U.S./World category, Page 778
Jeffrey Epstein prosecution and perks were proper, Florida investigation finds
MIAMI — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has cleared Palm Beach state prosecutors and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office of any wrongdoing in connection with the lack of criminal prosecution and liberal jail privileges received by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. FDLE investigators found no evidence that Barry Krischer, who...
FAA seeks fines against more misbehaving airline passengersVideo
Federal officials said Monday they are pursuing civil penalties against two more passengers for interfering with airline crews, the latest in a surge of such cases in recent months. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is continuing to take a zero-tolerance stance against unruly passengers. The most recent cases involve...
Friends of Flight 93 announces heroism award to mark 20th anniversary of 9/11Video
To promote the legacy of the crew and passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Somerset County fighting terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, the national memorial support organization Monday announced a heroism award to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Donna Gibson, president of the Friends...
Confidence grows that covid-19 vaccines hold their own against variants
Confidence is growing that covid-19 vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. are holding their own against the coronavirus variants now in circulation. “Everything we’ve seen with the variants should provide marked reassurance, as far as the protection that is afforded by vaccines — particularly the vaccines that we have...
Hopes fade for minke whale stuck in River Thames near London
LONDON — Hopes faded Monday for a young minke whale who became trapped in the River Thames near London, authorities said. Rescuers trying to recapture the whale said that by noon its condition had deteriorated rapidly and it would soon be stranded by the dropping tide near Teddington in southwest...
Indian chief’s descendant wants Harvard to return tomahawk
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A Native American lawyer wants Harvard University to return a tomahawk once owned by his pioneering ancestor, Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca Tribe. Brett Chapman, of Oklahoma, told GBH last week that he’s reached out to the Cambridge, Massachusetts university’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology...
Fla. man steals police car, crashes it, then steals another police car before crashing again
A man in Volusia County, Fla., led authorities on quite the chase after he stole a police car and proceeded to zoom down a highway. The chase didn’t end there, however, as the man proceeded to steal another of the same department’s vehicles after crashing the first. 10 Tampa Bay...
Lafayette Square near the White House reopens to public
WASHINGTON — Lafayette Square, the park across from the White House, reopened Monday to the public nearly a year after federal authorities fenced off the area at the height of nationwide protests over policing following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The square, which offers perhaps the best view...
Kansas lawmakers want to keep cocktails to go after pandemic
TOPEKA, Kan. — The state that made saloon smasher Carrie Nation famous is moving to allow people to get beer and cocktails to go after the coronavirus pandemic. Kansas lawmakers approved a bill last week to allow to-go beer and alcoholic drinks from clubs, bars and restaurants until 11 p.m.,...
Paris court tries anti-racism activist for statue attack
PARIS — A French activist for Black rights went on trial in Paris on Monday for defacing a statue of a historical figure from France’s colonial, slave-trading past, calling the protest a political act to denounce deep-seated racism. Franco Lollia said that rather than vandalize the statue, he improved it...
Tiger seen roaming through front yard of homes in Texas neighborhood
A tiger was seen roaming through a Texas neighborhood Sunday night, according to multiple reports. Video shows the tiger, which was wearing a collar, walking around the perimeter of a house. Someone eventually came out of the house and brought the tiger back inside, according to KHOU. Police received a...
U.S. trashes unwanted gear in Afghanistan to be sold as scrap
BAGRAM, Afghanistan — The twisted remains of several all-terrain vehicles leaned precariously inside Baba Mir’s sprawling scrap yard, alongside smashed shards that were once generators, tank tracks that have been dismantled into chunks of metal, and mountains of tents reduced to sliced up fabric. It’s all U.S. military equipment. The...
Biden to join meeting of NATO’s eastern members by video
BUCHAREST, Romania — U.S. President Joe Biden will join a meeting by video link of presidents of countries on NATO’s eastern flank being held Monday in the Romanian capital, according to the offices of the Romanian and Polish presidents. The presidents gathering represent the so-called Bucharest Nine, a group of...
Hamas targets Jerusalem after clashes at revered mosque
JERUSALEM — Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Monday, including a barrage that set off air raid sirens as far away as Jerusalem, after hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli police at a flashpoint religious site in the contested holy city. The rocket fire...
California man used $5 million in coronavirus relief loans to buy luxury cars, federal authorities say
LOS ANGELES — An Irvine man was arrested on fraud charges this week after authorities say he used $5 million in pandemic relief loans to buy luxury sports cars, take lavish vacations and cover his personal expenses. Mustafa Qadiri, 38, submitted bogus applications for federal loans under the Paycheck Protection...
2 Catholic bishops at odds over Biden receiving Communion
They share Roman Catholicism as a faith and California as their home base. Yet there’s a deep gulf between Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego in the high-stakes debate over whether politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Communion. Cordileone, who has...
Police: Maryland man killed 3 neighbors, set house ablaze
WOODLAWN, Md. — A Maryland man who neighbors said had a long history of aggression went on a rampage over the weekend, shooting or stabbing three people to death and setting his home on fire before responding officers fatally shot him, police said Sunday. A news release from the Baltimore...
Queen’s cousin accused of willingness to sell Kremlin access
LONDON — An investigative report by British media said Sunday that Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, was willing to use his royal status for personal profit and to seek favors from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The undercover investigation by the Sunday Times and Channel 4 saw reporters...
Navy seizes weapons in Arabian Sea likely bound for Yemen
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Navy announced Sunday it seized an arms shipment of thousands of assault weapons, machines guns and sniper rifles hidden aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea, apparently bound for Yemen to support the country’s Houthi rebels. An American defense official told The Associated...
Police say turkey hunter accidentally shot hiker in Missouri
WELDON SPRING, Mo. — A hiker was accidentally shot by a turkey hunter Saturday in the St. Louis area, authorities said. The shooting happened on the Lewis and Clark Trail in the Weldon Spring Conservation Area around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, St. Charles County Police Department spokeswoman Val Joyner said. “It...
7 dead including gunman in Colorado birthday party shooting
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A gunman opened fire at a birthday party in Colorado, slaying six adults before killing himself Sunday, police said. The shooting happened just after midnight in a mobile home park on the east side of Colorado Springs, police said. Officers arrived at a trailer to find...
China says most of its Long March 5B rocket burned up during its reentry to Earth’s atmosphereVideo
China’s space agency said a core segment of its biggest rocket reentered Earth’s atmosphere above the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and that most of it burned up early Sunday. Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracked the tumbling rocket part, said on Twitter, “An ocean reentry was always statistically the...
Cyberattack on U.S. pipeline is linked to criminal gangVideo
NEW YORK — The cyberextortion attempt that has forced the shutdown of a vital U.S. pipeline was carried out by a criminal gang known as DarkSide that cultivates a Robin Hood image of stealing from corporations and giving a cut to charity, a person close to the investigation said Sunday....
What are cicadas and why do they bug some people?
Cicadas, red-eyed bugs singing loud sci-fi sounding songs, can seem downright creepy. Especially since the trillions of them coming this year emerge from underground only every 17 years. But they’re not monsters or a plague of locusts. Once you get to know them, scientists say you can appreciate the wonder...
Tearful reunions mark second Mother’s Day under pandemic
Joyous reunions among vaccinated parents and children across the country marked this year’s Mother’s Day, the second one celebrated during the coronavirus pandemic. Some families separated by worries of transmitting the virus saw each other for the first time in over a year, emboldened by their vaccinations. Jeanie Codianni of...
