U.S./World category, Page 1303
Florida man charged with threatening dead cancer activist’s mother
DELTONA, Fla. — Authorities say a Florida man has been charged with making death threats against the mother of a Purdue University superfan and cancer activist who died last week. A Volusia County Sheriff’s Office news release says 39-year-old John Matthew Pinkham was arrested Monday at a Deltona, Fla., home...
New York City firefighter plunges to his death from bridge
NEW YORK — A New York City firefighter fell to his death late Sunday when he slipped through a narrow gap between lanes of a newly built bridge while trying to reach the victims of a car crash. Steven Pollard, a 30-year-old firefighter who had followed his father and brother...
Iowa communities mourn death of firefighter
CLINTON, Iowa — A firefighter who died while battling a blaze at a grain storage facility over the weekend is being remembered in the eastern Iowa communities he served. Mourners lined the streets of Clinton on Sunday as the procession transporting the body of 33-year-old fire Lt. Eric Hosette rolled...
Cyntoia Brown, sentenced to life as a teen in killing, wins clemency
NASHVILLE — A woman who says she was a 16-year-old sex trafficking victim when she killed a man in 2004 was granted clemency Monday by Tennessee’s governor and soon will be released from prison. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted clemency to Cyntoia Brown, who had been serving a life sentence...
Trump to visit U.S.-Mexico border amid shutdown stalemate
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will travel to the U.S. border with Mexico on Thursday, the White House announced Monday. The visit comes amid the continuing partial government shutdown and the president’s insistence that any funding bill to reopen federal agencies include $5.7 billion for his border wall. White House...
Michigan man pleads guilty to 6 murders in 2016
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A Michigan man charged with killing six strangers between picking up rides for Uber pleaded guilty to murder on Monday, just before attorneys were set to interview jurors for his trial. Jason Dalton’s surprise move came more than three years after shootings, which occurred over the course...
Baby’s body found in portable cooler in Georgia
LAGRANGE, Ga. — Authorities say a baby’s body was found in a portable cooler bag on the side of a Georgia road. News outlets report the newborn’s body was found Sunday afternoon. According to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office, witnesses said the cooler had been on the side of a...
Ginsburg missing Supreme Court arguments for 1st time
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is missing arguments for the first time in more than 25 years as she recuperates from cancer surgery last month, the Supreme Court said. Ginsburg was not on the bench as the court met Monday to hear arguments. It was not clear when she...
U.S., Turkey set for negotiations on fate of Kurds
ANKARA, Turkey — U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton is set to press Turkey for assurances that it won’t attack the Kurdish fighters in Syria, which he said is now a condition for the withdrawal of American troops from northeastern Syria. Bolton arrived Monday for negotiations with the NATO ally...
Democrats plan more pressure on Trump to reopen government
WASHINGTON — With no weekend breakthrough to end a prolonged partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump is standing firm in his border wall funding demands and newly empowered House Democrats are planning to step up pressure on Trump and Republican lawmakers to reopen the government. Trump showed no signs of...
Chesapeake Bay health grade falls to ‘D-plus’
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — An annual report on the Chesapeake Bay says pollution from unusually heavy rains last year contributed to the first decline in a decade in the overall health of the nation’s largest estuary. Chesapeake Bay Foundation President Will Baker said Monday the bay “suffered a massive assault last...
Apparent suicide of Nevada death-row inmate spurs questions
LAS VEGAS — The apparent suicide of a Nevada death-row inmate who said he wanted to die and tried several times to kill himself amid court fights and postponements of his execution has renewed a debate over his treatment and the death penalty itself. Attorneys for Scott Raymond Dozier, who...
Michigan family of 5 killed in wrong-way crash in Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A suspected drunken driver heading the wrong way on Interstate 75 in Kentucky struck a vehicle carrying five family members from Michigan early Sunday, killing all six people, authorities said. The southbound pickup truck being driven in the northbound lanes struck the family’s sport utility vehicle at...
California highway closed by mudslides, more rain coming
LOS ANGELES — A powerful winter storm unleashed mudslides in Southern California wildfire burn areas and trapped motorists on a major highway, and the northern part of the state braced for more wet weather Sunday. Saturday’s deluge loosened hillsides where a major blaze burned last year in and around Malibu,...
China upbeat ahead of U.S. trade talks, but differences large
BEIJING — China has sounded a positive note ahead of trade talks this week with Washington, but the two sides face potentially lengthy wrangling over technology and the future of their economic relationship. Both sides have expressed an interest in settling their tariff fight over Beijing’s technology ambitions. Yet neither...
Arizona woman sent 159K texts to man she met on dating site
PHOENIX — A Phoenix woman accused of stalking a man met on a dating site and sending him more than 65,000 text messages apparently sent more than twice that many. The Arizona Republic reported that Jacqueline Ades sent a man more than 159,000 text messages — some of which were...
Arkansas sheriff’s deputy fired after shooting small dog
CONWAY, Ark. — A sheriff’s office in central Arkansas has fired a deputy who was captured on video shooting and wounding a small dog while on duty. Faulkner County Sheriff Tim Ryals said on the office’s Facebook page Saturday that Deputy Keenan Wallace was “relieved of his duties” one day...
Count finds sharp drop in monarch butterflies in California
SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers with an environmental group have labeled as “disturbingly low” the number of western monarch butterflies that migrate along the California coast. A recent count by the Xerces Society recorded fewer than 30,000 butterflies, which it said is an 86 percent decline since 2017. By comparison, the...
Christians celebrate Epiphany across Europe
SOFIA, Bulgaria — Christians across Europe celebrated Epiphany on Sunday, with worshippers plunging into icy waters and parades being held in Poland and elsewhere. At the Vatican, Pope Francis marked the Epiphany feast day by urging people to follow the path of “humble love” and care for those who can...
Pacific Northwest storm cuts power for at least 218,000
SEATTLE — Windstorms that pummeled parts of Washington state and Oregon over the weekend have left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity, officials said Sunday. The storm brought winds that registered gusts of about 60 mph at Sea-Tac Airport in Washington, the National Weather Service in Seattle said. Puget...
Police confront 2 men, 1 white, 1 black: Only 1 is shot
MILWAUKEE — In the course of 15 months and in the space of one city block, Milwaukee police twice encountered two suspects they believed were armed. One was black; one was white. One was in fact unarmed; one had a gun. One was shot; one was not. That the black...
California highway closed by mudslides, motorists trapped
LOS ANGELES — A winter storm unleashed mudslides in Southern California wildfire burn areas and trapped motorists on a major highway, and the northern part of the state is bracing for more wet weather. Saturday’s deluge loosened hillsides in Malibu where a major fire burned last year, clogging the Pacific...
Inmates dine on steak, shrimp as prison staff work without pay
Over Christmas and New Year’s, inmates at dozens of federal prisons ate like kings in front of staffers who continued to work without pay amid the partial government shutdown. NBC News reports the ironic scene played out at FCI Pekin prison in Illinois, where inmates were treated to a meal...
Trump adviser outlines conditions for U.S. pullout from Syria
JERUSALEM — President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said Sunday that the American military withdrawal from northeastern Syria is conditioned on defeating the remnants of the Islamic State group and on Turkey assuring the safety of U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters. John Bolton said there is no timetable for the pullout, but...
At least 30 gold miners killed in Afghanistan landslide
KABUL, Afghanistan – At least 30 workers were killed in a landslide in northeastern Afghanistan while illegally sifting for gold, a lawmaker said Sunday. The landslide occurred in Badakhshan province, Mohammad Zekriya, a lawmaker from the province, told The Washington Post. The mining activity did not prompt the landslide, he...
