Month: October 2021

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — More than 4,000 people outraged over ongoing power outages in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico are marching to decry how the lack of electricity has affected their health, work and children’s schooling. Many of them demanded the ouster of Luma, a private company

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An elementary school teacher in South Carolina has surrendered on accusations of having marijuana edibles in a student prize box in her classroom. The 27-year-old female teacher from Lexington, South Carolina, turned herself in Friday and was being held on a drug possession charge. Authorities say another teacher at an after

By MATTHEW DALY and PADMANANDA RAMA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Indigenous groups and other environmental activists marched to the Capitol Friday as they continued a weeklong protest demanding that Congress and the Biden administration stop new fossil fuel projects and act with greater urgency on climate change. Nearly 80 people were arrested on the

By DÉBORA ÁLVARES Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s Vice-President Hamilton Mourão has said that a deployment of soldiers to the Amazon rainforest will end, just weeks before the global climate conference where the administration aims to show commitment to curbing illegal deforestation. Nearly 3,000 soldiers have been in the Amazon for just over

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Democrats are poised to approve new congressional district maps that would give Democratic candidates an advantage in elections over the next decade as the party fights to keep control of the U.S. House in 2022. Democrats who control state government released their proposed maps Friday, and

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s prime minister announced a series of steps on Friday for his country’s transition to democracy less than a month after a coup attempt rocked the country’s leadership. In a speech Friday Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok called the coup attempt  an ‘alarm bell’ that should awaken people to causes of the country’s

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A central California county executive is pledging immediate changes after a news report revealed that vulnerable children removed from their families were living in deplorable conditions inside a child welfare office building. The Fresno Bee reported this week that children were sleeping on conference tables, eating fast food and urinating into

Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has added the Pacific leatherback sea turtle to its endangered species list. The California Fish and Game Commission voted Thursday to add the turtles under the state’s Endangered Species Act. Leatherback sea turtles are the world’s largest turtle species and have been on the federal endangered species list

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials are setting the stage for a national COVID-19 vaccination campaign for younger children, inviting state officials to pre-order doses starting next week. In meetings scheduled in the next three weeks, federal officials plan to discuss making shots made by one manufacturer, Pfizer,

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Far from the White House, Donald Trump continues to circle the Republican Party. And still circling Trump is Rep. Adam Schiff. The Intelligence Committee chairman who led the first Trump impeachment and probed the former president’s ties to Russian election interference is now turning his attention

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida task force is recommending several changes in the state’s condominium laws to ensure the safety of aging structures in the wake of a building collapse that killed 98 people. The task force formed by the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge in Chicago has denied a last-ditch effort to dismiss a criminal case against actor Jussie Smollett. Smollett is accused of lying to police when he reported that two masked men attacked him in downtown Chicago in January 2019. Smollett’s lawyer argued that his rights were being violated since he had

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities have added two publishers to their list of foreign agents, in what critics say is an ongoing effort to sideline reporting critical of the government. Putting a media organization on the list requires it to identify its stories as produced by a foreign agent, a term that carries strong pejorative

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A prosecutor has ruled that a police officer who shot and paralyzed a man in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, in April acted legally because the target appeared to be chasing a deputy with a shotgun. Black Hawk County Attorney Brian  Williams says Waterloo police officer C.J. Nichols did not know that the

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — A military judge has issued a reprimand for a Marine lieutenant colonel and ordered him to forfeit $5,000 in pay for his criticism of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The decision Friday followed the guilty plea Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller entered during a special court-martial at Camp Lejeune in North

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press Police departments that are requiring officers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 are running up against pockets of resistance across the U.S. Police unions and officers are pushing back by filing lawsuits to block the mandates. In Chicago, the city mayor’s is going to court against the

By JIM SALTER Associated Press Three months after creation of a commission to identify cybersecurity risks in state government, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has yet to appoint any members. A state lawmaker said Friday that vulnerabilities exposed on a state website prove the need for just such a panel of experts. A St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s Constitutional Court says it will examine the legality of parliament’s decision to impeach the country’s figurehead president for alleged constitutional breaches. If the court upholds the decision then President Ilir Meta will be removed from office a year early. The court said Friday it would

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Amazon’s audiobook service Audible and phone apps for reading the holy books of Islam and Christianity have disappeared from the Apple store in mainland China. The steps are the latest examples of the impact of China’s tightened rules for internet firms. Audible said Friday that it removed its app

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas has banned most abortions since early September under a new law that has created the biggest curb to abortion in the U.S. in nearly 50 years. Texas clinics and the Biden administration have spent weeks asking courts to halt the the law. It bans

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A watercolor by Vincent van Gogh that was seized by the Nazis during World War II will be sold next month at auction in New York. The auction house Christie’s says the work is expected to sell for $20 million or more. Christie’s is auctioning  the