U.S./World category, Page 693
Survivor found in coal mine accident in Russia’s Siberia, with death toll at 51
MOSCOW — Rescuers have found a survivor in a Siberian coal mine where dozens of miners are presumed dead after a devastating methane explosion, a top local official announced Friday. Sergei Tsivilyov, governor of the Kemerovo region where the mine is located, said on the messaging app Telegram that the...
Explainer: What is this new covid variant in South Africa?
LONDON — South African scientists have identified a new version of the coronavirus this week that they say is behind a recent spike in covid-19 infections in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province. It’s unclear from where the new variant actually arose, but it was first detected by scientists in...
Families struggle with how to hold 2nd pandemic Thanksgiving
Back in the spring, Pauline Criel and her cousins talked about reuniting for Thanksgiving at her home near Detroit after many painful months of seclusion because of the covid-19 pandemic. But the virus had a different plan. Michigan is now the nation’s hot spot. Hospitals there are teeming with patients,...
Ahmaud Arbery’s mom: Thankful for justice and son’s legacy
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Ahmaud Arbery’s mother woke up Thursday with a new, very important blessing on Thanksgiving Day. But there will still be an empty chair at the family’s celebrations. It is a reminder that while she feels justice was served when the three white men who helped shoot her...
South Korea to launch task force on banning dog meat
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Thursday said it will launch a task force to consider outlawing dog meat consumption after the country’s president offered to look into ending the centuries-old practice. Restaurants that serve dog meat are dwindling in South Korea as younger people find dog meat a...
Who’s a hero? Some states, cities still debating hazard pay
HARTFORD, Conn. — When the U.S. government allowed so-called hero pay for frontline workers as a possible use of pandemic relief money, it suggested occupations that could be eligible from farm workers and childcare staff to janitors and truck drivers. State and local governments have struggled to determine who among...
Officials: Brian Laundrie fatally shot himself in the head
MIAMI — Brian Laundrie, who was found dead last month in a Florida swamp, shot himself in the head, officials announced Tuesday. Laundrie had been the subject of a manhunt for more than a month as investigators searched for clues in the slaying of his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, during their...
All 3 defendants found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Jurors on Wednesday convicted the three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was chased and fatally shot while running through their neighborhood in an attack that became part of the larger national reckoning on racial injustice. The jury deliberated for...
White House: 92% of fed workers under mandate are vaccinated
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for millions of federal workers seems to be working, with no apparent disruption to law enforcement, intelligence-gathering or holiday travel. On Tuesday, one day after the deadline for compliance, 92% of the 3.5 million federal workers covered by Biden’s mandate reported to the...
Sweden’s first female prime minister quits hours later
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Hours after being tapped as Sweden’s first female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson resigned Wednesday after suffering a budget defeat in parliament and her coalition partner the Greens left the two-party minority government. The government’s own budget proposal was rejected in favor of one presented by the opposition...
Settlement: Old toxic phone cables coming out of Lake Tahoe
RENO, Nev. — AT&T’s Pac Bell subsidiary has settled a lawsuit conservationists filed under a U.S. law more typically cited in Superfund cases, agreeing to spend up to $1.5 million to remove 8 miles of toxic telephone cables that were abandoned on the bottom of Lake Tahoe decades ago. A...
U.S. to require vaccines for all border crossers in January
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning Jan. 22, the administration planned to announce. A senior administration official said the requirement, which the White House previewed in October, brings...
Sweden’s parliament approves first female prime minister
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Sweden’s parliament on Wednesday approved Magdalena Andersson as the country’s first female prime minister, tapping the finance minister who recently became the new leader of the Social Democratic party. Andersson was tapped to replace Stefan Lofven as party leader and prime minister, roles he relinquished earlier this...
German parties say deal ready for new coalition government
BERLIN — The three parties negotiating to form Germany’s next government will finalize and present their coalition agreement Wednesday, two of the prospective partners said. The deal paves the way for center-left leader Olaf Scholz to replace longtime Chancellor Angela Merkel in the coming weeks. The center-left Social Democrats have...
No babies in Parliament: UK lawmakers outraged by infant ban
LONDON — Several British politicians demanded a change in parliamentary rules Wednesday after a lawmaker was told she couldn’t bring her 3-month-old baby into the House of Commons chamber. Labour Party legislator Stella Creasy said she had received a letter from House of Commons authorities after she took her son...
LA luxury mall latest to be hit by smash-and-grab thieves
LOS ANGELES — A group of thieves smashed windows at a department store at a luxury mall in Los Angeles, triggering a police pursuit just days after high-end stores throughout the San Francisco Bay Area were targeted. The latest incident in a national trend of smash-and-grab crimes targeted a Nordstrom...
Girl, 4, woman, 55, killed in Michigan house explosion
FLINT, Mich. — A 55-year-old woman and a 4-year-old girl died in an explosion and fire that destroyed three homes in Michigan, damaged several others and sent debris falling onto a neighborhood, authorities said Tuesday. Three houses on Flint’s west side were fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at...
Child is 6th death in Waukesha parade crash; suspect charged
An 8-year-old boy became the sixth person to die Tuesday as a result of a man driving his SUV into a suburban Milwaukee Christmas parade, with a criminal complaint alleging that the suspect in the case steered side-to-side with the intent of striking marchers and spectators. Darrell Brooks Jr., 39,...
Fighting gas prices, U.S. to release 50 million barrels of oil
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered a record 50 million barrels of oil released from America’s strategic reserve, aiming to bring down gasoline and other costs, in coordination with other major energy consuming nations including India, the United Kingdom and China. The U.S. action is focused on helping...
The Santa experience this year is a mix of laps, distancing
Santa is back this year, but he pleads caution as he continues to tiptoe through the pandemic. “Be smart. Be caring. If you have the tiniest tickle in your throat, the tiniest feeling, worry about yourself and worry about everybody else, and know Santa will always be there next year,”...
Jury awards millions in damages for Unite the Right violence
In a mixed verdict, a jury awarded more than $25 million in damages Tuesday against white nationalist leaders for violence that erupted during the 2017 Unite the Right rally. After a nearly monthlong civil trial, a jury in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville deadlocked on two key claims but found...
Vaccines making Thanksgiving easier, but hot spots remain
The U.S. is facing its second Thanksgiving of the pandemic in better shape than the first time around, thanks to the vaccine, though some regions are seeing surges of covid-19 cases that could get worse as families travel the country for gatherings that were impossible a year ago. Nearly 200...
Explainer: What are the charges in Ahmaud Arbery’s killing?
ATLANTA — Jurors in the trial of the three men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery must decide whether one or all of them is guilty of murder — a conviction that could send them to prison for the rest of their lives. Father and son Greg and Travis...
WHO Europe warns of possible surge in covid deaths ahead
GENEVA — The World Health Organization’s Europe office says projections show its 53-country region could face another 700,000 deaths in the coronavirus pandemic by next spring, topping 2 million in total. WHO Europe, which is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, also cited growing evidence of a decline in protection against infection...
Bus crashes, catches fire in Bulgaria; at least 45 dead
SOFIA, Bulgaria — A bus carrying people home to North Macedonia from a tourist trip to Istanbul crashed and caught fire in western Bulgaria early Tuesday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said. Seven people were taken to hospitals for treatment. The accident happened around 2 a.m. North Macedonia’s chief...
