U.S./World category, Page 776

WASHINGTON — FBI Director Christopher Wray bluntly labeled the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as “domestic terrorism” Tuesday and warned of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown violent extremism that law enforcement is scrambling to confront through thousands of investigations. Wray also defended to lawmakers his own agency’s handling...

LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday announced the further loosening of Michigan’s coronavirus restrictions, easing capacity limits in restaurants and a host of other businesses while also allowing for larger indoor and outdoor gatherings. The revised state health department order will take effect Friday and last through April...

PHOENIX — Prosecutors in Washington are opposing the pretrial release of an Arizona man who stormed the U.S. Capitol nearly two months ago while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns. Prosecutors told a judge in a filing Monday that Jacob Chansley should remain jailed until...

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to end an order intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans. The Republican governor has faced sharp criticism from his party over the...

HOLTVILLE, Calif. — Thirteen people were killed Tuesday when an SUV carrying 25 people and a big rig collided on a Southern California highway near the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said. Twelve people were found dead when first responders reached the highway, which winds through fields in the agricultural southeastern corner...

NEW YORK — CNN host Chris Cuomo told viewers Monday that he “obviously” couldn’t cover the stories surrounding his older brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been accused of sexual harassment by three women. The prime time host addressed the topic immediately at the start of his show,...

The Biden administration announced sanctions of Russian officials and businesses Tuesday for a nearly fatal nerve-agent attack upon opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent jailing. Senior administration officials did not immediately identify the Russian officials targeted. The Biden administration also announced sanctions under the U.S. Chemical and Biological Weapons...

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican is defending Pope Francis’ decision to go ahead with his trip to Iraq this weekend despite rising coronavirus infections there, saying Tuesday all health care precautions have been taken and that the trip is an “act of love for this land, for its people, and...

ATLANTA — Vernon Jordan, who rose from humble beginnings in the segregated South to become a champion of civil rights before reinventing himself as a Washington insider and corporate influencer, has died, according to a statement from his daughter. He was 85. Jordan’s daughter, Vickee Jordan Adams, released the statement...

BOSTON — Six Dr. Seuss books — including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” — will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author’s legacy said Tuesday. “These books portray people...

DUBLIN — An amateur jockey from Ireland apologized on Tuesday after video of him sitting on a dead horse was posted on social media, following one of the country’s leading trainers being banned from entering runners in British races because of similar conduct. Rob James, a winner at the Cheltenham...

New York prosecutors investigating Donald Trump and the Trump Organization Inc. have questioned witnesses about the two sons of the company’s longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Investigators with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s office have asked about Barry Weisselberg’s role in...

SACRAMENTO — A California serial killer known as the “I-5 Strangler” in the 1970s and 1980s has been killed in the prison where he was serving multiple life sentences, state correctional officials said Monday. A correctional officer doing rounds spotted Roger Reece Kibbe, 81, unresponsive in his cell at Mule...

PINE BLUFF, Ark. — A 15-year-old boy shot and seriously injured a fellow student Monday morning at an Arkansas junior high school, and the suspect was detained in a juvenile detention facility, authorities said. The shooting happened in a hallway at Watson Chapel Junior High School as students were switching...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — With the U.S. vaccination drive picking up speed and a third formula on the way, states eager to reopen for business are easing coronavirus restrictions despite warnings from health experts that the outbreak is far from over and that moving too quickly could prolong the misery....

NEW ORLEANS — It’s cute, cuddled, red-haired, and critically endangered — and the second Sumatran orangutan born in two years at the zoo in New Orleans. Veterinarians haven’t yet been able to weigh, measure and determine the sex of the baby born early Sunday to 12-year-old Reese, Audubon Zoo spokeswoman...

As Congress begins debate this week on sweeping voting and ethics legislation, Democrats and Republicans can agree on one thing: If signed into law, it would usher in the biggest overhaul of U.S. elections law in at least a generation. House Resolution 1, Democrats’ 791-page bill, would touch virtually every...

PARIS — A Paris court on Monday found French former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling and sentenced him to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence. The 66-year-old politician, who was president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted for having tried to illegally obtain...

AKRON, Ohio — A 14-year-old Akron girl who was injured in a sledding accident died days after her father died of a heart attack while trying to visit his daughter at the hospital, the girl’s mother posted on Facebook. Eirelyn Zuercher was hospitalized at MetroHealth Medical Center on Saturday after...

HYDERABAD, India — A man was killed by a rooster with a blade tied to its leg during an illegal cockfight in southern India, police said, bringing focus on a practice that continues in some Indian states despite a decades-old ban. The rooster, with a 3-inch knife tied to its...

WASHINGTON — Looking beyond the $1.9 trillion covid relief bill, President Joe Biden and lawmakers are laying the groundwork for another top legislative priority — a long-sought boost to the nation’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure that could run into Republican resistance to a hefty price tag. Biden and his...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With the floodgates set to open on another round of unemployment aid, states are being hammered with a new wave of fraud as they scramble to update security systems and block scammers who already have siphoned billions of dollars from pandemic-related jobless programs. The fraud is fleecing...

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia lawmakers gave final approval Saturday to a bill that will legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, but not until 2024, when retail sales of the drug would also begin. With a compromise bill clearing the House and Senate, Virginia becomes the first Southern state to vote...