U.S./World category, Page 860
New York Times covid-19 star writer is out following reports he used slur
NEW YORK — Donald G. McNeil Jr., The New York Times science reporter whose fame grew during the covid-19 pandemic, is stepping down following allegations that he used the N-word during a company-sponsored student trip to Peru in 2019. “We do not tolerate racist language regardless of intent,” Executive Editor...
Ghislaine Maxwell attacks Justice Department, Epstein’s victims and their lawyers
NEW YORK — Ghislaine Maxwell has unleashed a sprawling attack on her criminal case, slamming the Justice Department, victims, their lawyers and the media. The British socialite filed seven motions late Thursday seeking to dismiss her indictment for grooming victims of Jeffrey Epstein in the mid-1990s and lying under oath....
Tiny chameleon a contender for title of smallest reptile
It fits on a human fingertip, but this chameleon could make a big splash. Scientists from Madagascar and Germany say a newly discovered species of chameleon is a contender for the title of world’s smallest reptile. Frank Glaw, who was part of the international team of researchers that classified the...
Kyle Rittenhouse fires attorney who helped raise his bail
MADISON, Wis. — An 18-year-old from Illinois who’s accused of killing two people and wounding a third during a police brutality protest in Wisconsin last summer fired a California attorney who had been soliciting money for his case. John Pierce, a Los Angeles lawyer, had been at the forefront of...
Jamaica faces marijuana shortage as farmers struggle
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica is running low on ganja. Heavy rains followed by an extended drought, an increase in local consumption and a drop in the number of marijuana farmers have caused a shortage in the island’s famed but largely illegal market that experts say is the worst they’ve seen....
Moscow’s jails overwhelmed with detained Navalny protesters
MOSCOW — The video, shot by a man detained in a Moscow protest, shows a group of people jammed into a police minibus. One of them says on the recording that they had already been held there for nine hours, with some forced to stand because of overcrowding and no...
Biden dogs to make appearance during Puppy BowlVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s dogs will make an appearance during the Puppy Bowl this weekend. The two German Shepherds, Champ and Major, will appear alongside first lady Jill Biden in a public service announcement focused on mask-wearing set to air during Puppy Bowl XVII. The event, which features a...
Police: 3 officers shot by suspect who is barricaded in home
HIGH POINT, N.C. — Authorities in North Carolina say that three police officers have been shot and wounded by a suspect who is now barricaded in a home in the town of High Point. WGHP reports that the standoff began at 11:15 p.m. Thursday. High Point police Lt. Matt Truitt...
Homeless woman says she was trapped in van for 5 days by plowed snow
A homeless woman was finally rescued from her van Thursday morning in Newark, N.J., after being trapped inside by snowplows for five days, she told News 12 Jersey. “When I woke up around 11 o’clock or 12 o’clock at night, I saw I was plowed in and snow everywhere,” the...
Resistance to coup grows despite Myanmar’s block of Facebook
YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s new military government blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday’s coup surged amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected government and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Facebook is how most people access the internet in Myanmar and the company...
New Mexico State Police say officer shot, killed on highway
DEMING, N.M. — A New Mexico State Police officer was fatally shot on a highway Thursday and authorities chased the attacker, killing him in a shootout, officials said. State Police said one of its officers was shot in Luna County between Las Cruces and Deming in a confrontation along Interstate...
Johnson & Johnson asks U.S. regulators to OK its one-shot covid-19 vaccine
Johnson & Johnson asked U.S. regulators Thursday to clear the world’s first single-dose covid-19 vaccine, an easier-to-use option that could boost scarce supplies. J&J’s vaccine was safe and offered strong protection against moderate to severe covid-19, according to preliminary results from a massive international study. It didn’t appear quite as...
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez seek climate emergency declaration from Biden
WASHINGTON — With Democrats in charge of Congress and the White House, progressive lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are pushing the Biden administration to act ever more aggressively on climate change. A week after President Joe Biden signed executive orders intended to combat the worst effects...
Anti-vaccine rabbi dismissed by Jewish organization
BOSTON — A prominent Jewish organization is cutting ties with a longtime Massachusetts rabbi for his anti-vaccine views and strident opposition to public health efforts to rein in the coronavirus pandemic. Central Massachusetts Chabad said Thursday it dismissed Rabbi Michoel Green as a representative of the organization, which oversees Jewish...
Biden delays Trump rule that weakened wild bird protections
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration said Thursday it was delaying a rule finalized in former President Donald Trump’s last days in office that would have drastically weakened the government’s power to enforce a century-old law protecting most wild birds. U.S. wildlife officials have said the rule could mean more...
Adviser: Trump won’t testify in Senate impeachment trial
WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Thursday asked Donald Trump to testify under oath for his Senate impeachment trial, challenging the former president to respond to their charge that he incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol. In a response, a Trump adviser said Trump won’t testify. The request in...
Voting company launches $2.7B lawsuit against Fox, Giuliani, others over election fraud claims
MIAMI — A voting technology company is suing Fox News, three of its hosts and two former lawyers for former President Donald Trump — Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell — for $2.7 billion, charging that the defendants conspired to spread false claims that the company helped “steal” the U.S. presidential...
Biden to end U.S. support for Saudi-led offensive in Yemen
President Joe Biden will announce an end Thursday to U.S. support for a grinding five-year Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen that has deepened humanitarian suffering in the Arabian peninsula’s poorest country, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. The move would fulfill a campaign pledge by Biden, whose administration plans to...
Biden to freeze withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will freeze Donald Trump’s planned withdrawal of some U.S. troops stationed in Germany, the White House said Thursday. The announcement, from White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, came ahead of Biden’s visit to the State Department. The White House also said the U.S. would...
Kremlin: Thousands of arrests at Russian protests necessary response
MOSCOW — The Kremlin strongly rebuffed Western criticism Thursday and described the thousands of arrests at protests against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny as a necessary response to the unsanctioned rallies. Many of the people arrested spent long hours on police buses and were held in overcrowded jail...
Not child’s play: Chucky doll featured in errant Amber Alert
SAN ANTONIO — Rest assured, “Chucky” is not on the loose. The Texas Department of Public Safety has apologized after mistakenly issuing an Amber Alert that said the killer doll featured in the 1988 horror film “Child’s Play” was a suspect in the kidnapping of his 5-year-old son, Glen Ray,...
Sitting over $10 billion, Roman Catholic dioceses amassed taxpayer aid during pandemic
When the coronavirus forced churches to close their doors and give up Sunday collections, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte turned to the federal government’s signature small business relief program for more than $8 million. The diocese’s headquarters, churches and schools landed the help even though they had roughly $100...
Oklahoma man charged in shooting deaths of 5 kids, brotherVideo
MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A 25-year-old Oklahoma man was charged with murder Wednesday in the killings of his brother and five young children, police said. Jarron Deajon Pridgeon of Muskogee was charged with six counts of first-degree murder, shooting with intent to kill and possession of firearms during probation, court records...
Ohio police officer charged with murder in Andre Hill death
COLUMBUS — A white Ohio police officer was indicted Wednesday on a murder charge in the latest fallout following the December shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, a Black man, the state’s attorney general said. Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury following an...
Guilty plea after $38 million in government contracts for masks go unfilled
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A northern Virginia businessman who was awarded $38 million in federal contracts to provide high-quality masks during the coronavirus pandemic that he never possessed pleaded guilty Wednesday to fraud and making false statements. Robert Stewart, 35, of Arlington, was owner of a company called Federal Government Experts...
