U.S./World category, Page 961
Virus rules tighten illegal immigration on northern border
Five Mexican citizens apprehended this week after illegally entering the United States in remote northern Maine were returned to Canada within hours under a rule put into place as part of the U.S. government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A similar policy by the Canadian government allows the return to...
Report: Bryant crash pilot had no drugs, alcohol in system
LOS ANGELES — The pilot flying Kobe Bryant and seven others to a youth basketball tournament did not have alcohol or drugs in his system, and all nine sustained immediately fatal injuries when their helicopter slammed into a hillside outside Los Angeles in January, according to autopsies released Friday. The...
Judge orders Los Angeles to move thousands of homeless
LOS ANGELES — The city of Los Angeles and LA County must find shelter for thousands of homeless people who are living near freeways, a federal judge ordered Friday, saying their health is at risk from pollution, earthquakes and the coronavirus. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter issued a...
Alaska lawmaker likens virus screening stickers to Star of David
JUNEAU, Alaska — An Alaska lawmaker on Friday defended asking whether stickers that individuals may be asked to wear as part of a Capitol coronavirus screening process will be “available as a yellow Star of David.” Republican Rep. Ben Carpenter of Nikiski said he was serious in making the comment...
Tesla picks Austin, Tulsa as finalists for new US factory
DETROIT — Tesla has picked Austin, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, as finalists for its new U.S. assembly plant, a person briefed on the matter said Friday. The person says company officials visited Tulsa in the past week and were shown two sites. It wasn’t clear if there were any other...
‘Pretty unprecedented’: NYC’s blood supply dangerously low, possibly at 2-day supply
NEW YORK — The Big Apple is running out of blood. The blood bank that supplies all of New York City’s public hospitals — as well as nearly 200 private hospitals throughout the state and in parts of New Jersey — is stocked with only enough donations to last the...
Man paroled over coronavirus concerns charged in slaying
DENVER — A parolee suspected of killing a woman in Denver had been released from prison three weeks before the slaying because of concerns over the coronavirus. Cornelius Haney, 40, was released April 15 under powers granted to the Colorado Department of Corrections by Gov. Jared Polis, The Denver Post...
Will Congress help California? Governor’s budget banks on it
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom may call California a nation state, but he’s hanging his hopes for avoiding drastic state budget cuts squarely on the federal government. The money may not come easily in a divided Congress, even with two Californians in the top roles in the U.S. House....
Nebraska court orders disclosure of execution drug records
OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska prison officials cannot withhold public records that reveal where they purchased their supply of lethal injection drugs, the state’s highest court said Friday in a ruling that could threaten Nebraska’s ability to carry out executions for the dozen men on its death row. In ordering the...
Florida governor says 9 of 10 people frustrated by unemployment system made application errors
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis said some Floridians waiting on unemployment checks have themselves to blame for not filling out their applications properly. During an exchange with a reporter during a Friday news conference in Jacksonville, DeSantis expressed frustration with news stories that quote Floridians who have been unable...
Homeless tax in Portland, Ore., tests voter mood in pandemic
PORTLAND, Ore. — Voters in metropolitan Portland, Oregon, will be asked Tuesday to approve taxes on personal income and business profits that would raise $2.5 billion over a decade to fight homelessness even as the state grapples with the coronavirus and its worst recession in years. The ballot measure was...
Historically black colleges work to help students amid virus
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ja’nayla Johnson worked hard in high school with the dream of being the first in her family to graduate from college, but she started to doubt herself as several colleges rejected her. Then Bennett, a small historically black women’s college in North Carolina, saw Johnson’s potential and...
Nevada highway reopens after largest area quake in 65 years
LAS VEGAS — The cracked main highway between Las Vegas and Reno reopened Friday, 10 hours after a predawn magnitude 6.5 earthquake that a researcher called the largest to strike the remote area of western Nevada in 65 years. No injuries were reported, but officials said goods tumbled from market...
U.S. on track to pull troops from Afghanistan despite turmoil
WASHINGTON — The United States is on track to meet its commitment to the Taliban to withdraw several thousand troops from Afghanistan by summer, even as violence flares, the peace process is stalled, and Kabul struggles in political deadlock. U.S. officials say they will reduce to 8,600 troops by July...
‘We are desperate’: French hospital staff confront Macron
PARIS — French nurses and doctors faced off with President Emmanuel Macron at a leading Paris hospital Friday, demanding better pay and a rethink of a once-renowned public health system that found itself quickly overwhelmed by tens of thousands of virus patients. “We are desperate. We no longer believe in...
U.S. blames brutal attack on Afghan maternity hospital on IS
KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S. official said Friday he is convinced the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan carried out this week’s horrific attack on a maternity hospital in a majority Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Kabul, killing 24 people, including newborn babies and mothers. Peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said the U.S....
Vegas-Reno highway cracked, closed after 6.5 quake in Nevada
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The main highway between Las Vegas and Reno was damaged and closed early Friday following a magnitude 6.5 earthquake in a remote area of Nevada. Nevada Highway Patrol photos showed cracks on U.S. 95 that Trooper Hannah DeGoey said were caused by the temblor a little...
Mayor: NYPD won’t break up small groups, police masks
NEW YORK — The New York Police Department, criticized over instances of harsh social distancing enforcement, will step back from ticketing people for gathering in small clusters or for failing to wear a mask, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday. The police will continue to disperse large gatherings that are...
Infections soar as Mexico moves toward restarting economy
MEXICO CITY — As Mexico moves toward a gradual reactivation of its economy Monday, the number of new coronavirus infections grows higher every day, raising fears of a new wave of infections that other countries have seen after loosening restrictions. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is straddling the issue, telling...
For Paul Manafort, home confinement won’t be same as shelter-in-placeVideo
Paul Manafort’s release from federal prison to serve his sentence at home amid the coronavirus pandemic probably won’t be a walk in the park. Unlike millions of other people who are allowed to get outdoor exercise and walk their dogs even while they’re under virus shelter-in-place orders, convicts serving home...
FDA: Trucks used to store bodies during pandemic can return to food use
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said refrigerated trucks that preserved the bodies of coronavirus victims during the pandemic may be used for food transport after a thorough cleaning. The FDA has released a handbook on converting the trailers back to their original purpose of hauling food. New...
Hundreds protest stay-at-home order outside Michigan CapitolVideo
LANSING — Hundreds of people angry or frustrated over Michigan’s coronavirus stay-at-home order protested again outside the state Capitol on Thursday, braving heavy rain to call for a loosening of restrictions and for business owners to reopen in defiance of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The demonstration was smaller than previous rallies....
Invasive lizards that eat ‘anything they want’ invade GeorgiaVideo
Tegu lizards could eat “murder hornets” for breakfast. Tegus, the latest creature scare that appears in the form of a four-foot lizard and known to have a voracious appetite, have been sighted for the third straight year in Georgia. Biologists say the tegus, which established themselves in Tattnall and Toombs...
Public officials cite virus while limiting access to records
Many state and local governments across the country have suspended public records requirements amid the coronavirus pandemic, denying or delaying access to information that could shed light on key government decisions. Public officials have said employees either don’t have the time or ability to compile the requested documents or data...
Richard Burr steps aside as Senate intelligence chair amid FBI probe
WASHINGTON — A Republican senator with access to some of the nation’s top secrets became further entangled in a deepening FBI investigation as agents examining a well-timed sale of stocks during the coronavirus outbreak showed up at his home with a warrant to search his cellphone. Hours later, Sen. Richard...
