U.S./World category, Page 276
New LA-area fire prompts more evacuations while over 10,000 structures lost to the 2 biggest blazes
LOS ANGELES — The two biggest wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area have burned at least 10,000 homes, buildings and other structures, officials said Thursday as they urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew. The fast-moving Kenneth Fire started in the late...
TikTok’s fate arrives at Supreme Court in collision of free speech and national security
WASHINGTON — In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment...
Photos capture how wildfires are ravaging Southern California 3 days after igniting
BC-California Wildfires-Photo Gallery, 15th Ld-Writethru15th Ld-Writethru Major wildfires around Los Angeles raged on Thursday as firefighters struggled to put out blazes three days after they began with strong winds ripped through the mountains and foothills. Ongoing flames All around Los Angeles, scenes of flames were everywhere, as many areas continued...
More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, officials say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday, with no end in sight to the 15-month conflict. The ministry said a total of 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded. It has said women and children...
Jimmy Carter lauded for his humility and service in Washington before his return to Georgia
WASHINGTON — Jimmy Carter was celebrated Thursday for his personal humility and public service before, during and after his presidency during a funeral at Washington National Cathedral featuring the kind of pageantry the 39th U.S. president typically eschewed. All of Carter’s living successors were in attendance, with President Joe Biden,...
U.S. will keep protecting more than 2,000 Rocky Mountain grizzly bears
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration said Wednesday it will continue protecting about 2,000 grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains despite opposition from Republican-led states. Federal officials also said they would ease some restrictions as conflicts between bears and humans rise. Ranchers operating outside of designated grizzly recovery zones would...
Scientists drill nearly 2 miles down to pull 1.2 million-year-old ice core from Antarctic
An international team of scientists announced Thursday they’ve successfully drilled one of the oldest ice cores yet, penetrating nearly 2 miles to Antarctic bedrock to reach ice they say is at least 1.2 million years old. Analysis of the ancient ice is expected to show how Earth’s atmosphere and climate...
Ex-FBI informant who fabricated bribery story about Biden and his son Hunter gets 6 years in prison
WASHINGTON — A former FBI informant who fabricated a story about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes that became central to Republicans’ impeachment effort was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison. Alexander Smirnov pleaded guilty last month in Los Angeles federal court to tax evasion and...
Another 14-year-old arrested with a gun at Georgia’s Apalachee High School after deadly shooting
WINDER, Ga. — A 14-year-old student has been arrested after bringing a gun on Wednesday to Apalachee High School, the same Georgia high school where a shooting in September killed two teachers and two students and wounded others. The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said school resource officers arrested the boy...
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito says he spoke with Trump about clerk before hush-money filingVideo
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spoke with President-elect Donald Trump about a former law clerk the day before Trump went to the high court in a push to delay the sentencing in his New York hush-money case, the justice said Wednesday. Alito said he took the call Tuesday...
Virginia man accused of stockpiling 150 homemade bombs must stay in jail until trial, judge rules
NORFOLK, Va. — A Virginia man accused of stockpiling the largest number of finished explosives in FBI history and using President Joe Biden’s photo for target practice must stay in jail until trial, a federal judge ruled, writing that he has “shown the capacity for extreme danger.” Brad Spafford, 36,...
Ex-police officer and Proud Boys member gets 14 months in prison for joining Capitol attack
WASHINGTON — A former police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol with fellow members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Wednesday to 14 months in prison for joining the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Donald Trump supporters, court records show. Nathaniel Tuck and...
West Virginia care facility staff members charged in death of patient left in scalding hot bathtub
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two staff members at a northern West Virginia long-term care facility have been charged in the death of a patient who was left in a scalding hot bathtub a year ago, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Wednesday. Registered nurse Delilah Clyburn-Hill and certified nursing assistant Kylah Beard...
Russian missile attack in southern Ukraine kills at least 13 civilians, officials say
KYIV, Ukraine — A daytime Russian missile attack on the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least 13 civilians and injured about 30 others Wednesday, officials said. Footage posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel showed civilians lying in a city street littered with debris. They were being...
Body of Israeli hostage found in Gaza, possibly alongside his son’s remains, army says
JERUSALEM — Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old hostage in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man’s son. The discovery of Yosef AlZayadni’s body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering...
Egypt unveils ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts in Luxor
CAIRO — Egypt unveiled several discoveries near the famed city of Luxor on Wednesday, including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts dating back 3,600 years. They were unearthed at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut’s funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile’s West Bank, according to a statement released by...
Trump wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. Can he do that?
President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” a name he said has a “beautiful ring to it.” It’s his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada...
JetBlue passenger suddenly opens exit door as flight is taxiing for takeoff at Boston airport
BOSTON — A person on board a plane at Boston Logan International Airport that was taxiing for takeoff suddenly opened an exit door and was quickly restrained by other passengers, authorities said. The JetBlue passenger was expected to face charges and be arraigned Wednesday, Massachusetts State Police spokesperson Tim McGuirk...
Why Greenland? Remote but resource-rich island occupies a key position in a warming world
Remote, icy and mostly pristine, Greenland plays an outsized role in the daily weather experienced by billions of people and in the climate changes taking shape all over the planet. Greenland is where climate change, scarce resources, tense geopolitics and new trade patterns all intersect, said Ohio University security and...
Pope Francis names 1st woman to head major Vatican office, choosing Italian nun
ROME — Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointing an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church’s religious orders. The appointment marks a major step in Francis’ aim to give women more...
Affordable Care Act insurance coverage hits record enrollment but an uncertain future awaits under Trump
WASHINGTON — A record 24 million people have signed up for insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s landmark health legislation, as the program awaits an uncertain future under a Republican-controlled White House and Congress. Never have so many people enrolled in health care coverage through...
U.S. Justice Department accuses 6 major landlords of scheming to keep rents high
DENVER — The U.S. Justice Department is suing several large landlords for allegedly coordinating to keep Americans’ rents high by using both an algorithm to help set rents and privately sharing sensitive information with their competitors to boost profits. The lawsuit arrives as U.S. renters continue to struggle under a...
Former FBI informant will be sentenced for bogus bribery claim about President Biden and son Hunter
WASHINGTON — Prosecutors will ask a judge on Wednesday for six years in prison for a former FBI informant whose bogus story about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes became central to Republicans’ impeachment effort. Alexander Smirnov will be sentenced in Los Angeles federal court after pleading...
Hollywood Hills fire breaks out as deadly wildfires burn out of control across Los Angeles areaVideo
LOS ANGELES — A fast-moving fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, threatening one of Los Angeles’ most iconic spots as firefighters battled to get under control three other major blazes that killed five people, put 100,000 people under evacuation orders and ravaged the city from the...
Hawaii law enforcement ask lawmakers for staff and money to crack down on illegal fireworks
HONOLULU — Hawaii authorities on Tuesday asked lawmakers for money to hire eight people and pay for a $2 million expansion of a forensic lab to crack down on the persistent rampant smuggling of illegal fireworks like those that killed four people and injured about 20 more at a Honolulu...
