U.S./World category, Page 206
UN publishes new death toll for massacre of older people and Vodou religious leaders in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The United Nations raised the death toll of a recent massacre in which dozens of older people and Vodou religious leaders were killed by a gang in Haiti, and called on officials to bring the perpetrators to justice. The U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti said in a...
Nebraska governor’s prognosis is good after falling from a horse
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen was in intensive care at an Omaha hospital Monday after undergoing a medical procedure to treat an injured spleen suffered when he was bucked off a horse. The governor was in stable condition, with doctors saying his prognosis was positive despite seven rib fractures, a minor...
Ecuador’s president promises answers and no ‘cover up’ after 4 children disappear
GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador — Under pressure from human rights organizations and fellow Ecuadorians, President Daniel Noboa on Monday said his government will not cover up for anyone involved in the disappearance of four children who were last seen running away from a military convoy. Noboa, in an interview with a local...
How faith communities can be welcoming of believers with disabilities this holiday season and beyond
The Rev. Shannon Blosser sees how his son loves church — the music, the singing, the communion. But the United Methodist pastor said his family hasn’t always felt like 11-year-old Noah, who is autistic, has been welcome. At one point, Blosser’s wife and the couple’s two sons stopped attending in-person...
An ex-police officer is convicted of lying about leaks to the Proud Boys leader
WASHINGTON — A retired police officer in the nation’s capital was convicted Monday of lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson convicted former Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond of obstructing justice and making false...
Trump again calls to buy Greenland after eyeing Canada and the Panama Canal
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — First it was Canada, then the Panama Canal. Now, Donald Trump again wants Greenland. The president-elect is renewing unsuccessful calls he made during his first term for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with which he’s picking...
House Ethics Committee accuses Matt Gaetz of paying for sex, including with 17-year-old girlVideo
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee on Monday accused Matt Gaetz of “regularly” paying for sex, including once with a 17-year-old girl, and purchasing and using illicit drugs as a member of Congress, as lawmakers released the conclusions of a nearly four-year investigation that helped sink his nomination for attorney...
Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to murder and weapons charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s deathVideo
NEW YORK — The man accused of fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare pleaded not guilty on Monday to state murder and terror charges while his attorney complained that statements coming from New York’s mayor would make it tough to receive a fair trial. Luigi Mangione, 26, was shackled and...
Trump wants mass deportations. For the agents removing immigrants, it’s a painstaking process
NEW YORK — The immigration officers sat in their vehicles before dawn near a two-story building. A New York subway line rumbled overhead, then an officer’s voice crackled over the radio. After watching for about two hours, he said, “I think that’s Tango,” using a term for target. “Gray hoodie....
Germans mourn Christmas market attack victims as fears swirl of deeper social divisions
MAGDEBURG, Germany — Mourners laid flowers near the scene of the deadly Christmas market attack on Monday as investigators puzzled over the motive of the suspect and fears swirled that the rampage could deepen divisions in German society. The Johanniskirche, a church a short walk from the scene of the...
What a merger between Nissan and Honda means for automakers and the industry
BANGKOK — Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan will attempt to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance...
Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates before Trump can resume executionsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. The move spares the lives...
Texas launches billboard campaign in Mexico, Central America to warn migrants
DALLAS — Texas is launching a $100,000 billboard campaign in Mexico and Central America to highlight the risks of crossing into the state illegally — including incarceration and sexual assault. “We’re here to expose the truth to immigrants who are thinking about coming here. The truth about the traffickers who...
Trump threatens to try to take back the Panama Canal. Panama’s president balks at the suggestion
PHOENIX — Donald Trump suggested Sunday that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the United States “foolishly” ceded to its Central American ally, contending that shippers are charged “ridiculous” fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans....
New York City police apprehend suspect in the death of a woman found on fire in a subway car
NEW YORK — New York City police announced Sunday they have in custody a “person of interest” in the early morning death of a woman who they believe may have fallen asleep on a stationary subway train before being intentionally lit on fire by a man she didn’t know. Transit...
Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain reopens after renovation work in time for the Jubilee Holy Year
ROME — Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain reopened on Sunday ahead of the inauguration of the 2025 Jubilee Holy Year, following the completion of extraordinary maintenance. The three-month renovation work included removing dirt, pollution and limescale from the 18th-century monument, one of the main attractions for tourists visiting the Italian capital....
Thousands stream into Belgrade square to protest against populist Serbian leadership
BELGRADE, Serbia — Tens of thousands of people streamed into a central square in Serbia’s capital on Sunday for a rally against populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government, whose tight grip on power has been challenged by weeks of street protests led by university students. The rally at Belgrade’s...
Pickup truck driver killed by police after driving through Texas mall and injuring 5
KILLEEN, Texas — A pickup truck driver fleeing police careened through the doors of a JCPenney store in Texas and continued through a busy mall, injuring five people before he was fatally shot by officers, authorities said. The truck crashed into the department store in Killeen, about 68 miles north...
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 22 as Vatican envoy visits Christians for pre-Christmas Mass
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 22 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said, while Gaza’s small Christian community celebrated a pre-Christmas Mass. Israeli authorities allowed a rare Gaza visit by the leader of the Catholic Church...
2 U.S. Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, U.S. military says
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive...
Giant sloths and mastodons lived with humans for millennia in the Americas, new discoveries suggest
SAO PAULO — Sloths weren’t always slow-moving, furry tree-dwellers. Their prehistoric ancestors were huge — up to 4 tons — and when startled, they brandished immense claws. For a long time, scientists believed the first humans to arrive in the Americas soon killed off these giant ground sloths through hunting,...
After shooting, Wisconsin school and church lean into Christmas message for comfort
For Christians around the world, Christmas is the joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus. To affirm their beliefs — that God is present and hasn’t abandoned them — the faith community at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, is embracing its holiday traditions just days after a deadly...
Santa and Mrs. Claus use military transports to bring Christmas to an Alaska Native village
YAKUTAT, Alaska — Forget the open-air sleigh overloaded with gifts and powered by flying reindeer. Santa and Mrs. Claus this week took supersized rides to southeast Alaska in a C-17 military cargo plane and a camouflaged Humvee, as they delivered toys to the Tlingit village of Yakutat, northwest of Juneau....
Thousands greet the winter solstice at the ancient Stonehenge monument
LONDON — Thousands of tourists, pagans, druids and people simply yearning for the promise of spring marked the dawn of the shortest day of the year Saturday at the ancient Stonehenge monument. Revelers cheered and beat drums as the sun rose at 8:09 a.m. over the giant standing stones on...
What’s next for the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO?
NEW YORK — The man accused of gunning down United Healthcare’s CEO outside a Manhattan hotel is now jailed in New York, awaiting arraignment Monday on a state murder indictment after he was returned to the city in dramatic fashion to face charges in multiple courts. Shackled and wearing an...
