two...
Space telescope launched on daring quest to behold 1st stars
The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope rocketed away Saturday on a high-stakes quest to behold light from the first stars and galaxies and scour the universe for hints of life. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope soared from French Guiana on South America’s northeastern coast, riding a European Ariane...
On Christmas, pope prays for pandemic’s end, peace dialogues
ROME — Pope Francis prayed Saturday for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, using his Christmas Day address to urge health care for all, vaccines for the poor and for dialogue to prevail in resolving the world’s conflicts. Amid a record-setting rise in covid-19 cases in Italy this week, only...
Uber driver charged with raping passenger during Vegas ride
LAS VEGAS — An Uber driver is charged with raping a female passenger who police said fell asleep before waking up as she was attacked during a ride in metro Las Vegas. Dawed Oumer Mekonene, 30, was arrested Tuesday and remained in jail Friday pending a court hearing on charges...
South African minister objects to sale of Mandela’s cell key
JOHANNESBURG — A South African Cabinet minister on Friday urged the cancellation of an upcoming U.S. auction of a key to the Robben Island prison cell where Nelson Mandela, the country’s first Black president, was long jailed for his opposition to apartheid. The key is among Mandela memorabilia being sold...
U.S. to lift travel ban on 8 southern African countries
WASHINGTON — The U.S. will lift travel restrictions to eight southern African countries on New Year’s Eve, the White House announced Friday. The restrictions, imposed last month, were meant to blunt the spread of the covid omicron variant. The Nov. 29 ban barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who had recently...
TSA officer saves infant who stopped breathing at airport
NEWARK, N.J. — A security officer leapt over conveyor belt rollers and saved a 2-month-old boy who stopped breathing at a security checkpoint at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, newly released video shows. The footage, released Thursday by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, shows TSA officer Cecilia Morales...
U.K. Queen’s Christmas speech set to be particularly personal
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II is expected to offer a particularly personal Christmas Day message to the nation this year after Buckingham Palace released a photo of the monarch recording the speech alongside a picture of her and her husband, who died earlier this year. The image provided by the...
Massive ferry fire kills at least 39 in southern Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh — A massive fire swept through a crowded river ferry in Bangladesh early Friday, leaving at least 39 people dead and 70 injured, officials said. Many passengers leapt from the vessel into cold waters to escape the blaze. It took 15 fire engines two hours to control the...
Delta, United, Lufthansa report flight cancellations over Christmas
FRANKFURT, Germany — At least three major airlines have reported canceling dozens of flights as illnesses largely tied to the omicron variant of covid-19 take a toll on flight crew numbers during the busy holiday travel season. Germany-based Lufthansa said Friday that it was canceling a dozen long-haul transatlantic flights...
Teen girl killed by Los Angeles police in clothing store shooting
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police fatally shot a 14-year-old girl who was in a clothing store dressing room Thursday when officers fired on an assault suspect and a bullet went through the wall and struck the girl, authorities said. Police also fatally shot the suspect Thursday morning at a...
4 people injured after shooting at Chicago-area mall
OAK BROOK, Ill. — A shooting at a suburban Chicago mall full of Christmas shoppers left four people injured Thursday, police said. The incident at Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook began with two males involved in a shootout in a corridor around 5:45 p.m., police Chief James Kruger said. He...
U.S. has reunited 100 children taken from parents under Trump
WASHINGTON — A Biden administration effort to reunite children and parents who were separated under President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance border policy has made increasing progress as it nears the end of its first year. The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that 100 children, mostly from Central America, are back...
U.S. says Russia must de-escalate as troops mass near UkraineVideo
WASHINGTON — The United States said Moscow needs to take steps to de-escalate tensions on the Ukraine border as Western nations and officials in Kyiv said Russian troops continue to amass ahead of a potential attack. A U.S. official, briefing reporters Thursday on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. continues...
Woman who texted boyfriend to kill himself pleads guilty
BOSTON — A former Boston College student who prosecutors say drove her boyfriend to take his own life with thousands of text messages pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter. Under terms of a plea deal, Inyoung You, 23, received a 2 1/2 year suspended jail sentence and 10 years of...
Californian pleads guilty to punching attendant on flightVideo
SAN DIEGO — A California woman who punched a flight attendant in the face during a flight, breaking her teeth, pleaded guilty to a federal charge, authorities said. Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, of Sacramento, entered a plea to interfering with a flight attendant, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Quinonez was on...
Interior Department reaffirms status of Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s reservation
BOSTON — A Massachusetts tribe’s long-disputed reservation was reaffirmed by the Biden administration. The decision by the U.S. Interior Department confirmed the status of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe’s Reservation, Tribe Chair Brian Weeden said in a written statement. The decision means the tribe’s reservation has remained in federally protected...
Cuomo won’t be charged for touching trooper at racetrack
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo won’t face criminal charges after a female state trooper said she felt “completely violated” by his unwanted touching at an event at Belmont Park in September 2019, a Long Island prosecutor said Thursday. Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith said...
‘Unabomber’ Ted Kaczynski moved to prison medical facility
The man known as the “Unabomber” has been transferred to a federal prison medical facility in North Carolina after spending the past two decades in a federal Supermax prison in Colorado for a series of bombings targeting scientists. Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski, 79, was moved to the U.S. Bureau of Prison’s...
Duck! Flying squirrels take to the air in Nebraska city
LINCOLN, Neb. — A crew cutting down a dying oak at the University of Nebraska made a surprising find — flying squirrels. A video shot by a member of the crew made its way to Larkin Powell, a conservation biology professor. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that he was surprised...
New home sales jump 12.4% in November, highest in 7 months
WASHINGTON — Sales of new single-family homes rose 12.4% in November, the fastest pace in seven months, as the housing industry continued to benefit from low mortgage rates and strong demand. The November increase pushed the seasonally adjusted annual sales pace to 744,000 last month, the best showing since reaching...
Consumer prices up 5.7% over past year, fastest in 39 years
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years, as a surge in inflation confronts Americans with the holiday shopping season under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in...
He wore a wire, risked his life to expose who was in the KKK
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For nearly 10 years, Joseph Moore lived a secret double life. At times the U.S. Army veteran donned a white robe and hood as a hit man for the Ku Klux Klan in North Florida. He attended clandestine meetings and participated in cross burnings. He even helped...
Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — A suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser was convicted of manslaughter Thursday in the death of Daunte Wright, prompting tears from the young Black man’s parents and a jubilant celebration by supporters outside the courthouse who chanted “Guilty, guilty, guilty!” The...
Supreme Court will hear arguments on Biden vaccine requirements
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says it will hold a special session in just over two weeks to hear arguments on the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for large employers and a separate vaccine requirement for healthcare workers, an announcement that comes amid rising coronavirus cases. The high court...
