Man held in NYC mall bomb hoax

NEW YORK -- A self-described American nationalist suspected of leaving a hoax explosive device in a car at a New York City mall is facing criminal charges after turning himself in to police, authorities said Tuesday. Louis Shenker, 22, will be charged with placing a false bomb, criminal possession of stolen property and abandonment of a disabled animal in connection with the episode Monday at the Queens Place Mall in Elmhurst, said detective Denise Moroney, a police spokesperson. The mall was evacuated around 7:30 a.m. Monday after a device that was made to look like an explosive was found in a black Tesla parked on a ramp in a parking garage. A dog -- a husky -- was also found in the vehicle, which had a Nevada license plate and had been reported stolen in that state. Shenker surrendered to officers around 3 a.m. Tuesday in Brooklyn. The Queens district attorney's office said that it was preparing paperwork on Shenker's charges and that he was expected to be arraigned later Tuesday. Being led from a police station in handcuffs, Shenker claimed that the suspicious device was actually a rig to charge the Tesla's dead battery. He mocked media coverage as "fake news" and derided reporters covering his arrest as "morons." "It was a Tesla car being charged," Shenker said. "… It was literally a car being charged because the battery died." Shenker, who has described himself on social media as a "patriot" and a supporter of President Donald Trump, was previously arrested Dec. 30 on suspicion of torching a poster attached to a police barricade in Manhattan.

Hack 'likely Russian in origin'

WASHINGTON -- Top national security agencies confirmed Tuesday that Russia was likely responsible for a massive hack of U.S. government departments and corporations, rejecting President Donald Trump's claim that China might be to blame. The rare joint statement represented the U.S. government's first formal attempt to assign responsibility for the breaches at multiple agencies and to assign a possible motive for the operation. It said the hacks appeared to be intended for "intelligence gathering," suggesting the evidence so far pointed to a Russian spying effort rather than an attempt to damage or disrupt U.S. government operations. The agencies made clear the operation was "ongoing" and indicated the hunt for new threats was not over. "This is a serious compromise that will require a sustained and dedicated effort to remediate," said the statement, distributed by the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Man fires, troopers shoot back

LIBERTY, Mo. -- A man fired several shots with an assault-style rifle at a suburban Kansas City headquarters for the Missouri State Highway Patrol before he was shot and wounded by troopers. The man, identified as Tayland Rahim, 27, of Kansas City, Missouri, was shot Monday night at Troop A headquarters in Lee's Summit. Investigators are trying to determine his motive, but he was there "to do some harm, no doubt about it," spokesman Sgt. Bill Lowe said. Rahim, who didn't have a criminal record in Missouri, was in stable condition Tuesday at a hospital. Lowe didn't release where on his body he was struck. No troopers or civilian employees inside the headquarters were injured. The patrol said employees inside the building heard gunshots and troopers who went to an exterior door saw a man with the rifle. The man approached the main entrance and filed several shots. He was shot after he did not comply with several orders from the troopers, Sgt. Andy Bell said. Earlier Tuesday, Lowe also credited a trooper who was outside the building when the man arrived with helping to alert those inside. A police bomb squad secured a suspicious package inside the suspect's vehicle, but it did not contain anything that would have harmed anyone, Bell said.

Grammy Awards shift to March

NEW YORK -- The 2021 Grammy Awards will no longer take place this month in Los Angeles and will broadcast in March due to a recent surge in coronavirus cases and deaths. The annual show would The Grammys will be held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center.

Weather systems get makeover

BERLIN -- Move over, Siegfried. Ahmet is on the way. A journalists' group named a low pressure system bringing frigid temperatures, dark clouds and snow to Germany on Tuesday the boy's name of Turkish origin in an effort to reflect the country's increasingly diverse population. Ahmet will be followed by low pressure systems with traditionally male Arabic, Kurdish and Greek names such as Cemal, Goran, Hakim and Dimitrios. The high pressure systems reaching Germany early this year will be called Bozena, Chana or Dragica, traditionally females names with Polish, Hebrew and South Slavic roots. In Germany, naming the systems that affect day-to-day weather changes isn't the sole province of meteorologists. Anyone can participate for a price: Naming a sunny high costs 360 euros ($442), while rainy lows cost only 240 euros ($295). To make the weather more cross-cultural, the New German Media Makers, an association representing journalists with diverse backgrounds, bought a bunch of lows and a few highs for the beginning of the new year, Ferda Ataman, the head of the group told The Associated Press. "So far, our weather had mostly typical German names only, even though some 26 percent of people in Germany have migrant roots," Ataman, whose parents immigrated from Turkey, said. The weather-naming project, which the group dubbed #WeatherCorrection, is a symbolic initiative demanding that Germany's diversity is better reflected across society.

Carters to miss inauguration

ATLANTA -- Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter will not attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. It marks the first time the couple, 96 and 93, will have missed the ceremonies since Carter was sworn in as the 39th president in 1977. A spokeswoman at The Carter Center in Atlanta said the Carters have sent Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris their "best wishes" and "look forward to a successful administration." Biden was a young Delaware senator and Carter ally during the Georgian's term in the White House. The Carters have spent the coronavirus pandemic mostly at their home in Plains, Georgia, where both were raised and where they returned after leaving the White House in 1981. Carter, a Democrat, became the longest-lived American president in March 2019, surpassing former President George H.W. Bush, who died the previous November. Carter survived a melanoma diagnosis that spread to his brain in 2015. He has since had several falls and hip replacement surgery. He no longer teaches Sunday School at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, as he had for decades, but still participates in church activities via video amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trebek remembered COVID victims

NEW YORK -- In a message taped for what turned out to be his final week as "Jeopardy!" host, Alex Trebek urged the game show's viewers to honor the season of giving by helping victims of the coronavirus epidemic. Trebek's plea aired in the opening moments of the show that aired on Monday. "We're trying to build a gentler, kinder society and if we all pitch in just a little bit, we're going to get there," he said. Trebek died November 8 at age 80 of pancreatic cancer but had pre-taped several weeks of shows that have continued to air. Monday's show began the final week of programs that he left behind. The show's executive producer, Mike Richards, told NBC's "Today" show on Monday that Trebek was "an absolute warrior" in his last taping sessions. "He was in enormous pain," Richards said. "He was, you know, 10 days away from passing away. And you will not sense that in any of these episodes." Asked whether Trebek had given any suggestions about a successor, Richards told NBC that "he mentioned a couple of names but he wanted to stay out of that … No one is going to replace him, and he knew that."

Official state dinosaur wanted

BOSTON -- A Massachusetts state lawmaker is asking for the public's help to select an official state dinosaur. State Rep. Jack Lewis tweeted Monday that he plans on filing the legislation on Jan. 15, adding that the effort is a good way for children to learn about the legislative process. But first, the Framingham Democrat is asking residents to select from one of two dinosaur species discovered in Massachusetts. Podokesaurus holyokensis, which means "swift-footed lizard of Holyoke," was first discovered near Mount Holyoke in 1910 by Mignon Talbot, the first woman to name and describe a dinosaur, according to Lewis. The species was 3 to 6 feet (around 1 to 2 meters) in length, weighed approximately 90 pounds, and was estimated to run 9 to 12 mph. Anchisaurus polyzelus, which means "much sought after near lizard" was discovered in 1855 in Springfield. They were more than 6 feet long and about 60 to 75 pounds. Paleontologists have served as consultants for the project, he said. Twelve states already have official state dinosaurs, Lewis said.

Church cancels magazine's lease

WARSAW, Poland -- A liberal Roman Catholic magazine in Poland that recently criticized some high-ranking church officials says local church authorities in Krakow have terminated the publication's office lease after almost 76 years. The Tygodnik Powszechny (General Weekly) said on Facebook and on its website that a letter from the Krakow Curia delivered Monday gave the magazine three months' notice to move out. The curia owns the building at 12 Wislna St. that has housed the magazine since 1945. The publication did not say if it was given an explanation. But it said that moving from the old downtown building to a new location would be an opportunity for a technological upgrade. In its editorials and articles, Tygodnik Powszechny recently criticized anti-LGBT comments by the head of the Krakow diocese, Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski. It also criticized some prominent church leaders, including Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the former secretary to the late pope St. John Paul II, for having taken an evasive approach to the issue of pedophile priests in Poland and elsewhere in the world.

So be it, congressman catches flak

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver said he was caught off guard by the negative response after he ended his opening prayer on the first day of the new Congress by saying, "Amen and A-woman." Cleaver, a United Methodist minister and former mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, is in his ninth term in Congress. He told the Kansas City Star his "A-woman" reference on Sunday was intended to recognize the record number of women serving in the new Congress. But it spurred a torrent of criticism from conservatives who accused Cleaver of misunderstanding the meaning of "amen," a Hebrew word that means "so be it." Republican U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania incorrectly stated on Twitter that "Amen" has Latin origins, but added, "It's not a gendered word. Unfortunately, facts are irrelevant to progressives. Unbelievable." Cleaver said it was a pun intended as a tribute to his female colleagues and to Rear Adm. Margaret Grun Kibben, the new House chaplain and first woman to hold the role. There are 144 women serving in the House and Senate. The previous high was 129. Cleaver said he was "deeply disappointed that my prayer has been misinterpreted and misconstrued by some to fit a narrative that stokes resentment and greater division among portions of our population."

Tanya Roberts dead at age 65

NEW YORK -- Tanya Roberts, who captivated James Bond in "A View to a Kill" and appeared in the sitcom "That '70s Show," has died, several hours after she was mistakenly declared dead by her publicist and Lance O'Brien, her companion of nearly two decades. She was 65. , Roberts' death was related to a urinary tract infection, publicist Mike Pingel said. Roberts collapsed at home on Dec. 24 after walking her dogs. Roberts, a huge animal rights activist, played geologist Stacey Sutton opposite Roger Moore in 1985's "A View to a Kill," where she held a gun on Bond after tricking him into thinking she was in a shower. The character later joined him to stop bad guys on an airship over San Francisco. Roberts also appeared in such fantasy adventure films as "The Beastmaster" and "Hearts and Armour." She replaced Shelley Hack in "Charlie's Angels," joining Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd as third Angel Julie. She also played comic book heroine Sheena -- a female version of the Tarzan story -- in a 1984 film. A new generation of fans saw her on "That '70s Show" from 1998 and 2004, playing Midge, mother to Laura Prepon's character Donna.

Quicker shipper: Amazon buys jets

NEW YORK -- Amazon said Tuesday that it bought 11 jets from Delta and WestJet airlines to boost its growing delivery network and get orders to shoppers faster. The company said it's the first time it has purchased planes for its delivery network. Over the past couple of years, Amazon has been leasing planes to build its fleet. Seattle-based Amazon has been working to deliver most of its packages itself and rely less on UPS, the U.S. Postal Service and other carriers. Besides its fleet of planes, Amazon has also built several package-sorting hubs at airports, opened warehouses closer to where shoppers live and launched a program that lets contractors start businesses delivering packages in vans stamped with the Amazon logo. Amazon said the 11 planes, all of which are Boeing 767-300s, will be converted to hold cargo instead of passengers. The four jets that it is buying from WestJet will join Amazon's fleet this year, and the seven from Delta will be ready by next year. The purchases will bring its total fleet to 85 planes by 2022.

Venezuela's socialists in control

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Nicolas Maduro was set to extend his grip on power Tuesday as the ruling socialist party prepared to assume the leadership of Venezuela's congress, the last institution in the country it didn't already control. Maduro's allies swept legislative elections last month boycotted by the opposition and denounced as a sham by the U.S., the European Union and several other foreign governments. While the vote was marred by anemically low turnout, it nonetheless seemed to relegate into irrelevancy the U.S.-backed opposition led by 37-year-old lawmaker Juan Guaido.

Plan will undo Atlantic Pipeline

RICHMOND, Va. -- The developers of the now-canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline have laid out plans for how they want to go about unwinding the work that was done for the multistate natural gas project and restoring disturbed land. In a filing with federal regulators made public Tuesday, the pipeline company proposed an approximately two-year timeline for efforts across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, where progress on the project ranged from uninitiated to essentially complete. The plan outlines where the company wants to clean up felled trees and where it plans to leave them behind, and it proposes abandoning the approximately 30 miles of pipe that was installed in place. "We spent the last several months working really closely with landowners and agencies to develop the most responsible approach for closing out the project," said Aaron Ruby, an employee of lead developer Dominion Energy who has served as a spokesman for the joint project with Duke Energy. "And ultimately our primary goal is to complete the project as efficiently as possible, and with minimal environmental disturbance." Ruby also confirmed for the first time that the company does not intend to voluntarily release the easement agreements it secured on landowners' properties.

Republicans poised for challenge

WASHINGTON -- Republicans mounting an unprecedented challenge to Joe Biden's election win are setting up a congressional showdown on Wednesday that threatens to divide their party and the country for years to come. With protestors already gathering in Washington to support President Donald Trump, the House and the Senate will convene a joint session to count the electoral votes cast in November's election. Trump has repeatedly said there was widespread fraud, but his claims have been roundly rejected by Republican and Democratic election officials in state after state and by judges, including at the Supreme Court, further cementing Biden's victory. Trump sees the joint session of Congress as one of his final attempts to overturn the results, even though there is no credible path for that to happen. Echoing Trump's baseless claims, some of his Republican allies in Congress plan to formally object to the results, focusing on six battleground states -- Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But a growing number of their GOP colleagues, especially in the Senate, said they would not sign on.

Gulf Arab leaders to ease too

AL-ULA, Saudi Arabia -- Gulf Arab leaders signed a declaration Tuesday to ease a rift with Qatar, following Saudi Arabia's decision to end a 3 1/2-year embargo of the tiny energy-rich country that deeply divided regional U.S. security allies and frayed social ties across the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia also said it was restoring full diplomatic relations with Qatar, although it was not clear how soon the step would be followed by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, which had joined the kingdom in isolating the country over its regional policies. On Monday night, the eve of the Gulf Arab leaders' summit in the ancient desert city of Al-Ula, the Saudis announced they would open the kingdom's airspace and borders to Qatar, the first major step toward ending the diplomatic crisis that began in 2017.

Germany extends lockdown

BERLIN -- The German government said Tuesday it is extending the country's lockdown by three weeks until Jan. 31, tightening curbs on social contacts and planning limits on people's movements in the worst-affected regions as it tries to reduce stubbornly high infection figures and worrying numbers of coronavirus-related deaths. Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was "absolutely necessary" to maintain restrictions, particularly in light of a more infectious variant of the virus that emerged in England. "We must reach a point where we can once again follow the chains of infection," Merkel said after a lengthy videoconference with Germany's 16 state governors. "Otherwise, we will just go keep going back into a lockdown after a short relaxation."