For Muslims, joyous celebrations and lavish meals mark the end of Ramadan
Muslims everywhere on Thursday were marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. The holiday - known as Eid al-Fitr - is considered one of the most festive and joyous occasions in the Muslim calendar. Eid is marked with prayer, family gatherings and lavish meals. “This is the...
Missouri passes bill to limit police use of chokeholds
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s Legislature on Thursday passed a wide-ranging bill that would, among other things, limit when police can use chokeholds, in an effort to respond to the outcry over police violence. The Republican-led House voted 140-4 to send the bill to Republican Gov. Mike Parson, a former...
‘Amazing’: Pilots, passenger uninjured after midair crash
DENVER — The pilot of an airplane that collided with another midair near Denver requested emergency landing for engine failure, not knowing that his plane was nearly ripped in half, according to air traffic control audio. Miraculously, both planes landed and no one was hurt, officials said. The planes were...
Judge to review Arbery’s mental health records under seal
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A judge said Thursday he will review under seal mental health records of Ahmaud Arbery to decide whether they can be used by defense attorneys to support their case that the slaying of the 25-year-old Black man was an act of self-defense. Superior Court Judge Timothy...
Gunman opens fire at memorial site, killing man, wounding 3
PHILADELPHIA — A gunman opened fire on a small crowd gathered at a memorial site for a shooting victim in Philadelphia, killing one man and wounding three others. The shooting occurred around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, as some crowd members were painting a mural on the side of a corner store...
CDC: Masks no longer needed for fully vaccinated people in most settings
WASHINGTON — In a striking move to send the country back toward pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday eased indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places. The new guidance still calls for wearing masks...
Colonial Pipeline paid hackers nearly $5 million in ransom
Colonial Pipeline Co. paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers on Friday, contradicting reports earlier this week that the company had no intention of paying an extortion fee to help restore the country’s largest fuel pipeline, according to two people familiar with the transaction. The company paid the hefty...
Inside one network cashing in on vaccine disinformation
The couple in the website videos could be hawking any number of products. “You’re going to love owning the platinum package,” Charlene Bollinger tells viewers, as a picture of a DVD set, booklets and other products flashes on screen. Her husband, Ty, promises a “director’s cut edition,” and over 100...
Judge postpones trial for 3 ex-cops charged in Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — The trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting in the death of George Floyd will be pushed back to March 2022, a judge ruled Thursday. Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao were scheduled to face trial Aug. 23 on charges they aided...
Police: Ohio man charged with murder in death of infant son
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — A grand jury has indicted an Ohio man on murder and other charges in the death of his 3-week-old son last year, according to police officials. Police in Willoughby outside Cleveland issued a statement Wednesday that said 30-year-old William Beasley had been arrested and was being held...
Biden team aware of political perils from pipeline shutdown
The Biden administration swung aggressively into action after a primary gasoline pipeline fell prey to a cyberattack — understanding that the situation posed a possible series of political and economic risks. The pipeline shutdown was an all-hands-on-deck situation for a young presidency that has also had to deal with a...
Mental health problems likely to outlast pandemic
Mental health problems are likely to outlast the covid-19 pandemic that helped spawn them, university researchers said. “There is a huge wave of mental health struggles here, and it’s likely to be sustained,” Sheri Madigan of the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada said. Madigan was one of three university researchers...
NYC mayoral race heats up with 6 weeks to go before primary
NEW YORK — With less than six weeks to go, the Democratic primary that may decide the next mayor of New York City has reached a new stage of unpredictability. Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is clinging to front-runner status while City Comptroller Scott Stringer fights off a sexual misconduct...
U.S. agents encounter more single adults crossing border
LA JOYA, Texas — Parents emerge from the brush into a baseball field, carrying exhausted children. Border Patrol agents dictate orders: Families with young children in one line and unaccompanied children in another. The smallest of three lines is for single adults. The scene Tuesday night in La Joya, a...
Nurses, health care workers hold vigil to honor covid-19 victims and call for change
Nurses and health professionals from across the Poconos gathered together to remember those lives lost to the pandemic, and to call for action to prevent the loss of even more patients in the future on Tuesday afternoon. As part of Nurses Week 2021, a vigil for patient safety honoring the...
U.S. cities see surge in deadly street racing amid pandemic
Jaye Sanford, a 52-year-old mother of two, was driving home in suburban Atlanta on Nov. 21 when a man in a Dodge Challenger muscle car who was allegedly street racing crashed into her head-on, killing her. Sanford was remembered by friends as kind and thoughtful, but now she will also...
Israel threatens Gaza ground invasion despite truce effortsVideo
JERUSALEM — Israel on Thursday said it was massing troops along the Gaza frontier and calling up 9,000 reservists ahead of a possible ground invasion of the Hamas-ruled territory, as the two bitter enemies plunged closer to all-out war. Egyptian mediators rushed to Israel for cease-fire efforts but showed no...
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: Coronavirus health orders to end June 2Video
COLUMBUS — Republican Gov. Mike DeWine says Ohio’s mask mandate and most other coronavirus-related state orders will end on June 2, allowing three weeks for more people to get vaccinated before then. He said Wednesday that applies to all of the state’s covid-19 orders — such as distancing in restaurants...
Drivers scrambling for fuel as hacked pipeline restartsVideo
CLEMMONS, N.C. — Drivers waited in long lines Wednesday at gas stations in the Southeast after a hack of the nation’s largest fuel pipeline led to distribution problems and panic-buying, draining supplies at thousands of gas stations. Although there was no gasoline shortage, there was a problem getting the fuel...
Vermont House passes resolution on racism health emergency
MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont House of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday declaring that racism is a public health emergency. The House voted 135-8 in favor of the non-binding resolution, which still must be passed by the Senate to be adopted. The resolution says that systemic racism affecting public health...
Police: 2-year-old shoots, wounds parents inside Maine home
WEST BATH, Maine — A 2-year-old boy in Maine shot and wounded his parents Wednesday after discovering a handgun on a nightstand, police said. The 22-year-old mother suffered a leg wound, the 25-year-old father suffered a minor head wound, and the boy was injured by the recoil of the weapon,...
Explainer: With bankruptcy tossed, what’s next for the NRA?
NEW YORK — Now that a judge has rejected the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy bid, blocking its plan to reincorporate in Texas, the gun rights group is back to fighting New York regulators in a lawsuit that threatens to put it out of business. Harlin Hale, a federal bankruptcy judge...
Times Square shooting suspect arrested in FloridaVideo
NEW YORK — A man suspected of shooting three people in New York’s Times Square, including a 4-year-old girl, was arrested Wednesday in Florida, police said. Farrakhan Muhammad was taken into custody in a McDonald’s parking lot near Jacksonville, the official said, four days after the shooting Saturday that rattled...
Republicans purge Liz Cheney for ‘unity,’ but Trump bent on retribution
WASHINGTON — Republican leaders insisted that purging Trump critic Rep. Liz Cheney from their ranks was necessary to unify the party ahead of next year’s midterm elections. But former President Donald Trump, who celebrated Cheney’s ouster by calling her a “bitter, horrible human being,” has made clear he has no...
Report: Drop in Xinjiang birthrate largest in recent history
BEIJING — Xinjiang in far western China had the sharpest known decline in birthrates between 2017 and 2019 of any territory in recent history, according to a new analysis by an Australian think tank. The report from the Australian Strategy Policy Institute, obtained exclusively ahead of publication by The Associated...
