U.S./World category, Page 869
Computer error forces Hawaii public housing lottery reboot
HONOLULU — A computer error has required the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to conduct a new lottery to choose successful applicants for housing assistance. A vendor experienced a software glitch causing the names of some applicants for Section 8 housing vouchers to be entered into the lottery more than once,...
Relative of 8 slaying victims in Piketon, Ohio files wrongful death lawsuit
COLUMBUS — A man who lost several relatives in the killings of eight people in southern Ohio four years ago filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against the suspects, saying he wants to be sure none of them receive financial gain from the crime. Tony Rhoden Sr. is seeking unspecified...
Guatemala calls off search at site of massive landslide
GUATEMALA CITY — The Guatemalan government on Tuesday called off the search for victims of a massive landslide set off by the rains of Hurricane Eta that was believed to have entombed more than 100 people. Guatemala’s National Disaster Reduction Coordinator said it was suspending the search for bodies due...
Republican wins back U.S. House seat in Southern California
LOS ANGELES — Republican Michelle Steel defeated first-term Rep. Harley Rouda on Tuesday in a Southern California district, only the second time in more than two decades that a GOP candidate in the state has defeated an incumbent Democrat. Rouda captured Orange County’s 48th District in 2018 from longtime Republican...
Bride and groom from New York drown on Caribbean honeymoon
A newly married couple from New York drowned on their honeymoon at a Caribbean resort, family members said. Corporate attorney Mohammad Malik, 35, and his bride, Dr. Noor Shah, 29, were swimming near their Turks and Caicos Islands resort on Oct. 28 when they were pulled under by strong riptides,...
Mental health workers to take lead in some NYC 911 calls
NEW YORK — Mental health workers will replace police officers in responding to some 911 calls under a pilot program announced Tuesday by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The program, to be rolled out next year in two neighborhoods, will give mental health professionals the lead role when...
Senior Pentagon official resigns as Trump remakes leadership
WASHINGTON — A senior Defense Department official resigned on Tuesday, opening the way for a longtime ally of President Donald Trump to take on a key leadership role a day after Pentagon chief Mark Esper was fired. James Anderson, the acting deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, had been in...
Census Bureau denies fake data allegations by census workers
The U.S. Census Bureau denied any attempts to systemically falsify information during the 2020 head count used to determine the allocation of congressional seats and federal spending, even as more census takers told The Associated Press they were pressured to do so. The Census Bureau statement was issued Monday night...
U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to leave health care law in place
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed likely Tuesday to leave in place the bulk of the Affordable Care Act, including key protections for pre-existing health conditions and subsidized insurance premiums that affect tens of millions of Americans. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, among the conservative justices, appeared...
Oklahoma state senator charged with manslaughter in crash
CHANDLER, Okla. — An Oklahoma state senator from Tulsa was charged with first-degree manslaughter after authorities say she was speeding and driving recklessly when her vehicle skidded off a rain-slickened road and crashed into a man’s disabled vehicle, killing him. Democratic Sen. Alison Ikley-Freeman, 29, who was seriously injured in...
Man accused in Toronto van attack pleads not guilty
TORONTO — A man who allegedly used a van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto pleaded not guilty guilty Tuesday and his lawyer said he will argue he is not criminally responsible because of his state of mind at the time. Alek Minassian faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and...
Trump’s name spotted in Johnson’s Biden congratulations
LONDON — Keen-eyed political observers on Tuesday noticed an unusual feature in a tweet from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulating U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on his election victory: the ghost of an alternative message congratulating Donald Trump. The words “Trump” and “second term” could be seen faintly in the...
GOP unveils $1.4T spending bill amid post-election turmoil
WASHINGTON — Republicans controlling the Senate unveiled a government-wide, $1.4 trillion spending bill Tuesday, a mostly bipartisan measure that faces uncertain odds during this period of post-election tumult in Washington. The GOP-drafted measure contains funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall and other provisions opposed by Democrats, but top leaders...
Hawaii island group aims to reduce feral rabbit population
HILO, Hawaii — A Hawaii island group has launched an effort to reduce the number of feral rabbits, which the campaigners say are wreaking havoc on yards and burrowing under homes. The Big Island Invasive Species Committee has asked for reports from residents who have seen the wild bunnies, The...
Female banded mongooses lead battle for chance to find mates
When families of banded mongooses prepare to fight, they form battle lines. Each clan of about 20 animals stands nose to nose, their ears flattened back, as they stare down the enemy. A patch of scrubby savannah separates them, until the first animals run forward. “Then they bunch up into...
Cat at Northeast’s highest peak dies after 12 years on duty
NORTH CONWAY, N.H. — A cat who patrolled the highest peak in the northeast U.S. for a dozen years as its weather observatory’s mascot has died. Marty, a black Maine coon cat, succumbed to “an unforeseen illness,” Mount Washington Summit Operations Manager Rebecca Scholand said in a news release Monday....
EU files antitrust charges against Amazon over use of data
LONDON — European Union regulators filed antitrust charges Tuesday against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of using its access to data to gain an unfair advantage over merchants using its platform. The EU’s executive Commission, the bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, issued the charges after it started looking into the company...
Vatican faults many for McCarrick’s rise but spares pope
ROME — A Vatican investigation into ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has found that a series of bishops, cardinals and popes downplayed or dismissed reports that he slept with seminarians, and determined that Pope Francis merely continued his predecessors’ naive handling of the predator until a former altar boy alleged abuse. The...
U.K., EU make one more push for elusive Brexit trade deal
LONDON — Negotiators from Britain and the European Union met Monday to seek a breakthrough in gridlocked trade talks, with just days until a deadline to strike a post-Brexit deal. As EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier met his British counterpart, David Frost, in London, members of Britain’s House of Lords...
In abrupt move, Trump fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, an unprecedented move by a president struggling to accept election defeat and angry at a Pentagon leader he believes wasn’t loyal enough. The decision, which could unsettle international allies and Pentagon leadership, injects another element of uncertainty to...
Trump’s election night party adds to virus scrutiny as HUD Secretary Ben Carson tests positive for covid
WASHINGTON — It was supposed to be a scene of celebration. Instead, the Trump campaign’s election night watch party in the White House East Room — with few masks and no social distancing — is being eyed as a potential coronavirus super-spreading event and yet another symbol of President Donald...
Kremlin: Putin won’t congratulate Biden until challenges end
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t congratulate President-elect Joe Biden until legal challenges to the U.S. election are resolved and the result is official, the Kremlin announced Monday. Putin is one of a handful of world leaders who have not commented on Biden’s victory, which was called by major...
Russian military helicopter shot down in Armenia, 2 killed
YEREVAN, Armenia — Russia said Monday that one of its military helicopters was shot down in Armenia, near the border with Azerbaijan, killing two servicemen. The incident occurred near the border with the Azerbaijan exclave of Nakhchivan. Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been fighting for six weeks over the region...
Vice President Mike Pence heading to Florida vacation island
WASHINGTON — One week after Election Day, Vice President Mike Pence appears ready to take some time off. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Pence is scheduled to travel to Sanibel, Fla., from Tuesday through Saturday. Pence has vacationed on the island along Florida’s Gulf Coast several times previously. Pence’s...
Tropical Storm Eta floods already drenched Florida citiesVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A deluge of rain from Tropical Storm Eta caused flooding Monday across South Florida’s most densely populated urban areas, stranding cars, flooding businesses, and swamping entire neighborhoods with fast-rising water that had no place to drain. The system made landfall in the Florida Keys and posed...
