Month: January 2022

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thieves have been raiding cargo containers aboard trains nearing downtown Los Angeles for months, leaving the tracks blanketed with discarded packages. CBSLA reported Thursday that the sea of debris left behind included items that the thieves apparently didn’t think were valuable enough to take. While CBSLA cameras were on the scene,

By ELENA BECATOROS and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — French presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse has stressed the need for strong European borders, during a speech in Athens. She spoke Friday at the start of a two-day visit to Greece that will also see her visiting a camp for asylum seekers on an

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Martin Shkreli to return $64.6 million in profits reaped from inflating the price of a lifesaving drug and barred him from the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life. The ruling Friday by a federal judge

By DÉBORA ÁLVARES Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil has begun giving COVID-19 vaccines to children, marking the start of an effort that was delayed several weeks by the federal government’s reluctance to endorse shots for kids. The first 15 doses were given at a ceremony Friday in Sao Paulo. The country’s health regulator

ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — A military inquiry has found that an air force helicopter crash that killed India’s military chief and 13 other people was caused by an unexpected change in weather that disoriented the pilot. The court’s preliminary finding released Friday said the pilot was flying through a valley when

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says the federal website where Americans can request free COVID-19 tests will begin accepting orders on Wednesday. The announcement on Friday comes as the administration looks to address nationwide shortages, but supplies will be limited to just four free tests per home. Americans shouldn’t

By TRAVIS LOLLER Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The omicron variant is sickening so many sanitation workers around the U.S. that some cities have had to delay or suspend garbage and recycling pickup, angering residents shocked that governments can’t perform this most basic of functions. The slowdowns have caused recycling bins full of Christmas

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Outgoing Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is leaving a progressive legacy behind when he steps down Saturday after eight years. Herring started in 2014 by reversing the state’s legal opposition to gay marriage. He wrapped up his term this week by overturning racist legal opinions

CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois judge could be facing discipline after he mocked an attorney in comments that he apparently did not realize were being broadcast live on YouTube. Cook County Judge William Raines made the comments about attorney Jennifer Bonjean after she appeared before him during a court call. Bonjean is a New York-based

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota legislative committee has approved a bill championed by Gov. Kristi Noem to ban transgender women and girls from participating in school sports leagues that match their gender identity. The Republican governor has aggressively pushed the bill this year. It received approval in the

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix’s docuseries “Cheer” is back for a second season, picking up where season one left off. The cheer squad at Navarro Community College in Corsicana, Texas, is coming off a NCA National Championships win and riding high from the popularity of the TV series. Then COVID-19

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press LITCHFIELD, Conn. (AP) — A symbol of support for U.S. troops is now the centerpiece of a contentious free-speech debate in the small Connecticut town of Litchfield. Yellow ribbons had adorned trees on the Litchfield Town Green since the 2003 start of the war in Iraq. But the five remaining

PRAGUE (AP) — The new Czech government will allow some workers who have tested positive for the coronavirus to stay on the job, in an extraordinary measure to ease possible staff shortages caused by an anticipated surge of the omicron variant. Health Minister Vlastimil Valek said Friday the measure, which was also used during the

HOUSTON (AP) — A judge has found no probable cause to support a charge a Houston mother faces after being accused of placing her 13-year-old son in the trunk of her car in an attempt to isolate him after he tested positive for COVID-19. The 41-year-old mother had been charged by prosecutors with endangering a

By MICHAEL PHILLIS and SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Biden administration is moving to tighten oversight of projects that benefitted from Trump-era loosened water protections. However, some projects including a controversial Georgia mine will likely be able to escape new scrutiny. It’s the latest twist in a long-running dispute over the

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Sixteen years after their legal battle began, about 18,000 homeowners in central Florida will be paid more than $42 million collectively by Florida’s agriculture agency for destroying their citrus trees during a state effort to eradicate a harmful citrus disease. The homeowners in Orange County will

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press Authorities say a Rhode Island man believed to have fled the U.S. and faked his death to evade prosecution for rape and financial fraud has been apprehended in Scotland after being hospitalized with COVID-19. Authorities in Utah and Rhode Island say Nicholas Alahverdian was discovered after developing a serious case

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors are recommending dropping charges against a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who was accused last year of hiding work he did for the Chinese government while also collecting U.S. dollars for his nanotechnology research. That’s according to a person familiar with the decision who spoke

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected a new map of the state’s 15 congressional districts as gerrymandered, sending the blueprint back for another try. The 4-3 decision Friday returns the process to the Ohio General Assembly and the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which have a combined

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s foreign minister has expressed optimism that there is a “deal to be done” to resolve a Northern Ireland trade dispute that has soured the U.K.’s relations with the European Union. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss struck an upbeat tone Friday after her first set of talks with

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military says militants attacked an army post in a former militant stronghold in the country’s northwest, bordering Afghanistan, triggering a shootout that killed a soldier. The army says Friday’s predawn attack took place in Bannu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It said troops returned fire. Pakistani Taliban on Twitter claimed

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden will hold a news conference on Wednesday, the eve of the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. The news conference comes as Biden is attempting to salvage his voting rights initiative and economic agenda, both of which lack the votes to move forward in

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal judge has declined to temporarily halt the executions of two Oklahoma inmates who are scheduled to die in the coming weeks. In an order released Friday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot in Oklahoma City wrote that inmates Donald Grant and Gilbert Postelle were not

By ROB HARRIS AP Sports Writer Three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray has rejected lucrative approaches to play exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia due to human rights concerns. The revelation on Friday came from Murray’s agent in the week when the Spanish Football Federation has faced criticism from human rights activists for taking its Super