U.S./World category, Page 709
Covid variant disrupts holiday travel but not shopping
NEWARK, N.J. — The latest covid-19 variant is upending holiday plans for tens of thousands of travelers — but it didn’t do much damage to holiday shopping. Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to covid-19, as the nation’s travel woes extended beyond Christmas, with no clear...
Russia returns 10K troops to bases after training near Ukraine
The Russian Defense Ministry said more than 10,000 troops would return to their permanent bases in the Southern Military District after more than a month of training in the region, including in areas near the Ukrainian border. The exercises took place throughout the district, including in the Crimea and Rostov...
Florida sets another record for single-day covid case increase
MIAMI — Florida on Christmas Day saw its largest single-day increase of newly reported covid-19 cases since the pandemic began. The record breaks the previous one set on Christmas Eve. “Omicron is 10 (times) more potent at causing reinfection than previous variants — protection from prior infection is not as...
Ghislaine Maxwell turns 60 behind bars as verdict looms
Ghislaine Maxwell reached her 60th birthday behind bars Saturday as she awaited the outcome of her sex trafficking trial. The British socialite is scheduled to return to a Manhattan courthouse Monday to await word from a jury entering its third full day of talks after hearing over two dozen witnesses...
Chicago police officer, 50, dies of covid complications
CHICAGO — A Chicago police officer has died of complications from the coronavirus. Jose Huerta, a 50-year-old from the Southwest Side, died of pneumonia from a covid-19 infection Thursday afternoon, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. A police department spokesman declined to comment Saturday, but the Chicago Fraternal...
Florida sets another new record for single-day covid case increase
MIAMI — Florida on Christmas Day saw its largest single-day increase of newly reported covid-19 cases since the pandemic began. The record breaks the previous one set on Christmas Eve. “Omicron is 10 more potent at causing reinfection than previous variants — protection from prior infection is not as...
Parts of California get a White Christmas after snowfall
Parts of California are getting a White Christmas after all, with snowfall pounding mountains across the state. Other areas of California, however, saw a wet and rainy Christmas as storms continue to drench the state, causing flash flooding and evacuations in some areas over the holiday period. At Donner Pass...
Flight cancellations drag on as airlines short-staffed
Airlines continued to cancel hundreds of flights Saturday as staffing issues tied to covid-19 disrupted holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year. FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted 921 flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. canceled Saturday, up from 690 Friday. Over 200 more flights...
2 Kansas officers shot by suspect, expected to recover
WICHITA, Kan. — Two police officers responding to a domestic violence call in Wichita, Kansas, were shot and wounded in the early hours of Christmas Day, authorities said. Police were called around 1:30 a.m. Saturday for a report of domestic violence at an apartment. Police said that as the two...
Space telescope launched on daring quest to behold 1st stars
The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope rocketed away Saturday on a high-stakes quest to behold light from the first stars and galaxies and scour the universe for hints of life. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope soared from French Guiana on South America’s northeastern coast, riding a European Ariane...
On Christmas, pope prays for pandemic’s end, peace dialogues
ROME — Pope Francis prayed Saturday for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, using his Christmas Day address to urge health care for all, vaccines for the poor and for dialogue to prevail in resolving the world’s conflicts. Amid a record-setting rise in covid-19 cases in Italy this week, only...
Uber driver charged with raping passenger during Vegas ride
LAS VEGAS — An Uber driver is charged with raping a female passenger who police said fell asleep before waking up as she was attacked during a ride in metro Las Vegas. Dawed Oumer Mekonene, 30, was arrested Tuesday and remained in jail Friday pending a court hearing on charges...
South African minister objects to sale of Mandela’s cell key
JOHANNESBURG — A South African Cabinet minister on Friday urged the cancellation of an upcoming U.S. auction of a key to the Robben Island prison cell where Nelson Mandela, the country’s first Black president, was long jailed for his opposition to apartheid. The key is among Mandela memorabilia being sold...
U.S. to lift travel ban on 8 southern African countries
WASHINGTON — The U.S. will lift travel restrictions to eight southern African countries on New Year’s Eve, the White House announced Friday. The restrictions, imposed last month, were meant to blunt the spread of the covid omicron variant. The Nov. 29 ban barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who had recently...
TSA officer saves infant who stopped breathing at airport
NEWARK, N.J. — A security officer leapt over conveyor belt rollers and saved a 2-month-old boy who stopped breathing at a security checkpoint at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, newly released video shows. The footage, released Thursday by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, shows TSA officer Cecilia Morales...
U.K. Queen’s Christmas speech set to be particularly personal
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II is expected to offer a particularly personal Christmas Day message to the nation this year after Buckingham Palace released a photo of the monarch recording the speech alongside a picture of her and her husband, who died earlier this year. The image provided by the...
Massive ferry fire kills at least 39 in southern Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh — A massive fire swept through a crowded river ferry in Bangladesh early Friday, leaving at least 39 people dead and 70 injured, officials said. Many passengers leapt from the vessel into cold waters to escape the blaze. It took 15 fire engines two hours to control the...
Delta, United, Lufthansa report flight cancellations over Christmas
FRANKFURT, Germany — At least three major airlines have reported canceling dozens of flights as illnesses largely tied to the omicron variant of covid-19 take a toll on flight crew numbers during the busy holiday travel season. Germany-based Lufthansa said Friday that it was canceling a dozen long-haul transatlantic flights...
Teen girl killed by Los Angeles police in clothing store shooting
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police fatally shot a 14-year-old girl who was in a clothing store dressing room Thursday when officers fired on an assault suspect and a bullet went through the wall and struck the girl, authorities said. Police also fatally shot the suspect Thursday morning at a...
4 people injured after shooting at Chicago-area mall
OAK BROOK, Ill. — A shooting at a suburban Chicago mall full of Christmas shoppers left four people injured Thursday, police said. The incident at Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook began with two males involved in a shootout in a corridor around 5:45 p.m., police Chief James Kruger said. He...
U.S. has reunited 100 children taken from parents under Trump
WASHINGTON — A Biden administration effort to reunite children and parents who were separated under President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance border policy has made increasing progress as it nears the end of its first year. The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that 100 children, mostly from Central America, are back...
U.S. says Russia must de-escalate as troops mass near UkraineVideo
WASHINGTON — The United States said Moscow needs to take steps to de-escalate tensions on the Ukraine border as Western nations and officials in Kyiv said Russian troops continue to amass ahead of a potential attack. A U.S. official, briefing reporters Thursday on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. continues...
Woman who texted boyfriend to kill himself pleads guilty
BOSTON — A former Boston College student who prosecutors say drove her boyfriend to take his own life with thousands of text messages pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter. Under terms of a plea deal, Inyoung You, 23, received a 2 1/2 year suspended jail sentence and 10 years of...
Californian pleads guilty to punching attendant on flightVideo
SAN DIEGO — A California woman who punched a flight attendant in the face during a flight, breaking her teeth, pleaded guilty to a federal charge, authorities said. Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, of Sacramento, entered a plea to interfering with a flight attendant, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Quinonez was on...
Interior Department reaffirms status of Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s reservation
BOSTON — A Massachusetts tribe’s long-disputed reservation was reaffirmed by the Biden administration. The decision by the U.S. Interior Department confirmed the status of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe’s Reservation, Tribe Chair Brian Weeden said in a written statement. The decision means the tribe’s reservation has remained in federally protected...
