U.S./World category, Page 723
Protests erupt over virus limits in Austria, Italy, Croatia
VIENNA — Tens of thousands of protesters, many from far-right groups, marched through Vienna on Saturday after the Austrian government announced a nationwide lockdown beginning Monday to contain skyrocketing coronavirus infections. Demonstrations against virus restrictions also took place in Switzerland, Croatia, Italy, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands on Saturday, a...
As tourism brightens, Times Square hopes to regain luster
NEW YORK — David Cohen has been yearning for a return to the days when business boomed at his family’s souvenir shop in Times Square. While tourists have begun returning, foot traffic into Grand Slam souvenirs is still not what it was before the coronavirus pandemic, when hordes of global...
Poll: More American adults say they don’t expect to have a child
A growing share of U.S. adults who aren’t already parents say they probably won’t have children, citing reasons such as apathy, financial instability or the lack of a partner. A new survey from the Pew Research Center found that 44% of non-parents ages 18 to 49 say it’s not too...
Kyle Rittenhouse lawyers’ trial playbook: Don’t ‘crusade,’ defend
Soon after a Wisconsin jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse of all charges against him, defense attorney Mark Richards took a swipe at his predecessors, telling reporters that their tactics — leaning into Rittenhouse’s portrayal as a rallying point for the right to carry weapons and defend oneself — were not his....
Afghans seeking humanitarian relief anxious over long delays
LOWELL, Mass. — More than 28,000 Afghans have applied for temporary admission into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons since shortly before the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan and sparked a chaotic U.S. withdrawal, but only about 100 of them have been approved, according to federal officials. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has...
Denver suburb to pay $15M to settle Elijah McClain lawsuit
DENVER — The Denver suburb of Aurora has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the parents of Elijah McClain, a Black man who died after suburban Denver police stopped him on the street and put him in a neck hold two years ago, the city...
Mistrial declared in case of man charged in 18 Texas deaths
DALLAS — A Texas judge declared a mistrial Friday in the first murder case against a man charged with killing 18 older women in the Dallas area over a two-year span, but prosecutors vowed to continue to pursue convictions. Judge Raquel Jones issued the ruling when a jury deadlocked after...
Jury finds Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty in Kenosha shootings
KENOSHA, Wis. — Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges Friday after asserting self-defense in the deadly Kenosha shootings that became a flashpoint in the debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice in the U.S. Rittenhouse, 18, began to choke up, fell forward toward the defense table and then hugged...
Facing surge, Austria will mandate covid-19 shots, lock down
Austria announced a national lockdown and a plan to mandate vaccinations as coronavirus infections hit a record high Friday, forcing the government to walk back promises that strict shutdowns were a thing of the past. While the scope of the proposed mandate was unclear, a blanket requirement would be a...
FBI investigating old New Jersey landfill for Jimmy Hoffa’s remains
The decades-long odyssey to find the remains of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa apparently has turned to a former New Jersey landfill that sits below an elevated highway. The FBI obtained a search warrant to “conduct a site survey underneath the Pulaski Skyway,” said Mara Schneider, a spokeswoman for the...
What’s inside Biden’s $1.85T social and climate measure
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion plan to boost social and education programs as well as protect against global warming has passed the House, pushing it one step closer to law. The 2,135-page bill includes universal preschool, funding to limit child care costs, expanded health care programs and a...
AAA predicts more than 53 million people will travel for Thanksgiving
AAA Travel is predicting that 53.4 million Americans will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, an increase of 13% from 2020. According to AAA Travel’s latest data, the combination of 6.4 million more people traveling for the holiday this year and the reopening of the U.S. borders to fully vaccinated international...
Democrats’ sweeping social, climate bill passes divided House
Democrats brushed aside months-long divisions and pushed their expansive social and environment bill through a sharply divided House on Friday, as President Joe Biden and his party moved closer to capitalizing on their control of government by funneling its resources toward their top domestic priorities. The House approved the legislation...
Rare 1st printing of U.S. Constitution sells for record $43M
A rare first printing of the U.S. Constitution sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $43.2 million, a record price for a document or book sold at auction. The anonymous winning bidder at Thursday night’s sale outbid a group of 17,000 cryptocurrency enthusiasts from around the world who crowdfunded to...
U.K. says it will make Hamas a banned terrorist organization
LONDON — The British government said Friday that it intends to ban the Palestinian militant group Hamas as a terrorist organization. The military wing of Hamas has been outlawed in the U.K. since 2001 but the organization as a whole is not proscribed. Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is in...
White supremacist prison guards work with impunity in Fla.
In June, three Florida prison guards who boasted of being white supremacists beat, pepper sprayed and used a stun gun on an inmate who screamed “I can’t breathe!” at a prison near the Alabama border, according to a fellow inmate who reported it to the state. The next day, the...
Car found with 4 dead inside during hunt for former Maryland police officerVideo
COCKEYSVILLE, Md. — Four people were found dead Thursday inside a car which matched the description of a vehicle connected to a former Maryland police officer accused of taking off with his daughters in Pennsylvania, authorities say. Elena Russo, spokeswoman for Maryland State Police, told a news conference that Pennsylvania...
2 Iranians charged with threatening U.S. voters in 2020Video
WASHINGTON — Two suspected Iranian computer hackers have been charged in a broad campaign of election interference aimed at intimidating American voters during last year’s presidential race and undermining confidence that the results of the contest could be trusted. The activities, prosecutors say, exploited not only computer vulnerabilities but also...
Oklahoma governor grants clemency, spares Julius Jones’ lifeVideo
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s governor spared the life of Julius Jones on Thursday, just hours before his scheduled execution that had drawn widespread outcry and protests over doubts about his guilt in the slaying of a businessman more than 20 years ago. Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted the 41-year-old Jones’ death...
Ann Arbor becomes 1st U.S. city to require menstrual products in all public bathrooms
DETROIT — A new Ann Arbor ordinance requires all public bathrooms to provide sanitary products, including pads and tampons, to users at no cost — and it’s believed to be the first city in the United States to do so. The new ordinance, effective Jan. 1, 2022, applies to all...
GOP paints Biden’s choice for bank regulator as radical
President Joe Biden’s choice to run one of the agencies charged with overseeing the banking industry faced sharp questioning Thursday from Republican senators, who tried to label Saule Omarova as someone who would nationalize the U.S. banking system. Omarova, 55, was nominated in September to be the nation’s next comptroller...
German lawmakers shift in covid rules after dire warnings
German lawmakers approved new measures Thursday to rein in record coronavirus infections after the head of the country’s disease control agency warned Germany could face a “really terrible Christmas.” The measures passed in the Bundestag with votes from the center-left Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats....
Arbery’s shooter admits he was not under any threat
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The man who killed Ahmaud Arbery testified Thursday that Arbery did not speak, show a weapon or threaten him in any way before he raised his shotgun and pointed it at him. Under cross-examination by the prosecution on his second day of testimony, Travis McMichael said he...
Doubts over China tennis star’s email raise safety concerns
A Chinese professional tennis player not seen in public since she accused a former top government official of sexual assault purportedly sent an email claiming she was safe and that the allegation was false, a message that only amplified concerns about her safety and demands for information about her well-being...
New laws steer some teachers away from race-related topics
New measures that restrict how race is addressed in classrooms have spread confusion and anxiety among many educators, who in some cases have begun pulling books and canceling lessons for fear of being penalized. Education officials have nixed a contemporary issues class in a Tennessee district, removed Frederick Douglass’ autobiography...
