U.S./World category, Page 852
Russia could cut off U.S. food and water supply in next cyberattack, Mitt Romney saysVideo
Russia acted with impunity when it hacked U.S. government servers in a global cyber-espionage campaign and could do far more damage next time — like cutting off the nation’s water and electricity supply, GOP Sen. Mitt Romney said Sunday. Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Utah senator said the...
Iraqi army: 8 rockets target U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
BAGHDAD — Eight rockets targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone late Sunday, Iraq’s military and Iraqi officials said, sparking fears of renewed unrest as next month’s anniversary of the U.S. slaying of an Iranian general draws near. An Iraqi military statement said an “an outlawed group”...
Arizona migrant border deaths on track for record amid heat
DOUGLAS, Ariz. — Heat exposure killed 19-year-old Cesar de la Cruz on an Arizona trail in July during his trek up from southern Mexico. The body of Juan Lopez Valencia, another young Mexican man, was discovered Aug. 3 along a dry wash on Native American land. After the hottest, driest...
2nd covid-19 vaccine authorized in US is shipped out
OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. — Initial shipments of the second covid-19 vaccine authorized in the U.S. left a distribution center Sunday, a desperately needed boost as the nation works to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. The trucks left the Memphis-area factory with the vaccine developed by Moderna and the National...
Racism targets Asian food, business during covid-19 pandemic
As the coronavirus spread throughout the U.S., bigotry toward Asian Americans was not far behind, fueled by the news that covid-19 first appeared in China. Some initial evidence suggested the virus began in bats, which infected another animal that may have spread it to people at one of Wuhan, China’s...
Lacking legal immunity, businesses fear covid-19 lawsuits
PORTLAND, Maine — Plans for a lawsuit against a Maine venue that hosted what became a “superspreader” wedding reception underscore the liability risks to small businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic and an uphill push by Republicans in Congress to give such outfits legal immunity. Behemoths like Walmart and Tyson Foods,...
Several EU nations halt UK flights, fearing virus variant
BERLIN — One by one, several European Union nations banned flights from the U.K. on Sunday and others were considering similar action in a bid to block a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England from establishing a strong foothold on the continent. Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and...
Pentagon plan on cyber split draws strong Hill criticism
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is proposing to end an arrangement in which a single military officer leads two of the nation’s main cybersecurity organizations, a move that a leading Democrat said Saturday makes him “profoundly concerned” amid a large-scale hacking campaign on U.S. government computer systems. Rep. Adam Smith, chairman...
Trump downplays Russia in 1st comments on cyberattack
WASHINGTON — Contradicting his secretary of state and other top officials, President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested without evidence that China — not Russia — may be behind the cyberattack against the United States and tried to minimized its impact. In his first comments on the breach, Trump scoffed at...
‘Hurting for hope,’ South Dakota rural churches mark Advent
CANTON, S.D. — The Nativity stable at Canton Lutheran Church will be silent this year, breaking from a community tradition of gathering for a live Christmas performance. Instead, churches in this rural corner of South Dakota are grappling with how to approach an Advent filled with quiet mourning after the...
Mississippi former Gov. Winter dies; pushed education reform
JACKSON, Miss. — Former Mississippi Gov. William Winter, a Democrat who pushed to strengthen public education in one of the poorest states in the U.S. and to improve race relations across the nation, has died. He was 97. Winter, who was governor from 1980 to 1984, died Friday night at...
California hospitals struggle as coronavirus cases explode
LOS ANGELES — California hospitals are battling to find beds to house patients amid fears that the exploding coronavirus infection rate will exhaust resources and health care workers. As of Friday, nearly 17,000 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected covid-19 infections — more than double the previous peak reached...
General sorry for ‘miscommunication’ over vaccine shipments
The Army general in charge of getting covid-19 vaccines across the United States apologized on Saturday for “miscommunication” with states over the number of doses to be delivered in the early stages of distribution. “I failed. I’m adjusting. I am fixing and we will move forward from there,” Gen. Gustave...
Another U.S. coronavirus record; vaccine shipments reduced
First, Theresa Pirozzi’s 85-year-old dad got sick and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Days later, her mom was so weak she could barely walk. Now, instead of getting ready for Christmas, Pirozzi is anxiously awaiting updates from the hospital where both of her parents are in intensive...
Seattle police clear homeless camp, make arrests
SEATTLE — Police cleared a homeless camp in Seattle early Friday morning after a judge declined to block authorities from removing the people and tents. Police arrested 24 people and accused them of various offenses including failure to disperse, trespass and resisting arrest, the Seattle Police Department said on Twitter....
U.S. clears Moderna vaccine for covid-19, 2nd shot in arsenal
WASHINGTON —The U.S. added a second covid-19 vaccine to its arsenal Friday, boosting efforts to beat back an outbreak so dire that the nation is regularly recording more than 3,000 deaths a day. Much-needed doses are set to arrive Monday after the Food and Drug Administration authorized an emergency rollout...
UNC suspends 3 fraternities that feds linked to drug ring
RALEIGH, N.C. — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced Friday that it has suspended three fraternities that have been linked to a drug trafficking ring that federal prosecutors say funneled large amounts of drugs into three college campuses. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Greensboro announced on Thursday...
House passes bill to avert government shutdown; Senate next
WASHINGTON — The House passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night to avert a partial government shutdown, trying to buy time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion covid-19 economic relief package. Senate action wasn’t guaranteed but appeared likely before the midnight deadline. The House passed...
Watchdog: George Floyd protests overwhelmed NYPD, sparking conflict
NEW YORK — The New York Police Department was caught off guard by the size of the spring protests after the killing of George Floyd and resorted to aggressive disorder control methods that stoked tensions and stifled free speech, the city’s inspector general said in a report released Friday. The...
Wrongfully convicted Michigan man freed after 38 years
JACKSON, Mich. — A man who was sentenced to life without parole in an arson fatality has been freed after 38 years in a Michigan prison after a woman admitted that she lied under oath during his 1983 trial. Walter Forbes, 63, walked out of Kinross Correctional Facility on Nov....
Motorist rescued after 10 hours in car buried by snow plow
OWEGO, N.Y. — A man who drove off the road in this week’s snowstorm spent 10 hours trapped in his car after a passing plow buried it, finally managing to get a 911 call through and being rescued in the nick of time by a New York state trooper. Kevin...
French teens protest after transgender classmate’s suicide
LILLE, France — About 100 teenagers rallied in northern France Friday to pay homage to a transgender student who killed herself this week after facing tensions with school officials around her gender identity. The case has drawn indignation on social media and national concern. The students held a sit-in and...
Some states say Pfizer vaccine allotments cut for next week
O’FALLON, Mo. — Several states say they have been told to expect far fewer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine in its second week of distribution, prompting worries about potential delays in shots for health care workers and long-term care residents. But senior Trump administration officials on Thursday downplayed the...
Biden picks Regan for EPA nominee, Haaland for interior head
President-elect Joe Biden announced Thursday that he had chosen North Carolina regulator Michael S. Regan as his nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as his pick for interior secretary. Biden said the selections round out what he said would be an experienced climate...
Vanessa Bryant accuses her mother of extortion in ugly legal battle over family money
LOS ANGELES — Vanessa Bryant on Thursday accused her mother of seeking to “extort a financial windfall” from her in the wake of her husband Kobe Bryant’s death by filing a lawsuit claiming she is owed years of back pay for working as an unpaid assistant. The family feud ratcheted...
