U.S./World category, Page 223
Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with Sandy Hook families’ backing
The satirical news publication The Onion was named the winning bidder for Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax. The purchase would turn over...
2 charged in connection with orange spray attack on Stonehenge monuments
LONDON — Two environmental activists have been charged over the spraying orange paint powder at the Stonehenge monuments in southwest England in June, police said Thursday. Rajan Naidu, 73, and Niamh Lynch, 22, have been charged with “destroying or damaging an ancient protected monument, and intentionally or recklessly causing a...
The Leonid meteor shower peaks as the supermoon wanes
WASHINGTON — It’s a treat to see a supermoon. But that bright glowing orb will still be almost full when the Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend, likely obscuring all but the brightest meteors in most locations. The Leonids are known for their high-speed meteors, which can travel at up...
1 million migrants in the U.S. rely on temporary protections that Trump could target
NEW YORK — Maribel Hidalgo fled her native Venezuela a year ago with a 1-year-old son, trudging for days through Panama’s Darien Gap, then riding the rails across Mexico to the United States. They were living in the U.S. when the Biden administration announced Venezuelans would be offered Temporary Protected...
FBI: Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals ‘broad and significant’ spying effort
WASHINGTON — A federal investigation into Chinese government efforts to hack into U.S. telecommunications networks has revealed a “broad and significant” cyberespionage campaign aimed at stealing information from Americans who work in government and politics, the FBI said Wednesday. Hackers affiliated with Beijing have compromised the networks of “multiple” telecommunications...
Special counsel Jack Smith asks court to pause appeal seeking to revive Trump’s classified documents case
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith asked a court Wednesday to pause prosecutors’ appeal seeking to revive the classified documents case against President-elect Donald Trump in light of the Republican’s presidential victory. Smith’s team has been evaluating how to wind down the classified documents and the federal 2020 election interference...
Bluesky has added 1 million users since U.S. election as people seek alternatives to X
LOS ANGELES — Social media site Bluesky has gained 1 million new users in the week since the U.S. election, as some X users look for an alternative platform to post their thoughts and engage with others online. Bluesky said Wednesday that its total users surged to 15 million, up...
Birth control and abortion pill requests have surged since Trump won the election
Hours after Donald Trump was elected president for the second time, Dr. Clayton Alfonso had two messages from patients seeking to replace their IUDs. Over the next few days, three women inquired about getting their tubes tied. All of them said the election was the reason they were making these...
U.S. overdose deaths are down, giving experts hope for an enduring decline
NEW YORK — The decline in U.S. drug overdose deaths appears to have continued this year, giving experts hope the nation is seeing sustained improvement in the persistent epidemic. There were about 97,000 overdose deaths in the 12-month period that ended June 30, according to provisional Centers for Disease Control...
Silence descends around China’s deadliest mass killing in years as flowers cleared away
ZHUHAI, China — Online discussion about China’s deadliest mass killing in years was being censored Wednesday as authorities in a southern city cleared candles and flowers from the memorial to the 35 people dead. Police have offered little information about the 62-year-old driver who rammed his vehicle into a sports...
What makes walking so great for your health and what else you need to do
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Janet Rapp strode briskly down a paved path through the city zoo, waving at friends and stopping briefly to greet emus she knows by name. The 71-year-old retiree starts each morning this way with a walking club. “I’m obsessed,” she said. Not only does it ease her...
Norway’s Kon-Tiki Museum returns artifacts to Chile’s remote Easter Island
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Artifacts and human remains taken by a Norwegian explorer and anthropologist in the late 1940s are being returned by a museum in Oslo to Chile’s remote territory of Easter Island in the mid-Pacific, the Kon-Tiki Museum said Wednesday. In 1947, explorer Thor Heyerdahl sailed on a log...
Trump’s economic agenda for his 2nd term is clouding the outlook for mortgage rates
LOS ANGELES — Donald Trump’s election win is clouding the outlook for mortgage rates even before he gets back to the White House. The president-elect campaigned on a promise to make homeownership more affordable by lowering mortgage rates through policies aimed at knocking out inflation. But his proposed economic agenda...
Investigators believe Wisconsin kayaker faked his own death before fleeing to eastern Europe
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin man apparently faked his own drowning this summer so he could abandon his family and flee to eastern Europe, investigators say. Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said in a news release Friday that the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office informed his agency on Aug. 12...
Explosion at Kentucky business injures 11 workers, shatters windows in surrounding neighborhoodVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — At least 11 employees were taken to hospitals after an explosion on Tuesday at a Louisville, Kentucky, business that produces natural color for foods and drinks. The explosion, which happened at Givaudan Sense Colour, knocked out windows and blew in doors in nearby homes and businesses. News...
Pentagon secrets leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years in prison by a federal judge
BOSTON — A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Massachusetts Air National Guard member to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine. Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of willful retention and transmission of...
FAA prohibits U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti and U.N. suspends flights after plane was shot by gangsVideo
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday that it will prohibit U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot a Spirit Airlines flight and the United Nations said it will suspend flights, “obviously limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the...
Supreme Court rejects push to move Georgia case against ex-Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to let former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows move the election interference case against him in Georgia to federal court, where he would have argued he was immune from prosecution. The justices did not detail their reasoning in a brief...
Church of England head Justin Welby resigns over handling of sex abuse scandal
LONDON — Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, resigned Tuesday after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he...
Florence cracks down on overtourism just as Italy hosts G7 tourist ministers in Renaissance city
ROME — The city of Florence took new measures Tuesday to crack down on overtourism, just as the Italian government hosts the Group of Seven tourism ministers in the Renaissance city and seeks to significantly boost the country’s place as a top visitor destination. Mayor Sara Funaro’s Cabinet approved a...
23andMe users could be eligible for data breach settlement
After a data breach affected around half of its customers, family ancestry company 23andMe has agreed to a $30 million settlement — and users could be eligible to receive a payout in the future. 23andMe is a DNA testing company that provides users with ancestry, genetics and health information. Users...
Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments
BATON ROUGE, LA. — A new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked Tuesday by a federal judge who said the law is “unconstitutional on its face.” U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles in Baton Rouge said the law...
Judge delays ruling on whether to scrap Trump’s conviction in hush money case
NEW YORK — A judge has postponed a decision on whether to undo President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction as prosecutors consider how to proceed in light of last week’s election and his lawyers argue for dismissal so he can run the country. The postponement announced Tuesday comes at a...
European fake art network involving Banksys, Warhols, Modiglianis uncovered in Italy
ROME — Italian authorities say a network of European art forgers who painted fake Warhols, Banksys and Picassos and then tried to sell them to unsuspecting buyers with the help of complicit auction houses has been dismantled. Thirty-eight people have been placed under investigation, including six in Spain, France and...
Israeli strikes hit Beirut suburbs and kill 31 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, medics say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, including 11 at a makeshift cafeteria in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone, medics said. In Lebanon, warplanes struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday after the military warned people to evacuate...
