U.S./World category, Page 862
Ohio’s oldest death-row inmate likely died from Coronavirus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The oldest inmate on Ohio’s death row has died, and a prison spokeswoman said it was likely due to the coronavirus. James Frazier, 79, died Nov. 19 at the prison system’s Franklin Medical Center in Columbus, according to Cleveland.com. In recent months, his attorneys had sought to...
Top California air, climate regulator hopes to run Biden EPA
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Over four decades, Mary Nichols has been the regulator behind some of the nation’s most ambitious climate policies and, in recent years, she’s been their staunchest defender against President Donald Trump’s effort to dismantle them. With Joe Biden heading to the White House, Nichols hopes she is...
Minnesota tribes file to halt pipeline approval due to virus
ST. PAUL, Minn — Two Native American tribes in northern Minnesota are asking state regulators to stop the imminent construction of Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement, saying it would increase the risk of coronavirus infections spreading. The Red Lake and White Earth Bands of Chippewa filed a...
Iran scientist linked to military nuclear program killed
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An Iranian scientist named by Israel as the leader of the Islamic Republic’s disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday in an ambush on the outskirts of Tehran, authorities said. Iran’s foreign minister alleged the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh bore “serious indications” of an Israeli...
Cher in Pakistan to help ‘world’s loneliest elephant’
ISLAMABAD — Iconic singer and actress Cher is in Pakistan to celebrate the departure of Kaavan, dubbed the “world’s loneliest elephant,” who will soon leave a Pakistani zoo for better conditions after years of lobbying by animal rights groups and activists. Because of security concerns, Cher’s schedule was not made...
Putin foe Navalny urges EU to be ready for Russian election
BRUSSELS — Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny urged the European Union to reject the results of Russia’s parliamentary election next year if any candidates are blocked from taking part and he called Friday on the EU to impose sanctions on oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin. Navalny, a corruption investigator...
U.S. agency investigating Tesla front suspension failures
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s road safety agency is investigating complaints that suspensions can fail on nearly 115,000 Tesla electric vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has 43 complaints that linkages near the ball joints can fail, allowing contact between the tire and wheel liner. The probe...
Indonesian police move transgender celebrity to private cell
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian police have moved a female transgender Instagram celebrity, Millen Cyrus, to a special cell following public outrage over her initial placement in a male detention cell after she was arrested as a suspect in a drug case. “As for her status on her ID, she is...
Deep-frying turkey sparks fire that leaves 27 people homeless on Thanksgiving
A Thanksgiving morning fire — sparked by efforts to deep-fry a turkey — spread through three New Bedford, Mass., buildings and displaced more than two dozen people and inured at least one on Thursday. The New Bedford Fire Department said on its Facebook page that it responded to the blaze...
New Jersey man charged in $1.7M theft of armored car outside casino
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Describing it as “something out of the 1930s,” authorities say a former guard and two others stole more than $1.7 million from an armored car parked outside an Atlantic City casino earlier this month. Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner said Tuesday that Dante McCluney of Newark...
Justice Department makes last-ditch bid to derail Trump rape accuser case
NEW YORK — The U.S. government put forth a last-ditch attempt to derail a defamation lawsuit filed against President Donald Trump by a New York advice columnist who claims he raped her two decades go. The Justice Department is fighting to replace Trump as the defendant in the suit brought...
Archbishop Gregory stood up to Trump; now he’s about to be 1st Black cardinal in U.S.
WASHINGTON — Few of his parishioners were surprised when Washington, D.C., Archbishop Wilton Gregory took on President Donald Trump. Gregory isn’t known to speak out often about issues specifically facing Black Americans. But when he does, it is unambiguous and forceful — in words unusually strong for a man of...
They’re baaack: Trump and allies still refuse election lossVideo
WASHINGTON — Monday seemed like the end of President Donald Trump’s relentless challenges to the election, after the federal government acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden was the “apparent winner” and Trump cleared the way for cooperation on a transition of power. But his baseless claims have a way of coming back....
Holiday trends to watch: Adult Play-Doh; stores that ship
NEW YORK — The pandemic is turning this into a holiday shopping season like no other. Toy companies are targeting stuck-at-home grown-ups with latte-smelling Play-Doh and Legos that turn into Warhols. Those who added a puppy to their family during the pandemic will see tons of gift options for their...
High court blocks N.Y. coronavirus limits on houses of worship
WASHINGTON — As coronavirus cases surge again nationwide, the Supreme Court late Wednesday barred New York from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues in areas designated as hard hit by the virus. The justices split 5-4 with new Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority. It was...
Black Lives Matter flag becomes issue in Florida community
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As demonstrations against police brutality roiled the country earlier this year, Antoine Mickle began noticing the flags going up in his Jacksonville neighborhood declaring “Blue Lives Matter.” For months, those flags hung from his neighbors’ homes. But when Mickle decided to hang a flag of his own...
Trump pardons Michael Flynn, taking direct aim at Russia probe
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday, taking direct aim in the final days of his administration at a Russia investigation that he has long insisted was motivated by political bias. “It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn...
Tweet on spare change generates big money for virus aid
SALT LAKE CITY — Andy Larsen is a sports writer, but with so many games scratched during the pandemic he has spent a lot of time digging into coronavirus data and its sobering implications. Then on Monday, while he was sorting his spare change — some from a childhood piggy...
Trump administration denies permit for divisive Alaska mine
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Trump administration on Wednesday denied a permit for a controversial gold and copper mine near the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery in southwest Alaska. The Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement that the permit application to build the Pebble Mine was...
Duchess of Sussex reveals she had miscarriage in the summer
LONDON — The Duchess of Sussex has revealed that she had a miscarriage in July, giving a personal account of the traumatic experience in hope of helping others. Meghan described the miscarriage in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Wednesday, writing that “I knew, as I clutched...
Mine explodes, damaging oil tanker off Saudi Arabia
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A mine in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia near Yemen exploded and damaged an oil tanker Wednesday, authorities said, the latest incident targeting the kingdom amid its long war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The blast happened early Wednesday and struck the...
Germany to compensate gay servicepeople for discrimination
BERLIN — Germany’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved legislation that would provide compensation to gay servicepeople who experienced discrimination in the military before a change of policy 20 years ago. The decision comes two months after Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer issued an apology for decades of discrimination. A study commissioned by...
On speakerphone in Gettysburg, Trump still falsely insists he won election
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump uttered one falsehood after another as he baselessly claimed that he won the 2020 election instead of President-elect Joe Biden as he phoned into an event organized by Pennsylvania Republicans in Gettysburg. Trump’s election lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, attended the event to continue his quixotic and...
Tens of thousands evacuated as India braces for cyclone
NEW DELHI — Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in low-lying areas of southern India and moved to evacuation shelters on Wednesday to escape a cyclone that was barreling toward the region’s coast. Cyclone Nivar is expected to bring heavy downpours after slamming ashore near Mamallapuram and Karaikal...
New York state may speed up, permanently expand vote-by-mail
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York may permanently expand voting by mail — something it tried on a wide scale for the first time this year — while also trying to reform its molasses-slow and opaque process for counting absentee ballots. A proposed constitutional amendment would do away with the rule...
