U.S./World category, Page 810
Pipeline officials hope most service will be back by weekend
WASHINGTON — Hit by a cyberattack, the operator of a major U.S. fuel pipeline said it hopes to have services mostly restored by the end of the week as the FBI and administration officials identified the culprits as a gang of criminal hackers. U.S. officials sought to soothe concerns about...
Florida teacher gets 15 years for recording naked girls
TAMPA, Fla. — A 52-year-old teacher was sentenced to 15 years in prison for secretly recording videos of students as they changed clothes in his fashion design classroom at a Florida high school. Mark William Ackett also must remain a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. “There’s...
Biden: 1 million sign up for health care during special enrollment
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that 1 million Americans had signed up for health insurance under “Obamacare” during a special enrollment period for those needing coverage during the coronavirus pandemic. Biden reopened the HealthCare.gov insurance markets in February for a special six-month sign-up opportunity. “Health care is a...
Pope creates lay ministry to boost supply of faith teachers
ROME —Pope Francis on Tuesday formally created a new lay ministry to encourage greater participation of secular women and men in the teaching of the Catholic faith, especially in places where priests are in short supply. The new law creating the lay ministry of catechists officially recognizes for the universal...
Iran rejects U.S. claim that speedboats sparked encounter
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday rejected the U.S. Navy’s claim that fast-approaching Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz sparked a tense encounter in the already sensitive region. The Guard’s website, sepahnews.com, published a statement Tuesday saying Americans were guilty of using “false narratives and unprofessional...
Gaza militants, children among 24 dead as Israel hits Hamas
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza early Tuesday, hitting the high-rise home of a Hamas field commander and two border tunnels dug by militants, as Hamas and other armed groups fired dozens of rockets toward Israel. The escalation in the conflict was sparked by weeks...
1.4B but no more? China’s population growth closer to zero
BEIJING — China’s population growth is falling closer to zero, government data showed Tuesday, adding to strains on an aging society with a shrinking workforce as fewer couples have children. The population rose by 72 million over the past 10 years to 1.411 billion in 2020, the National Bureau of...
1 killed, suspect caught in shooting at U.S. customs office in Florida
ORLANDO, Fla. — A man was fatally shot Monday outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Services building in central Florida, and a suspect was taken into custody, authorities said. The shooting happened in an office park in south Orlando, police said. A man and a woman were entering the immigration...
Colorado police seek motive in party shooting that left 7 deadVideo
DENVER — A shooting at a birthday party inside a trailer park home in Colorado Springs that killed six people before the gunman took his own life stunned a state weary of gun violence just weeks after another Colorado mass shooting killed 10 people. Police on Monday were investigating what...
Jeffrey Epstein prosecution and perks were proper, Florida investigation finds
MIAMI — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has cleared Palm Beach state prosecutors and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office of any wrongdoing in connection with the lack of criminal prosecution and liberal jail privileges received by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. FDLE investigators found no evidence that Barry Krischer, who...
FAA seeks fines against more misbehaving airline passengersVideo
Federal officials said Monday they are pursuing civil penalties against two more passengers for interfering with airline crews, the latest in a surge of such cases in recent months. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is continuing to take a zero-tolerance stance against unruly passengers. The most recent cases involve...
Friends of Flight 93 announces heroism award to mark 20th anniversary of 9/11Video
To promote the legacy of the crew and passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Somerset County fighting terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, the national memorial support organization Monday announced a heroism award to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Donna Gibson, president of the Friends...
Confidence grows that covid-19 vaccines hold their own against variants
Confidence is growing that covid-19 vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. are holding their own against the coronavirus variants now in circulation. “Everything we’ve seen with the variants should provide marked reassurance, as far as the protection that is afforded by vaccines — particularly the vaccines that we have...
Hopes fade for minke whale stuck in River Thames near London
LONDON — Hopes faded Monday for a young minke whale who became trapped in the River Thames near London, authorities said. Rescuers trying to recapture the whale said that by noon its condition had deteriorated rapidly and it would soon be stranded by the dropping tide near Teddington in southwest...
Indian chief’s descendant wants Harvard to return tomahawk
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A Native American lawyer wants Harvard University to return a tomahawk once owned by his pioneering ancestor, Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca Tribe. Brett Chapman, of Oklahoma, told GBH last week that he’s reached out to the Cambridge, Massachusetts university’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology...
Fla. man steals police car, crashes it, then steals another police car before crashing again
A man in Volusia County, Fla., led authorities on quite the chase after he stole a police car and proceeded to zoom down a highway. The chase didn’t end there, however, as the man proceeded to steal another of the same department’s vehicles after crashing the first. 10 Tampa Bay...
Lafayette Square near the White House reopens to public
WASHINGTON — Lafayette Square, the park across from the White House, reopened Monday to the public nearly a year after federal authorities fenced off the area at the height of nationwide protests over policing following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The square, which offers perhaps the best view...
Kansas lawmakers want to keep cocktails to go after pandemic
TOPEKA, Kan. — The state that made saloon smasher Carrie Nation famous is moving to allow people to get beer and cocktails to go after the coronavirus pandemic. Kansas lawmakers approved a bill last week to allow to-go beer and alcoholic drinks from clubs, bars and restaurants until 11 p.m.,...
Paris court tries anti-racism activist for statue attack
PARIS — A French activist for Black rights went on trial in Paris on Monday for defacing a statue of a historical figure from France’s colonial, slave-trading past, calling the protest a political act to denounce deep-seated racism. Franco Lollia said that rather than vandalize the statue, he improved it...
Tiger seen roaming through front yard of homes in Texas neighborhood
A tiger was seen roaming through a Texas neighborhood Sunday night, according to multiple reports. Video shows the tiger, which was wearing a collar, walking around the perimeter of a house. Someone eventually came out of the house and brought the tiger back inside, according to KHOU. Police received a...
U.S. trashes unwanted gear in Afghanistan to be sold as scrap
BAGRAM, Afghanistan — The twisted remains of several all-terrain vehicles leaned precariously inside Baba Mir’s sprawling scrap yard, alongside smashed shards that were once generators, tank tracks that have been dismantled into chunks of metal, and mountains of tents reduced to sliced up fabric. It’s all U.S. military equipment. The...
Biden to join meeting of NATO’s eastern members by video
BUCHAREST, Romania — U.S. President Joe Biden will join a meeting by video link of presidents of countries on NATO’s eastern flank being held Monday in the Romanian capital, according to the offices of the Romanian and Polish presidents. The presidents gathering represent the so-called Bucharest Nine, a group of...
Hamas targets Jerusalem after clashes at revered mosque
JERUSALEM — Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Monday, including a barrage that set off air raid sirens as far away as Jerusalem, after hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli police at a flashpoint religious site in the contested holy city. The rocket fire...
California man used $5 million in coronavirus relief loans to buy luxury cars, federal authorities say
LOS ANGELES — An Irvine man was arrested on fraud charges this week after authorities say he used $5 million in pandemic relief loans to buy luxury sports cars, take lavish vacations and cover his personal expenses. Mustafa Qadiri, 38, submitted bogus applications for federal loans under the Paycheck Protection...
2 Catholic bishops at odds over Biden receiving Communion
They share Roman Catholicism as a faith and California as their home base. Yet there’s a deep gulf between Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego in the high-stakes debate over whether politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Communion. Cordileone, who has...
