U.S./World category, Page 866
Europe has half of world’s 4M new virus cases but sees hope
GENEVA — Europe made up almost half of the world’s 4 million new coronavirus cases last week but recorded a nearly 10% fall in infections compared to the week before, thanks in part to strict government lockdown measures that have fanned some discontent, the World Health Organization reported Wednesday. In...
Judge orders U.S. to stop expelling children who cross border
HOUSTON — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to stop expelling immigrant children who cross the southern border alone, halting a policy that has resulted in thousands of rapid deportations of minors during the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan issued a preliminary injunction sought by...
Mark Madden: Sports consumers dwindling during pandemic
The final round of the Masters bombed on TV. Its rating was the lowest since 1957, down 51% from last year when Tiger Woods won, but also down 57% from 2018. Because of the pandemic, the Masters took place in November and not in April as it usually does. It...
Biden’s DIY transition proceeds without Trump assistance
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Donald Trump’s refusal to cooperate with his successor is forcing President-elect Joe Biden to seek unusual workarounds to prepare for the exploding public health threat and evolving national security challenges he will inherit in just nine weeks. Blocked from the official intelligence briefing traditionally afforded to...
Report: More than 1 million children have been infected with covid-19
More than 1 million children in the United States have been infected with covid-19, according to a report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. The report, released on Monday, shows children now make up 11.5 percent of all cases in the country. The total...
In a stunning reversal, U.S. drops charges against Mexico’s ex-defense chief
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. government said Tuesday that it was dropping drug trafficking charges against former Mexican Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, a stunning turnaround in a prosecution that had deeply angered Mexican authorities. The surprise move came a month after Cienfuegos’ arrest at Los Angeles International Airport. In...
Raids, arrests as German police investigate Dresden jewelry theft
BERLIN — More than 1,500 police carried out a series of searches in Berlin and arrested three people in a massive operation connected to the spectacular theft of 18th-century jewels from a unique collection in Dresden last November, authorities said Tuesday. The operation was coordinated by police and prosecutors in...
Trump cuts troop levels to 2,500 in Iraq and Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said Tuesday the U.S. will reduce troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan by mid-January, asserting that the decision fulfills President Donald Trump’s pledge to bring forces home from America’s long wars even as Republicans and U.S. allies warn of the dangers of withdrawing...
Pentagon says it shot down unarmed missile in sea-based test
WASHINGTON — In a first for the Pentagon’s push to develop defenses against intercontinental-range ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States, a missile interceptor launched from a U.S. Navy ship at sea hit and destroyed a mock ICBM in flight on Tuesday, officials said. Previous tests against ICBM targets...
Financially troubled startup helped power Trump campaign
SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign was powered by a cell phone app that allowed staff to monitor the movements of his millions of supporters, and offered intimate access to their social networks. While the campaign may be winding down, the data strategy is very much alive,...
Remains found in 1988 identified as West Virginia fugitive
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Remains found in Ohio in 1988 have been identified as a West Virginia fugitive, authorities said. DNA testing was used to identify the remains as John Paul Devaughn, who was wanted for parole violations in West Virginia, WDTV-TV reported, citing the U.S. Marshals Service. Devaughn was convicted...
Head of government agency under pressure to let presidential transition proceed
WASHINGTON — The head of an obscure federal agency that is holding up the presidential transition knew well before Election Day that she might soon have a messy situation on her hands. Before Nov. 3, Emily Murphy, the head of the General Services Administration, held a Zoom call with Dave...
Dangerous Hurricane Iota makes landfall on Nicaragua coastVideo
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Powerful Hurricane Iota made landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast late Monday, threatening catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America already battered by equally strong Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago. Iota had intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm early in the day,...
About 90K sex abuse claims filed in Boy Scouts bankruptcyVideo
NEW YORK — Close to 90,000 sexual abuse claims have been filed against the Boy Scouts of America as the Monday deadline arrived for submitting claims in the organization’s bankruptcy case. The number far exceeds the initial projections of lawyers across the United States who have been signing up clients...
U.S. appeals court weighs law on supervised injection sites
PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court became the latest panel to wrestle with the nation’s opioid epidemic as judges reviewed a long-debated plan Monday to open a medically supervised injection site in Philadelphia. U.S. Attorney William McSwain, an appointee of President Donald Trump, opposes the idea and hopes to overturn...
Trump to order troop reductions in Afghanistan, Iraq
The Trump administration is expected to cut the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan almost in half to 2,500 by Jan. 15, a U.S. official said Monday. The order would stop short of outgoing President Donald Trump’s goal to have all troops withdrawn by the end of the year, which...
Virginia governor pushes to legalize marijuana
RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Ralph Northam is pushing to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Virginia, which could be the first Southern state to do so. Northam announced his support for legalization Monday, saying he wants a responsible approach that promotes racial equity and preserves youth safety. The Democratic governor...
Hand tally of Georgia presidential race continues
ATLANTA — A hand tally of the nearly 5 million votes cast in the presidential race in Georgia appeared to be going smoothly as it entered its fourth day Monday. The hand count stems from a state law that calls for one race to be audited to ensure the new...
3rd Breonna Taylor grand juror: Cops ‘got slap on the wrist’
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A woman who sat on the Breonna Taylor grand jury said she believes their investigation was incomplete and that prosecutors wanted to give police “a slap on the wrist and close it up.” The woman is the third grand juror to speak anonymously about the September proceedings,...
NATO, acting U.S. Pentagon chief discuss Afghanistan
BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has spoken to the new acting U.S. defense secretary about the alliance’s commitment to stay in Afghanistan as long as necessary, his spokeswoman said Monday, amid speculation that President Donald Trump might order a rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops in the country. NATO spokeswoman...
SpaceX launches 2nd crew, regular station crew flights begin
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on Sunday on the first full-fledged taxi flight for NASA by a private company. The Falcon rocket thundered into the night from Kennedy Space Center with three Americans and one Japanese, the second crew to be launched...
Hurricane Iota heads for battered Honduras, Nicaragua
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Iota became the 13th hurricane of the Atlantic season early Sunday, threatening to bring another dangerous system to Nicaragua and Honduras — countries recently clobbered by a Category 4 Hurricane Eta. Iota was already a record-breaking system, being the 30th named storm of this year’s extraordinarily...
‘Righting a wrong’: Nevada 1st to protect same-sex marriage
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Las Vegas has been known for decades as the place for exuberant nuptials blessed by the swirl of Elvis’ white capes. But for years, legal marriages were barred for same-sex couples. Now, the state that’s home to the “wedding capital of the world” is also the...
Russian city to demolish derided ‘Robot’ building
MOSCOW — A hulking, never-occupied building sardonically likened to a robot’s head that has loomed over the Russian city of Kaliningrad for decades is to be demolished next year, the region’s governor says. The 21-story House of Soviets was left unfinished when funding ran out in 1985 amid the Soviet...
Biden likely to break barriers, pick woman to lead Pentagon
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to take a historic step and select a woman to head the Pentagon for the first time, shattering one of the few remaining barriers to women in the department and the presidential Cabinet. Michele Flournoy, a politically moderate Pentagon veteran, is regarded by...
