U.S./World category, Page 717
Report says Russian hackers haven’t eased spying efforts
WASHINGTON — The elite Russian state hackers behind last year’s massive SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign hardly eased up this year, managing plenty of infiltrations of U.S. and allied government agencies and foreign policy think tanks with consummate craft and stealth, a leading cybersecurity firm reported Monday. On the anniversary of the...
German government deal clears last hurdle, Scholz set to take over
BERLIN — A three-party deal to form a new German government under center-left leader Olaf Scholz cleared its final hurdle on Monday, setting the scene for Scholz to succeed longtime Chancellor Angela Merkel this week. Germany’s environmentalist Greens said their rank-and-file members approved the agreement reached last month, with 86%...
NYC Mayor: Vaccine mandates to be required for all city employers
NEW YORK — All New York City employers will have to mandate covid-19 vaccinations for their workers under new rules announced Monday by Mayor Bill de Blasio. The vaccine mandate for private businesses will take effect Dec. 22 and is aimed at preventing a spike in covid-19 infections during the...
Sentence for Myanmar’s Suu Kyi reduced to 2 years in prison
BANGKOK — State television in Myanmar announced Monday night that country’s military leader reduced Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence by two years. Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a de facto coup this year, was sentenced to four years in prison earlier in the day after being convicted on charges...
Pandemic stress weighs heavily on Gen Z: AP-NORC, MTV poll
Isolation. Anxiety. Uncertainty. The stresses of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on Americans of all ages, but a new poll finds that teens and young adults have faced some of the heaviest struggles as they come of age during a time of extreme turmoil. Overall, more than a...
Scientist behind U.K. vaccine says next pandemic may be worse
LONDON — One of the scientists behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine is warning that the next pandemic may be more contagious and more lethal unless more money is devoted to research and preparations to fight emerging viral threats. In excerpts released before a speech Monday, Professor Sarah Gilbert says the...
Report: U.S. to declare diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics
The United States is poised to announce a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, CNN reports, a move that will escalate tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The decision not to send any U.S. government officials to the games beginning Feb. 4 will be announced this week, the...
Lawyer: Artist didn’t know Michigan parents stayed in studio
A Detroit-area artist whose studio was where the parents of the Oxford High School student charged in a deadly shooting were found by police is cooperating with authorities and didn’t know the couple had stayed overnight, his attorney said Sunday. James and Jennifer Crumbley, who face involuntary manslaughter counts, were...
Cruise ship with covid-19 infections arrives in New OrleansVideo
NEW ORLEANS — A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 10 passengers and crew members infected with covid-19 docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said they were trying to disembark people without worsening the spread of the coronavirus illness. Local news outlets in New Orleans confirmed the...
Chris Cuomo was accused of harassment days before CNN firing
NEW YORK — A new allegation of sexual harassment against Chris Cuomo emerged just days before CNN announced it was firing the anchor amid an investigation into work he did defending his brother from similar harassment allegations. Attorney Debra Katz said Sunday her client was the victim of “serious sexual...
Fauci says early reports encouraging about omicron variant
U.S. health officials said Sunday that while the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading throughout the country, early indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalizations. President Joe Biden’s chief medial adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN’s “State of...
Both sides planning for new state-by-state abortion fight
WASHINGTON — As the Supreme Court court weighs the future of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, a resurgent anti-abortion movement is looking to press its advantage in state-by-state battles while abortion-rights supporters prepare to play defense. Both sides seem to be operating on the assumption that a court...
Senate leader, presidential candidate Bob Dole dies at 98
TOPEKA, Kan. — Bob Dole, who overcame disabling war wounds to become a sharp-tongued Senate leader from Kansas, a Republican presidential candidate and then a symbol and celebrant of his dwindling generation of World War II veterans, has died. He was 98. His wife, Elizabeth Dole, posted the announcement Sunday...
CNN fires Chris Cuomo for helping with brother’s scandal
NEW YORK — CNN has fired anchor Chris Cuomo after details emerged about how he assisted his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as the politician faced sexual harassment allegations earlier this year. The network suspended Chris Cuomo earlier in the week to investigate his involvement with his brother’s...
Hawaii mountains to see snow after rare blizzard warning
HONOLULU — The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for mountains on Hawaii’s Big Island, saying wind gusts of above 100 mph and 12 inches or more of snow were possible. The warning in effect through Sunday morning for Big Island summits said “travel should be restricted to...
Epstein’s world: Maxwell jurors immersed in extreme wealth, sex
NEW YORK — One week into Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial, the jury has already been on board Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet and inside his Palm Beach mansion. But they’ve also seen the stained table on which he demanded three massages a day. The deep immersion into luxurious, lascivious world of...
Plumber’s find possibly tied to 2014 Texas megachurch theft
HOUSTON — For more than seven years, no one has known what happened to $600,000 in checks and cash that was stolen from a safe at Pastor Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch, which has one of the largest congregations in the country. Now, there’s a possible plot twist in the case:...
U.S. drugstores squeezed by vaccine demand, staff shortages
A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the U.S., leading to frazzled workers and temporary pharmacy closures. Drugstores are normally busy this time of year with flu shots and other vaccines, but now pharmacists are doling out a growing number of covid-19 shots and giving...
Bond set at combined $1M after Michigan parents enter pleas
PONTIAC, Mich. — A judge imposed a combined $1 million bond Saturday for the parents of the Michigan teen charged with killing four students at Oxford High School, hours after police said they were caught hiding in a Detroit commercial building. James and Jennifer Crumbley entered not guilty pleas to...
Mark Cuban just bought the entire town of Mustang south of Dallas
Mark Cuban owns the Dallas Mavericks, a successful entertainment firm and a string of start-up companies — including a new drug company he hopes will lower prescription costs. And now the Dallas billionaire also owns an entire Texas town. Cuban, a native of Mt. Lebanon, just purchased the Navarro County...
Scientist says omicron variant was a group find
JOHANNESBURG — The Botswana scientist who may well have discovered the omicron variant of the coronavirus says he has been on a “rollercoaster of emotions,” with the pride of accomplishment followed by dismay over the travel bans immediately slapped on southern African countries. “Is that how you reward science? By...
Explainer: How unusual to charge parents in school shooting?
Guns used in U.S. school shootings have often come from the homes of young perpetrators, but parents are rarely charged for the violence that occurs, experts say. That’s what makes the case against Ethan Crumbley’s parents uncommon, following the fatal shooting of four students at Oxford High School in southeastern...
NSO Group spyware used to hack State Department employees
The phones of 11 U.S. State Department employees were hacked using technology from Israel’s NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire company, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. The employees were all located in Uganda and included some foreign service officers, said the person, who was not authorized...
Famously soggy Seattle sees its wettest fall on record
Seattle, a city known for soggy weather, has seen its wettest fall on record. The National Weather Service says 19.04 inches of rain fell between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, breaking a record set in 2006. A series of wet storms caused by so-called “atmospheric rivers” pounded the Pacific Northwest,...
Iowa teens charged with killing teacher remain jailed
DES MOINES, Iowa — Two Iowa teenagers charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of their high school Spanish teacher will remain in jail after a judge opted to keep their bail bond at $1 million cash only in a decision released Friday. Attorneys for...
