U.S./World category, Page 960
Judge won’t silence anyone in Epstein-related prosecution
NEW YORK — The judge presiding over the criminal sex abuse case against Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, refused Thursday to ban prosecutors or lawyers for alleged victims from commenting publicly. U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan said in a written order that she expects anyone involved in the case...
Judge orders Michael Cohen released from prison after DOJ ‘retaliation’ over his Trump bookVideo
NEW YORK — A Manhattan federal judge ordered Thursday that Michael Cohen must be released from prison because the Department of Justice threw him back behind bars in an act of “retaliation” over his forthcoming tell-all book about President Donald Trump. In a virtual court hearing, Judge Alvin Hellerstein said...
Wildfire in Greece rages for 2nd day, more homes evacuated
ATHENS, Greece — Firefighters and water-dropping aircraft were fighting for a second day Thursday to contain a large wildfire in southern Greece that forced evacuations and a night-long battle to save homes. The Fire Service said the blaze to the east of the southern town of Corinth was in full...
Chief U.K. negotiator says ‘gaps’ remain in Brexit talksVideo
LONDON — Negotiators working to establish new trade relations between Britain and the European Union admitted Thursday there was a long way to go despite progress being made in the complex talks. In comments delivered at the end of the latest round of talks, Chief U.K. negotiator David Frost said...
White House drops payroll tax cut as GOP unveils virus aid
WASHINGTON — The White House has dropped a bid to cut Social Security payroll taxes as Republicans unveil a $1 trillion covid-19 rescue package on Thursday, ceding to opposition to the idea among top Senate allies. “It won’t be in the base bill,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking on...
China cites ‘malicious slander’ as Houston consulate closes
BEIJING — China said Thursday that “malicious slander” is behind an order by the U.S. government to close its consulate in Houston, Texas, maintaining that its officials never operated outside ordinary diplomatic rules. Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the move against the consulate, the first one China opened in...
Saudi king, 84, undergoes surgery to remove gallbladder
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman underwent a successful surgery that removed his gallbladder, the kingdom said Thursday, just days after being admitted to the hospital over an inflammation of the organ. Surgeons at Riyadh’s King Faisal Specialist Hospital operated on the king, the state-run Saudi Press...
1.4 million seek jobless aid, first increase since MarchVideo
WASHINGTON — The number of laid-off Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time since the pandemic struck in March, evidence of the deepening economic pain the outbreak is causing to the economy. The rise in weekly jobless claims to 1.4 million underscores the outsize role the...
German court convicts former concentration camp guard, 93
BERLIN — A German court on Thursday convicted a 93-year-old former SS private of being an accessory to murder at the Stutthof concentration camp, where he served as a guard in the final months of World War II. He was given a two-year suspended sentence. Bruno Dey was convicted of...
South Africa sees ‘huge discrepancy’ in virus, total deaths
JOHANNESBURG — The South African Medical Research Council is reporting a “huge discrepancy” between the country’s confirmed covid-19 deaths and the number of excess deaths from natural causes, while Africa’s top health official says the virus is spreading there “like wildfire.” The new report, which came out late Wednesday, shows...
Reports: White House complex cafeteria worker tests positive for covid-19
A cafeteria worker in the White House complex that caters to President Trump’s staffers has tested positive for the coronavirus, but the risk of transmission is considered to be low, according to multiple reports. The eatery is in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, according to NBC News. A report from...
Officials: Fort Hood soldier believed to have drowned
BELTON, Texas — Authorities said Wednesday that a Fort Hood soldier found dead last week near the Texas Army base where he was stationed is believed to have drowned, according to the Bell County Sheriff’s Department. A preliminary autopsy shows the cause of death of Pvt. Mejhor Morta, 26, to...
FBI links killing of California lawyer to suspect in deadly attack on New Jersey judge’s familyVideo
LOS ANGELES — Federal investigators have unspecified evidence linking the killing of a men’s rights lawyer in California to the suspect in the ambush shooting of a federal judge’s family in New Jersey, authorities said Wednesday. The evidence allegedly connects Roy Den Hollander, another men’s rights attorney who was found...
Ex-officer charged in George Floyd’s death faces tax evasion counts
MINNEAPOLIS — The former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd was charged Wednesday with multiple felony counts of tax evasion. Derek Chauvin and his wife, Kellie May Chauvin, were each charged in Washington County with six counts of filing false or fraudulent tax returns...
Florida sheriff: 2 brothers, girlfriend arrested in triple homicide
FROSTPROOF, Fla. — Two brothers and a woman have been arrested in connection with the “massacre” of three best friends who set out on a fishing trip at a central Florida lake last week, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Wednesday. One of the suspects, Tony “TJ” Wiggins, 26, had...
Trump deploys more federal agents under ‘law-and-order’ pushVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will send federal agents to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to help combat rising crime, expanding the administration’s intervention into local enforcement as he runs for reelection under a “law-and-order” mantle. Using the same alarmist language he has employed to describe...
Winner of $10M lottery prize in 2017 charged with murder
SHALLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina man who won a $10 million lottery prize in 2017 has been arrested on a murder charge in the death of a woman whose body was found at a hotel. The Shallotte Police Department charged Michael Todd Hill, 52, of Leland, with murder after...
AP-NORC poll: Very few Americans back full school reopeningVideo
BOSTON — Virtual instruction. Mandated masks. Physical distancing. The start of school will look very different this year because of the coronavirus — and that’s OK with the vast majority of Americans. Only about 1 in 10 Americans think daycare centers, preschools or K-12 schools should open this fall without...
World virus cases top 15M; U.S. labs buckle amid testing surge
WASHINGTON — Laboratories across the country are buckling under a surge of coronavirus tests, creating long processing delays that experts say are actually undercutting the pandemic response. With the U.S. tally of infections at 3.9 million Wednesday and new cases surging, the bottlenecks are creating problems for workers kept off...
U.S. signs contract with Pfizer for covid-19 vaccine doses
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will pay Pfizer nearly $2 billion for a December delivery of 100 million doses of a covid-19 vaccine the pharmaceutical company is developing, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Wednesday. The United States could buy another 500 million doses under the agreement, Azar...
U.S. wildlife agency rejects protections for rare fish species
BILLINGS, Mont. — U.S. wildlife officials on Wednesday rejected special protections for a rare, freshwater fish related to salmon that’s been at the center of a long-running legal dispute, citing conservation efforts that helped increase Arctic grayling numbers in a Montana river. The Associated Press obtained details of the decision...
Police in riot gear clear NYC’s ‘Occupy City Hall’ campVideo
NEW YORK — Police in riot gear moved in early Wednesday to clear a month-long encampment of protesters and homeless people from a park near New York’s City Hall. A line of officers with helmets and shields entered City Hall Park shortly before 4 a.m. and forced the remaining people...
Grab the mustard and onions — it’s National Hot Dog Day
Although the hot dog doesn’t always get a lot of respect, Americans eat an estimated 20 billion of them every year. That’s roughly 70 per person. That’s enough to get the lowly tube steak some formal recognition — July 22 is National Hot Dog Day. If you find yourself passing...
U.S. orders China to close its consulate in HoustonVideo
BEIJING — The United States said Wednesday that it has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston “to protect American intellectual property” and the private information of Americans. China strongly condemned the move, the latest in a series of steps by the Trump administration as it ratchets up pressure...
‘Very frightening’: Opposition grows to U.S. agents in cities
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Trump administration is facing growing pushback — in the courts and on the streets — to sending federal agents to Portland, Oregon, where protests have spiraled into violence, and vowing to do the same in other Democratic-led cities. Far from tamping down the unrest that followed...
