Month: December 2021

DULLES, Va. (AP) — Authorities say a passenger in a car driven by Washington Football Team safety Deshazor Everett was killed when the vehicle slammed into several trees and rolled over. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office says the passenger — 29-year-old Olivia S. Peters of Las Vegas — died at a hospital after Thursday night’s

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press Prosecutors say a North Carolina man awaiting trial on charges he assaulted two police officers during the Capitol riot had an assault rifle and ammunition in his vehicle when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving earlier this month. The Justice Department on Thursday asked a federal judge to

LAS VEGAS (AP) — An Uber driver is charged with raping a female passenger who police say fell asleep before waking up as she was attacked during a ride in metro Las Vegas. Clark County jail records say 30-year-old Dawed Oumer Mekonene was arrested Tuesday and remained in jail Friday pending a Thursday court hearing

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has celebrated Christmas Eve Mass before an estimated 2,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica. He went ahead with the service despite the resurgence in COVID-19 cases that prompted a new vaccine mandate for Vatican employees .A maskless Francis processed down the central aisle of the

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) — About 100 homes have been evacuated in the San Francisco Bay Area after a fuel tanker overturned and leaked gasoline. Photos from the scene in Fremont, California, on Friday show the tanker upside-down and appearing to have crashed into a wall along Interstate 680. The Fremont Fire Department says the freeway’s

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African Cabinet minister is urging the cancellation of an upcoming U.S. auction of a key to the Robben Island prison cell where Nelson Mandela, the country’s first Black president, was long jailed for his opposition to apartheid. The key is among Mandela memorabilia being sold

By ALEXANDER VERSHININ Associated Press ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Russia has doubled the purchases of natural gas from Turkmenistan this year amid rising global demand. Ambassador Alexander Blokhin said Friday that Russia this year stands to import about 10 billion cubic meters (353 billion cubic feet) of gas from Turkmenistan, nearly twice the amount imported

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Lawyers for defendants in a big Vatican financial trial are asking the Holy See newspaper to correct the record after it ran a front-page editorial this week largely defending the investigation and insisting that the rights of the defense were being respected. The letter to L’Osservatore Romano

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana State University museum official has received a unique retirement gift — researchers in Alabama and South Carolina named a prehistoric shark species after her. For 26 years, Suyin Ting has been collections manager for vertebrate paleontology at the LSU Museum of Natural Science. A news release from LSU

By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amid the surge of coronavirus cases across the U.S., numerous churches have canceled in-person Christmas services. Such moves are a huge disappoint to pastors and churchgoers who consider them an annual highlight. Other churches are planning outdoor services or proposed a hybrid of online and

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved an emergency order the mayor wants to tackle an opioid epidemic in its troubled Tenderloin district. The emergency order is part of Mayor London Breed’s plan to crack down on drug use and drug dealing in the neighborhood. The

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An author known as the father of Chicano literature has left behind a bilingual children’s tale after his 2020 death. The book from Rudolfo Anaya about Christmas in the American Southwest is being published posthumously this year, extending a cycle of illustrated children’s books with

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Republican victories last month in Virginia gave the GOP control of the governor’s mansion and House of Delegates. But in the state Senate, they still need to find at least one Democrat to join them if they want to enact Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin’s agenda. The slim

Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A COVID-19 outbreak has taken place on a South Florida-based cruise ship for the third time this week. At the same time, the number of coronavirus cases in Florida has hit its highest level since the start of the pandemic. Carnival said in a statement Friday that an undisclosed number

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Jan. 7 on whether the Biden administration can order that workers at private companies and health care employees be vaccinated for COVID-19. Until the court rules, millions of workers face a patchwork of requirements depending on where they live. For

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police say they have arrested one person after two men were shot and killed at a busy restaurant in Kentucky. The Louisville Metro Police Department says 21-year-old Karson Reitz was arrested and charged with murder in the shooting Thursday evening at the Roosters restaurant location on Preston Highway. Police say security

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Heavy rains in Bolivia this month have killed at least 12 people, flooded crops and damaged roads, according to authorities. Rainfall levels have surpassed records, and seven of Bolivia’s nine provinces have declared alerts for rain and flooding. The rainy season has just begun and it lasts until March. Most

ISTANBUL (AP) — Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is displaying mild symptoms. The Istanbul-based Patriarchate said Friday that Bartholomew, who is 81 and recently had heart surgery, is fully vaccinated. It added that “his general condition is good.” The Patriarch urged people to

By MICHAEL TARM AP Legal Affairs Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Defendants spoke directly to jurors in a series of recent high-profile trials, defying conventional wisdom that the risks of a client taking the stand usually outweigh the benefits. Among those who chose to testify this month was Kim Potter, convicted Thursday of manslaughter for killing

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are bringing Christmas Eve cheer to hospitalized children who aren’t well enough to go home for the holidays. It’s longstanding tradition for first ladies to visit Children’s National Hospital in Washington at Christmastime. But Joe Biden’s visit was a

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The doctor for a private Christian boarding school that has been the focus of an abuse investigation in Missouri has been charged with child sex crimes. The Kansas City Star reports that an arrest warrant was issued Thursday for 57-year-old David Earl Smock, the longtime physician for Agape Boarding School. Smock

By The Associated Press Christmas may be over, but a feast of movies and television shows arrive next week. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s critically acclaimed directorial debut, “The Lost Daughter,” arrives Friday on Netflix, while CBS is serving up its New Year’s Eve special with a twang with a special featuring country stars performing in Nashville. But

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Two New Hampshire brothers have gotten their holiday regifting skills down to an art by passing the same hard candy back and forth since 1987. It started when Ryan Wasson gave a 10-roll Frankford “Santa’s Candy Book” with assorted fruit flavors to his brother, Eric Wasson, as a joke for Christmas.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch court has imposed a four-year prison sentence on a 41-year-old man convicted of attempted murder for firing gunshots at the Saudi embassy in The Hague last year. Prosecutors said he was angry because the embassy had refused to grant him a visa to travel to Mecca. The man

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OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) — Police say a suspected gunman was among four people who were wounded during a shootout at a suburban Chicago shopping mall full of Christmas shoppers. Police said Friday that they were searching for the other man suspected of taking part in the shootout Thursday evening at the Oakbrook Center in