U.S./World category, Page 272
Ash, other dangers mean LA area residents who fled fires a week ago won’t be going home soonVideo
LOS ANGELES — It has been more than a week since two massive fires forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in the Los Angeles area, and officials said Thursday residents won’t be going home soon. As the search continues for human remains in the leveled neighborhoods,...
Southwest pilot arrested for DUI in Georgia after ‘situation’ on flight
A Southwest Airlines pilot was allegedly removed from the cockpit of a plane and arrested for driving under the influence ahead of a flight from Savannah, Ga., to Chicago, according to a CBS News report. David Paul Allsop, 52, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence by the...
Rudy Giuliani settles legal fight with former Georgia election workers, agrees to stop defaming them
NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani settled with two former Georgia election workers on Thursday in a deal that will let him keep his homes and personal belongings in return for compensation and a promise to never defame them again, lawyers and the women said. The trial was supposed to decide...
Georgia senator arrested after he tried to defy ban on entering House chamberVideo
A Georgia state senator who was previously banned from the state House chamber was arrested Thursday when he tried to enter the chamber for the governor’s state of the state speech and got into a shoving match with House employees. State Sen. Colton Moore, a Republican from Trenton, is among...
Standoff in South Africa ends with 87 miners dead and anger over police’s ‘smoke them out’ tactics
STILFONTEIN, South Africa — The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said Thursday. Authorities faced growing anger and a possible investigation over their initial refusal to help...
JD Vance’s Ohio hometown struggles with how to recognize the incoming vice president
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — It was a month after her son’s election as vice president of the United States and JD Vance ‘s mother wondered why the city of his birth had yet to recognize him. “I just think it would be really nice if we could acknowledge that this is...
NASA’s stuck astronaut steps out on a spacewalk after 7 months in orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — One of NASA’s two stuck astronauts got a much welcomed change of scenery Thursday, stepping out on her first spacewalk since arriving at the International Space Station more than seven months ago. Suni Williams, the station’s commander, had to tackle some overdue outdoor repair work alongside...
Netanyahu says deal to release Hamas-held hostages has been reachedVideo
TEL AVIV, Israel — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached, after his office had said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war. Netanyahu said he would convene...
How much is TikTok worth and who could buy it?
NEW YORK — The supremely popular TikTok could be banned on Jan. 19 under a federal law that forces the video sharing platform to divest itself from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or shut down its U.S. operations. Several parties have expressed interest in buying the platform, but ByteDance has...
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches massive New Glenn rocket on 1st test flight and reaches orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Blue Origin launched its massive new rocket on its first test flight Thursday, sending up a prototype satellite to orbit thousands of miles above Earth. Named after the first American to orbit Earth, the New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida, soaring from the same pad...
Biden warns in farewell address that an ‘oligarchy’ of ultrarich in U.S. threatens future of democracyVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden used his farewell address to the nation Wednesday to deliver stark warnings about an “oligarchy” of the ultra-wealthy taking root in the country and a “tech-industrial complex” that is infringing on Americans’ rights and the future of democracy. Speaking from the Oval Office as he...
Supreme Court leans in favor of state-enforced age limits on porn websites
WASHINGTON — Thanks to the internet and smartphones, children today have instant access to vast amounts of online pornography, much it graphic, violent and degrading, Texas state attorneys told the Supreme Court on Wednesday. They urged justices to restore the rules of an earlier era, when X-rated theaters and bookstores...
U.S. government sues Southwest Airlines and fines Frontier for chronically delayed flights
The Transportation Department is stepping up enforcement of persistent flight delays with a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines and a fine against Frontier Airlines. The agency said the U.S. District Court lawsuit it filed in California on Wednesday alleges that Southwest illegally operated chronically delayed flights and disrupted passengers’ travel plans....
Trump and Biden both claim credit for Gaza ceasefire deal
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal in Gaza after the White House brought Trump’s Middle East envoy into negotiations that have dragged on for months. Trump wasted no time in asserting he was the...
U.S. appeals court hears oral arguments on Florida ban on transgender care for minors
MIAMI — Attorneys for the state of Florida argued before a federal appeals court Wednesday that a lower-court judge was wrong to block a law last year that bans gender-affirming care for minors and restricts similar care for adults, though a pending U.S. Supreme Court case creates uncertainty. Attorneys presented...
Mediators tout a Gaza ceasefire deal and plan to free hostages. Israel says details still in flux
DOHA, Qatar — Israel and Hamas agreed to pause the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, mediators announced Wednesday, raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies. The three-phase ceasefire deal promises the release of dozens of hostages held by militants in...
U.S. population projections shrink from last year because of declining birth rates, less immigration
The Congressional Budget Office has shrunk its projections for the U.S. population in 30 years to 372 million residents, a 2.8% drop from last year, citing declining birth rates and less expected immigration. The budget office last year projected 383 million people living in the United States in 30 years...
Hope and dread as Israelis and Palestinians await a Gaza truce that may not end their suffering
TEL AVIV, Israel — With a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas tantalizingly close, families of hostages in the Gaza Strip are afraid to get their hopes up and agonizing over the unknown. “These days are horrible for us,” Yafit Zailer said Wednesday, breaking down into sobs over the thought of...
FDA bans red dye No. 3 from foods
U.S. regulators on Wednesday banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation’s food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk. Food and Drug Administration officials granted a 2022 petition filed by two dozen food safety and health advocates, who urged the...
Russian missile attack forces Ukraine to shut down power grid
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia on Wednesday launched a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine, targeting energy production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas despite freezing winter weather, officials said. The Russian Defense Ministry said that it launched a strike on...
FDA floats plan to make cigarettes nonaddictive, but its fate rests with Trump
WASHINGTON — Federal officials on Wednesday released a far-reaching proposal to make cigarettes far less addictive by capping their nicotine content, a goal long sought by antismoking advocates that is unlikely to go into effect anytime soon. The proposed rule from the Food and Drug Administration comes in the final...
2 private lunar landers head toward the moon in a roundabout journey
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In a two-for-one moonshot, SpaceX launched a pair of lunar landers Wednesday for U.S. and Japanese companies looking to jumpstart business on Earth’s dusty sidekick. The two landers rocketed away in the middle of the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the latest in a stream...
Fire tornadoes are a risk under California’s extreme wildfire conditions
As if they aren’t already facing enough, firefighters in California also could encounter fire tornadoes — a rare but dangerous phenomenon in which wildfires create their own weather. The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation”...
As Los Angeles burns, Hollywood’s Oscar season turns into a pledge drive
When the Palisades Fire broke out in Los Angeles last Tuesday, Hollywood’s awards season was in full swing. The Golden Globes had transpired less than 48 hours earlier and a series of splashy awards banquets followed in the days after. But the enormity of the destruction in Southern California has...
Relief, 21st-century style: As wildfires burn, GoFundMe becomes a repository of harrowing stories
NEW YORK — They seem endless, these sapping stories of loss. A grandfather starts over in his 90s. A family loses their dream home. People who were already struggling are dealt new, brutal blows. As California’s massive wildfires burn, a barrage of GoFundMe campaigns for victims have become an outlet...
