News category, Page 696

SAN DIEGO — A fire on board a New Jersey-bound United Airlines plane prompted it to return to San Diego International Airport and four people were taken to a hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation, authorities said. Flight 2664 was heading to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey when...

GAZIANTEP, Turkey — With hope fading to find survivors, stretched rescue teams toiled Wednesday in Turkey and Syria, searching for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll passed 11,000 in the deadliest quake worldwide in more than a decade....

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lauded the “irresistible might” of his nuclear-armed military as he visited troops with his daughter to mark the 75th founding anniversary of his army, state media said Wednesday. The visit came amid indications North Korea is preparing to stage a...

HARLOWTON, Mont. — Near the banks of Montana’s Musselshell River, cattle rancher Michael Miller saw a large, white orb above the town of Harlowton last week, a day before U.S. officials revealed they were tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the state. The balloon caused a stir in the...

Days after crews released and burned toxic chemicals transported by a wrecked train in Ohio, residents remain concerned about the toxic substances that could be lingering in their evacuated neighborhoods. About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash Friday in East Palestine, according to rail...

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are expected to question former Twitter executives about the platform’s handling of reporting on Hunter Biden, the president’s son, fulfilling a party promise to investigate what they have long asserted is anti-conservative bias at social media companies. Three former executives will be appearing Wednesday before the...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders painted a dystopian portrait of the country in her rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, leaning heavily into Republican culture war issues and accusing Biden of pursuing “woke fantasies.” Speaking from the governor’s mansion in...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Documents released Tuesday provided a scathing account of what authorities called the “blatantly unprofessional” conduct of five officers involved in the fatal police beating of Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop last month — including new revelations about how one officer took and shared pictures of the...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised the possibility Tuesday of passing legislation that could lower the bar for prominent people to successfully sue news outlets for defamation. In a roundtable discussion that featured complaints about the unfair “narrative” of the news media, DeSantis sat behind a desk similar to one of...

HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania judge ruled Tuesday that the state’s system of funding public schools falls woefully short and violates students’ constitutional rights, siding with poorer districts in a lawsuit launched nearly a decade ago in pursuit of billions of dollars in additional annual aid. Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn...

NEW YORK — Two major conservative groups have signaled they are open to supporting someone other than Donald Trump in the 2024 race for the White House, the latest sign from an increasingly vocal segment of the Republican Party that it’s time to move on from the former president. David...

CHARLESTON — Months after passing a near-total ban on abortion, West Virginia lawmakers are advancing a bill that would eliminate some of the red tape involved with opening birthing centers in the state. The state House of Delegates passed a bill Tuesday that would remove birthing centers from the state’s...

On top of the fallout Penn State University experienced after a tumultuous Proud Boys appearance on campus last fall, now an individual rights group is labeling the university weak on free speech. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) placed Penn State on its latest national “10 Worst Colleges...

The State of the Union speech is a tradition that surrounds the presidency, but members of the House and Senate participate in their own traditions. Members of Congress can bring a guest to the State of the Union speech. Local representatives from Southwestern Pennsylvania are bringing guests to Tuesday’s speech,...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is ready to offer a reassuring assessment of the nation’s condition rather than roll out flashy policy proposals as he delivers his second State of the Union address on Tuesday night, seeking to overcome pessimism in the country and concerns about his own leadership. His...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney’s government in Florida has been the envy of any private business, with its unprecedented powers in deciding what to build and how to build it at the Walt Disney World Resort, issuing bonds and holding the ability to build its own nuclear plant if it wanted....

NEW YORK — At age 88, Ralph Nader believes his neighbors in northwest Connecticut are tired of electronics and miss the feel of holding a newspaper to read about their town. So at a time when local newspapers are dying at an alarming rate, the longtime activist is helping give...

JINDERIS, Syria — Residents in a northwest Syrian town discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried underneath the rubble of a five-story apartment building leveled by this week’s devastating earthquake, relatives and a doctor said Tuesday. The newborn girl was found buried...

As glaciers melt and pour massive amounts of water into nearby lakes, 15 million people across the globe live under the threat of a sudden and deadly outburst flood, a new study finds. More than half of those living in the shadow of the disaster called glacial lake outburst floods...

TOKYO — A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected a damage suit filed by a group of children of Hiroshima atomic bombing survivors seeking government support for medical costs, saying the hereditary impact of radiation exposure is still unknown. A group of 28 plaintiffs whose parents suffered radiation exposure in the...

TOKYO — Japanese LGBTQ people and rights groups condemned a recent discriminatory remark by a senior aide of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, demanding his government enact laws to ban discrimination against sexual minorities, legalize same-sex marriage and guarantee equal rights before Japan hosts a Group of Seven summit in May....