U.S./World category, Page 824
Democrats begin long-shot push to expand the Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — A group of congressional Democrats introduced legislation Thursday to add four seats to the Supreme Court, a long-shot bid designed to counter the court’s rightward tilt during the Trump administration and criticized by Republicans as a potential power grab that would reduce the public’s trust in the judiciary....
Video: Chicago boy wasn’t holding gun when shot by officerVideo
CHICAGO — Disturbing bodycam video released after public outcry over the Chicago police shooting of a 13-year-old boy shows the youth appearing to drop a handgun and begin raising his hands less than a second before an officer fires his gun and kills him. A still frame taken from Officer...
In a year of reckoning, slavery reparations bill moves forward in the House
WASHINGTON — A House committee late Wednesday advanced legislation, first introduced in 1989, that would study the issue of awarding reparations to the descendants of American slaves. The House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to send a bill to the House floor for the first time to create a...
Son, father appear in court for hearing in 1996 disappearance of Kristin Smart
LOS ANGELES — A former California college student charged with murder in the 1996 disappearance of classmate Kristin Smart and the defendant’s father, who is accused of helping hide the young woman’s body, made their first court appearance Thursday but did not enter pleas. Paul Flores, 44, was charged with...
Google Earth adds time lapse video to depict climate change
The Google Earth app is adding a new video feature that draws upon nearly four decades of satellite imagery to vividly illustrate how climate change has affected glaciers, beaches, forests and other places around the world. The tool unveiled Thursday is rolling out in what is being billed as the...
Canadian lawmaker caught naked during video conference
OTTAWA, Ontario — A Canadian Parliament member was caught stark naked in a virtual meeting of the House of Commons. William Amos, who has represented the Quebec district of Pontiac since 2015, appeared on the screens of his fellow lawmakers completely naked Wednesday. The pandemic has meant many Canadian lawmakers...
Coronavirus hug image named World Press Photo of the Year
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A photo symbolizing “love and compassion” of an 85-year-old Brazilian woman getting her first embrace in five months from a nurse through a transparent “hug curtain” was named the World Press Photo of the Year on Thursday. The choice of a winning photo portraying the global...
Ex-Minnesota cop faces hearing in shooting of Daunte Wright
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — Black community leaders and family members of Daunte Wright were calling for more serious charges against a white police officer in Wright’s death, comparing her case to the murder charge brought against a Black officer who killed a white woman in nearby Minneapolis. Former Brooklyn Center...
Chauvin won’t testify at murder trial in George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — The defense at the murder trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd rested its case Thursday without putting Chauvin on the stand, presenting a total of two days of testimony to the prosecution’s two weeks. Closing arguments are set to begin Monday morning,...
U.S. expels Russian diplomats, imposes sanctions for hackingVideo
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Thursday the U.S. is expelling 10 Russian diplomats and imposing sanctions against dozens of companies and other people, holding the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year’s presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies. The sweeping measures are meant to punish Russia for...
Blinken in Afghanistan to sell Biden troop withdrawal
KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Thursday to sell Afghan leaders and a wary public on President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all American troops from the country and end America’s longest war. Blinken sought to assure senior Afghan politicians...
Senior royals to skip uniforms at Prince Philip’s funeral
LONDON — Senior royals must wear civilian clothes to Prince Philip’s funeral, defusing potential tensions over who would be allowed to don military uniforms. Queen Elizabeth II’s decision means Prince Harry won’t risk being the only member of the royal family not in uniform during Saturday’s funeral for his grandfather,...
Sydney man finds snake in lettuce bought at Australian Aldi
CANBERRA, Australia — Alex White thought he was watching a huge worm writhing in plastic-wrapped lettuce he’d just brought home from a Sydney supermarket — until a snake tongue flicked. “I kind of completely freaked out when I saw this little tongue come out of its mouth and start flicking...
French lawmakers OK security bill increasing police powers
PARIS — France’s parliament passed a security bill Thursday to extend police powers despite criticism from civil rights activists who fear it threatens efforts to denounce police abuse. The bill was approved by 75 votes for and 33 against at the National Assembly, where French President Emmanuel Macron’s party, which...
Months after hack, U.S. poised to announce sanctions on Russia
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is preparing to announce sanctions in response to a massive Russian hacking campaign that breached vital federal agencies, as well as for election interference, a senior administration official said Wednesday night. The sanctions, foreshadowed for weeks by the administration, would represent the first retaliatory action...
South Carolina soldier charged after video of confrontation with Black man
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A white non-commissioned Army officer depicted in a viral video accosting and shoving a Black man in a South Carolina neighborhood has been charged with third-degree assault. Jonathan Pentland, 42, was charged Wednesday and listed as detained in the Richland County jail and issued a personal recognizance...
Stinging report raises new questions about Capitol securityVideo
WASHINGTON — Shields that shattered upon impact. Weapons too old to use. Missed intelligence in which future insurrectionists warned, “We get our president or we die.” As Congress pushes for a return to normalcy months after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, a damning internal report about the deadly...
Biden to detail pullout plans for last troops in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is about to announce his plans to withdraw remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan, declaring that the Sept. 11 attacks “cannot explain” why American forces should still be there 20 years after the deadliest terror assault on the United States. His plan is to pull out...
Prosecutors: No charges for officer in fatal Capitol riot shooting
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors will not charge a police officer who shot and killed a woman as she climbed through the broken part of a door during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Authorities had considered for months whether criminal charges were appropriate for the Capitol Police...
Missouri town decides to keep ‘Savages’ mascot, ditch logo
SAVANNAH, Mo. — Leaders of a nearly all-white northwest Missouri school district have narrowly voted to keep the high school’s “Savages” nickname but will phase out the use of Native American imagery. The Savannah R-3 Board of Education’s 4-3 vote on Tuesday night came after months of dueling petitions and...
Cardiac arrest and drugs, not low oxygen, caused Floyd’s death, defense expert says
MINNEAPOLIS — A pathologist testifying for the defense in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin told the court Wednesday that George Floyd died of a cardiac arrest combined with drug use, and not low oxygen as several prosecution witnesses have claimed. Dr. David Fowler also testified...
Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff dies in prison at 82
NEW YORK — Bernard Madoff, the infamous architect of an epic securities swindle that burned thousands of investors, outfoxed regulators and earned him a 150-year prison term, died behind bars early Wednesday. He was 82. Madoff’s death at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, was confirmed by his...
Minnesota cop will be charged in shooting of Black motorist Daunte Wright
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — A prosecutor said Wednesday that he will charge a white former suburban Minneapolis police officer with second-degree manslaughter for killing 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright in a shooting that ignited days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police. The charge against former Brooklyn Center police...
1 dead, 6 rescued, 12 still missing from capsized shipVideo
PORT FOURCHON, La. — The Coast Guard searched for 12 people missing off the coast of Louisiana on Wednesday after finding one crew member dead and pulling six survivors from rough seas when their commercial platform vessel capsized in hurricane-force wind. Coast Guard Capt. Will Watson said wind was 80...
Maryland trooper shoots, kills teenager who had airsoft gun
LEONARDTOWN, Md. — A Maryland State Police trooper responding to a pair of 911 calls shot and killed a teenager who was pointing what investigators determined was an airsoft gun at him, authorities said Tuesday. The shooting occurred after state police received two 911 calls about someone acting suspicious, Superintendent...
