U.S./World category, Page 148
Risk of further floods in Texas during desperate search for missing as death toll hits 82
KERRVILLE, Texas — With more rain on the way, the risk of life-threatening flooding was still high in central Texas on Monday even as crews search urgently for the missing following a holiday weekend deluge that killed at least 82 people, including children at summer camps. Officials said the death...
Flash floods like the one that swept through Texas are nation’s top storm-related killer
The monstrous, swift-moving flood that swept through the Hill Country of Texas on Friday, killing at least 32 people and leaving many more missing, was a flash flood, the nation’s top storm-related killer. Among those missing are girls attending a summer camp. Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued,...
U.S. completes deportation of 8 men to South Sudan
WASHINGTON — Eight men deported from the United States in May and held under guard for weeks at an American military base in the African nation of Djibouti while their legal challenges played out in court have reached the Trump administration’s intended destination, war-torn South Sudan, a country the State...
U.S. expands militarized zones to 1/3 of southern border, stirring controversy
COLUMBUS, N.M. — Orange no-entry signs posted by the U.S. military in English and Spanish dot the New Mexico desert, where a border wall cuts past onion fields and parched ranches with tufts of tall grass growing amidst wiry brush and yucca trees. The Army has posted thousands of the...
Trump kicks off a yearlong celebration of America’s 250th anniversary in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa — President Donald Trump turned a heartland festival for the United States’ upcoming 250th anniversary into a celebration of himself, basking in a crowd of supporters Thursday night shortly after Congress approved tax cut legislation that he championed. On the eve of the July 4th holiday, Trump...
Desperate search for two dozen missing girls from summer camp after Texas floods kill at least 24
KERRVILLE, Texas — Crews searched through the dark early Saturday for two dozen children from a girls’ camp and many others who were still missing after a wall of water rushed down a river in the Texas Hill Country during a powerful storm that killed at least 24 people. The...
24 dead in Texas floods; more than 20 children missing from summer camp
KERRVILLE, Texas — Months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country, leaving 24 people dead and many more unaccounted for Friday, including more than 20 girls attending a summer camp, as search teams conducted boat and helicopter rescues in fast-moving floodwaters. Desperate pleas...
Judge blocks immigrants’ deportation to South Sudan one day after Supreme Court clears the way
A federal judge on Friday briefly halted deportations of eight immigrants to war-torn South Sudan, sending the case to another judge, in Boston, the day after the Supreme Court greenlighted their removal. District Judge Randolph Moss sent the case north from Washington after an extraordinary Fourth of July hearing on...
What to know about Fourth of July holiday origins and traditions
The Fourth of July is Americana at its core: parades and cookouts and cold beer and, of course, fireworks. Those pyrotechnics also make it an especially dangerous holiday, typically resulting in more than 10,000 trips to the emergency room. Yet fireworks remain at the center of Independence Day, a holiday...
Miki Sudo wins 11th women’s title in annual Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest
The Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest is back, and famed competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut is hoping for a comeback 17th win on Friday. The 41-year-old, from Westfield, Indiana, was not in last year’s event due to a contract dispute involving a deal he struck with...
Rural hospitals brace for financial hits or even closure under Republicans’ $1 trillion Medicaid cut
OMAHA, Neb. — Tyler Sherman, a nurse at a rural Nebraska hospital, is used to the area’s aging farmers delaying care until they end up in his emergency room. Now, with Congress planning around $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over 10 years, he fears those farmers and the more than...
Democrats see Trump’s big bill as key to their comeback. It may not be so easy
WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa — It is big and it is beautiful, President Donald Trump says. But for many Democratic leaders, the tax break and spending cut package passed by Trump’s Republican allies in Congress on Thursday represents the key to the Democratic Party’s resurgence. Even before the final vote, Democratic...
Man charged with killing former Minnesota House speaker says he looks forward to ‘truth’ coming out
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The man charged with killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband June 14, and wounding a state senator and his wife, said Thursday he’s looking forward to the facts coming out about what happened that day. During a court appearance, Vance Boelter waived...
Supreme Court clears way for deportation to South Sudan of several immigrants with no ties there
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the deportation of several immigrants who were put on a flight in May bound for South Sudan, a war-ravaged country where they have no ties. The decision comes after the court’s conservative majority found immigration officials can quickly deport...
Confederacy group sues Georgia park for planning an exhibit on slavery and segregation
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — The Georgia chapter of a Confederacy group filed a lawsuit this week against a state park with the largest Confederate monument in the country, arguing officials broke state law by planning an exhibit on ties to slavery, segregation and white supremacy. Stone Mountain’s massive carving depicts...
Protests, immigration raids, tariffs put crimp in some people’s July Fourth
LOS ANGELES — Recent polls will tell you there’s been a drop in national pride among Americans, particularly Democrats in the Trump era, with some questioning whether to celebrate July Fourth at all this year. But Scott Allen, a registered Democrat in southern California, isn’t one of them. He planned...
Western Pa. Republicans see hope, Democrats doom in passage of Trump policy bill
Republicans in Western Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation celebrated the passage of President Trump’s domestic policy package Thursday afternoon, touting measures to extend and expand tax relief enacted in 2017, secure the nation’s southern border and expand domestic production of oil, coal and natural gas. Democratic leaders warned the package will be...
Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. arrested by ICE for deportation, federal officials say
Famed Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. has been arrested for entering the United States illegally and will be deported to Mexico, where he faces organized crime charges, U.S. federal officials said Thursday. The arrest comes only days after the former middleweight champion lost a match against Jake Paul in...
Firefighters race to contain wildfires in Greece as thousands evacuated, 2 die in Turkey
ATHENS, Greece — Firefighters battled blazes Thursday near Athens and on the island of Crete, where thousands were forced to flee holiday resorts, while blazes in neighboring Turkey claimed at least two lives. More than 5,000 tourists, hotel workers and residents were evacuated from the Ierapetra area along Crete’s southern...
NASA identifies newly discovered object as an interstellar comet that will keep a safe distance
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has discovered an interstellar comet that’s wandered into our backyard. The space agency spotted the quick-moving object with the sky-surveying Atlas telescope in Chile earlier this week, and confirmed it was a comet from another star system. It’s officially the third known interstellar object to...
How Ukraine can cope with the U.S. pause on crucial battlefield weapons
KYIV, Ukraine — The decision by the United States to pause some weapons shipments to Ukraine has come at a tough time for Kyiv: Russia’s bigger army is making a concerted push on parts of the roughly 620-mile front line and is intensifying long-range drone and missile attacks that increasingly...
Putin and Trump discuss Iran and Ukraine in 6th phone call this year, Kremlin official says
MOSCOW — U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Iran, Ukraine and other issues on Thursday in a “frank and constructive” phone call, the Kremlin said, in their sixth publicly disclosed chat since Trump returned to the White House. While discussing the situation around Iran and in...
8 remain hospitalized from skydiving plane’s crash shortly after takeoff from New Jersey airport
CAMDEN, N.J. — Three men remained hospitalized in critical condition and five others were listed as serious Thursday, the morning after a skydiving plane with 15 people aboard crashed into a wooded area near a small airport in southern New Jersey. The single engine Cessna 208B radioed about having engine...
Drive-by shooting in Chicago leaves 4 dead and 14 others wounded, police say
CHICAGO — Four people have died from gunshot wounds and 14 others have been hospitalized following a drive-by shooting in Chicago, police said Thursday. At least three were in critical condition. The shooting happened late Wednesday in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, a popular nightlife destination with many restaurants and bars....
94 Palestinians killed in Gaza, including 45 people waiting for aid, authorities say
TEL AVIV, Israel — Airstrikes and shootings killed 94 Palestinians in Gaza overnight, including 45 who were attempting to get much-needed humanitarian aid, hospitals and the Health Ministry said Thursday. Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the strikes. Five people were killed while outside sites associated with the Gaza...
