U.S./World category, Page 867
Curtis Flowers defense team receives human rights award
OXFORD, Miss. — A human rights award has been presented to the defense team for a Mississippi man who was freed from prison in December after more than 20 years and this year had all charges dropped against him. The Curtis Flowers defense team, which includes the George C. Cochran...
Thousands attend weekly protest against Israel’s Netanyahu
JERUSALEM — Several thousand protesters gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem on Saturday night in what has become a weekly demonstration calling for the Israeli leader to resign. The protesters have been demonstrating for some five months, saying Netanyahu is unfit to lead while he is...
Ethiopia’s Tigray region bombs airports as conflict spreads
NAIROBI, Kenya — Ethiopia’s defiant Tigray regional government said Saturday it fired rockets at two airports in the neighboring Amhara region as a deadly conflict threatens to spread into other parts of Africa’s second-most populous country. The Tigray regional government said in a statement on Tigray TV that such strikes...
Romania: 10 die in fire at covid-19 intensive care unit
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romanian officials say a fire at a hospital treating covid-19 patients has killed 10 people and critically injured seven others. The blaze spread through the intensive care ward designated for people with covid-19 patients at the public hospital in the northern city of Piatra Neamt, said Irina...
Thai protesters rally again, promoting a diversity of causes
BANGKOK — Pro-democracy protesters in Thailand rallied again on Saturday, promoting a diversity of causes and taking an opportunity to display their rejection of the country’s power structure directly to the monarch. Some 20 groups called the rally at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument under the name “Mob Fest” as the latest...
Britain’s Prince Charles celebrates 72nd birthday
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Prince Charles celebrated his 72nd birthday Saturday following an eventful year that saw him contract the coronavirus and his son Prince Harry step down from official royal duties. Gun salutes would normally be fired from London’s Green Park and the Tower of London for the heir...
Trump skips Southeast Asia summit for third year in a row
HANOI, Vietnam — President Donald Trump skipped a summit with his Southeast Asian counterparts for the third year in a row on Saturday, with rival China set to expand its influence with a massive free trade deal in the region. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said Trump regretted he was...
Trump putting democracy to the test after his loss to Biden
WASHINGTON — Winston Churchill was not known for leaving his thoughts unspoken. One of them was this: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried.” President Donald Trump, who has professed admiration for, if not deep...
Iota threatens 2nd tropical strike for Nicaragua, Honduras
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tropical Storm Iota was brewing in the Caribbean Sea early Saturday, threatening a second tropical strike for Nicaragua and Honduras, countries recently ransacked by a Category 4 Hurricane Eta. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and as much...
North Dakota mandates masks, capacity limits as virus surges
BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum ordered a statewide mask mandate and imposed several business restrictions late Friday in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus that has stressed the state’s hospital capacity. The Republican governor’s executive order comes after increased pressure from doctors, nurses and...
Colorado governor says ignoring virus is like playing ‘Russian roulette,’ as daily cases nearly double in week
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Another 6,439 Coloradans were diagnosed with covid-19 — nearly double Monday’s daily total, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday, warning state residents who continue to ignore the virus’s threat that they were playing Russian roulette with their own lives and the lives of others. “You wouldn’t...
California governor went to party, violated own virus rules
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For months, Gov. Gavin Newsom has pleaded with Californians to resist the temptation to socialize with friends and relatives outside their household. Turns out, he’s the one who couldn’t resist. Newsom acknowledged Friday he attended a birthday party with a dozen friends on Nov. 6 at the...
Scott Peterson to stay at San Quentin as judge mulls retrial
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — No one outside of San Quentin State Prison will be seeing Scott Peterson in person anytime soon as officials consider if he should face a new trial in the headline-grabbing slayings of his pregnant wife and unborn child, a California judge decided Friday. San Francisco Superior Court...
Chicago Mayor Lightfoot defends joining crowd celebrating Biden-Harris win as virus cases surge
CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday defended her appearance last weekend when she joined a crowd celebrating the presumptive win of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. During a morning interview on MSNBC, the mayor was asked about joining revelers Saturday amid a spike in covid-19 cases in Chicago and...
SpaceX crew flight delayed; Musk gets mixed COVID-19 results
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX delayed its second astronaut flight by a day because of high wind and weather conditions that could jeopardize the recovery and recycling of the rocket booster, pushing the launch to Sunday. Friday’s postponement news came after SpaceX chief Elon Musk disclosed he had gotten mixed...
Iowa justices toss murder conviction over jury instructions
The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday tossed out a murder conviction and ordered a new trial for a man accused of the gruesome 2017 stabbing death of his girlfriend. In a split decision, the state’s high court ordered a new trial for Gregory Michael Davis, 30, after finding his trial...
Masked workers start presidential hand tally in Georgia
ATLANTA — Masked election workers in teams of two began counting ballots Friday in counties across Georgia, a hand tally of the presidential race that stems from an audit required by a new state law. The law requires that one race be audited to check that new election machines counted...
U.S. citizenship test adds more questions, draws criticism
PHOENIX — An updated U.S. citizenship test will require applicants to answer more questions than before and could slow down the number of tests held each day, experts said. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency on Friday announced the updated test now has 128 civics items to study and...
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak tests positive for covid-19
CARSON CITY, Nev.— Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Friday said he has tested positive for covid-19 as the virus surges to record levels in the state and across the U.S. The 66-year-old Democrat is the fifth governor to report testing positive for the coronavirus this year. Three governors, two Republicans...
Oregon, New Mexico order lockdowns as other states resist
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The governors of Oregon and New Mexico ordered near-lockdowns Friday in the most aggressive response yet to the latest wave of coronavirus infections shattering records across the U.S., even as many of their counterparts in other states show little appetite for reimposing the hard-line restrictions of last...
Michigan governor seeks shutdown of Great Lakes oil pipeline
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took legal action Friday to shut down a pipeline that carries oil beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes. Whitmer’s office notified Canadian company Enbridge Inc. that it was revoking an easement granted 67 years ago to extend a roughly...
Tropical Storm Iota forms, could follow Eta’s deadly path
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Just as the remnants of Eta finally blew out to sea on Friday, another storm formed that could follow its path of death and destruction into Central America this weekend, and Tropical Storm Theta was moving closer to Europe. Hurricane experts were closely watching the Caribbean,...
West Virginia tightens mask mandate, delays winter sports
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Friday that facial coverings will be required at all times in businesses and other indoor spaces starting at midnight. The Republican governor said businesses will need to post signs notifying entrants of the mask requirement under his executive order. “It’s just...
2 workers dead, 1 person missing in Connecticut veterans hospital blast
WEST HAVEN, Conn. — An apparent steam pipe explosion Friday in a maintenance building at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Connecticut killed a VA employee and a contractor and left a third person missing, officials said. VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said patient care was not affected by the blast on...
Texas AG whistleblowers sue for wrongful firing, retaliation
DALLAS — Four former deputies to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are suing him for wrongful firing and retaliating against them for reporting him to the FBI for alleged bribery and abuse of office. Their lawsuit adds to the deepening legal and political peril for the high-profile Republican, who is...
