U.S./World category, Page 1221
Critical injuries avoided as military-chartered jet ends up in river
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A military-chartered jet carrying 143 people landed hard, then bounced and swerved as the pilot struggled to control it amid thunder and lightning, ultimately skidding off the runway and coming to a crashing halt in a river at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. It meant chaos and terror...
Preparation limits toll of cyclone
DHAKA, Bangladesh — A mammoth preparation exercise that included the evacuation of more than 1 million people appears to have spared India a devastating death toll from one of the biggest storms in decades, though the full extent of the damage was yet to be known, officials said Saturday. Cyclone...
Sources: Putin backs U.S. on denuclearization in Kim meeting
SEOUL, South Korea — Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 25 called on North Korea for its final, fully verified denuclearization, which the United States sought, during his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok, Russia, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The move suggests Putin has shown...
Appeals made to military in Venezuela power struggle
CARACAS, Venezuela — When a protester handed over a written appeal for the military’s support on Saturday, a Venezuelan policeman burned the document and let the ashes fall to the ground. The armed forces “won’t be blackmailed or bought,” said a second officer standing nearby. Benito Rodriguez fumed as he...
Trump critical of social media sites after Facebook bans
STERLING, Va. — President Trump criticized social media companies after Facebook banned a number of extremist figures, declaring he was “monitoring and watching, closely!!” Trump, who tweeted and retweeted complaints Friday and Saturday, said he would “monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms.” He has previously asserted...
A pregnant inmate came to term in jail. Lawyers say she was forced to give birth there – alone.
Tammy Jackson was ushered into an empty jail cell by sheriffs. Then one morning, she was there with someone else: her newborn baby. According to a letter dated May 3, written by Broward County public defender Howard Finkelstein, the full-term, mentally ill 34-year-old began complaining to officers about contractions around...
Longtime NYC prosecutor, former judge Richard Brown dies
NEW YORK — A New York City prosecutor and judge whose 40-plus years in criminal justice stretched from the gritty “Mean Streets” era of the 1970s to today’s opioid crisis has died at the age of 86. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown died Friday, Chief Assistant District Attorney John...
Man reflects on being part of 1st gay prom couple in 1979
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A man who was one half of the first gay couple to attend a high school prom says he didn’t expect to become entrenched in LGBTQ rights history and that he looks back on the event in South Dakota 40 years later as “just a moment.”...
Expelled in 1956, black woman gets doctorate at U of Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Autherine Lucy Foster, the first African-American student to attend the University of Alabama, received an honorary doctorate degree Friday from the university where her presence brought mobs of protesters in 1956. The Tuscaloosa News reported that Foster, 89 received the degree during graduation ceremonies. She enrolled at...
Adult website offers to double reward for arrest of Texas beehive vandals
Adult video streaming website YouPorn is offering to double the reward for the information that leads to the apprehension of those responsible for killing more than 500,000 bees earlier this week. According to the New York Times, someone torched, toppled and tossed into a nearby pond more than 20 European...
Illinois governor proposes legalizing marijuana
CHICAGO — A proposal to legalize marijuana in Illinois would allow possession of up to 30 grams of the plant for residents 21 and over, a $30 million low-interest loan program to promote “social equity” in business ownership, and expungement of misdemeanor and class 4 felony marijuana convictions. Adults would...
SpaceX launches supplies to space station after power delays
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched a load of supplies to the International Space Station on Saturday following a pair of unusual power delays. A Falcon rocket raced into the pre-dawn darkness, carrying a Dragon capsule with 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms) of goods. This recycled Dragon — which is making...
Curacao officials board quarantined ship in measles case
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao — Authorities in Curacao on Saturday boarded a ship that arrived in the Dutch Caribbean island under quarantine, to start vaccinating people to prevent a measles outbreak. Health officials said only those who already have been vaccinated or have previously had measles will be free to leave the...
Israel strikes Gaza targets in response to heavy rocket fire
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired scores of rockets into southern Israel on Saturday, wounding at least two Israeli civilians and triggering retaliatory airstrikes and tank fire against militant targets in the blockaded enclave and shattering a month-long lull in violence. Israeli officials said...
No deaths as plane carrying US military crashes into river
A chartered jet carrying 143 people from the U.S. military base in Cuba tried to land in a thunderstorm in north Florida and ended up in the river next to Naval Air Station Jacksonville. Authorities said everyone on board emerged without critical injuries, climbing onto the wings to be rescued....
Felon voting bill goes to Florida governor amid outcry
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida felons will have to pay court-ordered financial obligations if they want their voting rights restored under a bill sent to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday that would implement a voter-approved constitutional amendment. The bill, though, caused outrage among Democrats who say Republicans are adding hurdles...
Mother of Otto Warmbier calls US diplomacy with North Korea a ‘charade’
The mother of Otto Warmbier on Friday criticized the Trump administration’s diplomatic outreach to North Korea as a “charade” and blasted dictator Kim Jong Un’s regime as “absolute evil” in the family’s first public comments on the stalled negotiations. During remarks in Washington, Cindy Warmbier, whose son died in 2017...
White gang members forcibly tattoo a racial slur on a member and spell it wrong, cops say
MIAMI — White members of a gang forcibly covered a fellow gang member’s gang tattoo with a phrase including a racial slur, according to Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The evidence on Michael Hart’s neck said, “F — — you, Niger.” According to what police say Lucian Evans told them, he,...
Report: Number of drilled but uncompleted oil and gas wells in U.S. continues to rise
The number of drilled but uncompleted wells in the United States has increased over the last two years, reaching a high of 8,504 wells in February, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The most recent well counts in EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report showed 8,500 wells in March — 26%...
AAU coach who sexually exploited more than 400 boys gets 180 years in prison
Saying that an AAU basketball coach in Iowa “exploited, manipulated and abused children for almost two decades,” a judge sentenced him to 180 years in prison Thursday. Greg Stephen, 43, had pleaded guilty to multiple counts related to child pornography and sexual exploitation of minors, after prosecutors accused him of...
Videos of fatal Connecticut police shooting of 18-year-old are released
HARTFORD, Conn. — Videos released Friday show a Connecticut police officer’s fatal shooting last month of an 18-year-old man during an attempted traffic stop and chase, which sparked protests by the teen’s relatives and activists. Wethersfield officer Layau Eulizier is seen on police dashcam and business surveillance videos running in...
Michael Cohen’s prison reality: A bunk bed in barrack-style hall
NEW YORK — “The Situation” and the Fyre Festival fraudster are already there. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, is up next. It’s not reality TV. It’s a federal prison 70 miles (113 kilometers) from New York City where white-collar and D-list scoundrels can do time while...
In ‘lawless’ world of service dogs, many families suffer
APEX, N.C. — All the counseling, therapy and medication did little to ease 9-year-old Sobie Cummings’ crippling anxiety and feelings of isolation. And so a psychiatrist suggested that a service dog might help the autistic child connect with other kids. To Glenn and Rachel Cummings, Mark Mathis seemed like a...
Teen swimmers pray for help, rescued by boat called the Amen
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A pair of Florida teens saw their prayers answered after becoming stranded about 2 miles from shore. News outlets report that 17-year-olds Tyler Smith and Heather Brown were swimming at Vilano Beach near St. Augustine during a senior skip day last month when strong currents pulled...
Trump defends health workers’ right to object to abortions
WASHINGTON — Advancing his anti-abortion agenda, President Donald Trump moved Thursday to protect health care workers who object to procedures like abortion on moral or religious grounds. Trump chose the National Day of Prayer to announce the new regulation. “Just today we finalized new protections of conscience rights for physicians,...
