U.S./World category, Page 1104

WASHINGTON — A U.S. official said the military made preparations Thursday night for limited strikes on Iran in retaliation for the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, but approval was abruptly withdrawn before the attacks were launched. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the operation publicly and spoke...

WASHINGTON — The National Rifle Association has sidelined its top lobbyist, Chris Cox, after accusing him in court documents of participating in what it called a failed extortion scheme to rid the organization of its top executive. Cox, the NRA’s second-in-command and leader of its powerful political arm, was placed...

SAN DIEGO — A Navy SEAL called by prosecutors to testify at the murder trial of a decorated comrade dropped a bombshell Thursday when he acknowledged killing a wounded militant in what he described as an act of mercy. Special Operator 1st Class Corey Scott, who got an immunity deal...

HOLMES BEACH, Fla. — Police in Florida trying to find the rightful owner of a prosthetic ear that washed up on their beach got a happy phone call from South Carolina on Thursday. Holmes Beach Police Sgt. Brian Hall said a woman called saying the rubber ear they posted on...

A Boston veterinary hospital got quite a surprise recently when a family brought in their bulldog after he stopped eating. The Angell Animal Medical Center found 19 baby pacifiers in the dog’s stomach. It started in April when the Wellesley family noticed that their 3-year-old dog, Mortimer, started getting nauseous...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A rookie Sacramento police offer was fatally shot during a domestic violence call and laid wounded for about 45 minutes as the gunman kept officers at bay with volleys of bullets, authorities said Thursday. Officer Tara O’Sullivan, 26, was shot shortly Wednesday while helping a woman collect...

UTICA, N.Y. — A peacock at an upstate New York zoo was killed by a lion after it flew over a fence into the African Lion enclosure. Utica Zoo officials say the white peacock named Merlin was captured by a lion Wednesday morning after being unable to fly back out...

NEW YORK — Under financial pressure from sex-abuse litigation, the Boy Scouts of America are seeking to bolster their abuse-prevention efforts with a new awareness program featuring cartoon-style videos that will be provided to more than 1.2 million Cub Scouts across the nation. Targeted at children from kindergarten to sixth...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Americans prefer a space program that focuses on potential asteroid impacts, scientific research and using robots to explore the cosmos over sending humans back to the moon or on to Mars, a poll shows. The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research ,...

PHILADELPHIA — Police Commissioner Richard Ross says 72 Philadelphia police officers have been placed on administrative duty amid an initial investigation into a national group’s accusation of officers in at least five states posting racist and anti-Muslim comments on social media. Ross said he believed at least “several dozen” people...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento police on Thursday were trying to negotiate the surrender of a gunman suspected of killing a police officer during a domestic dispute. Tara O’Sullivan, 26, died at UC Davis Medical Center hours after the gunman opened fire on her Wednesday, Deputy Chief Dave Peletta said during...

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S. drone on Thursday amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over its collapsing nuclear deal with world powers, American and Iranian officials said, though they disputed the circumstances of the incident. The Guard said it shot down the drone over...

ORLANDO, Fla. — America is aging. Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday showed the median age in the U.S. increased by a year to 38.2 years from 2010 to 2018. If there’s someone to blame, it’s the baby boomers. Many in that group of Americans born between...

NEW YORK — Under financial pressure from sex-abuse litigation, the Boy Scouts of America are seeking to bolster their abuse-prevention efforts with a new awareness program featuring cartoon-style videos that will be provided to more than 1.2 million Cub Scouts across the nation. Targeted at children from kindergarten to sixth...

PHILADELPHIA — Four additional crew members were charged Wednesday in connection with a record-breaking 16-ton cocaine seizure aboard a cargo ship docked in the Port of Philadelphia, sources with knowledge of the investigation said. But details surrounding the arrests, including the names of the defendants, what role they are alleged...

A Florida city agreed to pay $600,000 in ransom to hackers who took over its computer system, the latest in thousands of attacks worldwide aimed at extorting money from governments and businesses. The Riviera Beach City Council voted unanimously this week to pay the hackers’ demands, believing the Palm Beach...

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis’ top prosecutor has added 22 more names to a list of city police officers who are not allowed to bring cases to her office, after a national group accused the officers of posting racist and anti-Muslim comments on social media. The 22 new names brings...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Federal marine biologists have recorded singing by one of the rarest whales on the planet. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers used moored acoustic recorders to capture repeated patterns of calls made by male North Pacific right whales, the first time any right whale songs in any...

LOS ANGELES — Goodbye, Norma Jean? Officials say someone climbed a more than two-story tall Hollywood public art piece and stole a statue of Marilyn Monroe. The statue depicting Monroe in her iconic pose from the 1955 film “The Seven Year Itch” went missing early Monday from the “Four Ladies...

As auto companies continue to fix buggy touch-screen infotainment systems, a survey of new-vehicle buyers has found there’s a different technology posing problems: driver assist systems such as automatic emergency braking. The annual survey by J.D. Power found that as the electronic safety systems find their way into more mainstream...

NEW YORK — The former leader of a purported self-help group was convicted Wednesday of federal charges that centered on lurid details of what prosecutors called a secret society of “sex slaves” within a community of followers in upstate New York. A jury in federal court in Brooklyn took less...

AMMAN, Jordan — On a high school trip to Jordan’s ancient city of Petra, a group of teenagers sneak out at night to drink beer, smoke weed and gossip around a bonfire. A girl asks her frisky boyfriend to take things slow. By global Netflix standards, its first original Arabic...