U.S./World category, Page 349
Mardi Gras beads are creating a plastic disaster in New Orleans. Are there green alternatives?
NEW ORLEANS — It’s a beloved century-old Carnival season tradition in New Orleans — masked riders on lavish floats fling strings of colorful beads or other trinkets to parade watchers clamoring with outstretched arms. It’s all in good fun but it’s also a bit of a “plastics disaster,” says Judith...
CEO of major Nigerian bank killed in California helicopter crash, director-general of WTO says
The CEO of one of Nigeria ‘s largest banks was killed Friday along with his wife and son when a helicopter they were riding in crashed near Interstate 15 in Southern California’s Mojave Desert. Herbert Wigwe, chief executive of Access Bank, was among the six people on board when the...
Taylor Swift reaches LAX in journey from Tokyo to Super Bowl, online sleuths say. Will she make it?
TOKYO — Will she make it in time? Intrepid flight trackers online seem to think so. On social media, fans of Taylor Swift and aviation journalists believe they’ve identified Swift’s private jet, labeled “The Football Era.” It arrived from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Los Angeles’ LAX airport just after 3:30...
Trump says he warned NATO ally: Spend more on defense or Russia can ‘do whatever the hell they want’
NEW YORK — Republican front-runner Donald Trump said Saturday that, as president, he warned NATO allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and longstanding international alliances. Speaking at a rally...
No one hurt when small plane makes crash landing on residential street in suburban Phoenix
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The pilot and lone passenger escaped injury when a small airplane made a crash landing Saturday on a residential street in a suburban neighborhood on the west edge of Phoenix, Goodyear police said. The single engine plane experienced mechanical problems shortly after takeoff Saturday morning from nearby...
Here’s how to bet legally on the Super Bowl
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — More people in the U.S. than ever before are expected to bet on this year’s Super Bowl, including novice bettors attracted to the game due to the possible attendance of pop star Taylor Swift, whose boyfriend Travis Kelce will be among the players. With sports betting...
Taylor Swift expected to make epic journey from Tokyo to the Super Bowl. Will she make it in time?
TOKYO — Will she make it in time? Taylor Swift’s last song was still ringing in the ears of thousands of fans at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night when the singer rushed to a private jet at Haneda airport, presumably embarking on an intensely scrutinized journey to see her...
For Native American activists, the Kansas City Chiefs have it all wrong
Rhonda LeValdo is exhausted, but she’s refusing to slow down. For the fourth time in five years, her hometown team and the focus of her decadeslong activism against the use of Native American imagery and references in sports is in the Super Bowl. As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for...
U.S. Sen. Coons and German Chancellor Scholz see double at Washington meeting
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were seeing double when they met in Washington, D.C., this week and went on social media to share their mirror image with the world. The Delaware Democrat and the leader of Germany’s coalition government share an uncommon likeness, right down to...
Investigators will try to find out why a private jet crashed onto a Florida interstate and killed 2
NAPLES, Fla. — Federal authorities have launched an investigation to determine why a private jet tried to make an emergency landing on a Florida interstate, colliding with a vehicle and sparking a fiery crash that left two people dead. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Bombardier Challenger 600 jet had...
Israeli strikes kill 44 Palestinians in Rafah after Netanyahu says ground invasion is coming there
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 44 Palestinians — including more than a dozen children — in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Saturday, hours after Israel’s prime minister said he had asked the military to plan for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people...
Bill to help relocate Washington Capitals, Wizards sails through 1st Virginia legislative hearing
RICHMOND, Va. — Legislation underpinning a plan to relocate the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals across the Potomac River to northern Virginia easily cleared an early hurdle in the state legislature Friday. Lawmakers on the Virginia House Appropriations Committee voted 17-3 to advance the measure, a top priority...
2 dead after small plane attempts emergency landing on Florida interstate
NAPLES, Fla. — Two people have died after a small plane attempted to make an emergency landing on Interstate 75 in southwest Florida on Friday afternoon, colliding with a vehicle and bringing traffic to a halt as a massive plume of black smoke rose into the air. The crash landing...
Magnitude 5.7 earthquake strikes Mauna Loa volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island
HONOLULU — A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the world’s largest active volcano — Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii — Friday, knocking items off shelves in nearby towns but not immediately prompting reports of serious damage. No tsunami was expected. The earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey initially...
California principal on leave after pretending to shoot kids during drill, parents say
LOS ANGELES — A principal at a San Gabriel elementary school was put on leave of absence by district administrators after pretending to shoot kids and announcing children were “dead” during an active shooter lockdown drill, according to parents and staff. The incident, which is under investigation by the school...
5 Marines killed in helicopter crash identified as troops in their 20s
SAN DIEGO — The Marine Corps released the names Friday of the five Marines killed when their CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter went down in the mountains outside San Diego during a historic storm. All of them were in their 20s. The decorated Marines were assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron...
200-foot radio tower stolen in Alabama, silencing small town’s voice
JASPER, Ala. — The theft of a giant radio tower has silenced what used to be the voice of a small Alabama town and the surrounding county, the radio station’s general manager said. A thief or thieves made off with the 200-foot tower, shutting down WJLX radio in Jasper, Ala....
Las Vegas police: Damage to Sphere from climber is around 6 figures
LAS VEGAS — An anti-abortion advocate caused about $100,000 in damage to the Las Vegas Sphere when he climbed the structure as part of a publicity stunt, police said. Maison Des Champs, 24, faces charges of destruction of property, conspiracy to destroy property and disregarding the safety of persons or...
Israel’s next target in Gaza war is likely Rafah. Terrified people say there’s nowhere left to go
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s southernmost town, Rafah, is bursting at the seams. Nearly the last place spared an Israeli offensive so far, Rafah’s population has more than quintupled with Palestinians streaming in to escape fighting. They pack by the dozens into apartments. Sidewalks and once-empty lots are clogged with...
Chemical attack suspect likely vanished in the Thames, U.K. police say
LONDON — The suspect in a London chemical attack that left a woman hospitalized with life-changing injuries and injured her two young daughters likely has vanished in the River Thames, police said Friday. Metropolitan Police Commander Jon Savell said closed-circuit television images showed Abdul Ezedi walking on a bridge over...
Prince Harry settles tabloid phone hacking claim, says his mission to tame the media continues
LONDON — Prince Harry said Friday that his “mission” to rein in the British media continues, after he accepted costs and damages from a tabloid publisher that invaded his privacy with phone hacking and other illegal snooping. Harry’s attorney, David Sherborne, said at a court hearing that Mirror Group Newspapers...
Oklahoma judge who sent more than 500 texts during a murder trial resigns
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma judge who sent more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial will resign, according to a court filing. In a proposed settlement agreement filed Thursday with the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary, District Judge Traci Soderstrom agreed to resign on Friday and...
Pope blasts ‘radical individualism’ as he meets with Argentines ahead of big canonization
ROME — Pope Francis on Friday blasted the “radical individualism” that he said was infecting society today, as he greeted Argentine pilgrims who are in town for this weekend’s canonization of the first female saint from his home country. Instead, Francis held up as a model the 18th century Argentine...
Netanyahu orders population of Gaza’s crowded Rafah evacuated ahead of an expected ground invasion
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has ordered the military to prepare a plan to evacuate the population of Rafah ahead of an expected Israeli invasion of the southern Gaza town. Netanyahu made the announcement Friday following international criticism of Israel’s plan to invade the...
Wisconsin has been hit with its 1st-ever February tornado
MADISON, Wis. — The first-ever February tornado for the state of Wisconsin was spotted Thursday just south of Madison, the National Weather Service confirmed. It was the first time a tornado was confirmed during the second month of the year in the state since records have been kept, the Milwaukee...
