U.S./World category, Page 846

French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday a vast extension of the nightly curfew that is intended to curb the spiraling spread of the coronavirus, saying “the second wave is here.” The curfew imposed in eight regions of France last week, including Paris and its suburbs, is being extended...

MERRIFIELD, Va. — The future of transportation arrived in northern Virginia, looking like a big blue toaster on wheels that seats six and drives itself through the region’s notorious traffic. State and local officials debuted the Relay system Thursday, an all-electric, autonomous vehicle that will provide free shuttle rides back...

MINNEAPOLIS — A truck driver who drove into a large crowd of protesters on a bridge in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd was charged Thursday with two criminal counts. Hennepin County prosecutors charged Bogdan Vechirko, of Otsego, with making threats of violence, a felony, and criminal vehicular operation,...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican officials have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to move up North Carolina’s recently extended deadline for accepting late-arriving absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day. State Republican legislative leaders filed an appeal on Thursday. The North Carolina State Board of Elections had announced in late September that...

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota judge has dismissed a third-degree murder charge filed against the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee against George Floyd’s neck, but the more serious second-degree murder charge remains. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill’s ruling was dated Wednesday and made public Thursday. Cahill said...

SAN FRANCISCO — Power was shut off in wind-prone parts of Northern California on Thursday to prevent sparking wires from igniting new wildfires during a new round of gusty, dry weather. Pacific Gas & Electric’s online map of public safety power shutoffs showed outages in the northern Sacramento Valley, northern...

NEW YORK — Macy’s said Santa Claus won’t be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year because of the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. More than a quarter of a million people come to see Santa at Macy’s in New York each...

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s top court has ruled that a law allowing abortion of fetuses with congenital defects is unconstitutional. The decision by the country’s Constitutional Court on Thursday effectively bans terminating pregnancies in cases where birth defects are found and will further limit access to abortions in Poland. The...

VATICAN CITY — Question swirled Thursday about the origins of Pope Francis’ bombshell comments endorsing same-sex civil unions, with all evidence suggesting he made them in a 2019 interview that was never broadcast in its entirety. The Vatican refused to comment on whether it cut the remarks from its own...

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 787,000, a sign that job losses may have eased slightly but are still running at historically high levels. With confirmed infections having neared 60,000 in the past week, the highest level since July, many consumers have been...

KABUL, Afghanistan — At least four civilians were killed in their homes by militant rocket fire in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, the country’s Ministry of Defense said. The ministry statement blamed the Taliban for the firing, which it said wounded another 14 civilians and destroyed several houses in the Sharin...

NEW DELHI — India’s government said Thursday that talks next week with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in New Delhi will cover “all bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.” The talks are also expected to focus on cooperation in building a...

DALLAS — A Spirit Airlines employee performed CPR on an unconscious Dallas woman during a July flight that made an emergency landing in New Mexico, where the woman was pronounced dead. The woman’s death was later determined to have been caused by covid-19, and Dallas County officials included her in...

SANTA FE, N.M. — A voting rights group says that caravans of flag-waving President Donald Trump supporters appeared to obstruct and intimidate voters last weekend at two polling locations in predominantly ethnic-minority neighborhoods in the Albuquerque area. Common Cause New Mexico Executive Director Heather Ferguson said Wednesday that the incidents...

HOUSTON — A man accused of fatally shooting a Houston police officer during a domestic disturbance call is facing both state and federal charges and could face the death penalty, authorities announced on Wednesday. In state court, Elmer Manzano is facing a capital murder charge for the death of 65-year-old...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California appeals court has ordered state corrections officials to cut the population of one of the world’s most famous prisons to less than half of its designed capacity, citing officials’ “deliberate indifference” to the plight of inmates during the coronavirus pandemic. State prison officials said Wednesday...

OKLAHOMA CITY — At least 10 bodies were found Wednesday in an unmarked mass grave at a Tulsa cemetery where investigators are searching for the remains of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Oklahoma’s state archaeologist said. “What we were finding was an indication that we were inside a...

James Randi, a magician who later challenged spoon benders, mind readers and faith healers with such voracity that he became regarded as the country’s foremost skeptic, has died, his foundation announced. He was 92. The James Randi Educational Foundation confirmed the death, saying simply that its founder succumbed to “age-related...

LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer warned Wednesday that Michigan on average has more confirmed daily cases of the coronavirus than ever, noting a sharp increase since the state Supreme Court invalidated her sweeping orders earlier this month. The number of covid-19 cases had been gradually rising for months prior...

TBILISI, Georgia — Police in the ex-Soviet nation of Georgia said 43 people were freed after an armed assailant took them hostage in a bank Wednesday, an announcement that came shortly after local media reported the gunman escaped and remained at large still holding three hostages. An armed man took...

WASHINGTON — The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against Google on Tuesday marks the first major antitrust enforcement case against a technology company since a case against Microsoft began in 1998 and ended in a settlement with the government in 2002. The Justice Department is accusing Google of using...

DUBLIN — Ireland is already focused on Christmas. It’s a major national priority. Unless the country can get the COVID-19 pandemic under control, there won’t be much Christmas cheer this year in Galway, Cork or Dublin. With infections on the rise, the government has imposed a tough new lockdown that...

BALTIMORE — A Maryland man was charged Wednesday with making death threats against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and running mate U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris in a letter left on the doorstep of a neighbor who had yard signs supporting the candidates. James Dale Reed, 42, of Frederick, told investigators...

BRUSSELS — The British government and the European Union will resume stalled trade negotiations in London, the U.K. government said — days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared the talks over. Johnson declared the talks at an end last week, accusing the bloc of expecting Britain to make all the...

HOUSTON — Three people were killed in a shooting at a Houston nightclub where about 30 people had gathered for an open mic night and authorities were searching early Wednesday for suspects, police said. Police had been called to the DD Sky Club at about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday on reports...