U.S./World category, Page 915
Illinois governor orders police patrols amid COVID spikes
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday that Illinois State Police will start patrolling bars and restaurants in regions of the state where coronavirus numbers are surging, and establishments that disregard his new restrictions could face sanctions including the loss of their liquor or gambling licenses. On another record-setting...
2nd Breonna Taylor grand juror criticizes proceedings
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A second person who served on the Breonna Taylor grand jury is criticizing Kentucky’s attorney general for the way the proceedings were conducted. The anonymous statement released Thursday reiterated another grand juror’s earlier publicized complaint that the panel was only able to consider endangerment charges against one...
Epstein ex Maxwell denied getting Prince Andrew sex partners
NEW YORK — Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend denied introducing Britain’s Prince Andrew to underage sex partners in a defensive and combative deposition made public Thursday, calling the prince’s accuser an “awful fantasist.” “Are we tallying all the lies?” Ghislaine Maxwell asked during the 2016 deposition, saying she could not recall taking...
Time magazine replaces logo on cover for 1st time in nearly 100 years
The cover of Time magazine’s double issue that hits newsstands Friday will bear an important message in lieu of its famed logo — marking its first absence from the cover in nearly 100 years. The giant letters at the top of the cover instead read: “VOTE.” Edward Felsenthal, Time’s editor...
Colorado wildfires drag on later than normal, break records
Orange skies, winds gusting up to 70 mph, smoke tornadoes and hazardous air. While it could be an apocalyptic scene out of a movie, it’s become the reality of Colorado’s wildfire season. The blazes have burned the second-most acreage since 2000 and included the state’s two largest on record. One...
French PM says 2nd virus wave is here, vastly extends curfew
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...
Self-driving shuttle debuts in high-traffic Virginia spot
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...
Trucker who drove through George Floyd protesters is charged
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,...
GOP to high court: Move up North Carolina absentee deadline
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...
Judge dismisses 1 charge against former cop in George Floyd’s death
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...
Power cut in parts of Northern California to prevent fires
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...
Santa Claus won’t be coming to Macy’s this year
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...
Poland’s top court rules out abortions for birth defects
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...
Plot thickens over origins of pope’s civil union endorsement
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...
U.S. jobless claims drop to 787,000, but layoffs remain high
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...
Taliban rockets kill 4 civilians in northern Afghanistan
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...
U.S. officials Pompeo, Esper to visit India for annual talks
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...
Police, autopsy reports reveal details about Dallas woman who died of covid-19 during flight
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...
Watchdog group cites interference at polls in Latino areas
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...
Man faces state, federal charges in death of Houston officer
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...
Court orders California to cut San Quentin inmates by half
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...
Remains found in search for 1921 Tulsa race massacre victims
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, dazzling magician and skeptic, dies at 92
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...
Whitmer: Michigan at ‘dangerous moment’ as virus cases spike
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...
Police: 43 bank hostages freed in ex-Soviet republic Georgia
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...
