U.S./World category, Page 215
Majority of Supreme Court justices appear likely to uphold state ban on transgender care
WASHINGTON — Hearing a high-profile culture-war clash, a majority of the Supreme Court seemed reluctant Wednesday to block Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The justices’ decision, not expected for several months, could affect similar laws enacted by another 25 states and a range of other efforts to regulate...
Biden administration backs off proposed overhaul of apprenticeship programs
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — President Joe Biden’s administration has withdrawn a proposed overhaul of workplace apprenticeship programs after facing pushback from business groups concerned about the costs and Republican state attorneys general opposed to new diversity requirements. The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed Wednesday that it won’t be moving forward...
Police hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO’s masked killer after ‘brazen, targeted’ attackVideo
NEW YORK — A gunman killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on Wednesday in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding its investor conference, police said, setting off a massive search for the fleeing assailant hours before the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting nearby. Brian...
Mexican troops seize record fentanyl haul days after Trump threatened tariffs
MEXICO CITY — Mexican soldiers and marines have seized over a ton of fentanyl pills in two raids in the north, with officials calling it the biggest catch of the synthetic opioid in the country’s history. The raids came after a sharp drop in fentanyl seizures in Mexico earlier this...
Syria’s insurgency leader tours seized city of Aleppo, as fierce battles intensify near Hama
BEIRUT — The leader of Syria’s most powerful insurgent group Wednesday toured the seized city of Aleppo in a surprise visit for the first time since the group captured large parts of the city last weekend, as fierce fighting intensifies in the government-led counter-offensive in northern Hama. Abu Mohammed al-Golani,...
District of Columbia says Amazon secretly stopped fast deliveries to 2 predominantly Black zip codes
The District of Columbia sued Amazon on Wednesday, alleging the company secretly stopped providing its fastest delivery service to residents of two predominantly Black neighborhoods in Washington while still charging residents millions of dollars for a service that promises the benefit. The complaint filed in District of Columbia Superior Court...
‘Amtrak Joe’ Biden uses his visit to Angola to promote a major U.S.-backed rail project in Africa
LUANDA, Angola — Even in the waning days of his presidency and thousands of miles from home, U.S. President Joe Biden is finding ways to celebrate trains. Biden used the third and final day of his visit to Angola on Wednesday to showcase the Lobito Corridor railway, where the U.S....
EU condemns reported Taliban move to suspend medical education for women and girls
The European Union on Wednesday condemned the Taliban for violating human rights and women’s access to education after media reports that the Taliban’s leader has ordered private and public institutions to stop providing medical courses for women and girls in Afghanistan. The Taliban have neither confirmed the order nor responded...
Chicago house party shooting kills 3 and wounds 5 others, police say
CHICAGO — Eight people were shot, three of them fatally, when gunfire erupted Monday during a house party in Chicago, sending screaming people fleeing from the home, authorities and a witness said. Officers responded about 2:10 p.m. and found that eight people had been shot during a “social gathering” at...
California teacher dies after she was bitten by a bat inside a classroom
DOS PALOS, Calif. — A central California teacher died last month after she was bitten by a bat inside her classroom that presumably had rabies, officials and the woman’s friend said. In the wake of Leah Seneng’s death on Nov. 22, public health officials are warning the public about the...
Chad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to run DEA, withdraws name from consideration
NEW YORK — Chad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Tuesday he was withdrawing his name from consideration, becoming the second person selected by the president-elect to bow out quickly after being nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation. Sheriff Chronister, the top law enforcement...
President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urge judge to toss his hush money conviction
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge to throw out his hush money criminal conviction, arguing continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.” In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that dismissal is...
Judge weighs whether to order Fani Willis to comply with lawmakers’ subpoenas over Trump case
ATLANTA — A judge is weighing whether a Georgia state Senate committee has the right to subpoena testimony and documents from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as it looks into whether she has engaged in misconduct during her prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump. The Republican-led committee sent subpoenas to...
Ex-ballerina sentenced to 20 years in Florida for manslaughter in husband’s killingVideo
BRADENTON, Fla. — A former Florida ballerina has been sentenced to 20 years in prison following her manslaughter conviction for fatally shooting her estranged husband in 2020. Manatee County court records show Circuit Judge Matt Whyte imposed the sentence Tuesday on Ashley Benefield, 32, after rejecting her request for a...
Jury deliberations begin in veteran Daniel Penny’s trial over using chokehold on Jordan Neely
NEW YORK — Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in the trial of a military veteran charged with using a fatal chokehold to subdue a man whose behavior was alarming passengers on a New York subway train. The anonymous jury is weighing manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges in the death of...
GM adds over 132,000 heavy duty pickups to recall for tailgates that can open unexpectedly
DETROIT — General Motors is adding over 132,000 heavy-duty pickups in the U.S. to a previous recall for tailgate release switches that can short circuit and open the gates while the trucks are in park. The recall adds certain 2024 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500 trucks to...
Police say a Hawaii woman disappeared voluntarily and traveled to MexicoVideo
LOS ANGELES — A Hawaii woman who vanished after landing in Los Angeles three weeks ago disappeared voluntarily as she sought to “step away from modern connectivity” and was last seen crossing into Mexico with her luggage, police said at a news conference where they urged her to contact her...
What is GivingTuesday? How to donate on the annual day of charitable giving
Since it started as a hashtag in 2012, GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, has become one of the biggest fundraising days of the year for nonprofits in the U.S. In 2022 and 2023, GivingTuesday raised $3.1 billion for charitable organizations, according to estimates from GivingTuesday. This year, GivingTuesday is on...
Melinda French Gates plans to match $1M in GivingTuesday gifts to groups that support women
NEW YORK — Melinda French Gates is offering to match up to $1 million in gifts to two nonprofit organizations to help spur donations on GivingTuesday, which has become a major annual fundraising day for nonprofits. For more than a decade, on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, charitable organizations have asked...
Small business owners brace for Trump’s proposed tariffs
Small businesses are bracing for stiff tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump has proposed as one of his first actions when he takes office. Trump has proposed importers pay a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China,...
South Korea’s opposition party urges Yoon to resign or face impeachment over martial law decree
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s main opposition party on Wednesday urged President Yoon Suk Yeol to resign immediately or face impeachment, hours after Yoon ended short-lived martial law that prompted troops to encircle parliament before lawmakers voted to lift it. On Tuesday night, Yoon abruptly imposed the emergency martial...
Trump says he’ll attend Notre Dame Cathedral reopening celebration in Paris this weekend
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump will attend the reopening celebration for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend, his first foreign trip since the election. The cathedral is set to reopen Saturday after more than five years of reconstruction following a devastating fire in 2019 that engulfed and nearly...
Think ‘brain rot’ summed up 2024? Oxford agrees it was the word of the year
LONDON — Many of us have felt it, and now it’s official: “Brain rot” is the Oxford dictionaries’ word of the year. Oxford University Press said Monday that the evocative phrase “gained new prominence in 2024,” with its frequency of use increasing 230% from the year before. Oxford defines brain...
Pete Hegseth quit vets groups over misconduct claims, New Yorker saysVideo
Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Defense, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, was forced to resign from two veterans’ advocacy groups amid allegations of personal and financial misconduct, the New Yorker reported. A 2015 whistleblower report obtained by the magazine described Hegseth as repeatedly intoxicated on the...
17-year-old player dies after collapsing during charity hockey game in New York
BETHPAGE, N.Y. — A 17-year-old hockey player collapsed during a charity game in New York and later died, authorities said. Connor Kasin, a senior at Massapequa High School on Long Island, lost consciousness during a game Saturday night benefiting a foundation that was set up by the parents of another...
