U.S./World category, Page 848
Big winner in Minnesota snowplow contest: Plowy McPlowFace
MINNEAPOLIS — The next time it snows, the Minnesota Department of Transportation will dispatch Plowy McPlowFace to clear the roads. Darth Blader and Plow Bunyan will be out there, too. They are among the winning names in MnDOT’s “Name a Snowplow” contest in which the agency sought witty monikers for...
Official: Dems OK tighter income limits for covid relief
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Democrats agreed Wednesday to tighten the upper income limits at which people could qualify for stimulus checks, a Democratic official said, a major concession to moderates as party leaders prepared to move their $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill through the Senate. The covid-19 relief...
Putin seeks crackdown on those who push children to protest
MOSCOW — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday urged police to track down people who encourage children to join in unsanctioned demonstrations, a move that follows a wave of protests against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Speaking to top officials of the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police,...
Reports: Myanmar security forces shoot dead 8 protestersVideo
YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar security forces shot and killed at least eight people Wednesday, according to accounts on social media and local news reports, as authorities extended their lethal crackdown on protests against last month’s coup. Videos from various locations showed security forces firing slingshots at demonstrators, chasing them down...
Camilla says hospitalized Prince Philip is ‘slightly’ better
LONDON — Prince Philip is “slightly improving” and the royal family is keeping its fingers crossed for the hospitalized duke’s recovery, his daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, said Wednesday. Philip, 99, has been hospitalized since being admitted Feb. 16 to King Edward VII’s Hospital in London, where he was treated...
Abortion concerns prompt archdiocese warning on vaccine
NEW ORLEANS — Roman Catholic leaders in St. Louis and New Orleans are advising Catholics that the covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, newly approved for use in the U.S., is “morally compromised” because it is produced using a cell line derived from an aborted fetus. The New Orleans archdiocese...
‘Dr. Oz’ aids police in resuscitating man at Newark airport
NEWARK, N.J. — When a traveler became stricken at Newark Liberty International Airport, the police got an assist from a celebrity doctor: Mehmet Oz. The incident occurred late Monday night when Port Authority Officer Jeffrey Croissant saw the 60-year-old man fall to the floor near a baggage claim area. Croissant...
Strong earthquake shakes central Greece, felt in Balkans
ATHENS, Greece — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of up to 6.3 struck central Greece on Wednesday and was felt as far away as the capitals of neighboring Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Local officials reported some structural damage, mainly to...
U.S. forces: Rockets hit airbase in Iraq hosting U.S. troops
BAGHDAD — At least 10 rockets targeted a military base in western Iraq that hosts U.S.-led coalition troops on Wednesday, the coalition and the Iraqi military said. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties. The rockets struck Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province at 7:20 a.m., coalition...
As virus-era attacks on Asians rise, past victims look back
Nearly a year after they were almost stabbed to death inside a Midland, Texas, Sam’s Club, Bawi Cung and his two sons all have visible scars. It’s the unseen ones though that are harder to get over. Cung can’t walk through any store without constantly looking in all directions. His...
Intel told to pay $2.18 billion after losing Texas patent trial
Intel Corp. was told to pay VLSI Technology LLC $2.18 billion by a federal jury in Texas after losing a patent-infringement trial over technology related to chip-making, one of the largest patent-damages award in U.S. history. Intel pledged to appeal. Intel infringed two patents owned by closely held VLSI, the...
Attorneys say Joe Exotic of ‘Tiger King’ wants new trial
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Joe Exotic of “Tiger King” fame has found new attorneys who say they plan to file a motion for a new trial in a matter of months. Joe Exotic, whose real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in federal prison for violating...
Budget nominee Tanden withdraws nomination amid opposition
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, has withdrawn her nomination after she faced opposition from key Democratic and Republican senators for her controversial tweets. Her withdrawal marks the first high-profile defeat of one of Biden’s nominees. Eleven of the 23...
South Carolina Senate adds firing squad to execution methods
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina senators Tuesday added a firing squad to the electric chair as alternatives if the state can’t execute condemned inmates by way of lethal injection. The Senate then approved the bill on a key 32-11 vote with several Democrats joining Republicans in the proposal which would...
Biden vows enough vaccine for all U.S. adults by end of May
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adult Americans by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved...
FBI Director Christopher Wray calls riot at Capitol ‘domestic terrorism,’ warns movement is growing
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...
Gov. Whitmer: Michigan will loosen capacity limits for businesses
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...
Feds oppose release of Arizona man who wore horns in Capitol riot
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...
Texas becomes biggest state to lift covid-19 mask mandate
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...
Police: 13 killed when big rig hits SUV carrying 25 people in California
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...
CNN’s Chris Cuomo says he ‘obviously’ can’t cover allegations against brother, N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo
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,...
U.S. sets sanctions over Russia opposition leader’s poisoning
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 defends pope Iraq trip as act of love
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...
Vernon Jordan, activist, former Clinton adviser, has died
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...
6 Dr. Seuss books won’t be published for racist images
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...
