U.S./World category, Page 1053
U.K. issues severe flood warnings; storm injures 9 in Germany
LONDON — Britain issued severe flood alerts Monday, warning of life-threatening danger after Storm Dennis dumped weeks’ worth of rain in some places. One woman swept away by the floodwaters was feared dead. To the east, Dennis’ gale-force winds also injured nine people in car accidents in Germany as trees...
SWAT team fatally shoots murder suspect after standoff in Florida
POINCIANA, Fla. — A Florida SWAT team fatally shot a murder suspect early Monday after investigators say he pulled a gun on them after barricading himself inside a house. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said his SWAT team first shot Rudy “Shorty” Arenas, 40, with beanbag guns to knock him...
Televangelist, ex-pastor settle lawsuit alleging sex abuse
AKRON, Ohio — A confidential settlement was reached in a former Ohio megachurch pastor’s lawsuit alleging televangelist Ernest Angley sexually abused and harassed him over a decade, starting in 2004. The allegations by Brock Miller, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., included that Angley forced him to get a vasectomy, inspected his...
Virginia lawmakers reject assault weapon ban
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s push to ban the sale of assault weapons has failed after members of his own party balked at the proposal. Senators voted to shelve the bill for the year and ask the state crime commission to study the issue, an outcome that drew...
Ex-South African leader F.W. de Klerk sorry for apartheid comment
JOHANNESBURG — Former South African president F.W. de Klerk on Monday apologized and withdrew his statement that the country’s former harsh system of racial separation known as apartheid was not a crime against humanity. De Klerk, the last president under apartheid, caused an uproar with the comment during an interview...
Suicide bomber in Pakistan kills 8 at Islamist rally
QUETTA, Pakistan — A powerful suicide bombing killed eight people and wounded 16 others in Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan province on Monday, local police said, when it struck an Islamist rally in the regional capital. Police said the blast went off near Quetta’s press club, where dozens of supporters for a...
Trading quarantines amid virus concerns, Americans from cruise land in U.S.Video
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — Two charter flights carrying cruise ship passengers from Japan landed at military bases in California and Texas overnight, starting the clock on a quarantine period to ensure passengers don’t have the new virus that’s been spreading in Asia. A plane carrying American passengers touched...
Exes’ reported driveway shootout kills stuntwoman, husbandVideo
YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio — An Ohio man who fatally shot his ex-wife and her husband indicated they ambushed him and his current wife in the driveway of their luxury home and a shootout erupted. Authorities responding to the property near Yellow Springs after the gunfire Wednesday morning found Hollywood stuntwoman...
Costa Rica seizes 5 tons of cocaine headed for Netherlands
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Costa Rican officials say they have seized more than 5 tons of cocaine, the largest such haul in the Central American country’s history. The Public Security Ministry said the 11,128 pounds of cocaine were found Saturday evening in a shipping container at the Caribbean port...
Banksy’s Valentine’s Day mural covered after it was defaced
LONDON — The family that owns a house in southwest England where an artwork from Banksy appeared in time for Valentine’s Day has covered the mural after it was defaced. Temporary fencing was also added Saturday to the home in Bristol and closed-circuit television has been installed to protect the...
Americans on quarantined ship in Japan to be flown home
TOKYO — The U.S. says Americans aboard a quarantined cruise ship will be flown home on a chartered flight Sunday, but they will face another two-week quarantine. About 380 Americans are aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has docked at Yokohama, a port city southwest of Tokyo. So far,...
Taliban deal promising but not without risk, Pentagon chief Esper says
MUNICH — Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday that a truce agreement between the United States and the Taliban that could lead to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is not without risk but “looks very promising.” Ahead of a formal announcement of the seven-day “reduction in violence” deal,...
U.K. faces another fierce storm; 2 found dead in rough seas
LONDON — Rescuers pulled two male bodies from rough seas off the coast of southeast England and military personnel mobilized to help build flood barriers Saturday as Britain braced for a second straight weekend of stormy weather. The fourth named storm of the season, dubbed Dennis by Britain’s Met Office...
Week 4 of Weinstein trial: Closing arguments, two universes
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein grinned as he left court, and his lawyers said he was confident heading into what could be his last weekend of freedom as his New York City rape trial moves closer to a verdict. Jurors are set to start deliberating Tuesday, their task put off...
Mating snakes prompt closure of part of Florida park
LAKELAND, Fla. — A Florida city shut down a section of a lake Thursday after receiving reports of swarming snakes. Turns out, the slithery creatures were just celebrating Valentine’s Day a little early. The Lakeland Parks & Recreation department wrote on its Facebook page that a group of non-venomous water...
Police: 14-year-old held in Barnard College student death
NEW YORK — A 14-year-old has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of a Barnard College student in a park during a robbery in December, a crime that rattled New York City residents, authorities said Saturday. Rashaun Weaver has been indicted by a grand jury and was taken into custody...
Shift to digital census raises fear of Iowa-like breakdown
ORLANDO, Fla. — The stakes are high when a major civic exercise involves a large population, new technology that has not been thoroughly tested and an entire country waiting on the results. Just ask the organizers of the Iowa caucuses, which offered a cautionary tale on the technological woes that...
China reports major drop in new virus cases; 143 new deaths
BEIJING — China reported 2,641 new virus cases Saturday as it escalates measures to contain the outbreak and reassure an anxious public. The figure is a major drop from the higher numbers in recent days since a broader diagnostic method was implemented. The number of new deaths rose slightly to...
No handshakes: Viral outbreak spooks Asian places of worship
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — In a popular Catholic church in the Philippines, nearly half of the pews were empty for Sunday Mass. The few hundred worshippers who showed up were asked to refrain from shaking others’ hands or holding them during prayers to prevent the spread of the virus that...
Angry protests in Mexico after woman’s gruesome killing
MEXICO CITY — Angry demonstrations broke out in Mexico City on Friday as hundreds of women protested the gruesome slaying and mutilation of a young woman, a case that has come to personify outrage over the rising incidence of gender-related killings, or femicides. In the morning, dozens of protesters spray-painted...
Ohio wants to put Lake Erie on a new, strict pollution diet
TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio wants to put Lake Erie on a new, stricter pollution diet to fight back against the toxic algae blooms that have flourished for more than a decade, environmental regulators said Thursday. The state intends to establish a plan to reduce runoff that’s feeding the outbreaks by...
Feds: Florida doctor stole $26M to fund political ambition
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida vascular surgeon bilked the government and health insurers of more than $26 million to possibly finance his political ambitions in his native country of Ghana, federal authorities said. Earlier this month, a federal grand jury unsealed a 58-count indictment alleging that Dr. Moses deGraft-Johnson falsely...
ICE plans to deploy more resources in sanctuary cities
LOS ANGELES — Federal immigration officials confirmed Friday that border agents and officers, including those in tactical units, will be deployed in Los Angeles and other so-called sanctuary cities to assist in the arrests of immigrants in the country illegally. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed details of...
Official says U.S., Taliban reach Afghanistan truce agreement
MUNICH — The United States and the Taliban have reached agreement on a temporary truce that will take effect in the coming days and, if successfully completed, will lead to a formal cease-fire, the start of peace negotiations between all Afghan sides next month and the ultimate withdrawal of American...
Florida ‘red flag’ gun law used 3,500 times since Parkland
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A 23-year-old man who posted on Facebook, “I don’t know why I don’t go on a killing spree.” A West Palm Beach couple who shot up their home while high on cocaine. A 31-year-old Gulf Coast man who pointed a semiautomatic rifle at a motorcyclist. All...
