Pipeline officials hope most service will be back by weekend
WASHINGTON — Hit by a cyberattack, the operator of a major U.S. fuel pipeline said it hopes to have services mostly restored by the end of the week as the FBI and administration officials identified the culprits as a gang of criminal hackers. U.S. officials sought to soothe concerns about...
Florida teacher gets 15 years for recording naked girls
TAMPA, Fla. — A 52-year-old teacher was sentenced to 15 years in prison for secretly recording videos of students as they changed clothes in his fashion design classroom at a Florida high school. Mark William Ackett also must remain a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. “There’s...
Poll: Most in U.S. who remain unvaccinated need convincing
Fewer Americans are reluctant to get a covid-19 vaccine than just a few months ago, but questions about side effects and how the shots were tested still hold some back, according to a new poll that highlights the challenges at a pivotal moment in the U.S. vaccination campaign. Just 11%...
Biden: 1 million sign up for health care during special enrollment
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that 1 million Americans had signed up for health insurance under “Obamacare” during a special enrollment period for those needing coverage during the coronavirus pandemic. Biden reopened the HealthCare.gov insurance markets in February for a special six-month sign-up opportunity. “Health care is a...
Pope creates lay ministry to boost supply of faith teachers
ROME —Pope Francis on Tuesday formally created a new lay ministry to encourage greater participation of secular women and men in the teaching of the Catholic faith, especially in places where priests are in short supply. The new law creating the lay ministry of catechists officially recognizes for the universal...
Iran rejects U.S. claim that speedboats sparked encounter
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday rejected the U.S. Navy’s claim that fast-approaching Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz sparked a tense encounter in the already sensitive region. The Guard’s website, sepahnews.com, published a statement Tuesday saying Americans were guilty of using “false narratives and unprofessional...
Gaza militants, children among 24 dead as Israel hits Hamas
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza early Tuesday, hitting the high-rise home of a Hamas field commander and two border tunnels dug by militants, as Hamas and other armed groups fired dozens of rockets toward Israel. The escalation in the conflict was sparked by weeks...
1.4B but no more? China’s population growth closer to zero
BEIJING — China’s population growth is falling closer to zero, government data showed Tuesday, adding to strains on an aging society with a shrinking workforce as fewer couples have children. The population rose by 72 million over the past 10 years to 1.411 billion in 2020, the National Bureau of...
Inside Arizona’s election audit, GOP fraud fantasies live on
PHOENIX — On the floor of Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where NBA stars like Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan once dunked basketballs and Hulk Hogan wrestled King Kong Bundy, 46 tables are arrayed in neat rows, each with a Lazy Susan in the middle. Seated at the tables are several dozen...
Pfizer covid-19 shot expanded to U.S. children as young as 12Video
Covid-19 vaccines finally are headed for more kids as U.S. regulators on Monday expanded use of Pfizer’s shot to those as young as 12, sparking a race to protect middle and high school students before they head back to class in the fall. Shots could begin as soon as a...
Republicans in Maine eye 5-year mandatory covid-19 shot ban
PORTLAND, Maine — A proposal from a group of Maine Republicans to ban mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for five years is up for consideration by a legislative committee this week. The lawmakers, led by Rep. Tracy Quint of Hodgdon, have based their proposal in part on the theory that coronavirus vaccines...
1 killed, suspect caught in shooting at U.S. customs office in Florida
ORLANDO, Fla. — A man was fatally shot Monday outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Services building in central Florida, and a suspect was taken into custody, authorities said. The shooting happened in an office park in south Orlando, police said. A man and a woman were entering the immigration...
Colorado police seek motive in party shooting that left 7 deadVideo
DENVER — A shooting at a birthday party inside a trailer park home in Colorado Springs that killed six people before the gunman took his own life stunned a state weary of gun violence just weeks after another Colorado mass shooting killed 10 people. Police on Monday were investigating what...
Jeffrey Epstein prosecution and perks were proper, Florida investigation finds
MIAMI — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has cleared Palm Beach state prosecutors and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office of any wrongdoing in connection with the lack of criminal prosecution and liberal jail privileges received by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. FDLE investigators found no evidence that Barry Krischer, who...
FAA seeks fines against more misbehaving airline passengersVideo
Federal officials said Monday they are pursuing civil penalties against two more passengers for interfering with airline crews, the latest in a surge of such cases in recent months. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is continuing to take a zero-tolerance stance against unruly passengers. The most recent cases involve...
Confidence grows that covid-19 vaccines hold their own against variants
Confidence is growing that covid-19 vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. are holding their own against the coronavirus variants now in circulation. “Everything we’ve seen with the variants should provide marked reassurance, as far as the protection that is afforded by vaccines — particularly the vaccines that we have...
High school graduations: With covid-19 restrictions set to end, some schools are changing plans
The coronavirus pandemic almost took out all the pomp and circumstance out of graduation again this year. Now, with covid-19 mitigation efforts about to end, some schools are scrambling to change graduation plans in the hopes of giving seniors as traditional a commencement as possible. Some schools are allowing more...
GOP readies blitz against Democrats’ voting rights bill
WASHINGTON — Republicans are preparing to launch an all-out assault on sweeping voting rights legislation, forcing Democrats to take dozens of politically difficult votes during a committee hearing that will spotlight the increasingly charged national debate over access to the ballot. The bill, as written, would bring about the largest...
Retired Army colonel announces run against Liz Cheney
GILLETTE, Wyo. — A retired U.S. Army colonel from California says he will challenge Liz Cheney in next year’s Republican U.S. House primary in Wyoming. Denton Knapp, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., said he plans to move back to Gillette, where he graduated from high school in 1983, the Gillette News...
Hopes fade for minke whale stuck in River Thames near London
LONDON — Hopes faded Monday for a young minke whale who became trapped in the River Thames near London, authorities said. Rescuers trying to recapture the whale said that by noon its condition had deteriorated rapidly and it would soon be stranded by the dropping tide near Teddington in southwest...
Indian chief’s descendant wants Harvard to return tomahawk
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A Native American lawyer wants Harvard University to return a tomahawk once owned by his pioneering ancestor, Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca Tribe. Brett Chapman, of Oklahoma, told GBH last week that he’s reached out to the Cambridge, Massachusetts university’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology...
Fla. man steals police car, crashes it, then steals another police car before crashing again
A man in Volusia County, Fla., led authorities on quite the chase after he stole a police car and proceeded to zoom down a highway. The chase didn’t end there, however, as the man proceeded to steal another of the same department’s vehicles after crashing the first. 10 Tampa Bay...
Lafayette Square near the White House reopens to public
WASHINGTON — Lafayette Square, the park across from the White House, reopened Monday to the public nearly a year after federal authorities fenced off the area at the height of nationwide protests over policing following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The square, which offers perhaps the best view...
Kansas lawmakers want to keep cocktails to go after pandemic
TOPEKA, Kan. — The state that made saloon smasher Carrie Nation famous is moving to allow people to get beer and cocktails to go after the coronavirus pandemic. Kansas lawmakers approved a bill last week to allow to-go beer and alcoholic drinks from clubs, bars and restaurants until 11 p.m.,...
Paris court tries anti-racism activist for statue attack
PARIS — A French activist for Black rights went on trial in Paris on Monday for defacing a statue of a historical figure from France’s colonial, slave-trading past, calling the protest a political act to denounce deep-seated racism. Franco Lollia said that rather than vandalize the statue, he improved it...
