WorldDec 30, 2021
Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse case
The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been convicted of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein. The verdict announced Wednesday capped a monthlong trial featuring accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14. Jurors deliberated for five full days before finding Maxwell guilty of every count except one. She faces years in prison. It's an end long sought by women who spent years fighting to hold Maxwell accountable for abusing them. Her lawyers said she's being used as a scapegoat for crimes committed by Epstein, who killed himself in 2
WorldDec 29, 2021
Police: Gunman in Denver who killed 5 targeted some victims
Authorities say a gunman who went on a deadly shooting rampage in several locations in the Denver area was targeting at least some of his victims. Police say the suspect in Monday's shootings killed five people, including one who succumbed to her injuries Tuesday. They say the suspect wounded an officer who then shot and killed the gunman in a shopping area in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. Police identified the gunman Tuesday as 47 year old Lyndon James McLeod. They say McLeod was on the radar of law enforcement and that he knew some of his victims. Police declined to say what he'd been inve
WorldDec 28, 2021
US shortens COVID-19 isolation to five days
US health officials are tweaking isolation restrictions for asymptomatic Americans who test positive for the coronavirus. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday announced that people with the virus can leave isolation after five days, down from 10 days. People exposed to the virus can also leave quarantine after five days. Officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence the coronavirus is most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptom onset.
WorldDec 23, 2021
Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright's death
A white suburban Minneapolis police officer has been found guilty of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright, a Black man. Kim Potter said she meant to use her Taser to try to stop the 20 year old Wright from fleeing during an April 11 traffic stop but accidentally grabbed her gun instead. She was convicted on both counts Thursday. First-degree manslaughter requires prosecutors to prove that she acted recklessly, while second-degree manslaughter requires them to establish that she acted with culpable negligence.
WorldDec 22, 2021
Pfizer pill authorized by U.S. to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19
The US has authorized a Pfizer pill that can be taken at home to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration announcement comes as America braces for a wave of new infections from the Omicron variant that is threatening already-strained hospitals. Pfizer's prescription pill is the first U-S medication that doesn't require an injection or an I-V. The drug was authorized for high-risk patients who are most likely to get severe illness.
WorldDec 22, 2021
Madagascar's police chief swims to shore after copter crash
Madagascar's police minister and an air force mechanic succeeded in swimming for 12 hours to safety after their helicopter crashed in the Indian Ocean. Officials said Gen. Serge Gelle, 57, the Secretary of State for the Gendarmerie, was discovered in the water by a fisherman in a canoe who brought him to shore. Another passenger, Chief Warrant Officer Jimmy Laitsara, also swam to the beach at Mahambo. Gelle described his swim to safety in a short video posted to Twitter by Madagascar's defense ministry. Gelle appeared on a lounge chair, still in his military camouflage, his hands pale and wri
WorldDec 11, 2021
55 dead after truck smuggling migrants crashes in Mexico
Rescue workers arriving at a road accident in southern Mexico found a truck jammed with as many as 200 migrants crashed into the base of a steel pedestrian bridge, killing 55 and injuring dozens. The migrants inside the tractor trailer were tossed and crushed in a pile of both the living and the dead. In addition to the 55 killed Thursday evening, at least 52 were injured. It was one of the deadliest days for migrants in Mexico since the 2010 massacre of 72 people by the Zetas drug cartel in the northern state of Tamaulipas. First-arriving rescuers said some people who had been on the truck h
WorldDec 08, 2021
Blackhawks forward Khaira released from hospital after Trouba hit
Chicago Blackhawks forward Jujhar Khaira spent the night in a hospital after he was leveled by Jacob Trouba during a 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers. Team physician Michael Terry said Khaira was released Wednesday morning after undergoing ``extensive testing.'' ``Despite the significant injury, his prognosis is excellent, and we expect a full recovery,'' Terry said in a news release. ``At this point, it is too early to put a timeline on return to play.'' Khaira's head was down as he gathered the puck in 6:10 into the second period Tuesday night. He looked up right as Trouba appeared to drive
WorldDec 06, 2021
US plans diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics
The White House says the U.S. will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest Chinese human rights abuses. It's a move China has vowed to greet with ``firm countermeasures.'' White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that U.S. athletes will continue to compete and will ``have our full support.'' The administration, however, won't dispatch U.S. dignitaries to attend the games. Psaki says the U.S. has a ''fundamental commitment to promoting human rights" and says the U.S. ``will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games.''