U.S./World category, Page 212
U.K. spy agency releases annual Christmas card puzzle to uncover future codebreakers
LONDON — What does a spy agency give for Christmas? How about a riddle wrapped in an enigma inside a mystery. GCHQ, Britain’s electronic and cyber-intelligence agency, on Wednesday published its annual Christmas Challenge — a seasonal greeting card that doubles as a set of fiendishly difficult puzzles designed to...
Haiti’s main international airport reopens 1 month after gang violence forced it to close
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s main international airport reopened on Wednesday to commercial flights, one month after it closed for the second time this year because of gang violence. Haitian soldiers and police, bolstered by Kenyan police leading a U.N.-backed mission to quell gang violence, boosted security in the area, and...
Gun found on suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO matches shell casings at scene, police say
ALTOONA — The gun found on the suspect in the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO matched shell casings found at the site of the shooting, New York City’s police commissioner said Wednesday. Suspect Luigi Mangione ‘s fingerprints also matched a water bottle and a snack bar wrapper that police found...
Atmospheric river brings weather whiplash to East Coast as bomb cyclone develops
PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. East Coast was beginning a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather on Wednesday that was rainy, windy and potentially dangerous, due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone. Parts of Maine experienced freezing rain that caused vehicles to slide off roads followed by a...
South Korea’s national police chief and Seoul’s top officer detained over enforcement of martial law
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s national police chief and top police officer for the capital, Seoul, were detained for their roles in enforcing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree last week, police said Wednesday. The development comes hours before the main liberal opposition Democratic Party submits a...
From wealth and success to murder suspect, the life of Luigi Mangione took a hard turn
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. Friends...
Woman killed in crash as officer responds to threat at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s home
ROME, Ga. — A motorist was killed as police responded to a bomb threat at the Georgia home of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, authorities said. A police officer on the local bomb squad was traveling to the scene when he collided with another car on Monday, Rome police said...
Justice Department ignored some policies when seizing reporters’ phone records, watchdog finds
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors sidestepped some Justice Department rules when they seized the phone records or emails of reporters as part of media leak investigations during the Trump administration, according to a new watchdog report being released as the aggressive practice of hunting for journalists’ sources could again be resurrected....
Trump launches fragrance line featuring photo of Jill Biden
President-elect Donald Trump has launched a new fragrance line titled “Fight, Fight, Fight” — for men and women. Selling for $199 each, Trump announced the line on Sunday in a Truth Social post, USA Today reported. “A fragrance your enemies can’t resist!” the post reads, on top of a photo...
Key details about the arrest of a man in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO
The 26-year-old man charged in last week’s killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO appeared in a Blair County courtroom on Tuesday, where he was denied bail and his lawyer said he’d fight extradition to New York City, where the attack happened. Luigi Nicholas Mangione was arrested Monday in last Wednesday’s attack on...
U.S. says it will support new Syrian leaders who protect women and renounce terrorism
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Tuesday it will recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the U.S. would work with groups in Syria and...
Japanese survivor of atomic bomb recalls its horrors in Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech
OSLO, Norway — A 92-year-old Japanese man who lived through the American atomic bombing of Nagasaki described on Tuesday the agony he witnessed in 1945, including the charred corpses of his loved ones and the ruins of his city, as he accepted this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on his organization’s...
Trump promises to end birthright citizenship: What is it and could he do it?
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end birthright citizenship as soon as he gets into office to make good on campaign promises aiming to restrict immigration and redefining what it means to be American. But any efforts to halt the policy would face steep legal hurdles. Birthright citizenship...
Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump
WASHINGTON — The grinding war between Ukraine and its Russian invaders has escalated ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, with President Joe Biden rushing out billions of dollars more in military aid before U.S. support for Kyiv’s defenses is thrown into question under the new administration. Russia, Ukraine and their global...
Who is Luigi Mangione, suspect in fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?
NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione, the “strong person of interest” arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is a Maryland native who graduated at the top of his high school class and earned a master of science in engineering with a major in computer science...
Israeli warplanes pound Syria as troops reportedly advance deeper into the country
DAMASCUS, Syria — Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Syria as its troops advanced deeper into the country, drawing to within 25 kilometers (15 miles) of the capital, a Syrian opposition war monitor said Tuesday. Israel denied its forces were advancing toward Damascus. Associated Press reporters in...
UnitedHealthcare CEO was likely killed with a ghost gun that can be made at home
WASHINGTON — The brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was likely carried out with a ghost gun, one of the nearly untraceable weapons that can be made a home, police said Monday. A ghost gun is a firearm without a serial number, and police believe the one used in last week’s...
Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse
ALTOONA, Pa. — The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggled with deputies and shouted while being led into court Tuesday as new details emerged about his possible motivation behind the ambush. In his first public words since a five-day search ended with his arrest at an Altoona McDonald’s, Luigi...
Rupert Murdoch loses his fight to change family trust
Rupert Murdoch lost his bid to change his family trust and hand sole control of his media empire to his eldest son. Edmund Gorman Jr., the Reno, Nevada, probate commissioner hearing the case, rendered a verdict on Saturday, The New York Times reported, citing a sealed document saying the elder...
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for intel chief, faces questions on Capitol Hill amid Syria falloutVideo
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, faced fresh scrutiny Monday on Capitol Hill about her proximity to Russian-ally Syria amid the sudden collapse of that country’s hardline Assad rule. Gabbard ignored shouted questions about her 2017 visit to war-torn Syria as she ducked into one...
Jay-Z says lawsuit accusing him of raping a child at awards after-party is part of an extortion ploy
NEW YORK — Jay-Z says a rape allegation made against him is part of an extortion attempt. A woman who previously sued Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleging she was raped at an awards show after-party in 2000 when she was 13, amended the lawsuit Sunday to include a new allegation that...
‘Polarization’ is Merriam-Webster’s 2024 word of the year
The results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election rattled the country and sent shockwaves across the world — or were cause for celebration, depending on who you ask. Is it any surprise then that the Merriam-Webster word of the year is “polarization”? “Polarization means division, but it’s a very specific...
Military pauses Osprey flights again after more metal failures are found in near-crash in November
The Pentagon is temporarily pausing flights again of its V-22 Osprey fleet after weakened metals in a part inside one of the aircraft broke apart in flight in November, causing an engine failure and a near crash in New Mexico, based on an initial investigation of the incident. The pause...
Veteran Daniel Penny is acquitted in NYC subway chokehold case over Jordan Neely’s death
NEW YORK — A Marine veteran who used a chokehold on an agitated subway rider was acquitted on Monday in a death that became a prism for differing views about public safety, valor and vigilantism. A Manhattan jury delivered the verdict, clearing Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan...
How should the opioid settlements be spent? Those hit hardest often don’t have a say
People with substance use disorder across the country are not getting a formal say in how most of the approximately $50 billion in opioid lawsuit settlement money is being used to stem the crisis, a new analysis found. Some advocates say that is one factor in why portions of the...
