U.S./World category, Page 769

Unemployment fraud in the U.S. has reached dramatic levels during the pandemic — the Labor Department inspector general’s office estimates that more than $63 billion has been paid out improperly through fraud or errors since March 2020. Criminals are seizing on the opportunity created by the pandemic. Using data stolen...

MINNEAPOLIS — Jury selection continues Monday in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death, with the process halfway complete after the first week. Seven people have been picked to hear evidence in the trial against Derek Chauvin, who is charged with murder and manslaughter....

TOKYO — Shared concerns about China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region will take center stage when President Joe Biden’s defense chief and secretary of state visit Japan for their first in-person talks with their Japanese counterparts. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tokyo...

ROME — The Vatican decreed Monday that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.” The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response Monday to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions. The answer, contained...

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Monday inaugurated a new underground facility designated for missile storage, the country’s state TV reported. The report quotes Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami as saying that cruise and ballistic missiles will empower the force’s navy even more. The TV report showed footage...

GALVESTON, Texas — An arrest warrant was issued for a woman who refused to wear a mask at a Texas bank, saying to a police officer: “What are you going to do, arrest me?” Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of Terry Wright, 65, of Grants Pass, Oregon....

WASHINGTON — An Army reservist charged with taking part in the attack on the U.S. Capitol was known as a Nazi sympathizer who wore a Hitler mustache, coworkers told federal investigators. Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, 30, was employed as a security contractor at a Navy base when he was alleged to have...

Once again, the U.S. government is handing out money. And, once again, there’s a way to find out where your check is. A year ago, the IRS launched the online “Get My Payment” tool that let you check your payment status and confirm your payment type: direct deposit or check....

LONDON — London’s Metropolitan Police force was under heavy pressure Sunday to explain its actions during a vigil for a woman whom one of the force’s own officers is accused of murdering. Hundreds defied coronavirus restrictions to gather and protest violence against women, but the event ended with clashes between...

CHICAGO — Gunfire erupted at a party on Chicago’s South Side early Sunday, killing two people and wounding 13 others, authorities said. Officers responded at around 4:40 a.m., police spokesman Jose Jara said in a statement. Those shot were between the ages of 20 to 44. Jara earlier said 12...

JEANNETTE — When Joe Biden visited this corner of southwestern Pennsylvania in the final weeks before the election, his goal wasn’t to win it so much as to show the area’s overwhelmingly white working-class electorate that his party was at least willing to try. “A lot of white, working-class Democrats...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On the one-year anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s death, the slain Black woman’s family continued their call for justice as hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Louisville on Saturday. “Eyes are on Louisville, Kentucky, today so let’s show America what community looks like,” said Taylor’s aunt, Bianca Austin,...

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Police in Miami Beach kicked off what was expected to be a busy spring break weekend by shooting pepper balls in order to disperse a crowd that had gathered around officers who were making an arrest. The Miami Beach Police Department tweeted Friday night that two...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged mistakes in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but insists the recall effort against him has more to do with politics than the public health crisis. Newsom made his most direct comments yet about the push to unseat him during an interview...

WASHINGTON — Commercial air travel appears to be on the upswing despite the coronavirus pandemic. The Transportation Security Administration said its agents screened more than 1.3 million passengers at airport security checkpoints nationwide on Friday. Spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said in a tweet that the last time the number was that...

NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has urged New Yorkers to “wait for the facts.” Patience, though, has grown thin. The state’s two U.S. senators, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and most of the other 29 members of New York’s congressional delegation have called for his...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Spacewalking astronauts had to take extra safety precautions Saturday after possibly getting toxic ammonia on their suits from the International Space Station’s external cooling system. Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins had no trouble removing and venting a couple of old jumper cables to remove any ammonia...

WASHINGTON — More than 1,000 National Guard members will be leaving Washington, D.C. over the next few days, but several thousand others will stay on for days or weeks, in the ongoing mission to provide security for the U.S. Capitol that has drawn criticism from lawmakers and reluctance from the...

BEDFORD, Mass. — A Guatemalan woman who has been living in a Massachusetts church for more than three years to avoid deportation has been granted a reprieve to remain in the country for now. Maria Macario was issued a one-year stay of her deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Lawmakers in Wyoming, where gay college student Matthew Shepard was killed more than 20 years ago, again decided not to adopt a hate crimes law. Wyoming is one of just three states that haven’t enacted hate crimes legislation since Shepard was beaten and left for dead in...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Governors largely cheered President Joe Biden’s declaration that all adults should be eligible for coronavirus vaccinations by May 1, but the goal will require a shift for states that have been methodical in how they roll out the shots. The top health official in California said the...

WASHINGTON — Along with daylight saving time, this weekend could bring Americans fatter bank balances. Officials at the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service said Friday that processing of the new round of stimulus payments has already begun, with the aim of having the first payments start showing up in...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Lou Ottens, the Dutch inventor of the cassette tape, the medium of choice for millions of bedroom mix tapes, has died, said Philips, the company where he also helped develop the compact disc. Ottens died Saturday at age 94, Philips confirmed. A structural engineer who trained...

Brazil’s federal government said Friday it has reached a deal to purchase 10 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine against covid-19, though the shot is yet to be approved by the South American nation’s health agency. The Brazilian Health Ministry said on Twitter that the jabs will be...