U.S./World category, Page 945
Trump administration proposes sweeping asylum restrictions
SAN DIEGO — The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed sweeping restrictions on asylum, seeking to align a legal framework with the president’s efforts to limit immigration to the United States. The moves are only the latest in a series of measures that Trump has taken to limit asylum — this...
Disney plans to reopen California theme parks in July
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Disney is proposing to reopen its Southern California theme parks in mid-July after what will be a four-month closure due to the coronavirus, the company said on Wednesday. Disney Parks, Experiences and Products said in a statement that the goal is to reopen Disneyland and Disney California...
Buffalo adops policing changes after protester is hurt
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo will replace its police Emergency Response Team with a new “Public Protection Unit” following the suspension and arrest of two ERT members seen on video shoving a 75-year-old protester who fell and cracked his head, Mayor Byron Brown said Wednesday. The city also will halt arrests...
Amazon bans police use of its face recognition for a year
NEW YORK — Amazon on Wednesday banned police use of its face-recognition technology for a year, making it the latest tech giant to step back from law-enforcement use of systems that have been criticized for incorrectly identifying people with darker skin. The Seattle-based company did not say why it took...
Disband the police? Camden already did that
CAMDEN, N.J. — When Gabe Rodriguez started as a rookie cop in this impoverished New Jersey city, his training officer gave him a tip. If a comrade radios for backup, just park your patrol car in a vacant lot and let someone else handle it. The police had given up...
Man found dead near scene of California deputy’s shooting
PASO ROBLES, Calif. — A man was found fatally shot near where a sheriff’s deputy was wounded Wednesday while responding to a report that a gunman was firing shots at a central California police station, and the two incidents were believed to be connected, authorities said. The shooter has yet...
Gunmen kill more than 100 people in 2 Nigerian villages
LAGOS, Nigeria — Gunmen killed at least 100 people in attacks in northern and northeastern Nigeria, witnesses said on Wednesday. In the first attack, gunmen arrived on motorcycles and in cars to attack the village of Foduma Kolomaiya in northeastern Borno State on Tuesday night, killing whoever stood in their...
Ex-judge says push to dismiss Flynn case is abuse of power
WASHINGTON — A former federal judge appointed to review the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn said there was evidence of a “gross abuse” of prosecutorial power and that the request should be denied. Former U.S. District Judge John...
‘Stop the pain,’ a brother of George Floyd tells Congress
WASHINGTON — Philonise Floyd challenged Congress on Wednesday to “stop the pain” so that his brother George wouldn’t be just “another name” on a growing list of those killed during interactions with police. Floyd’s appearance before a House hearing came a day after funeral services for his bother, the 46-year-old...
Facing electoral headwinds, Trump brings back his 2016 team
As anyone who has ever heard him speak knows, President Donald Trump loves to relive 2016. He recycles old attack lines once aimed at Hillary Clinton. He recounts the drama of election night, complete with impersonations of stunned news anchors putting state after state (Pennsylvania! Wisconsin!) in the Republican’s column....
Minneapolis police chief takes on union, promises reform
The Minneapolis Police Department will withdraw from police union contract negotiations, Chief Medaria Arradondo said Wednesday as he announced the first steps in what he said would be transformational reforms to the agency in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Arradondo said a thorough review of the contract is planned....
Strange case of 2 kids who vanished in Idaho takes grim turnVideo
BOISE, Idaho — It was the extended family who grew suspicious first, and then at their urging, local police: Seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and his 17-year-old sister Tylee Ryan hadn’t been seen in far too long, and their mother wouldn’t give a straight answer about where they were. Soon strangers...
U.S. military rethinking links to Confederate Army symbols
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is rethinking its traditional connection to Confederate Army symbols, mindful of their divisiveness at a time the nation is wrestling with questions of race after the death of George Floyd in police hands. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, both former Army...
Confederate monument in Virginia covered with trash bagsVideo
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Protesters in Portsmouth, Va., covered a Confederate monument in the city with trash bags and sheets Wednesday, several hours after the city’s council members had a meeting to figure out ways to relocate it. A white sheet that read “BLM” covered the fence in front of the...
Russia detains managers of plant that spilled fuel in ArcticVideo
MOSCOW — Russian authorities have detained three top managers of an Arctic power plant that leaked 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the ecologically fragile region. Plant director Pavel Smirnov, chief engineer Alexei Stepanov and his deputy, Yuri Kuznetsov, have been detained on suspicion of violating environmental regulations, the spokeswoman...
‘He is going to change the world’: Funeral held for George Floyd
HOUSTON — George Floyd was fondly remembered Tuesday as “Big Floyd” — a father and brother, athlete and neighborhood mentor, and now a catalyst for change — at a funeral for the black man whose death has sparked a global reckoning over police brutality and racial prejudice. More than 500...
Video shows prison guard mocking George Floyd killing
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A corrections officer who participated in a counterprotest to a Black Lives Matter demonstration in New Jersey in which people reenacted the death of George Floyd was suspended after the video was widely shared on social media. In the video, protesters march along a street Monday...
Body camera: Dying man pleads ‘save me’ during Taser arrest
AUSTIN, Texas — A black man died in custody last year after sheriff’s deputies in Texas repeatedly used stun guns on him, despite his pleas that he was sick and couldn’t breathe, according to recently released police video and documents. Williamson County deputies attempted to pull 40-year-old Javier Ambler over...
Lawyer spits on teen Wisconsin protest organizer, assaults officer, police sayVideo
What began as an argument with protesters has spiraled for a Wisconsin lawyer, who faces charges of battery, disorderly conduct, battery to a law enforcement officer and resisting/obstructing an officer, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The attorney, Stephanie Rapkin, 64, was arrested Saturday because police say she spit on...
Trump administration opposes extending enhanced unemployment benefit
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration opposes a Democratic proposal to extend a $600 per week federal unemployment benefit approved in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said Tuesday. The $600 payment, which is in addition to normal unemployment benefits, “was the right thing to do,” Scalia said,...
VA says it lacks adequate medical gear for 2nd virus wave
WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department on Tuesday defended itself against criticism of past shortages of masks and other medical gear to protect employees from the coronavirus but acknowledged its current supplies may not be enough to handle a second wave. Dr. Richard Stone, the top health official at VA,...
BabyNames.com alters homepage to honor black Americans killed by police, fellow citizens
Emmett Till. Walter Scott. Freddie Carlos Gray Jr. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Antwon Rose II. The website BabyNames.com bucked its normal homepage on Tuesday, replacing trending and popular baby names with 107 names of black men and women who have been killed by police or, in some instances, fellow Americans:...
‘Zoombombers’ disrupt Pennsylvania synagogue’s online services with racist, anti-Semitic slurs
“Zoombombers” hurled racist and anti-Semitic slurs during a digital attack on online services held Friday by Congregation Keneseth Israel in Allentown, according to The Morning Call. Video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom have found a home amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has kept people at home and canceled everything from holidays...
Voting delays, long lines bring chaos to Georgia primariesVideo
ATLANTA — Long lines snaked around polling places Tuesday, and some voters faced waits of an hour or longer as Georgia held twice-delayed primary elections with a shortage of poll workers and social-distancing precautions caused by the coronavirus. Widespread problems included trouble with Georgia’s new voting system that combines touchscreens...
Trump pushes conspiracy theory about Buffalo protester
President Donald Trump on Tuesday advanced an unfounded conspiracy theory about a 75-year-old protester in Buffalo, New York, who was pushed down by police officers, tweeting without evidence that the confrontation may have been a “set up.” Trump, who has called himself “your president of law and order,” was once...
