U.S./World category, Page 704
Sheriff: Texas children lived in dire conditions as body decomposedVideo
HOUSTON — The three abandoned brothers were thin, malnourished and hungry, living alone for months with no blankets to keep them warm inside an unfurnished Houston area apartment with soiled carpet, flies and roaches. The trio were barely surviving, abandoned and set adrift alongside the decomposing body of their 8-year-old...
Sheriff: Lead bullet fatally struck ‘Rust’ cinematographer; 500 rounds of ammo recovered on setVideo
SANTA FE, N.M. — Authorities have determined that the projectile that fatally wounded cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was a lead bullet, one of roughly 500 rounds of ammunition recovered from the set of the film “Rust,” Santa Fe County authorities announced Wednesday. During a news conference, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan...
Cleveland jury acquits man, 83, imprisoned 45 years for wife’s death
CLEVELAND — A jury acquitted an 83-year-old man Wednesday who was convicted at his first trial of killing his wife and spent 45 years in prison. The Cleveland jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes before delivering its verdict in Isiah Andrews’ second aggravated murder trial, Cleveland.com reported. Andrews said...
U.S. says Assange won’t face supermax prison if extradited
Julian Assange won’t face solitary confinement or supermax prison in Colorado if he’s jailed in the U.S., as lawyers for the country argued his extradition shouldn’t have been blocked by a London judge on mental health grounds. The U.S. laid out several assurances over his potential confinement and access to...
U.S. issues its 1st passport with ‘X’ gender marker
DENVER — The U.S. has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation — a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who don’t identify as male or female — and expects to be able to offer the option to nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people early next...
McDonald’s workers strike to protest workplace harassment
McDonald’s workers in 12 U.S. cities walked off the job Tuesday to protest what they say is an ongoing problem of sexual harassment and violence in the company’s stores. Several hundred workers were expected to participate in Chicago, Houston, Miami, Detroit and other cities, according to Fight for $15 and...
Biden urges bill over ‘finish line’ as Democrats eye new surtax
WASHINGTON — With his signature domestic initiative at stake, President Joe Biden is urging Democrats to wrap up talks and bring the social services and climate change bill “over the finish line” before he departs Thursday for global summits overseas. Top Democratic leaders are signaling a deal is within reach...
Not a trick: No White House treats for Halloween this year
WASHINGTON — Ghosts and goblins can scratch the White House from their trick or treating routes this year. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be in Europe on Halloween and won’t be at the White House to help hand out candy and other treats. Instead, the Pennsylvania...
Feds: Ohio stock trader fleeced Twitter users in pump-&-dump
NEW YORK — An Ohio trader in penny stocks was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging he earned over $1 million illegally by lying repeatedly to his over 70,000 Twitter followers to get them to buy stocks in what authorities are calling a new social media-infused twist on an old stock...
Nor’easter has New England bracing for floods, power outagesVideo
BOSTON — A nor’easter barreled up the U.S. coast Tuesday, and forecasters warned it could bring flooding, hurricane-force wind gusts and widespread power outages to New England. The worst of the storm was expected to lash the region late Tuesday through Wednesday morning. Wind gusts as high as 75 mph...
Illinois police officer dies after shooting near St. Louis
PONTOON BEACH, Ill. — A police officer was shot to death Tuesday by a man at a gas station in an Illinois suburb of St. Louis, authorities said. Trooper Jayme Bufford with Illinois State Police said Pontoon Beach Officer Tyler Timmins succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. The officer...
Brooklyn Diocese fires music teacher after same-sex wedding
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Diocese fired a Catholic music school teacher in Queens after he married a man, saying he violated a contractual stipulation to the Catholic Church. Matthew LaBanca, a teacher at St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy in Astoria and a music director at Corpus Christi Church, was fired...
Florida’s surgeon general: Masks hamper clear communication
MIAMI — Florida’s surgeon general said conversations while wearing masks aren’t productive and argued that he offered to meet elsewhere when a state senator didn’t let him in her office without a mask, citing a serious health condition. Dr. Joseph Ladapo said in a statement released Tuesday that he offered...
Billionaire tax runs into criticism; big Biden plan in flux
WASHINGTON — The Democrats’ idea for a new billionaires’ tax to help pay for President Joe Biden’s social services and climate change plan has quickly run into criticism as too cumbersome, with some lawmakers preferring the original plan of simply raising the top tax rates on corporations and the wealthy....
Florida manatee deaths soar as polluted water kills seagrass
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida fishing guide and environmental activist Paul Fafeita says a highlight for his charter customers is spotting the manatees that forage for seagrass in shallow waters. It’s not so thrilling when they come across the emaciated carcass of a manatee that starved to death. “It’s not...
Virus cut access to courts but opened door to virtual future
Just two reporters were allowed inside a Georgia courtroom to serve as the eyes and ears of the public when jury selection began for the men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Pandemic restrictions also kept reporters and the public out of the courtroom during the sex-trafficking trial of music star...
150 people arrested in U.S.-Europe darknet drug probe
WASHINGTON — Law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europe have arrested 150 people and seized more than $31 million in an international drug trafficking investigation stemming from sales on the darknet, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The arrests are connected to a 10-month investigation between federal law enforcement officials...
Congress plans fixes for U.S. military’s AWOL weapons problems
Congress is set to force America’s armed services to keep better track of their guns and explosives, imposing new rules in response to an Associated Press investigation that showed firearms stolen from U.S. bases have resurfaced in violent crimes. Under the proposals, the Department of Defense would tell both lawmakers...
SpaceX needs to tame toilet trouble before weekend launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX is taming some toilet troubles in its capsules before it launches four more astronauts. The company and NASA want to make sure the toilet leaks won’t compromise the capsule launching early Sunday from Kennedy Space Center or another one that’s been parked at the International...
Iran says cyberattack closes gas stations across country
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A cyberattack targeted gas stations Tuesday across Iran, shutting down a government system managing fuel subsidies and leaving angry motorists stranded in long lines at shuttered stations. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, though it bore similarities to another months earlier that seemed...
Grenade detonated after routine traffic stop in Florida
Sheriff’s deputies making a routine traffic stop in north Florida found a grenade inside a pickup truck. The 65-year-old driver was initially pulled over for having expired tags, but Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies also found that his driver’s license had expired in 2019, the agency said in a Facebook post....
Police union sues NYC to stop vaccine mandate implementationVideo
NEW YORK — New York City’s largest police union filed a lawsuit Monday to keep a covid-19 vaccine mandate for police officers from going into effect, calling it a “draconian imposition.” The Police Benevolent Association, which represents about 24,000 police officers in the New York Police Department, filed its lawsuit...
Police: 2 die, 6 injured in Idaho mall shooting
BOISE, Idaho — Police in Boise said Monday two people were killed and six injured — including a police officer — in a shooting at a shopping mall. A suspect has been taken into custody. At a news conference authorities said they were working their way through each business at...
Sheriff: Child’s remains, 3 abandoned siblings found in Texas home
HOUSTON — The skeletal remains of a child were found inside an apartment in the Houston area along with three surviving siblings who appear to have been abandoned, a sheriff said. One of the children, a 15-year-old, called the Harris County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday afternoon and told authorities that...
Missouri tornado confirmed as storms sweep into IllinoisVideo
FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. — The National Weather Service has confirmed a strong tornado that thrashed the southwestern Missouri city of Fredericktown as strong storms that swept the state and into Illinois overnight damaged buildings and knocked out power, but left no serious injuries. The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-3 tornado...
