U.S./World category, Page 804
Death rates soar in Southeast Asia as virus wave spreads
Indonesia has converted nearly its entire oxygen production to medical use just to meet the demand from covid-19 patients struggling to breathe. Overflowing hospitals in Malaysia had to resort to treating patients on the floor. And in Myanmar’s largest city, graveyard workers have been laboring day and night to keep...
Indictment: Ohio man who hates women planned shooting at sorority
CLEVELAND — A man who identifies with a group that despises women appeared in federal court Wednesday in Cincinnati on charges related to his plans to kill sorority members at an unidentified university in Ohio, authorities said. Tres Genco, 21, of Hillsboro, Ohio, is charged with an attempted hated crime...
Cocaine disguised as cake seized from vehicle in Maine
A New York man and a Maine woman are facing charges over cocaine disguised as a cake that was seized from their vehicle, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said Wednesday. Acting on a tip, police stopped the car on Interstate 295 in Gardiner on Tuesday, and a drug-sniffing dog found...
Judge: $150M initially for victims in Florida condo collapse
Victims and families who suffered losses in the collapse of a 12-story oceanfront Florida condominium will get a minimum of $150 million in compensation initially, a judge said Wednesday. That sum includes about $50 million in insurance on the Champlain Towers South building and at least $100 million in proceeds...
Federal judge blocks Arkansas trans youth treatment ban
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked enforcement of Arkansas’ ban on gender confirming treatments for transgender youth while a lawsuit challenging the prohibition proceeds. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in May asking U.S. District Judge Jay Moody in Little Rock to strike...
U.K. man arrested in Spain, charged in U.S. with Twitter hack
WASHINGTON — A British man has been charged in the United States in connection with a Twitter hack last summer that compromised the accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Joseph O’Connor, 22, was arrested in the coastal resort town of Estepona, Spain, on...
Explainer: What’s making mid-Atlantic songbirds sick?
WASHINGTON — A mysterious ailment has sickened and killed thousands of songbirds in several mid-Atlantic states, including Pennsylvania, since late spring. While scientists are still racing to confirm the cause, it seems juvenile birds may be most susceptible. The U.S. Geological Survey, which oversees responses to some natural hazards and...
Japan, U.S., South Korea reaffirm cooperation on North Korea
TOKYO — The United States, Japan and South Korea on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to work together on North Korea’s denuclearization and other regional threats but made no progress in bringing closer together the two U.S. allies. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who held talks in Tokyo with...
Report: U.K. border officers to stop routine covid checks
LONDON — U.K. border officers have been directed to stop routinely checking whether travelers from many countries have tested negative for covid-19, British media reported Wednesday, citing leaked government documents. While the change is designed to reduce waiting times for airport immigration checks, it has raised concerns about importing new...
Fauci, Sen. Paul trade barbs in fiery covid-19 hearing
No lost love between these two. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul accused each other of lying during a contentious Senate hearing on Capitol Hill. The world-famous pandemic doctor bristled on Tuesday when Paul insinuated that the U.S. helped fund research...
Jeff Bezos’ comments on workers after spaceflight draws rebukeVideo
NEW YORK — The world’s richest man wanted to say thanks to the people who made his brief trip into space Tuesday possible. But for some, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ expression of gratitude went over like a lead rocket. “I want to thank every Amazon employee, and every Amazon customer...
Lawsuit against Liberty University alleges mishandling of sex assaults
RICHMOND, Va. — Twelve women filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Liberty University, accusing the Christian institution of a pattern of mishandling cases of sexual assault and harassment, and fostering an unsafe campus environment. The federal lawsuit filed in New York made various claims under Title IX, the federal law that...
Pentagon watchdog examining security of nuclear ‘football’
If the president fumbles the nuclear football, is the military prepared to recover it? Pentagon Acting Inspector General Sean O’Donnell is investigating following a number of security lapses in recent years. The Presidential Emergency Satchel, also called the nuclear football, the button or just the football, is a briefcase that...
U.S. opioid lawsuits on verge of settlements with 4 companiesVideo
The yearslong effort by state and local governments in the United States to force the pharmaceutical industry to help pay to fix a nationwide opioid addiction and overdose crisis took a major step forward Tuesday when lawyers for local governments announced they were on the verge of a $26 billion...
California synagogue shooting suspect pleads guilty
SAN DIEGO — A 22-year-old former nursing student pleaded guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges in connection with a deadly shooting at a Southern California synagogue on the last day of Passover. John T. Earnest avoided the death penalty with his plea in San Diego Superior Court. The San...
Off-duty DEA agent arrested on Capitol riot charges
An off-duty Drug Enforcement Administration agent posed for photographs in which he flashed his DEA badge and firearm outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, according to a court filing Tuesday following the agent’s arrest. A video posted on the internet also showed Mark Sami Ibrahim carrying a...
Trump inaugural committee head Thomas Barrack accused of being UAE agentVideo
NEW YORK — The chair of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging he secretly conspired to influence U.S. policy to benefit the United Arab Emirates, even while he was seeking a position as an American diplomat. Tom Barrack, 74, of Santa Monica, California,...
Russia unveils new fighter, Putin hails country’s air power
Russian aircraft makers on Tuesday unveiled a prototype of a new fighter jet that features stealth capabilities and other advanced characteristics and will be offered to foreign buyers. Russian President Vladimir Putin inspected the prospective warplane displayed with much fanfare at the MAKS-2021 International Aviation and Space Salon, which opened...
Harvey Weinstein extradition fight ends with transfer to California
ALDEN, N.Y. — New York prison officials handed over convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein for transport to California on Tuesday to face additional sexual assault charges. The disgraced movie producer was released by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision at about 9:25 a.m., a department statement said,...
U.S. probes overheating brakes that cause fires in 500K semis
DETROIT — U.S. highway safety regulators have opened an investigation into about a half-million semis with brakes that can catch fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted on its website Tuesday that it has 11 complaints about brakes made by Haldex Commercial Vehicle Systems, including seven...
Blue Origin’s Bezos reaches space on 1st passenger flightVideo
VAN HORN, Texas — Jeff Bezos blasted into space Tuesday on his rocket company’s first flight with people on board, becoming the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft. The Amazon founder was accompanied by a hand-picked group: his brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands...
Utah man falls to death hiking Provo Canyon with 9-year-old boy
SPANISH FORK, Utah — A Utah man hiking with the young son of his fiancee fell to his death near Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon, leaving the 9-year-old boy to climb down the mountain by himself, authorities said. The boy’s mother called for help, saying she could see her...
Watchdog: Wilbur Ross misled on reason for citizenship question
President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary misled Congress about why he sought to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, according to an investigation from the Office of Inspector General, but President Joe Biden’s Justice Department has decided not to prosecute. The watchdog agency’s probe showed that Wilbur Ross misrepresented...
New chief selected for Capitol Police after 1/6 insurrection
WASHINGTON — A police official who has run large departments in Maryland and Virginia has been selected as chief of the U.S. Capitol Police in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, in which pro-Trump rioters stormed the building in a violent rage, disrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential...
German officials defend their actions on devastating floodsVideo
BERLIN — German officials defended their actions ahead of last week’s severe floods that caught many towns by surprise and killed 196 people in Western Europe, but they conceded that more lessons can be learned from the disaster. As floodwaters receded Monday, authorities continued searching for more victims and intensified...
