U.S./World category, Page 861
Doctor says Biden fractured foot while playing with his dog
WILMINGTON, Del. — President-elect Joe Biden fractured his foot while playing with one of his dogs, but doctors found “no obvious fracture” while examining him Sunday, according to his doctor. Biden suffered the injury on Saturday and visited an orthopedist at Delaware Orthopaedic Specialists in Newark, Delaware, for an examination...
Full beaver moon to deliver partial lunar eclipse early Monday morning
Sky-gazers could be in for a treat Sunday night into early Monday morning as the celestial bodies align just right to create the full beaver moon along with an early morning lunar eclipse. Hardcore star-gazers can set their alarms for 4:30 a.m. when the full moon, nicknamed the beaver moon,...
Mysterious silver monolith disappears from Utah desert
SALT LAKE CITY — A mysterious silver monolith that was placed in the Utah desert has disappeared less than 10 days after it was spotted by wildlife biologists performing a helicopter survey of bighorn sheep, federal officials and witnesses said. “We have received credible reports that the illegally installed structure,...
Despite federal ban, renters still being evicted amid virus
BOSTON — A nationwide eviction ban was supposed to protect tenants like Tawanda Mormon, who was forced out of her two-bedroom apartment last month in Cleveland. The 46-year-old, who was hospitalized in August for the coronavirus and can’t work due to mental health issues, said she fell behind on her...
Ethiopia’s Tigray capital reported to be ‘heavily bombarded’
NAIROBI, Kenya — Ethiopia’s military launched an offensive on the Tigray regional capital Saturday in a quest to arrest the region’s defiant leaders, and the city was being “heavily bombarded,” Tigray TV reported. Humanitarians confirmed the shelling in Mekele, a densely populated city of a half-million people, which immediately raised...
Pope elevating 13 new cardinals in ceremony marked by COVID
ROME — Pope Francis on Saturday was formally elevating 13 new cardinals, including the first African-American to receive the honor, in a ceremony marked in every way by the coronavirus pandemic: Two of the cardinals stayed home, the rest eschewed the usual celebrations and St. Peter’s Basilica was practically empty...
With no action by Washington, states race to offer virus aid
SANTA FE, N.M — Faulting inaction in Washington, governors and state lawmakers are racing to get pandemic relief to small-business owners, the unemployed, renters and others whose livelihoods have been upended by the widening coronavirus outbreak. In some cases, elected officials are spending the last of a federal relief package...
Biden plans swift moves to protect and advance LGBTQ rights
As vice president in 2012, Joe Biden endeared himself to many LGBTQ Americans by endorsing same-sex marriage even before his boss, President Barack Obama. Now, as president-elect, Biden is making sweeping promises to LGBTQ activists, proposing to carry out virtually every major proposal on their wish lists. Among them: Lifting...
Black firefighters in N.C. allege racism amid larger reckoning
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — They threw her new cellphone on the roof of the station house and placed nails under the wheels of her pickup truck. As she prepared to answer a call, someone poured tobacco juice in her boots. It was too much for Timika Ingram to bear. “It caused...
Bruce Boynton, who inspired 1961 Freedom Rides, dies at 83
SELMA, Ala. — Bruce Carver Boynton, a civil rights pioneer from Alabama who inspired the landmark “Freedom Rides” of 1961, died Monday. He was 83. Former Alabama state Sen. Hank Sanders, a friend of Boynton’s, on Tuesday confirmed his passing. Boynton was arrested 60 years ago for entering the white...
Iran’s supreme leader vows revenge over slain scientist
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday called for the “definitive punishment” of those behind the killing of a scientist linked to Tehran’s disbanded military nuclear program, a slaying the Islamic Republic has blamed on Israel. Israel, long suspected of killing Iranian scientists a decade ago amid tensions over...
Tony Hsieh, retired Zappos CEO, dies at 46
LAS VEGAS — Tony Hsieh, the retired CEO of Las Vegas-based online shoe retailer Zappos.com who spent years working to transform the city’s downtown area, has died. He was 46. Hsieh was with family when he died Friday, according to a statement from DTP Companies, which he founded. Downtown Partnership...
2 shot, killed at Northern California mall on Black Friday
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Police are looking for a gunman who shot and killed two teens at a Northern California mall in the midst of Black Friday, sending shoppers running for safety, authorities said. Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento was evacuated shortly after 6 p.m. when shots were fired near one...
Champion Ken Jennings will be first interim ‘Jeopardy!’ host
NEW YORK — “Jeopardy!” record-holder Ken Jennings will be the first in a series of interim hosts replacing Alex Trebek when the show resumes production next Monday. Producers announced Monday that Jennings, who won 74 games in a row and claimed the show’s “Greatest of All Time” title in a...
Georgia Aquarium’s largest female whale shark dies
ATLANTA — The largest female whale shark at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta has died. Trixie, who had been at the aquarium since 2006, died Friday, the aquarium said in a statement on its Facebook page. “She was having difficulty navigating the habitat earlier in the day and then her...
Los Angeles issues stay-home order as coronavirus surges
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County announced a new stay-home order Friday as coronavirus cases surged out of control in the nation’s most populous county. The three-week order takes effect Monday. It came as the county of 10 million residents confirmed 24 new deaths and 4,544 new confirmed cases of...
Brooklyn bishop hails ruling, says diocese in line with pope
NEW YORK — The longtime head of the Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn said Friday that a ruling by the Supreme Court that barred New York from enforcing certain restrictions on religious services in areas hit hard by the coronavirus is a “good decision” that guarantees constitutional protections for the...
Japan spacecraft carrying asteroid soil samples nears home
A Japanese spacecraft is nearing Earth after a yearlong journey home from a distant asteroid with soil samples and data that could provide clues to the origins of the solar system, a space agency official said Friday. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft left the asteroid Ryugu, about 180 million miles from Earth,...
Danish Mayfly named 2021 insect of the year
BERLIN — The Danish Mayfly was selected Friday by an international group of entomologists and others as the Insect of the Year for 2021, but it won’t have long to celebrate its 15 minutes of fame. The insect, whose scientific name is Ephemera danica, only has a few days to...
Ohio elections chief certifies 2020 general election results
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s elections chief certified results on Friday of a 2020 election that he said was almost flawlessly executed despite the pandemic, raising concern that President Donald Trump’s allegations of widespread fraud could be undercutting voter confidence in the process. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s certification delivered...
Temporary U.S. Pentagon chief makes rare visit to Somalia
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s acting defense secretary has made a rare visit to Somalia, a conflict-plagued nation in the Horn of Africa where American forces have been assisting in the fight against al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabab. In a brief statement, the Pentagon said Christopher Miller, who was installed as acting defense...
Belarus president plans to leave job under new constitution
KYIV, Ukraine — The president of Belarus said Friday that he would not remain in the post he has held for more than 26 years if his country adopts a new constitution. However, President Alexander Lukashenko did not describe the amendments he is seeking or give a timeline for when...
U.S. Circuit Court rejects Trump appeal over Pennsylvania votes
President Donald Trump’s legal team suffered yet another defeat in court Friday as a federal appeals court in Philadelphia roundly rejected its latest effort to challenge the state’s election results. Trump’s lawyers vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court despite the judge’s assessment that the “campaign’s claims have no merit.”...
Ohio elections chief certifies 2020 general election results
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s state elections chief certified the results of the November general election on Friday, awarding the state’s 18 electoral votes to President Donald Trump. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said the state produced an extraordinary level of access for voters, setting records with nearly 6 million...
Northern Ireland police to pay damages to journalists over arrests
LONDON — Police in Northern Ireland have agreed to pay damages to two journalists who were arrested on suspicion of stealing confidential documents after working on a documentary about an unsolved mass killing, lawyers said Friday. Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey worked on “No Stone Unturned,” a 2017 documentary by...
