U.S./World category, Page 1155
Hong Kong airport shuts down amid pro-democracy protest
HONG KONG — One of the world’s busiest airports canceled all flights after thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters crowded into the main terminal Monday afternoon. Hong Kong International Airport said in a statement that the demonstration “seriously disrupted” airport operations. Hong Kong has experienced more than two months of...
New York City police officer and her passenger die in fiery car crash
NEW YORK — A 24-year-old off-duty New York Police Department officer and her passenger have died after a car driven by the officer veered off a Manhattan parkway, hit a tree and erupted in flames. Police identified the victims of the 3:45 a.m. Sunday crash as 24-year-old Kimberly Lajara and...
Epstein’s guards worked extreme overtime shifts morning of deathVideo
NEW YORK — Guards on Jeffrey Epstein’s unit were working extreme overtime shifts to make up for staffing shortages the morning of his apparent suicide, a person familiar with the jail’s operations told The Associated Press. The person said that the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s Special Housing Unit was staffed with...
Muslims clash with Israeli police at Jerusalem holy siteVideo
JERUSALEM — Muslim worshippers and Israeli police clashed Sunday at a major Jerusalem holy site during prayers marking the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. Palestinian medics said at least 14 people were wounded, one seriously, in the skirmishes with police at the site, which Muslims refer to as the Al-Aqsa...
Dayton bar patrons commemorate 1 week since mass shooting
DAYTON, Ohio — People who gathered at the scene of the Dayton mass shooting observed a moment of silence Sunday in tribute to the victims. Nine people were killed in the Aug. 4 attack that injured more than 30 people in the city’s historic Oregon District. Investigators say Connor Betts,...
Tennessee inmate Curtis Ray Watson caught emerging from farm field
HENNING, Tenn. — A Tennessee convict suspected of killing a corrections administrator before escaping prison on a tractor was captured Sunday seven hours after homeowners recognized him on their outdoor surveillance camera, authorities said. Curtis Ray Watson put his hands up and was arrested as he came out of a...
Justice late, not denied: New York to allow old abuse suits
ALBANY, N.Y. — Hundreds, if not thousands of people who say they were molested as children in New York state are expected to go to court this week to sue their alleged abusers and the institutions they say failed them, including the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, public schools and...
Border official: Timing of immigration raids ‘unfortunate’
WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials are defending last week’s mass immigration raids in Mississippi, including emotional footage of a girl pleading with authorities to let her father go. Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan acknowledged that video of the 11-year-old sobbing was “emotional” but says the girl was...
Epstein dies in the dark, but abuse investigation carries on
NEW YORK — Investigators have long been digging into allegations of sexual abuse and conspiracy against Jeffrey Epstein . The financier’s apparent suicide brings another mystery to investigate: How did he end up dying in jail? An additional federal investigation was launched Saturday after the Federal Bureau of Prison said...
Woodstock: 3 days of peace and music that defined an era turns 50
BETHEL, N.Y. — Some come to remember, others to show reverence. A few find their way to the hallowed ground after decades of regret. All come to honor and pay respect to three days that transcended time and place, that pulled together the counterculture of the 1960s into a defining...
Trump, Clinton caught in fresh round of conspiracy theories after Epstein death
Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide Saturday morning in a federal jail launched new conspiracies online in a saga that has provided fodder for them for years, fueled by Epstein’s ties to princes, politicians and other famous and powerful people. Online theorists Saturday quickly offered unsubstantiated speculation — including some retweeted by...
Karma catches up with ketchup swiper; now Heinz is helping the thief
A condiment thief was so overcome with guilt that she returned two new bottles to the scene of the crime. Someone tried to shake off some bad luck by buying two fresh bottles of ketchup at Walmart and leaving them outside a Perkins Restaurant & Bakery in Lacey Township, New...
Amid protest, Hawaii astronomers lose observation time
Astronomers across 11 observatories on Hawaii’s tallest mountain have cancelled more than 2,000 hours of telescope viewing over the past four weeks because a protest blocked a road to the summit. The lost research atop Mauna Kea includes work on clouds of gas and dust on the verge of forming...
Rare tornado hits Luxembourg, injuring 19, damages 100 homes
A rare tornado injured 19 people, two of them severely, in Luxembourg, while 15 soccer players were injured by a lightning strike in southern Germany as unseasonal storms hit northern Europe late Friday. The tornado in the southwestern Luxembourg communities of Pettingen and Kaerjeng left a path of destruction that...
Bear falls on California patrol car causing fiery wreck
HOOPA, Calif. — They probably don’t train people for this at the Sheriff’s Academy. A patrol car was struck by a falling bear in Northern California last weekend. Authorities say a Humboldt County sheriff’s deputy was driving on State Route 96 on Aug. 3, answering a report of a drug...
Spanish aid boat blocked by Italy rescues 39 more migrants
LAMPEDUSA, Italy — A private rescue ship that has remained at sea with 121 migrants after being denied permission to enter ports in two European countries rescued 39 more people Saturday, a Spanish aid group said, further complicating conditions on and off board. The Open Arms made its latest rescue...
Source: Jeffrey Epstein dies by suicide while awaiting trialVideo
NEW YORK — Financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in New York, a former law enforcement official said Saturday. He was found dead in his cell at the Manhattan Correctional Center Saturday morning, according to the officials, who was briefed on the matter but...
Armed man at Missouri Walmart says he was testing right to bear arms
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Prosecutors on Friday filed a terrorist threat charge against a 20-year-old man who said he walked into a Missouri store wearing body armor and carrying a loaded rifle and handgun to test whether Walmart would honor his constitutional right to bear arms. The incident, just days after...
Families gather to remember victims of El Paso shooting
Families of those killed when a gunman opened fire at an El Paso Walmart are gathering at funerals on each side of the U.S.-Mexico border to remember loved ones whose lives told the story of the vibrant region. The 22 people killed ranged in age from 15 to 90, and...
Wealthy San Francisco suburb agrees to desegregate school
SAN FRANCISCO — A school district in one of California’s wealthiest and politically liberal counties has agreed to desegregate a flailing school that state officials found had been intentionally created for low-income minority children and then starved of resources. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Friday that students at Bayside...
Documents cache details how Jeffrey Epstein, madam lured girls into depraved world
MIAMI — A chilling picture of how hundreds of girls and young women from around the world were trafficked for sex by Jeffrey Epstein, his madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, and — allegedly — a number of powerful business and world leaders emerged Friday in court documents unsealed in New York. The...
Suspect in deadly California rampage pleads not guilty
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — The suspect in a Southern California stabbing rampage that left four people dead and two injured pleaded not guilty Friday to murder, attempted murder and other counts. Zachary Castaneda was arrested Wednesday by police responding to two hours of slashing and stabbing attacks in Garden Grove...
Trump gets letter from North Korea, says more talks likely
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he received a “beautiful” three-page letter from Kim Jong Un and predicted that the two leaders would have more talks to try resolving the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Trump has said he’s not bothered by the flurry of missiles...
Mass shootings give rise to bullet-resistant backpacks
NEW YORK — Companies like Guard Dog Security, TuffyPacks and Bullet Blocker are peddling bullet-resistant backpacks for children in time for the back-to-school shopping season. But critics argue they are using tragedy as a marketing opportunity and exploiting parents’ worst fears. Safety is high on the minds of parents, especially...
On anniversary of son’s death, Michael Brown’s father seeks new probe into killing in Ferguson, Mo.
CLAYTON, Mo. — On the fifth anniversary of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, his father urged St. Louis County’s top prosecutor Friday to reopen the investigation into the white police officer who fatally shot the black and unarmed 18-year-old. Before a memorial service in the Ferguson street where a white...
