U.S./World category, Page 944
On summit anniversary, North Korea vows to build up military
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Friday again vowed to build up its military to counter what it perceives as U.S. threats and said there will be little reason for a personal relationship between leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump if Washington persists with sanctions and pressure. On...
San Francisco police won’t respond to non-criminal calls
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco officers will stop responding to non-criminal activities such as disputes between neighbors, reports about homeless people and school discipline interventions as part of a police reform plan the mayor announced Thursday. Mayor London Breed said in a news release that on calls that don’t involve...
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey touts hospitals amid focus on rise in virus cases
PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey dismissed mounting concerns Thursday about the state’s alarming rise in coronavirus cases, and focused on hospitals’ capacity to care for patients rather than slowing the spread of the virus. “That’s what’s most important when there is a rise in cases,” Ducey told reporters. “Because...
Louisville bans ‘no-knocks’ after Breonna Taylor’s death
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville, Kentucky, has banned the use of controversial “no-knock” warrants and named the new ordinance for Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by officers who burst into her home. The city’s Metro Council unanimously voted Thursday night to ban the controversial warrants after days of protests and...
Pack swimsuit, mask, California welcomes back tourists
SAN DIEGO — There will be no packed double-decker safari buses with tour guides rolling through the San Diego Zoo, nor animal shows that draw crowds — nor breakfast buffets at hotels. Instead, hotels are adorning lobbies with hand sanitizing dispensers and will be limiting how many people lounge by...
Historical figures reassessed after George Floyd’s death
The rapidly unfolding movement to pull down Confederate monuments around the U.S. in the wake of George Floyd’s death has extended to statues of slave traders, imperialists, conquerors and explorers around the world, including Christopher Columbus, Cecil Rhodes and Belgium’s King Leopold II. Protests and, in some cases, acts of...
Trump fumes as protesters stake out festive zone in Seattle
SEATTLE — Following days of violent confrontations with protesters, police in Seattle have largely withdrawn from part of a neighborhood where protesters have created a festival-like scene that has President Donald Trump fuming. Trump taunted Gov. Jay Inslee and Mayor Jenny Durkan about the situation on Twitter and said the...
Judge: Reopen Puerto Rico school cafeterias or face arrest
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A judge on Thursday gave Puerto Rico’s education secretary 24 hours to open all public school cafeterias in the U.S. territory or face arrest as impoverished students struggle to obtain free meals amid the pandemic. The ruling is the latest development in a lawsuit that...
Microsoft joins Amazon, IBM in pausing face scans for police
Microsoft has become the third big tech company this week to say it won’t sell its facial recognition software to police, following similar moves by Amazon and IBM. Microsoft’s president and chief counsel, Brad Smith, announced the decision and called on Congress to regulate the technology during a Washington Post...
Breonna Taylor police report gives few details, some wrong
LOUISVILLE, Ky.— An incident report released by Louisville Police on the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor is mostly blank, with few details of the incident that spurred days of protests in the city. The report dated March 13, the day of the shooting, cites a police-involved death investigation and identifies...
Police: 7 arrested for vandalizing Columbus statue in MiamiVideo
MIAMI — Seven people have been arrested for vandalizing statues of Christopher Columbus and Juan Ponce de León in Miami, and one man was charged with smashing a patrol car with his skateboard and trying to incite a riot, the city’s police said. The arrests happened Wednesday after a chaotic...
Newspaper publisher in Missouri resigns after printing racist cartoon
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The publisher of a family-owned Missouri newspaper has resigned after publishing a racist syndicated cartoon depicting a black man stealing a white woman’s purse while hailing funding cuts to police. Bill Miller Sr. on Thursday told The Associated Press he has stepped down as publisher of the...
Chicago coronavirus survivor receives double lung transplant
Surgeons in Chicago have given a new set of lungs to a young woman with severe lung damage from the coronavirus. Northwestern Medicine on Thursday announced the procedure, which took place last Friday. Only a few other covid-19 survivors, in China and Europe, have received lung transplants. The Chicago patient...
Russia welcomes prospect of U.S. troop pullback from Germany
MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday welcomed President Donald Trump’s reported plan to withdraw more than a quarter of U.S. troops from Germany, saying it would help bolster security in Europe. Trump has reportedly signed off on a plan to cut the number of troops stationed in Germany from...
Former Baltimore mayor refunds $860K to campaign donors
BALTIMORE — Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is refunding more than $800,000 to campaign donors, months after she was convicted in a case involving the fraudulent sales her self-published children’s books to promote her political career. Pugh’s campaign committee issued checks totaling about $860,000 to more than 1,000 donors last...
Workers fired after black woman denied restroom access
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A business fired two Kentucky workers and issued an apology after a black woman was denied access to a restroom. Liquor Barn said in a statement Wednesday that it terminated the employee who turned the woman away and the general manager of the Louisville store, the Courier...
Police investigate fire at property where group reenacted George Floyd killing, mocked protestVideo
Police are conducting a criminal investigation into a small fire at a Gloucester County, N.J., property where a group of men, including a prison guard and a former FedEx worker, reenacted the killing of George Floyd on Monday, taunting peaceful protesters as they marched by them. On Wednesday, police were...
Jefferson Davis statue torn down in Richmond, Va.Video
RICHMOND, Va. — Protesters pulled down a century-old statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the former capital of the Confederacy, adding it to the list of Old South monuments removed or damaged around the United States in the wake of George Floyd’s death. The bronze statue on Richmond’s Monument...
Fitness company apologizes for ‘I can’t breathe’ workout
WAUWATOSA, Wis. — A health club company is apologizing on behalf of a franchisee who posted an “I can’t breathe” workout at a gym in suburban Milwaukee. Photos of the workout instructions drawn on a dry erase board at Anytime Fitness in Wauwatosa were shared widely on social media and...
Thousands without power after storms sweep through MichiganVideo
DETROIT — About 290,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Thursday in Michigan after thunderstorms barreled through the state, downing hundreds of trees and power lines. DTE Energy said about 137,000 of its customers in southeast Michigan were without service as of 6 a.m. after about 90,000 had power restored...
1.5 million more laid-off workers seek unemployment benefits – Jun. 11, 2020Video
WASHINGTON — About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, evidence that many Americans are still losing their jobs even as the economy appears to be slowly recovering with more businesses partially reopening. The latest figure from the Labor Department marked the 10th straight weekly decline...
Queen Elizabeth takes part in first public video callVideo
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has taken part in her first public video conference call to chat to four carers about the challenges they face looking after people close to them during the coronavirus pandemic. As part of Carers Week in the United Kingdom, the 94-year-old monarch showed once again...
Stolen Banksy honoring Bataclan victims found in ItalyVideo
L’AQUILA, Italy — Italian authorities on Thursday unveiled a stolen artwork by the British artist Banksy that was painted as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 terror attacks at the Bataclan music hall in Paris. L’Aquila prosecutors said the work was recovered on Wednesday during a search of...
Jon Ossoff wins Georgia Senate primary; will face Perdue
ATLANTA — Jon Ossoff, a young Georgia media executive known for breaking fundraising records during a 2017 special election loss for a U.S. House seat, beat back a field of Democratic primary opponents to win a spot taking on Republican Sen. David Perdue in November. Ossoff received about 50.5% of...
Jaywalking arrest of 2 black teens in Oklahoma under review
TULSA, Okla. — Authorities in Oklahoma are investigating the arrest of two black teenagers who were accused by white police officers of jaywalking in a Tulsa neighborhood where some areas had patchy sidewalks or no visible footpaths. Tulsa police on Tuesday released two body camera videos of the officers who...
