U.S./World category, Page 737
Endangered orangutan in New Orleans expecting twinsVideo
NEW ORLEANS — A critically endangered Sumatran orangutan in New Orleans is pregnant with twins, the zoo in New Orleans announced Thursday. “We are very excited about this pregnancy,” Bob MacLean, senior veterinarian at the Audubon Zoo, said in a news release. “Twinning is extremely rare in orangutans — there...
Haiti gang leader threatens to kill kidnapped missionaries
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The leader of the 400 Mawozo gang that police say is holding 17 members of a kidnapped missionary group is seen in a video released Thursday saying he will kill them if he doesn’t get what he’s demanding. The video posted on social media shows Wilson Joseph...
U.S. blocks tomato imports from Mexican farm over labor abuses
WASHINGTON — The U.S. ordered a halt Thursday to imports of tomatoes from a Mexican farming company and its subsidiaries for what officials said was abusive treatment of workers that amounts to forced labor. Customs and Border Protection issued an order to detain shipments from Agropecuarios Tom, based in the...
California proposes new oil drilling ban near neighborhoods
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s oil and gas regulator on Thursday proposed that the state ban new oil drilling within 3,200 feet of schools, homes and hospitals to protect public health in what would be the nation’s largest buffer zone between oil wells and communities. It’s the latest effort by Democratic...
Expert panel takes up complicated covid booster questions
WASHINGTON — Influential government advisers are deciding Thursday how best to expand the nation’s covid-19 booster campaign, including whether and when it’s OK to “mix and match” brands for the extra dose. The advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are slated to discuss who should get extra...
U.S. unemployment claims fall to new pandemic low of 290,000
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to a new low point since the pandemic erupted, evidence that layoffs are declining as companies hold onto workers. Unemployment claims dropped 6,000 to 290,000 last week, the third straight drop, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s...
Big changes in White House ideas to pay for $2 trillion plan
SCRANTON — In an abrupt change, the White House is floating new plans to pay for parts of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion social services and climate change package, shelving a proposed big increase in corporate tax rates though also adding a new billionaires’ tax on the investment gains of...
Rare coin made in Colonial New England could fetch $300,000
An extraordinarily rare coin with a face value of just pennies when it was minted in mid-17th century New England could sell for the equivalent of about $300,000 when it’s put up for auction in London next month. The silver one shilling coin made in Boston in 1652 — considered...
Report: Trump golf club under new criminal probe over taxes
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s company is under criminal investigation by a district attorney in a New York City suburb into whether it misled officials to cut taxes for a golf course there, according to The New York Times. The district attorney’s office subpoenaed records from both the Trump National...
Officials: Items linked to Brian Laundrie, potential remains foundVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Potential human remains were found Wednesday in a Florida wilderness area along with items believed to belong to Brian Laundrie, whose girlfriend, Gabby Petito, was found slain after he returned home alone from their cross-country road trip, according to the FBI. Michael McPherson, chief of the...
Flooding in Venice worsens off-season amid climate change
After Venice suffered the second-worst flood in its history in November 2019, it was inundated with four more exceptional tides within six weeks, shocking Venetians and triggering fears about the worsening impact of climate change. The repeated invasion of brackish lagoon water into St. Mark’s Basilica this summer is a...
Nikolas Cruz pleads guilty to 2018 Parkland school massacre
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering 17 people during a rampage at his former high school in Parkland, Fla., leaving a jury to decide whether he will be executed for one of the nation’s deadliest school shootings. Relatives of the victims who sat in the...
Pig-to-human transplants come a step closer with new test
Scientists temporarily attached a pig’s kidney to a human body and watched it begin to work, a small step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Pigs have been the most recent research focus to address the organ shortage, but among the hurdles: A...
White House details plans to vaccinate children age 5-11Video
WASHINGTON — Children ages 5 to 11 will soon be able to get a COVID-19 shot at their pediatrician’s office, local pharmacy and potentially even their school, the White House said Wednesday as it detailed plans for the expected authorization of the Pfizer shot for elementary school youngsters in a...
New York City requiring vaccine for cops, firefighters, city workers
NEW YORK — New York City will require its entire municipal workforce to be vaccinated against covid-19 or be placed on unpaid leave, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, an ultimatum that ensures a fight with some unions representing employees, including police officers and firefighters, who have refused the shots....
Tiny wrists in cuffs: How police use force against children
CHICAGO — Royal Smart remembers every detail: the feeling of the handcuffs on his wrists. The panic as he was led outside into the cold March darkness, arms raised, to face a wall of police officers pointing their guns. He was 8 years old. Neither he nor anyone else at...
Queen accepts medical advice to rest, cancels North Ireland trip
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has reluctantly accepted medical advice to rest for a few days and has canceled a trip to Northern Ireland, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday. The palace didn’t offer specifics on the decision, but says the 95-year-old monarch is “in good spirits,” and disappointed that she will...
FBI at Russian oligarch’s homes for ‘law enforcement’ action
Federal agents were carrying out “law enforcement activity” on Tuesday at a Washington mansion and New York City townhouse tied to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. FBI officials would not provide any additional information about the circumstances surrounding their presence at either property...
8 potential jurors advance in Ahmaud Arbery slaying trial
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A judge found eight potential jurors qualified to advance Tuesday following intense questioning aimed at finding an impartial jury for the trial of three white men charged with chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery, whose slaying last year sparked a national outcry. Father and son Greg and Travis...
Navy probe finds major failures in fire that destroyed ship
A Navy report has concluded there were sweeping failures by commanders, crew members and others that fueled the July 2020 arson fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard, calling the massive five-day blaze in San Diego preventable and unacceptable. While one sailor has been charged with setting the fire, the...
Manatee deaths rise in Florida as pollutants kill seagrass
Manatees have starved to death by the hundreds along Florida’s east coast because algae blooms and contaminants are killing the seagrass the beloved sea mammals eat, a wildlife official told a House committee Tuesday. Seagrass has been decimated in the 156-mile-long Indian River Lagoon and neighboring areas. The aquatic plant...
Haiti gang seeks $1M each for kidnapped U.S. missionaries
A gang that kidnapped 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group is demanding $1 million ransom per person, although authorities are not clear whether that includes the five children being held, a top Haitian official told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The official, who wasn’t authorized to speak to the...
Israeli scuba diver discovers ancient Crusader sword
JERUSALEM — An Israeli scuba diver has salvaged an ancient sword off the country’s Mediterranean coast that experts say dates back to the Crusades. Israel’s Antiquities Authority said Monday the man was on a weekend dive in northern Israel when he spotted a trove of ancient artifacts that included anchors,...
Rachel Levine becomes 1st openly transgender official to be named 4-star admiral
Dr. Rachel Levine is making more history. Levine, the former Pennsylvania health secretary, was ceremonially sworn in Tuesday as a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps. Levine becomes the nation’s first openly transgender four-star officer across any of the uniformed services of the United States....
NASA turns technology back toward Earth to focus on climate change
LOS ANGELES — After decades of gazing into space, NASA is turning its technology back toward Earth to study the effects of drought, fire and climate change on the Blue Planet. At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge last Thursday, scientists and state officials gathered to discuss how...
