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A group of hippos - an unwanted legacy following the death of notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar - are being sterilised. Escobar, who was shot dead by police in 1993, illegally imported exotic animals, including a male and a female hippo - dubbed the "cocaine hippos". Since then, a growing population has been taking over the countryside near his former ranch, Hacienda Nápoles. The Colombian government has so far sterilised 24 of more than 80 animals. They have been treated with a chemical that will make them infertile. Colombian environmentalists say the hippos, believed to be the biggest herd...

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — On the arrival of National Fossil Day, the giant beaver is the winning candidate to become Minnesota’s official state fossil. The beaver beat out nine candidates and will go on to face the legislative process to become the state fossil. More than 11,000 people voted, and 25% of them voted for the giant beaver.

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating an altercation Wednesday in Venice involving a group of homeless people and supporters of Larry Elder, Republican candidate for governor. No charges have yet been filed, but the department’s Robbery-Homicide Division is looking into the incident, according to LAPD Officer Lizeth Lomeli. Lomeli said the case had been assigned to that unit “because it’s high profile.”

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Milwaukee City Council member Chantia Lewis, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, was charged Tuesday with a series of campaign finance violations for allegedly using donations and improper travel reimbursements on more than $21,000 in car payments, family trips, a worship conference and other personal expenses. The four felonies and one misdemeanor were filed by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office. Lewis was first elected to the Milwaukee City Council in 2016 and announced her candidacy for Senate in July. She is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 29. Lewis has made no immediate comment...

Herschel Walker, a college football legend in the state of Georgia, has filed paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) in the 2022 midterm elections. Walker, a close confidant of former president Donald Trump, filed the paperwork Tuesday afternoon after registering to vote in Georgia earlier this month. A resident of Texas, Walker will return to his home state to establish residency in preparation for the 15-month campaign. When he arrives, Walker will instantly become the most recognizable Republican seeking Warnock's seat. Walker led Georgia to its most recent national championship, in...

The Biden administration is buying 500 million doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine to donate to the world, as the United States dramatically increases its efforts to help vaccinate the global population, according to three people familiar with the plans. The first 200 doses will be distributed this year, with the subsequent 300 million shared in the first half of next year. The doses will be distributed by Covax, the World Health Organization-backed initiative to share doses around the globe, and they will be targeted at low- and middle-income countries. Pfizer is selling the doses to the U.S. at a "not-for-profit"...

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged people to refrain from kissing live poultry amid an outbreak of salmonella. The CDC and public health officials are investigating salmonella outbreaks after 163 people were reported ill in 43 states. The infections have been linked to contact with backyard poultry. "Don't kiss or snuggle the birds, as this can spread germs to your mouth and make you sick," the health agency said. It warned that poultry, like chicken and ducks, can carry salmonella germs even if they look healthy and clean, and these germs can easily spread in...

The Florida Surf Museum in Cocoa Beach put it this way Sunday on its Facebook page, where Jack Roland Murphy had published so many recollections from his fabled surfing days: “Jack ‘Murf the Surf’ Murphy — surfing pioneer, jewel thief, convicted murderer, who spent the rest of his life ministering the word of Jesus in prisons across the world — has passed away. We will post more details when we get them ...” Murphy was 83. He and his wife had been living in the Citrus County community of Crystal River.

Michelle Obama has revealed she is suffering from “low-grade depression” due to worries over the coronavirus pandemic, racial injustice and the Trump administration. The former First Lady, 56, made the remarks in the latest episode of The Michelle Obama Podcast released on Spotify on Wednesday. Mrs Obama said she has been struggling with her exercise routine and sleep. “I’m waking up in the middle of the night because I’m worrying about something or there’s a heaviness,” she admitted. “I try to make sure I get a workout in, although there have been periods throughout this quarantine where I just have...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As then-Vice President Joe Biden left the West Wing each evening to head home, he often popped his head into national security adviser Susan Rice’s nearby suite of offices to check in — sometimes on pressing foreign policy matters, sometimes just to shoot the breeze. “My favorite unannounced visitor was Vice President Joe Biden,” Rice wrote in her book “Tough Love.” In those casual visits, as well as in daily national security briefings, Biden and Rice forged an easy working relationship, according to people who worked alongside them during their eight years in the Obama administration. It’s...

Oriel College in Oxford has announced that it wants to take down the controversial statue of Cecil Rhodes. The governors of the Oxford University college voted on Wednesday to remove the statue of the colonialist. Campaigners have called for the statue to be taken down - saying it was a symbol of imperialism and racism. The removal is not expected to be immediate - as the college says there will need to be consultations over planning regulations. The Rhodes Must Fall campaigners said the announcement was "hopeful", but warned they would remain cautious until the college had actually carried out...

Bulgarian-born artist Christo, best known for wrapping buildings and famous landmarks in fabric or plastic, has died at his home in New York, aged 84. He passed away of natural causes on Sunday, according to a statement posted on the artist's official Facebook page. Christo, who always worked with his wife Jeanne-Claude, famously covered the Reichstag in Berlin and the Pont-Neuf in Paris with reams of cloth. His artworks "brought people together" around the world, the statement says. "Christo lived his life to the fullest, not only dreaming up what seemed impossible, but realising it," it reads, adding that the...

Dolores Park got a polka-dot makeover on Wednesday morning courtesy of the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department. To aid social distancing as the summer beckons and the region moves into Stage 2 of Gov. Newsom's statewide reopening plan, white chalk circles were painted across the popular two-block park on the western edge of the city's Mission District. The social-distance guidance circles, around six feet in diameter, are designed to help park-goers know when they are getting a little too cozy amid the coronavirus pandemic, and San Franciscans largely welcomed the addition Wednesday afternoon.

The Swedish city of Lund is to spread chicken manure in its central park in an effort to deter crowds gathering for a festival. Tens of thousands of people usually descend on southern city to celebrate Walpurgis Night, which is marked across Scandinavia. But officials want to keep people away because of the coronavirus outbreak. There is no lockdown in Sweden, where data show most people have taken to voluntary social distancing. "Lund could very well become an epicentre for the spread of the coronavirus on the last night in April," the chairman of the local council's environment committee, Gustav...

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the Tokyo Olympic Games will go ahead as planned in July, despite coronavirus concerns resulting in the postponement of sporting events. Abe added the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would have the final decision whether Tokyo 2020 goes ahead. "We will overcome the spread of the infection and host the Olympics without problem, as planned," Abe said. Japan has had more than 1,400 cases and 28 deaths resulting from coronavirus. The Tokyo Games is expected to cost about 1.35 trillion yen (£10.26bn) ..

Former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer announced Saturday night he was ending his campaign for the Democratic nomination after a disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary. “I said if I didn’t see a path to winning that I would suspend my campaign and honestly I don’t see a path where I can win the presidency,” said Steyer at an event in Columbia, adding that he would “of course” be supporting the eventual nominee because they’re all “a million times better than Trump.” “When the Lord closes a door, he opens a window,” continued Steyer, “I will find that window...

One Walt Disney World attraction just became a little too immersive for riders. Around midday on Thursday, one of the boats used in the classic Jungle Cruise ride at the Orlando theme park started sinking while filled with passengers. Witnesses documented the mishap on social media, showing guests still standing inside the boat as the murky water slowly rose around their legs. All those on board were safely rescued, but later images captured the vessel nearly completely submerged, its canopy roof still visible and what appears to be a lone park employee on board. “Our boat on the jungle cruise...

A Rice County Catholic priest apologized Wednesday for describing Islam as “the greatest threat in the world,” both to the United States and Christianity itself, in a recent sermon. “My homily on immigration contained words that were hurtful to Muslims,” the Rev. Nick VanDenBroeke said in a statement posted on the website of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “I’m sorry for this. I realize now that my comments were not fully reflective of the Catholic Church’s teaching on Islam.” Earlier Wednesday, a Muslim organization called on Minnesota Catholic leaders to repudiate the sermon. VanDenBroeke, pastor of the 100-year-old...

In one of his many campaign ads airing across California, presidential candidate Tom Steyer has touted the work of a nonprofit-owned bank he founded, portraying it as a counterweight to Wall Street corruption. But while the Oakland-based institution has a well-regarded record of making socially responsible investments, its auto loan program has left behind a long trail of defaults and lawsuits against low-income borrowers in the state, a Bay Area News Group review of financial and legal documents found. Beneficial State Bank — which Steyer co-founded with his wife, Kat Taylor, and served as board chairman until joining the presidential...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former California Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, Jr., an influential Democrat whose legislative work helped reshape America's health care system, has died. He was 88. Stark's family said he died Friday at his home in Maryland. They did not disclose a cause of death. During his 40-year career in Congress representing the East Bay, Stark helped craft the Affordable Care Act, the signature policy change of the Obama administration. He also created the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, the 1986 law best known as COBRA, which allows workers to stay on their employer's health insurance plan after...