U.S./World category, Page 1047
White police officers use force more than black cops, study says
White police officers are more likely to use force than their nonwhite counterparts, and especially in minority neighborhoods, according to a new study. “White officers use force 60% more than black officers, and use gun force twice as often,” Mark Hoekstra, an economics professor at Texas A&M University, and CarlyWill...
Seeking cure, U.S. researchers infect thousands of monkeys with coronavirus
The U.S. National Institutes of Health has infected thousands of monkeys with a strain of coronavirus in attempt to find a vaccine cure for the illness. According to United Kingdom newspaper The Daily Star, rhesus macaques have been infected with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS- CoV) and then...
DNA databases are boon to police but menace to privacy, critics say
WASHINGTON — Nearly two years after the arrest of the suspected Golden State Killer revitalized DNA forensics, some state lawmakers around the country are pushing to stop or restrict police searches of genetic code databases. Other lawmakers, meanwhile, want to make it even easier for police to use the technique,...
Pentagon adopts new ethical principles for using AI in war
The Pentagon is adopting new ethical principles as it prepares to accelerate its use of artificial intelligence technology on the battlefield. The new principles call for people to “exercise appropriate levels of judgment and care” when deploying and using AI systems, such as those that scan aerial imagery to look...
Original ‘Flash Gordon’ comic strip art headed to auction
LOS ANGELES — The original artwork for the “Flash Gordon” comic strip is headed for a new realm — the auction block. The auction house Profiles in History said Wednesday that it will sell the drawing March 31. The pencil-and-ink drawing by artist Alex Raymond was first published in January...
‘Honor roll’ of historic plantations often ignores slavery
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Antebellum Southern plantations were built on the backs of enslaved people, and many of those plantations hold places of honor on the National Register of Historic Places — but don’t look for many mentions of slavery in the government’s official record of places with historic significance. The...
New U.S. coronavirus case may be 1st from unknown originVideo
NEW YORK — Health officials have confirmed a new case of coronavirus infection in California that could be a sign that the virus is spreading in a U.S. community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the case Wednesday night. It is a person in California who had no...
Gunman kills 5 at Milwaukee brewery before taking own lifeVideo
MILWAUKEE — An employee opened fire Wednesday at one of the nation’s largest breweries in Milwaukee, killing five fellow workers before taking his own life, police said. The assailant who attacked the Molson Coors complex was identified as a 51-year-old Milwaukee man who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police...
Brazil confirms 1st coronavirus case in Latin America
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s government confirmed on Wednesday that a 61-year-old Brazilian man who traveled to Italy this month has Latin America’s first confirmed case of the contagious new coronavirus. “We will now see how this virus behaves in a tropical country in the middle of summer, how its...
An increasingly isolated Iran girds for long virus battle
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran girded Wednesday for a long battle against the coronavirus that is spreading rapidly across the country and the wider Middle East, even though officials in the Islamic Republic had earlier minimized the outbreak that has now killed 19 people, the highest toll outside of...
Missing toddler’s mother and grandmother are in same jail
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. — The mother and grandmother of a missing 15-month-old girl are now in the same Tennessee jail after giving conflicting accounts about the toddler’s disappearance. Authorities frustrated by their multiple versions of what happened to Evelyn Mae Boswell announced Wednesday that they’ll hold an afternoon news conference on...
Call me Harry: Prince eschews royal label in Scotland speech
Just call him Harry. The British prince who is preparing to step back from royal duties would normally be referred to as sir or his royal highness. But as he was introduced to speak about sustainable tourism at an event in Scotland on Wednesday, the Duke of Sussex said the...
South Korean virus cases jump again, 1st U.S. soldier infected
SEOUL — The number of new virus cases in South Korea jumped again Wednesday and the first U.S. military soldier tested positive, with his infection and many others connected to a southeastern city where the outbreak has clustered. South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 134 of the...
Roger Stone jurors say bias played no role in his conviction
Three of the jurors who convicted Republican operative Roger Stone for lying to Congress and witness tampering testified that political bias played no role in their decision, pushing back against Stone’s contention that he deserves a new trial. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson did not issue a ruling at...
Utah woman accused of being topless with stepkids takes plea deal
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah woman who fought criminal charges after her stepchildren saw her topless in her own home took a plea deal Tuesday to avoid the risk of having to register as a sex offender if convicted, her lawyer said. Tilli Buchanan’s decision brought an end to...
Body cam captures 6-year-old’s tearful pleas during arrest in FloridaVideo
ORLANDO — A police officer’s body camera shows a 6-year-old Florida girl crying and begging officers not to arrest her as one fastens zip ties around her wrists at a charter school. The video Kaia Rolle’s family shared with the Orlando Sentinel and other media outlets Monday shows the girl...
Iran says official who played down virus fears is infectedVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who had urged the public not to overreact about its spread has tested positive for the illness himself, authorities said Tuesday, as new cases emanating from the country rapidly emerged across the Middle East....
3 structures at high risk of collapsing onto former nuclear weapons site
RICHLAND, Wash. — Three radioactively contaminated structures are at high risk of collapsing on a former nuclear weapons production site, but could be stabilized by filling them with a concrete-like grout within the next year, the federal government said. Otherwise, the U.S. Department of Energy has concluded the structures on...
Italy sees 45% rise in virus cases, 10 deathsVideo
ROME — The number of people in Italy infected with the new virus from China increased 45% in the past 24 hours and the number of deaths grew to 10, civil protection officials said Tuesday. Officials reported 322 confirmed cases of the virus, 100 more than a day earlier. They...
Lawyer complains of prison treatment of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange
LONDON — A lawyer for Julian Assange complained Tuesday that the WikiLeaks founder was handcuffed 11 times, stripped naked twice and had court papers taken away on the first day of a hearing on his extradition to the United States. Attorney Edward Fitzgerald told a judge that the treatment of...
No checkout needed: Amazon opens cashier-less grocery store
NEW YORK — Amazon wants to kill the supermarket checkout line. The online retailing giant is opening its first cashier-less supermarket, where shoppers can grab milk or eggs and walk out without waiting in line or ever opening their wallets. It’s the latest sign that Amazon is serious about shaking...
Melania Trump meditates, relaxes in Indian ‘happiness’ class
NEW DELHI — U.S. first lady Melania Trump relaxed Tuesday by meditating with students participating in a “happiness class” during a tour of a government-run school in the Indian capital. The class curriculum dovetails with her “Be Best” initiative to teach children and young adults to be kind, avoid drugs...
10-year-old is killed by school bus in Brooklyn, police say
NEW YORK — A 10-year-old girl was struck and killed Tuesday by a school bus in Brooklyn, police said. The girl was crossing a street in the East New York neighborhood around 6:45 a.m. when she was hit by a bus as it was turning right, police said. The child...
Harvey Weinstein case could influence other sex crime prosecutionsVideo
NEW YORK — New York prosecutors are hailing Harvey Weinstein’s conviction as a pivotal moment that could change the way the legal system views a type of sexual assault case historically considered difficult to prove. Most of the women who testified against Weinstein stayed in contact with him — and...
Trump defends Modi, refuses to weigh in on citizenship law
NEW DELHI — Defending the host who has showered him with pomp and pageantry, President Donald Trump refusedTuesday to speak out publicly against a controversial new Indian citizenship law pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has sparked deadly protests over discrimination against Muslims. Asked about the law one day...
