U.S./World category, Page 710
Cuomo won’t be charged for touching trooper at racetrack
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo won’t face criminal charges after a female state trooper said she felt “completely violated” by his unwanted touching at an event at Belmont Park in September 2019, a Long Island prosecutor said Thursday. Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith said...
‘Unabomber’ Ted Kaczynski moved to prison medical facility
The man known as the “Unabomber” has been transferred to a federal prison medical facility in North Carolina after spending the past two decades in a federal Supermax prison in Colorado for a series of bombings targeting scientists. Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski, 79, was moved to the U.S. Bureau of Prison’s...
Duck! Flying squirrels take to the air in Nebraska city
LINCOLN, Neb. — A crew cutting down a dying oak at the University of Nebraska made a surprising find — flying squirrels. A video shot by a member of the crew made its way to Larkin Powell, a conservation biology professor. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that he was surprised...
New home sales jump 12.4% in November, highest in 7 months
WASHINGTON — Sales of new single-family homes rose 12.4% in November, the fastest pace in seven months, as the housing industry continued to benefit from low mortgage rates and strong demand. The November increase pushed the seasonally adjusted annual sales pace to 744,000 last month, the best showing since reaching...
Consumer prices up 5.7% over past year, fastest in 39 years
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years, as a surge in inflation confronts Americans with the holiday shopping season under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in...
He wore a wire, risked his life to expose who was in the KKK
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For nearly 10 years, Joseph Moore lived a secret double life. At times the U.S. Army veteran donned a white robe and hood as a hit man for the Ku Klux Klan in North Florida. He attended clandestine meetings and participated in cross burnings. He even helped...
Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — A suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser was convicted of manslaughter Thursday in the death of Daunte Wright, prompting tears from the young Black man’s parents and a jubilant celebration by supporters outside the courthouse who chanted “Guilty, guilty, guilty!” The...
Supreme Court will hear arguments on Biden vaccine requirements
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says it will hold a special session in just over two weeks to hear arguments on the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for large employers and a separate vaccine requirement for healthcare workers, an announcement that comes amid rising coronavirus cases. The high court...
9 days after tornado, cat found in rubble of building
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nine days after a tornado demolished his three-story office building in downtown Mayfield, Ky., Sonny “Hoot” Gibson was standing in the rubble when he thought he heard a faint meow. It instantly gave him hope that his office cat, Madix, who hadn’t been seen since before the...
Gov. Mike DeWine signs measure legalizing sports gambling in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday signed legislation to legalize sports gambling in Ohio. Ohio lawmakers approved legislation earlier this month that will allow people to place sports bets online, at casinos, racinos, and at stand-alone betting kiosks in bars, restaurants and professional sports facilities. People will be...
White House: Biden negative for covid after close contact
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has tested negative for covid-19, the White House said Wednesday. “This morning, President Biden received a PCR test and the test result was negative,” the White House press office said in a statement emailed to reporters, referring to a sensitive test used to detect the...
Pause on student loan payments is extended through May 1
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday extended a student loan moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to put off debt payments during the pandemic. Under the action, payments on federal student loans will remain paused through May 1. Interest rates will remain at 0% during that period, and...
U.S. Treasury creates pathway to send aid to Afghanistan
The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced it was issuing special licenses to ensure that some international aid could flow to Afghanistan, which faces a crisis as its economy collapsed following the Taliban takeover in August. The licenses will enable the U.S. government, international organizations such as the United Nations and...
Biden and Dems scramble to salvage social, climate package
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, along with progressive and moderate Democrats, appears determined to return to the negotiating table with Sen. Joe Manchin, the holdout Democrat who effectively tanked the party’s signature $2 trillion domestic policy initiative. In the days since the West Virginia lawmaker gave a thumbs down on...
Madagascar’s police chief swims to safety after copter crash
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Madagascar’s police minister and an air force mechanic succeeded in swimming for 12 hours to safety after their helicopter crashed in the Indian Ocean. Gen. Serge Gellé, 57, the Secretary of State for the Gendarmerie, was discovered in the water by a fisherman in a canoe who...
Gov. Brian Kemp backs Juneteenth as Georgia state holiday
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp is supporting a plan to add Juneteenth as a mandatory 13th holiday for Georgia state employees. Georgia law now mandates the observance of the 10 federal holidays set in 1984, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first observed. But a new federal law signed...
Tequila byproduct spill fouls Mexican reservoir, kills fish
AYOTLAN, Mexico — When Jesús Solís noticed the waters of the reservoir where he had spent his entire life beginning to darken and a rotten odor taking hold, he was overcome with fear. Within weeks those initial concerns were confirmed as tens of thousands of dead fish floated to the...
Japanese space tourist says he would love longer flight
MOSCOW — A Japanese space tourist said Wednesday that he felt his 12-day mission to the International Space Station was too short and he would love to stay a week more. Fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa, his producer Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin blasted off to the station in...
U.S. opens probe into Tesla letting drivers play video games
ATHENS, Ohio — The U.S. has opened a formal investigation into a report that Tesla vehicles allow people to play video games on a center touch screen while they are driving. The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers about 580,000 electric cars and SUVs from model years...
Secret Service: Nearly $100B stolen in pandemic relief funds
Nearly $100 billion at minimum has been stolen from covid-19 relief programs set up to help businesses and people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the U.S. Secret Service said Tuesday. The estimate is based on Secret Service cases and data from the Labor Department and the Small...
Brawl breaks out inside Miami airport; 2 chargedVideo
MIAMI — Two travelers are facing charges following a brawl with police at Miami International Airport, authorities said. Mayfrer Serranopaca, 30, of Kissimmee, Fla., and Alberto Yanez Suarez, 32, of Odessa, Texas, were arrested in Concourse H after Monday evening’s fight, according to Miami-Dade police reports. They were each charged...
Harvard professor Charles Lieber found guilty of hiding ties to China
BOSTON — A Harvard University professor charged with hiding his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program was found guilty on all counts Tuesday. Charles Lieber, 62, the former chair of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns, two...
Leniency calls grow for trucker sentenced in Colorado crash
DENVER — An online petition has gathered millions of signatures calling for leniency for a 26-year-old truck driver who was sentenced to 110 years in prison for vehicular homicide in an explosive accident at the base of a Colorado mountain highway that killed four people in 2019. More than 4.5...
U.S. seeks interest to build solar on public lands in West
BILLINGS, Mont. — U.S. officials moved Tuesday to open more than 140 square miles of public lands in western states to potential solar energy development, as part of the Biden administration’s effort to counter climate change by shifting away from fossil fuels. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday...
U.S. population growth at lowest rate in pandemic’s 1st year
U.S. population growth dipped to its lowest rate since the nation’s founding during the first year of the pandemic as the coronavirus curtailed immigration, delayed pregnancies and killed hundreds of thousands of U.S. residents, according to figures released Tuesday. The United States grew by only 0.1%, with only an additional...
