U.S./World category, Page 873
NASA’s new Mars rover hits dusty red road, 1st trip 21 feet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive. The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life....
Idaho House passes opt in requirement for sex education
BOISE, Idaho — Lawmakers in the Idaho House have passed legislation that would require parents to opt in two weeks in advance before their kids can receive some sex education lessons in school. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, passed 56-12 on a party-line vote Friday, and...
Spacewalkers finish solar panel prep for station power boost
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Spacewalking astronauts completed the first round of prep work Friday for new solar panels, part of a major power upgrade at the International Space Station. NASA’s Kate Rubins and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi installed mounting brackets and struts for the improved solar wings due to arrive in...
Nashville eyes $2.3M settlement in fatal shooting by officer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville officials are seeking a $2.25 million settlement with the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by a white Nashville police officer from behind during a 2018 foot chase, Mayor John Cooper’s administration said in a news release Friday. The city says its metro...
Iowa reporter faces trial in case seen as attack on press rights
IOWA CITY, Iowa — An Iowa journalist faces trial Monday on charges stemming from her coverage of a protest against racial injustice, a case that prosecutors have pursued despite international condemnation from free press advocates who say she was just doing her job. The case of Des Moines Register reporter...
3rd-degree murder count could be reinstated against Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Friday ordered a judge to reconsider adding a third-degree murder charge against a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death, handing a potential victory to prosecutors. A three-judge panel said Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill erred last fall when...
1 of 2 teens in Slender Man stabbing to ask for release
WAUKESHA, Wis. — One of the teens convicted of stabbing a classmate to please the fictional internet horror character Slender Man is expected to ask for release from a Wisconsin mental health facility. Anissa Weier, 19, is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the Waukesha County Circuit Court judge who earlier...
Reports: Cuomo aides pushed for N.Y. officials to alter count of nursing home deaths
NEW YORK — Some New York lawmakers are calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s impeachment after reports late Thursday that his top aides altered a state Health Department report to omit the true number of people killed by covid-19 in the state’s nursing homes. The Wall Street Journal and The New...
Poll: Americans largely back Biden’s virus response
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden is enjoying an early presidential honeymoon, with 60% of Americans approving of his job performance thus far and even more backing his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. At a moment of deep...
France: Man wielding knife arrested outside Jewish school
MARSEILLE, France — Police in the French city of Marseille detained a man Friday who was wielding a knife outside a Jewish school and kosher market. Surveillance of Jewish sites in the city has been increased while they investigate his motives, according to local authorities. School security guards noticed the...
Government, rebels formally sign peace agreement in Nepal
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal’s government and a communist rebel group formally signed a peace agreement Friday that it is hoped will end violent attacks, extortion and bombings by the rebels. Rebel leader Netra Bikram Chand, who is better known by his guerrilla name Biplav, emerged out of hiding on Friday...
Pope arrives in Iraq to rally Christians despite pandemic
BAGHDAD — Pope Francis arrived in Iraq on Friday to urge the country’s dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to make his first-ever papal visit. The pope, who wore a...
Prosecutors: Officer Derek Chauvin was on George Floyd’s neck for about 9 minutesVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — As the trial approaches for a white Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd, prosecutors are putting the time Derek Chauvin’s knee was on the Black man’s neck at about nine minutes. The time has fluctuated before. It was recorded as 8 minutes,...
Capitol Police chief appeals for National Guard to stayVideo
WASHINGTON — Worried about continuing threats, the acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police appealed to congressional leaders Thursday to use their influence to keep National Guard troops at the Capitol, two months after the law enforcement breakdowns of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. Yogananda Pittman told the leaders in...
Long Island doctor charged with murder in 5 opioid deaths
NEW YORK — A Long Island doctor accused of writing prescriptions for massive quantities of opioids that led to the deaths of five patients was indicted Thursday on murder charges. George Blatti, 75, who saw patients in a hotel parking lot, a Dunkin’ Donuts shop and at an abandoned Radio...
U.S. military’s defenses struck down 3 to 4 incoming rockets during Iraqi base attackVideo
WASHINGTON — A U.S. artillery defensive system protecting U.S. and coalition forces at an Iraqi air base that came under attack this week struck down three or four incoming rockets before they hit, a defense official told McClatchy on Thursday. Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq is a large training and...
Audit finds major gaps in U.S. bio weapons detection system
WASHINGTON — A U.S. program created after the 2003 anthrax attacks to help detect biological weapons provided protection in less than half the states and couldn’t detect many of the known threats, according to a report released Thursday. The program known as BioWatch, which described itself in a mission statement...
Powerful quake hits off New Zealand, prompting evacuations
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A powerful magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck in the ocean off the coast of New Zealand on Friday, prompting thousands of people to evacuate and triggering tsunami warnings across the South Pacific. The quake was the largest in a series of tremors that struck the region over...
‘QAnon Shaman’ says he stormed Capitol to ‘bring God back into the Senate’Video
The man known as the “QAnon Shaman” said he was only trying to spread good vibes and the word of God when he broke into the Capitol — and even stopped a brazen thief from swiping muffins from the break room. Jacob Chansley, 33, who made national headlines for donning...
Police: Ex-chief targeted foes in string of Maryland arsons
LAUREL, Md. — A former Maryland police chief is accused of setting fires to multiple structures that belonged to his adversaries, authorities said. Former Laurel Police Chief David Crawford, 69, was arrested Wednesday and is charged with over 50 felonies, including first-degree arson and first-degree attempted murder, in connection to...
Body believed to be Kentucky man found inside Grand Canyon
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — A body believed to be that of a Kentucky man previously reported missing at Grand Canyon National Park was found along with a motorcycle inside the canyon, park officials said Thursday. Searchers on Wednesday found the body believed to be that of John Pennington,...
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivers 1st opinion
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered her first opinion Thursday, ruling against an environmental group that had sought access to government records. President Donald Trump’s third nominee wrote for a 7-2 court that certain draft documents do not have to be disclosed under the federal Freedom of...
Autopsy shows man killed by officer in Cleveland was shot in the back
CLEVELAND — The family of a 19-year-old Black man killed by a white housing authority police officer in Cleveland continues to seek answers after learning from an autopsy released Thursday that he was shot in the back. Arthur Keith was shot Nov. 13 by Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority officer James...
Police: Dallas officer charged with 2 counts of capital murderVideo
DALLAS — A Dallas police officer was arrested Thursday on two counts of capital murder in two unconnected 2017 killings that weren’t related to his police work, authorities said. Bryan Riser, a 13-year veteran of the force, was taken into custody Thursday morning and taken to the Dallas County Jail...
Ali, Frazier and the Fight of the Century 50 years later
The money was huge — a cool $2.5 million apiece — and so was the stage for Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Their first fight at Madison Square Garden was so epic it was billed as the Fight of the Century, and 50 years later it reigns undefeated. Frazier was...
