U.S./World category, Page 20
U.S. military jets hit in Iran war are the first shot down by enemy fire in over 20 years
WASHINGTON — Iran shooting down two American military jets marks an exceedingly rare assault for the U.S. that has not happened in more than 20 years and shows the Islamic Republic’s continued ability to hit back despite President Donald Trump asserting it has been “completely decimated.” The attacks came five...
Pope Leo urges peace in first Easter Mass as Christians celebrate in Jerusalem, Gaza and Tehran
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call Sunday to lay down arms and seek peace to global conflicts through dialogue, but he departed from a tradition of listing the world’s woes by name in the Urbi et Orbi blessing from the...
NASA astronauts are closer to moon than Earth on Artemis II day 4
HOUSTON — As Day 4 dawned on the Artemis II mission, the astronauts were closer to the moon than to Earth, after crossing the halfway point between the two bodies on Friday night. Before Day 3 ended, the stark gray disk appeared in the crew’s view of the blackness of...
Trump slashed science funding and now the U.S. could face a costly brain drain
In March last year, Wali Malik, a robotics engineer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received a call from a research institution in Austria, a country where he had never been and knew no one. “‘Hey,’” Malik recalled the man saying. “‘We have this position to build an institute from scratch, on AI...
Photos show Pope Leo’s first Easter Mass as pontiff
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call Sunday to lay down arms and seek peace to global conflicts through dialogue....
A long Mideast war could take away from support for Ukraine, Zelenskyy tells the AP
ISTANBUL — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed concern that a prolonged U.S.-Israeli war on Iran could further erode America’s support for Ukraine as Washington’s global priorities shift and Kyiv braces for reduced deliveries of critically needed Patriot air defense missiles. Ukraine desperately needs more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to...
Displaced by war, Lebanon’s Christians mark Easter far from their homes and churches
JDEIDEH, Lebanon — It was not how the Rev. Maroun Ghafari had envisioned this Holy Week — for years, he had held Easter sermons in his predominantly Christian village of Alma al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel. This year, he is preaching from a Beirut suburb, beside...
Aid groups warn Iran war is hindering food and medicine from reaching millions
TEL AVIV, Israel — Aid groups are warning that the war in the Middle East has upended their ability to get food and medicine to millions of people around the world in need, and that the suffering will deepen if the violence continues. Not only has the conflict cut off...
Congo to receive third-country deportees from the U.S. under new deal
KINSHASA, Congo — Congo will receive some migrants as part of a new deal under the Trump administration’s third-country program, its government said Sunday, the latest such African nation to receive migrants being deported from the U.S. The deportees will start arriving in Congo this month, the Congolese Ministry of...
Trump issues expletive-filled threat against Iran as details of U.S. aviator’s rescue emerge
TEHRAN, Iran — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday made expletive-filled threats against Iran and its infrastructure if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline, after American forces rescued a wounded aviator whose Iran-downed plane fell behind enemy lines. A defiant Iran struck infrastructure targets in...
Trump: U.S. service member missing after Iran shot down fighter jet has been rescued
WASHINGTON — A U.S. service member who has been missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been rescued, President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post early Sunday. A frantic U.S. search-and-rescue operation unfolded after the crash of the F-15E Strike Eaglejet on Friday, as Iran also...
Artemis II astronauts are more than halfway to the moon as they seek to break Apollo 13’s record
Now more than halfway to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts were toasted by Canada on Saturday as they prepared for their historic lunar fly-around to push deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts. The three Americans and one Canadian will reach their destination Monday, photographing the mysterious lunar...
Judge halts Trump effort requiring colleges to show they aren’t considering race in admissions
BOSTON — A federal judge has halted efforts by the Trump administration to collect data that proves higher education institutions aren’t considering race in admissions. The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston on Friday granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed earlier this...
Trump’s go-it-alone certainty confronts the uncertainties of war
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump did not equivocate in his first live address to Americans about the war in Iran. “We’ve beaten and completely decimated Iran,” he said in a prime-time speech from the White House on Wednesday. “They are decimated both militarily and economically and in every other way.”...
Trump gives Iran 48 hours to open Strait of Hormuz as search continues for missing U.S. pilot
TEL AVIV, Israel — The U.S. military searched for a second day for a pilot shot down over a remote area in Iran, while U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday again threatened Tehran over his Monday deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz: “Time is running out.” The American warplane,...
Floods, landslides triggered by heavy rain in Afghanistan leave 77 dead in 10 days, authorities say
KABUL, Afghanistan — Widespread flooding, landslides and lightning strikes triggered by heavy rain and storms across Afghanistan have left 77 people dead and 137 injured over the past 10 days, the country’s Disaster Management Authority said Saturday. More rain has been forecast for the coming days throughout Afghanistan, and the...
United Airlines raises bag fees amid rising fuel costs and introduces tiered premium fares
Most travelers flying with United Airlines will pay $10 more to check their luggage beginning Friday, as higher jet fuel costs driven by the war in the Middle East push another major U.S. carrier to increase fees. The first piece of checked luggage will now cost customers $45 on flights...
Bondi struggled to prosecute Trump foes. But will a new attorney general make a difference?
WASHINGTON — Pam Bondi is out of her job after failing to deliver criminal cases against President Donald Trump’s political enemies. But there’s no guarantee her successor will have any better success at placating the president. Over the last year, Bondi’s Justice Department has encountered resistance from judges, grand jurors...
A fast-growing wildfire in windy Southern California triggers evacuations
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A smoky and fast-growing wildfire Friday in windy Southern California has prompted multiple evacuation orders and warnings. The Springs Fire broke out at around 11 a.m. Friday and by the evening had grown to about 5.47 square miles , with fire crews starting to contain it. The...
Dozens of violations found at migrant detention camp in Texas
An inspection in February of Camp East Montana in Texas, one of the country’s largest immigration detention centers, found dozens of violations of national standards, including instances that may have exposed detainees to illnesses and uses of force that were not documented, a new report found. The inspection, which was...
As freed prisoners celebrate in Cuba, human rights groups demand clarity and release of protesters
HAVANA — Katia Arias buzzed with hope on Friday morning as she gathered at the gates of a prison on the outskirts of Havana, waiting with other families for their loved ones to be freed in one of the biggest prison releases by the Cuban government in years. When her...
Orcas never seen before in Seattle delight whale watchers with a visit
SEATTLE — When tourists travel to Seattle, it’s common to take in the Space Needle and the downtown skyline from Puget Sound. It’s an itinerary that a newly arrived pod of killer whales appears to be following too. Three orcas that had not been recorded previously in the Seattle area...
Trump administration to rejoin offshore drilling agencies separated after 2010 Gulf oil spill
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Friday it is combining two agencies that were separated in the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf oil spill. The Interior Department said the overhaul would increase efficiency and speed up permitting for offshore oil and gas drilling. The new Marine Minerals Administration will bring...
ICE agent in Illinois’ Broadview Six incident texted about being famous ‘among lefties’
CHICAGO — On the day after the “Broadview Six” indictment was filed in October charging a group of local Democratic officials and other protesters with conspiracy to impede law enforcement, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent whose vehicle was allegedly damaged in the incident texted a Facebook post about the...
Trump again looks to cut NASA budget by billions of dollars
Despite the wave of enthusiasm of this week’s moonshot launch of Artemis II, President Donald Trump once again wants to chop billions of dollars from the agency, including its science missions, according to documents released Friday by NASA. Trump last year sought to reduce NASA’s budget by about $6 billion,...
