U.S./World category, Page 151
Supreme Court upholds Biden rule requiring serial numbers and background checks for ghost guns
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Biden administration regulation on the nearly impossible-to-trace weapons called ghost guns, clearing the way for continued serial numbers, background checks and age verification requirements for buying the kits online. The 7-2 opinion found that existing gun laws allow regulation of the...
Researchers in limbo as Columbia bows to Trump’s demands in bid to restore $400M federal funding
NEW YORK — When President Donald Trump canceled $400 million in funding to Columbia University over its handling of student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, much of the financial pain fell on researchers a train ride away from the school’s campus, working on things like curing cancer and studying...
Founders of Black-owned brands adapt their hopes and business plans for a post-DEI era
NEW YORK — The co-founders of a company that makes lip products for darker skin tones no longer hope to get their line into Target. A brother and sister who make jigsaw puzzles celebrating Black subjects wonder if they need to offer “neutral” images like landscapes to keep growing. Pound...
The Atlantic releases Signal chat showing Hegseth’s detailed attack plans against Houthis
WASHINGTON — The Atlantic on Wednesday released the entire Signal chat among senior national security officials, showing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women flying those attacks against Yemen’s Houthis this month on behalf...
NATO leader warns Russia to expect a ‘devastating’ reaction if it ever attacks Poland
WARSAW, Poland — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned Russia on Wednesday that the alliance would always stand by Poland or any other member and that its reaction to an attack would be “devastating.” Rutte spoke during a visit to Warsaw, the Polish capital, in brief comments made alongside Polish Prime...
Homeland Security Secretary Noem visits the El Salvador prison where deported Venezuelans are held
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday will visit the high-security El Salvador prison where Venezuelans who the Trump administration alleges are members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang have been held since their removal from the U.S. Noem’s trip to the prison — where inmates are...
Palestinians protest Hamas in rare public show of dissent in Gaza
CAIRO — Palestinians chanted against Hamas during anti-war protests in the Gaza Strip, according to witnesses and videos circulating online. It was a rare show of public anger against the militant group, which has long repressed dissent and still rules the territory 17 months into the war with Israel. The...
Pilot, 2 children survive night on airplane’s wing after it crashes into icy Alaska lake
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A pilot and two children survived on the wing of a plane for about 12 hours after it crashed and was partially submerged in an icy Alaska lake, then were rescued after being spotted by a good Samaritan. Terry Godes said he saw a Facebook post Sunday...
Gunman who killed 23 in racist attack at Texas Walmart offered plea deal to avoid death penalty
The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 in one of the the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history has been offered a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, a Texas prosecutor said Tuesday. The announcement by El Paso County...
America’s allies alarmed by a leaked group chat about attack plans
LONDON — As wake-up calls go, the alarms don’t get much louder. Allies of the United States see the group chat between top U.S. officials about a planned attack in Yemen that accidentally included a journalist as a jaw-dropping security breach which casts doubt on intelligence-sharing with Washington and the...
Trump downplays national security team texting military operation plan on Signal as a minor ‘glitch’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday downplayed the texting of sensitive plans for a military strike against Yemen’s Houthis this month to a group chat that included a journalist, saying it was “the only glitch in two months” of his administration as Democratic lawmakers heaped criticism on the administration...
The U.S. Postal Service has been struggling for years. Now Trump’s talking about privatizing it
The U.S. Postal Service is facing an uncertain future after the resignation this week of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the suggestion by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, that the mail service could be privatized. Unions representing postal workers have balked at...
Colorado removes from its Capitol a portrait of President Trump that he called ‘distorted’
A portrait of President Donald Trump that he said was “purposefully distorted” was removed from a wall at the Colorado state Capitol where it had been since 2019. After Trump posted complaints about the painting on his Truth Social platform, Colorado Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Republican, asked that...
What is Signal, the chat app used by U.S. officials to share attack plans?
LONDON — A magazine journalist’s account of being added to a group chat of U.S. national security officials coordinating plans for airstrikes has raised questions about how highly sensitive information is supposed to be handled. Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg detailed a discussion that happened over the Signal messaging app hours...
Israeli strikes in southwestern Syria kill 4 people as troops clash with residents
KOAYIAH, Syria — An Israeli strike Tuesday in southwestern Syria killed at least four people as Israeli troops occupying the area clashed with local residents, Syrian state media and a war monitor reported. Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said troops fired back at gunmen who attacked them, before launching a...
Court in Japan orders the dissolution of the Unification Church
TOKYO — The Unification Church in Japan was ordered dissolved by a court Tuesday after a government request spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The South Korea-based church said it was considering an immediate appeal of the Tokyo District Court’s revocation of...
Oscar-winning Palestinian director released by Israeli forces in the West Bank
HEBRON, West Bank — Israeli authorities released an Oscar-winning Palestinian director who was detained by the army after being attacked by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, who his wife said beat him in front of his home while filming the assault. Hamdan Ballal and the other directors of...
Negotiations on a Ukraine ceasefire enter 3rd day in Saudi Arabia with renewed U.S.-Ukraine talks
KYIV, Ukraine — A series of separate meetings between American, Russian and Ukrainian interlocutors entered their third day on Tuesday as U.S. negotiators shuttled back to discussions with their Ukrainian counterparts in the Saudi capital, a continuation of talks with Kyiv officials that began Sunday over a potential ceasefire in...
French actor Gérard Depardieu acknowledges boorish behavior but denies sexual assault
PARIS — French actor Gérard Depardieu acknowledged Tuesday that he used crude and heated language around a woman who accuses him of sexual assault and grabbed her hips but denied assaulting her, as he testified for the first time at his landmark trial in Paris. She told the court that...
Senate will question U.S. intelligence officials on national security threats after war plans exposed
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s top intelligence officials face Congress this week to offer their first testimony in office about the threats facing the United States and tackle urgent questions about the security breach that unfolded when war plans were mistakenly leaked to a journalist. FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA...
U.S. infrastructure improved with Biden-era spending but there’s a long way to go
A once-every-four-years report card on the upkeep of America’s infrastructure gave it a “C” grade on Tuesday, up slightly from previous reports, largely due to investments made during former President Joe Biden’s administration. The report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, which examined everything from roads and dams to...
Greenlanders unite to fend off the U.S. as Trump seeks control of the Arctic island
NUUK, Greenland — Lisa Sólrun Christiansen gets up at 4 a.m. most days and gets to work knitting thick wool sweaters coveted by buyers around the world for their warmth and colorful patterns celebrating Greenland’s traditional Inuit culture. Her morning routine includes a quick check of the news, but these...
Columbia student protester who’s lived in the U.S. since age 7 sues to stop deportation order
NEW YORK — Another Columbia University student said Monday that the Trump administration has targeted her for deportation over her pro-Palestinian views, accusing immigration officials in a lawsuit of employing the same tactics used on Mahmoud Khalil and other college activists. Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old lawful permanent resident who came...
Webb Space Telescope captures a star in the making and a galaxy far, far away
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Webb Space Telescope has captured a plume of gas and dust streaming from a star in the making, with a spiral galaxy as a stunning backdrop. The composite image makes it look as though the overflow of stellar material is the billowing contrail of a...
Supreme Court turns back casino mogul Steve Wynn’s appeal in defamation lawsuit
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court turned back an appeal Monday from casino mogul Steve Wynn, who had challenged a landmark libel ruling as part of a lawsuit against The Associated Press. The court declined to hear the case in a brief order without comment, as is typical. Wynn had sued...
