U.S./World category, Page 925
Brazil nears 2 million coronavirus cases, with 75,000 dead
SAO PAULO — A thousand deaths a day. Since late May, three months after Brazil’s first reported case of the coronavirus, it has recorded more than 1,000 daily deaths on average in a gruesome plateau that has yet to tilt downward. The country hit at least 75,000 confirmed deaths Wednesday...
Mosquitoes flying free as health departments focus on coronavirus
Bug spray, swollen welts, citronella. It’s mosquito season. And in a normal year, the health department serving Ohio’s Delaware County would be setting out more than 90 mosquito traps a week — black tubs of stagnant water with nets designed to ensnare the little buggers. But this year, because of...
Iowa drug kingpin who killed 5 people in 1993 to be executed
IOWA CITY, Iowa — A ruthless Iowa meth kingpin who killed five people, including two young girls, in 1993 to thwart his prosecution for drug trafficking is set to become the third federal inmate to be executed this week. Dustin Honken, 52, would become the first Iowa defendant to be...
Florida reports record 156 deaths, plus near-high for new coronavirus cases
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida got a nasty one-two punch of coronavirus news on Thursday: The state reported 156 more deaths and 13,965 more covid-19 cases. The state has never reported more fatalities on a daily pandemic report before, and there’s only been one other day with more infections. Also...
Mary Trump book already nearing 1 million sales
Mary L. Trump’s scathing memoir about her uncle, President Donald Trump, is nearly a million seller on preorders alone. Simon & Schuster said Thursday that Mary Trump’s “Too Much and Never Enough” had sold a company record 950,000 copies in combined print, digital and audio editions as of its date...
No servers, no tables: Israeli cafe is pandemic-friendly
TEL AVIV, Israel — As restaurants worldwide struggle to stay open in the coronavirus era, a new Tel Aviv noodle chain offers a pandemic-friendly approach: meals on the go with no human contact. Fast food cafeterias where customers ordered from vending machines, known as automats, once flourished in New York...
Clashes resume on volatile Armenian-Azerbaijani border
YEREVAN, Armenia — Clashes resumed between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces on the South Caucasus nations’ shared border Thursday morning, with both sides blaming each other for attacks that continue the worst outbreak of hostilities in years. Armenia’s Defense Ministry accused Azerbaijani forces of trying to infiltrate the country. Ministry spokeswoman...
U.S. executes 2nd man in a week; lawyers said he had dementia
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The United States on Thursday carried out its second federal execution this week, killing by lethal injection a Kansas man whose lawyers contended he had dementia and was unfit to be executed. Wesley Ira Purkey was put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre...
NYPD chief, cops hurt as protesters clash on Brooklyn BridgeVideo
NEW YORK — Several New York City police officers were attacked and injured Wednesday as pro-police and anti-police protesters clashed on the Brooklyn Bridge. At least four officers were hurt, including Chief of Department Terence Monahan, and 37 people were arrested, police said. Information on charges was not immediately available....
Missouri Gov. Parson: Trump ‘focused’ on situation with St. Louis couple
O’FALLON, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said President Donald Trump is focused on and concerned about the possibility that a white St. Louis couple could face criminal charges for displaying guns as they defended their home during a racial injustice protest. Parson told reporters that he had just been...
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg released from hospital
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Wednesday that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was discharged from a hospital after being treated for a possible infection. A court spokeswoman said in an emailed statement that Ginsburg was “home and doing well.” Ginsburg had gone to a hospital in Washington on Monday evening...
23 AGs sue Betsy DeVos over student loan forgiveness policy
Democratic attorneys general in more than 20 states sued Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday, seeking to repeal her overhaul of a student loan forgiveness program. Congress voted to strike down her policy, which makes it more difficult to get federal student loans erased, but President Donald Trump saved it...
Massachusetts mayor steps in to save Pittsburgh couple’s wedding that was missing officiantVideo
MASHPEE, Mass. — A couple gathered with family for a Cape Cod wedding found themselves without an officiant minutes before being wed, until a Massachusetts mayor wrangled special permission to perform the ceremony. Carlo DeMaria, the mayor of Everett, Mass., was on vacation Saturday near the venue in West Yarmouth,...
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says he has tested positive for covid-19Video
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and that he is isolating at home, making him the first U.S. governor to report testing positive. Stitt, 48, said he mostly feels fine, although he started feeling “a little achy” Tuesday and...
Virus resurgence forces countries to reimpose restrictions
PROMACHONAS, Greece — Countries around the world are reimposing lockdowns and implementing new health checks at their borders in an effort to curb a resurgence of the coronavirus before it spins even further out of control. Starting Wednesday, all travelers arriving in Greece from a land border with Bulgaria were...
‘I’m not a bad guy’: Police video captures distraught George FloydVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Body-camera footage made public Wednesday from two Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest captured a panicked and fearful Floyd pleading with the officers in the minutes before his death, saying “I’m not a bad guy!” as they tried to wrestle him into a squad car. “I’m...
Walmart to require customers to wear masks at all its stores
Walmart will require customers to wear face coverings at all of its stores, including Sam’s Club locations, beginning Monday. The move makes it the largest retailer to introduce such a policy that has otherwise proven difficult to enforce without state and federal requirements. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company said that about...
Police charge suspect in slaying of 8-year-old Atlanta girl
ATLANTA — A teen suspect has been charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the shooting that killed an 8-year-old Atlanta girl near the site of an earlier police shooting, police said Wednesday. Police issued warrants a day earlier for 19-year-old Julian Conley in the slaying of Secoriea Turner,...
Banksy’s covid-19 tags scrubbed from London Tube trainVideo
Even if you are Banksy, tagging is forbidden on London’s Underground. Transport for London, the transportation agency for the greater London area, scrubbed the acclaimed street artist’s latest work on the subject of COVID-19 from one of its trains, erasing a visual warning on the dangers of skipping face coverings....
McConnell: GOP virus proposal for schools, others out soon
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’ll begin to roll out details of the new covid-19 relief package to senators as soon as next week and suggested it will include new funding for school reopenings, some unemployment benefits and money for health care providers. Expected to hit $1...
Russian prankster gets through by phone to Polish presidentVideo
WARSAW, Poland — A Russian prankster posing as the U.N. secretary-general, managed to get through to Poland’s reelected president, Andrzej Duda, on the telephone, rendering him speechless following questions about Ukraine, Russia and the outcome of Sunday’s election. The prankster, Vladimir Kuznetsov, known as Vovan, posted a recording of the...
Thai man forced to psychiatric hospital over T-shirt motto
BANGKOK — A man who posted a photo online showing himself wearing a shirt with a motto questioning the traditional reverence for Thailand’s monarchy has been admitted against his will to a psychiatric hospital, drawing concern from human rights activists. The legal basis for putting 45-year-old Tiwakorn Vithiton into the...
Statue of Black protester replaces toppled U.K. slave traderVideo
LONDON — An artist has erected a statue of a Black Lives Matter protester atop the plinth in the English city of Bristol formerly occupied by a statue of a slave trader. Marc Quinn created the life-size resin and steel likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing on the...
French tourism gets boost with reopening of Disneyland ParisVideo
PARIS — The French tourist industry received a further boost Wednesday with the partial reopening of Disneyland Paris and the opening up of the top floor of the Eiffel Tower. Disneyland Paris, Europe’s most frequented theme park resort, is partially reopening to the public, four months after it closed as...
German police find 31 migrants hidden inside Turkish truck
BERLIN — German news agency dpa says police and customs officers discovered some 31 migrants hidden inside a refrigerated truck near the border with the Czech Republic. The truck was stopped Tuesday night on the A 17 highway leading from the border to the eastern German city of Dresden. It...
