U.S./World category, Page 765
North Atlantic right whales getting tinier. Scientists say humans are to blame
One of the giants of the deep is shrinking before our eyes, a new study says. The younger generation of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales are on average about three feet shorter than whales were 20 years ago, drone and aircraft data show in a study in Thursday’s journal...
Celebrity attorney F. Lee Bailey dead at 87
WALTHAM, Mass. — F. Lee Bailey, the celebrity attorney who defended O.J. Simpson, Patricia Hearst and the alleged Boston Strangler, but whose legal career halted when he was disbarred in two states, has died, a former colleague said Thursday. He was 87. The death was confirmed Thursday by Peter Horstmann,...
Traffic deaths up 7% last year, highest number since 2007
DETROIT — U.S. traffic deaths rose 7% last year, the biggest increase in 13 years even though people drove fewer miles because of the coronavirus pandemic, the government’s road safety agency reported Thursday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration blamed the increase on drivers taking more risks on less-congested roads...
Feds reportedly investigating whether Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz obstructed justiceVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Federal investigators are exploring whether U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz obstructed justice by attempting to influence a witness in the federal sex trafficking probe targeting him, according to a pair of new reports. According to Politico, the obstruction element of the case concerns a phone conversation between the...
SpaceX launches tiny critters, solar panels to space stationVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched thousands of tiny sea creatures to the International Space Station on Thursday, along with a plaque-fighting toothpaste experiment and powerful solar panels. The 7,300-pound shipment — which also includes fresh lemons, onions, avocados and cherry tomatoes for the station’s seven astronauts — should arrive...
Justice Department reportedly opens probe into Hunter Biden-linked consulting firm
The U.S. Justice Department has reportedly launched an investigation into Blue Star Strategies, a consulting firm linked to President Joe Biden’s son, for potential illegal lobbying. Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that was one of Blue Star’s clients. According to Politico, the Delaware...
Georgia school officials condemn some teaching about race
ATLANTA — Georgia’s education board on Thursday approved a resolution that says the U.S. and Georgia are not racist and students should not be taught that racism or slavery are anything but deviations from the country’s “authentic founding principles.” The measure — approved by an 11-2 vote — was introduced...
FBI investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over campaign donations
WASHINGTON — U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is under investigation by the FBI over campaign contributions made by his employees before he took the federal job last year, his spokesman said. DeJoy, a donor to former President Donald Trump, “has always been scrupulous in his adherence to the campaign contribution...
Crews remove barriers, memorials at George Floyd Square
MINNEAPOLIS — Crews have removed concrete barriers, artwork, flowers and other items from a Minneapolis intersection that became a sprawling memorial to George Floyd, whose death last year at the hands of police galvanized the racial justice movement. It took the city crews less than four hours Thursday morning to...
EU plans digital ID wallet for bloc’s post-pandemic life
LONDON — The European Union unveiled plans Thursday for a digital ID wallet that residents could use to access services across the 27-nation bloc, part of a post-pandemic recovery strategy that involves accelerating the shift to an online world. The European Digital Identity Wallet proposed by the EU’s executive commission...
Danish military to lease electric training planes as a trialVideo
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The Danish defense ministry said Thursday that it will lease two electric trainer airplanes as a test, adding that it is the first country in the world to do so. The single-engine, two-seater Pipistrel Velis Electro is an electric-powered Slovenian light aircraft intended primarily for training use....
Report: Inmate’s death at Ohio prison ruled a homicide
ORIENT, Ohio — The death of an inmate who died in his cell at an Ohio prison earlier this year has been ruled a homicide. Michael McDaniel, 55, died Feb. 6 after he became combative and injured two guards who had tried to remove him from his cell at the...
‘Stand your ground’ defense rejected in iguana killing by Florida man
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A judge has rejected the “stand your ground” defense of a Florida man who said he beat an iguana to death only after it attacked him, biting him on the arm. PJ Nilaja Patterson, 43, must stand trial on a felony animal cruelty charge, Palm...
NASA chief announces 2 new Venus missions after agency’s $25 billion budget requestVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — New NASA Administrator Bill Nelson gave his first State of NASA address on Wednesday plotting out the agency’s plans to continue the Artemis program to return humans to the moon as well as new Earth-centric missions as part of the largest science budget ask ever for the...
State seeks 30 years for Derek Chauvin; defense wants time served
MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence for the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death, but a defense attorney is asking that Derek Chauvin be sentenced to probation and time already served, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Chauvin is scheduled to be sentenced...
Pair flees Florida juvenile home, engages in gunbattle with deputiesVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — A 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy fled from a Florida juvenile home and broke into a house, where they found a small arsenal — a shotgun, an AK-47 and plenty of ammunition. When confronted by sheriff’s deputies, the pair opened fire, sparking a gunbattle. The gunfire...
New York transit officials confirm cyberattack; say harm limited
NEW YORK — Hackers infiltrated computer systems for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, setting off a scramble to counter a potentially crippling cyberattack against North America’s largest transit system, MTA officials confirmed on Wednesday. The officials said in a statement that that agency received an alert from the...
Netanyahu opponents reach coalition deal to oust Israeli PM
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader. The dramatic announcement by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, came shortly before...
Ohio teen says coaches forced him to eat pork despite beliefs
CANTON, Ohio — An attorney for an Ohio high school football player who says coaches forced him to eat pork in violation of his religious beliefs for missing a voluntary workout has announced plans to sue the school district. Canton McKinley head football coach Marcus Wattley and seven assistant coaches...
Prosecutors drop case against New York man charged in Capitol riot
Federal prosecutors have dropped the criminal case against a New York man who was accused of participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, in what appears to be the first such move by the Justice Department in its sprawling Jan. 6 prosecution. The dismissal of the case against Christopher...
Study: California fire killed 10% of world’s redwood trees
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — At least a tenth of the world’s mature giant sequoias were destroyed by a single California wildfire that tore through the southern Sierra Nevada last year, according to a draft report prepared by scientists with the National Park Service. The Visalia Times-Delta newspaper obtained a...
U.S. soldiers mistakenly raid Bulgarian sunflower oil factory
The owner of a small sunflower oil factory in Bulgaria has accused U.S. soldiers of illegally storming his facility during a NATO military exercise last month. Marin Dimitrov told reporters Wednesday that he had filed a lawsuit against those responsible for the May 11 incident. Swift Response 2021 was a...
Iran’s largest warship catches fire, sinks in Gulf of Oman
The largest warship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances, the latest calamity to strike one of the country’s vessels in recent years amid tensions with the West. The blaze began around 2:25 a.m. and firefighters tried to contain...
Motive unclear as Calif. firefighter kills colleague at station
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — A firefighter killed a coworker and wounded another at their small fire station before setting his own home ablaze and apparently killing himself in California’s second deadly workplace shooting in days. The gunman, a firefighter specialist and engineer, was off-duty when he apparently drove the 10...
U.S. urging Central America to tackle poverty, corruption
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is trying to entice Central American nations to tackle the corruption and poverty that have helped drive a surge of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border and presented an early challenge for the Biden administration. In his first visit to...
