U.S./World category, Page 1003
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...
Wisconsin bars reopen after court ruling praised by Trump
MADISON, Wis. — A court ruling tossing out Wisconsin’s stay-at-home order threw communities into chaos Thursday, after some bars opened immediately and were packed with customers while other local leaders moved to keep strict restrictions in place amid the coronavirus pandemic. The conservative majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court late...
Cassandra Callender, forced to undergo chemo, dies at 22
HARTFORD, Conn. — Cassandra Callender, who was forced by Connecticut courts as a teenager to undergo chemotherapy for cancer, has died after a five-year battle with the disease, her mother said Thursday. She was 22. Callender, of Windsor Locks, died Tuesday at home, where she had been in hospice care...
Whistleblower: U.S. still lacks coronavirus plan, Americans at risk
WASHINGTON — Despite White House claims, the U.S. still lacks a comprehensive battle plan against the coronavirus in critical areas including masks, testing, treatments and vaccines, whistleblower Rick Bright warned Thursday in testimony before a House committee. “Our window of opportunity is closing,” he declared. The nation could face “the...
Trump faces emoluments lawsuit after court tosses his win
President Donald Trump must face a lawsuit accusing him of illegally profiting from his Washington hotel, a federal appeals court ruled, reviving a case that was dismissed last year. The decision on Thursday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, sets up a fresh fight over the president’s...
36 million have sought U.S. unemployment aid since coronavirus hitVideo
WASHINGTON — Nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week as the viral outbreak forced more companies to slash jobs even though most states have begun to let some businesses reopen. Roughly 36 million people have now sought jobless aid in just the two months since...
Russia calls on New York Times, Financial Times to retract stories about virus toll
MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry has accused the Financial Times and The New York Times of spreading “disinformation” after the two newspapers alleged that Russia’s coronavirus death toll could be much higher than officials are reporting. The Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said late Wednesday that letters demanding a retraction...
911 call, text hint at confrontation days before Ahmaud Arbery shot
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Days before Ahmaud Arbery was pursued by two white men and fatally shot after being spotted inside a home under construction, neighbors — including one of the suspects — reported an earlier encounter with a person wandering through the open-framed structure. Owner Larry English found nothing stolen...
Ex-judge asked to evaluate whether to hold Michael Flynn in contempt
WASHINGTON — The judge presiding over Michael Flynn’s criminal case appointed a retired jurist on Wednesday to evaluate whether the former Trump administration national security adviser should be held in criminal contempt. The judge’s order is the second signal in as many days registering his resistance to swiftly accepting the...
Milwaukee officer charged with homicide in off-duty fight
MILWAUKEE — Prosecutors charged a Milwaukee police officer Wednesday with first-degree reckless homicide, accusing him of fatally choking a man during a fight at the off-duty officer’s home. Michael Mattioli, 32, was charged Wednesday, more than two weeks after 25-year-old Joel Acevedo died of asphyxiation. Police were called April 19...
Wisconsin high court tosses out governor’s stay-home order
MADISON — The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ coronavirus stay-at-home order Wednesday, ruling that his administration overstepped its authority when it extended the mandate for another month without consulting legislators. The 4-3 ruling essentially reopens the state, lifting caps on the size of gatherings, allowing people to...
Native American tribe says sovereignty allows checkpoints in South DakotaVideo
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The head of a Native American tribe said Wednesday it won’t comply with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s demand to remove coronavirus checkpoints it set up on federal and state highways that run through its reservation. Harold Frazier, the chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe,...
Louisville mayor calls for thorough probe of police shooting of Breonna TaylorVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Calls for an outside investigation into the fatal police shooting of a Kentucky emergency medical technician are growing, two months after the 26-year-old black woman was killed in her home. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Wednesday evening that the state’s attorney general and U.S. attorney should review...
Trump ramps up expulsions of migrant youth, citing coronavirus
HOUSTON — The young migrants and asylum seekers swim across the Rio Grande and clamber into the dense brush of Texas. Many are teens who left Central America on their own; others were sent along by parents from refugee camps in Mexico. They are as young as 10. Under U.S....
Florida teen learning to park truck runs over dad, killing him
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — A Florida teenager accidentally drove a pickup truck over her father while learning how to park the vehicle on Tuesday evening, police said. The 46-year-old man died at the scene. He was teaching his 15-year-old daughter to park the truck at a park in Tarpon Springs,...
State Department told to revisit sexual listing on passports
DENVER — Under a ruling from a federal appeals court, the U.S. State Department is once again being ordered to consider whether to grant an intersex person a passport if they do not specify a gender. On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver...
Iowa to reopen restaurants, salons, barber shops and gyms
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Restaurants, salons, barber shops and gyms in Iowa can reopen this week, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday, even as she remained in “modified quarantine” and the state’s coronavirus deaths continued to rise. Reynolds said she would allow restaurants, libraries and fitness centers in 22 counties, including...
When Disney parks reopen, masks will likely be the normVideo
Disney amusement parks in Orlando, Fla., and Anaheim, Calif., are still closed, but with the park in Shanghai reopened Monday, there are signs of what may be in store for the other parks when they reopen. Among the measures in place in Shanghai are: smaller number of people in the...
Flynn case boosts Trump’s bid to undo Russia probe narrative
WASHINGTON — When Michael Flynn was forced from the White House, Vice President Mike Pence said he was disappointed the national security adviser had misled him about his talks with the Russian ambassador. President Donald Trump called the deception unacceptable. Now Pence says he’d welcome Flynn back to the administration,...
Wear a mask? Even with 20,000 dead, some New Yorkers don’t
NEW YORK — Eric Leventhal felt a sneeze coming and panicked. The Brooklynite left his cloth face mask at home for a morning run in a park last week. Walking home, he turned toward an empty street and let the sneeze out, hoping no one would notice. Too bad for...
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem asks tribes again to talk on checkpoints
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday held off her threat to sue Native American tribes that have set up highway checkpoints intended to keep the coronavirus away from their reservations, saying instead she would like to work out an agreement. The Republican governor gave two...
Chatty Congress learning to respect mute button
WASHINGTON — Hey, everyone on the call? We can hear a dog barking. Could senators please make sure you are on mute? It was a serious meeting on a frightening global pandemic. But as the Senate health committee Tuesday convened by video conference, the session became a reminder that the...
