U.S./World category, Page 836
Virginia abolishes death penalty after executing almost 1,400 people over 400 yearsVideo
NORFOLK, Va. — After more than 400 years and nearly 1,400 lives, the death penalty is dead in Virginia. Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation Wednesday abolishing it in a state that has executed more people than any other. The ceremony was at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, where lethal injections...
West Virginia to target young people for vaccinations
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s coronavirus vaccination campaign will turn to young people to stem transmission rates after giving shots to most senior citizens. The new strategy to focus on shots for residents aged 16 to 29 comes after officials said they are seeing an increase in doses. “When you...
Kenya wants United Nations agency to shut down refugee camps
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya says it has given the United Nations 14 days to come up with a plan to close refugee camps in the country that host hundreds of thousands from war-torn neighboring nations. Internal Security Minister Fred Matiangi said there is no room for further negotiations, in a...
White House officials, lawmakers to tour border facility
WASHINGTON — A delegation of White House officials and members of Congress was traveling to the southern border on Wednesday to tour a facility being used to house migrant children as increasing numbers of unaccompanied young people cross into the United States. The visit to a facility in Carrizo Springs,...
Homeschooling doubled from pandemic’s start to last fall
ORLANDO, Fla. — The rate of households homeschooling their children doubled from the start of the pandemic last spring to the start of the new school year last September, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report released this week. Last spring, about 5.4% of all U.S. households with school-aged...
New doubts over Southern Baptists’ limits on women’s rolesVideo
Emily Snook is the daughter of a Southern Baptist pastor. She met her husband, also a pastor, while they attended a Southern Baptist university Yet the 39-year-old Oklahoma woman now finds herself wondering if it’s time to leave the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, in part because of practices and attitudes...
Atlanta spa killings prompt new proposals from Georgia Democrats
ATLANTA — Georgia Democrats have introduced a slate of legislation in response to the massage business shootings that killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent — though it’s unlikely the bills will see movement in the Republican-controlled legislature. The proposals would require a five-day waiting period for gun...
Lost and found: $1M lottery ticket recovered in parking lot
SPARTA, Tenn. — A Tennessee man was able to turn his luck around after finding his missing $1 million winning lottery ticket in a parking lot — remaining where he dropped it even on a blustery afternoon. Sparta resident Nick Slatten learned on March 11 that he won a drawing...
Official: Colorado supermarket shooting suspect prone to rage, delusions
BOULDER, Colo. — Law enforcement officials and former associates of a 21-year-old accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket described the suspect as someone prone to sudden rage who was suspended from high school for a sudden attack on a classmate that left the student bloodied. Ahmad Al...
‘Virginia Woolf,’ ‘Goldbergs’ star George Segal dies at 87
LOS ANGELES — George Segal, the banjo player turned actor who was nominated for an Oscar for 1966’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” and starred in the ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs,” died Tuesday in Santa Rosa, Calif, his wife said. He was 87. “The family is devastated to announce that...
Nurse, officer dead from inmate attack at Iowa prison
IOWA CITY — A nurse and a correctional officer at a prison housing some of Iowa’s most dangerous offenders died on Tuesday after an inmate carried out an attack on staff members and other inmates, state officials said. The attack happened at around 10:15 a.m. in the prison infirmary at...
White House: North Korea conducted short-range missile testVideo
WASHINGTON — North Korea fired short-range missiles this past weekend, just days after the sister of Kim Jong Un threatened the United States and South Korea for holding joint military exercises. The missile tests were confirmed by two senior Biden administration officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. They...
FBI: Ex-NYPD spokesperson charged in Capitol insurrection
NEW YORK — The FBI arrested a former spokesperson for the New York City Police Department on Tuesday on charges she entered the U.S. Capitol — and shook a tambourine — during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Sara Carpenter, a retired police officer who lives in Queens, drove to Washington the...
Explainer: How states are seeking to loosen controls on guns
Mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado that left at least 18 people dead since last week are reigniting calls from gun control advocates for tighter restrictions on buying firearms and ammunition. But with Democrats in control of the federal government, gun rights advocates have been persuading Republican-run state legislatures to...
Springtime storms cause damage in central Texas cityVideo
BERTRAM, Texas — Springtime storms caused significant damage to buildings in a central Texas city, and forecasters say more stormy weather is expected later in the week for parts of the southern United States. There were no immediate reports of injuries from Monday night’s storms in Bertram, about 45 miles...
Supreme Court leans toward tribal police in traffic stop and search
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed likely Tuesday to allow tribal police officers to stop and search non-Indians on tribal lands over concerns that drunk drivers or even violent criminals might otherwise elude authorities. The justices heard arguments in the Justice Department’s appeal of a lower court ruling that threw...
Arizona man accused of ambushing National Guard members while transporting covid vaccine
LUBBOCK, Texas — An Arizona man is accused of forcing off the road a National Guard convoy that was transporting covid-19 vaccines in West Texas and then holding 11 guard members at gunpoint. Larry Harris, 66, of Wilcox, Ariz., told police that he stopped three vans because he believed people...
Slower mail, fewer office hours part of Postal Service plans
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday announced plans to slow mail delivery standards and cut hours at some post offices as part of a 10-year strategy to stabilize the struggling agency. Details of the long-awaited plan come at a time of intense scrutiny on the U.S. Postal Service over persistent...
Asian Americans seek greater political power after Atlanta shootings
WASHINGTON — Speaking on the floor of the Georgia state Senate last week, Michelle Au implored her colleagues to “stand up” to the hatred aimed at Asian Americans that’s increased during the pandemic. A day later, a gunman shook the Atlanta area by killing eight people, including six women of...
Officials: Gun in Colorado supermarket shooting bought 6 days earlierVideo
BOULDER, Colo. — Police on Tuesday identified a 21-year-old man as the suspect who opened fire inside a crowded Colorado supermarket, and court documents showed that he purchased an assault weapon less than a week before the attack that killed 10 people, including a police officer. Supermarket employees told investigators...
Iraq requests new round of talks with U.S. over troop presence
BAGHDAD — Iraq has sent a formal request to President Joe Biden’s administration for a date to resume strategic talks on bilateral relations and the withdrawal of remaining U.S. combat forces, Iraqi officials said Tuesday. The talks, which began in June under the Trump administration, would be the first under...
Impeachment probe into N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo could take ‘months’
ALBANY, N.Y. — It could take “months” to determine whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo should be impeached after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct and questions remain about his administration’s undercounting covid-19 deaths in nursing homes, the chair of the state Assembly’s judiciary committee said Tuesday. Chair Charles Lavine said...
Schumer vows vote on background checks after latest shooting
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats say they are pushing toward a vote on expanded gun control measures as the nation reels from its second mass shooting in a week. But prospects for any major reform are dim, for now, in the closely divided Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Tuesday...
Explainer: Why is Biden halting federal oil and gas sales?
BILLINGS, Mont. — President Joe Biden shut down oil and gas lease sales from the nation’s vast public lands and waters in his first days in office, citing worries about climate change. Now his administration has to figure out what do with the multibillion-dollar program without crushing a significant sector...
Jury set for ex-cop’s trial in George Floyd death; starts March 29
MINNEAPOLIS — A jury has been seated for the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd’s death, with opening statements set for March 29. The 15th and final member of the pool was chosen Tuesday, wrapping up a process that took more than two weeks. There will...
